Residents Association Monthly Newsletter

Chairman’s Report for 2019
A happy and prosperous New Year to all our members and other readers.

2019 was a difficult year for your Association which none the less remains in a sound financial condition as will be confirmed by our finalised annual accounts which will be posted on the website once all the figures are verified. They will show a loss of £600 in 2019 but with assets of over £7,500.

The loss arose from major disruption to our collections caused by the weather conditions that prevailed at different times of the year – both extreme heat and incessant rain – combined with higher than usual printing costs. Most of our literature had to be reprinted to replace Christchurch Council and Dorset County Council by BCP. We also incurred additional costs printing election material without which Councillor Sue Fotheringham would not have been elected.

Our thanks go to our collectors without whom we would struggle to survive. Our life would be considerably easier if we had more of them. If you could assist us by collecting subscriptions from your neighbours, please get in touch.

During the year we cleaned up our e-newsletter circulation list, removing people who receive the letter but don’t read it and people who have ceased to be members. People who don’t renew their membership in future will be removed from the distribution list. The letter continues to be very popular and to attract complimentary comment.

This is my last Chairman’s Annual Statement.

After 16 years on your committee I have resigned as both Chairman and Secretary. The time has come for a new generation to bring fresh perspectives to your Association and to shape the organisation to better reflect the new regime represented by the BCP Council.

Councillor Sue Fotheringham will take over the Chair and I wish her all the best. The committee have asked me to stay on as a member and to continue to draft the monthly newsletters and I have agreed to do that.

Over the course of those action packed 16 years many of you, our members, have written and spoken to me to offer your support.

Amongst others, I’ll never forget the group of ladies who offered to chain themselves to trees on St Catherine’s Hill to stop them being felled, the council mole who risked much to give us valuable inside information when we fought to stop DCC building a huge waste processing plant at Hurn, the people and organisations that rallied round when we were forced to change our name to sidestep the attempt to put us out of business.

My thanks and gratitude to all of you.

Farewell Martyn Underhill, Police and Crime Commissioner

The Dorset PCC has decided not to seek re-election in May 2020. He says:

There is no doubt about it. My seven years working with Dorset Police has been eventful.

I feel I can leave with my head held high. I was the first ever PCC for Dorset, and I took up the role at a critical time for policing. I am proud I kept my independence and was able to work across political parties for the good of the people of Dorset.

None of us know what the new Government has in store for policing, but I do know I leave Dorset Police as a good organisation that punches above its weight.

Having said that, I have six months of office remaining, and there is much more to do. I will continue to focus on the job at hand and will be publishing a review of my second term around April next year.

Please look out for it, and in the meanwhile, I thank my team for all that they do and you not only for your support over the past seven years, but also for your continued support of Dorset Police.

Developments at Christchurch Hospital

Three local organisations - Macmillan Caring Locally, The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Affordable Housing and Healthcare Group are working closely together to bring some much-needed health and wellbeing facilities to Christchurch.

Included in the plans are an innovative care-led development proposal for a new Macmillan Hospice, additional NHS health facilities and a retirement living village.

Come along to the former Pathology Unit at Christchurch Hospital on Friday 17 January between 10am and 7pm or Saturday 18 January between 10am and 4pm to see the plans and give feedback. There will be free parking

Protecting Dorset Heathland

BCP Council and Dorset Council are jointly consulting on supplementary planning policy aimed at protecting areas of sensitive heathland in south east Dorset.

The Dorset Heathlands are an extensive network of lowland heath that are internationally recognised for their importance for nature conservation.

Evidence shows that the heathlands are under significant pressure from an increasing number of people living nearby.

As the population grows, human activity and damage caused by domestic pets, have the potential to cause ongoing adverse effects on these protected habitats and species.

The consultation runs from 3 January – 3 February 2020. You can view the consultation document on both council websites, in local libraries and at council offices.

BCP Council: or Dorset Council:

BCP Council is collating the responses on behalf of both Councils and emailed responses are preferred using planning.poole@bcpcouncil.gov.uk but you can send a response by post to: Strategic Planning, Growth and Infrastructure, Civic Centre, Poole, BH15 2RU.

All returns should be made by midday on Monday 3 February 2020.

BCP to trial using Fixed Penalty Notices

Fixed penalty notices can be used for several environmental enforcement issues to include littering, fly tipping, and flyposting. BCP Council already employ pro-active Community Safety Patrol Officers in designated areas who deter and address low-level crime and anti-social behaviour. These officers are accredited under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme.

It is proposed to launch a pilot scheme conducted over six months enabling the Bournemouth Town Centre officers to undertake environmental enforcement using fixed penalty notices, in addition to the key functions of their role.

A report will be produced at the end of the pilot period at which time a position for the whole of the BCP area will be recommended.

BCP Calculates its Tax Base

Under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and accompanying regulations, detailed procedures are laid down for calculating the tax base which will be used for calculating Council Tax.

The tax base for each of the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole individual areas is expressed as the number of Band D equivalent properties and will be used both to calculate BCP’s own element of Council Tax and to notify relevant preceptors such as the emergency services to enable them to calculate their own elements of Council Tax.

In addition to calculating the tax base for the BCP Council, a separate tax base must be calculated for each part of the Council’s areas to which a “special item” of expenditure relates. In BCP, it is considered that for example a Parish and Town Council should be treated as a special item for these purposes and a tax base is therefore also calculated for each one of them.

In summary, the Council Tax base for Bournemouth is calculated at 63,985, Christchurch 20,403, and Poole 58,609 Band D equivalent properties making 142,997 properties in total.

That means that Christchurch represents 14% of the total (Bournemouth 45% and Poole 41%).

It’s interesting to compare that mix with the make up of BCP Committees. For example, the Planning Committee has 15 members of whom 3 represent Christchurch. That’s 20%, which is close enough given that you can’t have half a person!

That 2020-21 BCP Budget

We still haven’t seen any detail relating to the 2020-21 BCP Budget.

BCP’s sister, Dorset Council, have produced some proposals for their 2020-21 budget including an overall Council Tax increase of 4%.

They envisage an increase in funding for adult social care to meet the forecast demand for social care for older and disabled people and in funding for children’s services to meet the forecast demand for support for children with complex needs and those in care

They forecast multi-million-pound savings through property rationalisation, reducing travel and transport costs, and a £3m reduction on expenditure through better procurement procedures.

BCP appear to be a bit behind

Smart Cities

Cities around the world are exploring what it means to be a “Smart City”, with places such as Singapore, Toronto and New York currently leading the way. In Europe, Amsterdam, Berlin and Copenhagen are considered exemplars, whilst in the UK, London and Bristol are our leaders

There is no universal definition of a Smart City or a ‘one size fits all approach’ but it is generally acknowledged that a Smart City utilises emerging technologies to help address local problems and challenges.

A Smart City or Place transforms the way that residents can live their lives, through the provision and adoption of digital applications and services.

Examples that are already part of our daily lives are Netflix, Match.com and eBay, which have all been possible because of better access to digital connectivity, improved data and analytics and advancements in mobile phone technology.

The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole region has a thriving economy, a world class natural environment and is an attractive place to live, work and visit.

More people are choosing to live in the area and people’s life expectancy is increasing. This is projected to continue for the next twenty years and will put increasing pressure on our transport systems, healthcare, housing, energy, communities and our environment.

BCP is facing challenges in how it manages its demographic mix (a larger than average elderly population combined with a younger population driven by the success of the two universities); its transport network; its economy (balancing the needs of a transient and seasonal tourism economy with growth in high value sectors such as advance manufacturing, creative & digital and financial services) and protecting its natural environment (balancing the requirements of a growing region with climate change ambitions)

A BCP bid has been submitted to Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership for funding to produce a Smart Place Investment Plan that will subsequently be used to attract significant inward investment of up to £1billion for the area to create a Smart Place.

The proposed Smart Place Programme for Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole will work with communities, the public sector, voluntary sector, academia and businesses to create a series of applications and services that residents and businesses in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole can use to transform their lives.

For example, there might be a support service, where people who need support are automatically connected with those who can best provide it.

An application has been developed for BCP Officers to remotely monitor cliff stability at East Cliff in real time. Data on soil movement is collected and transmitted to a computer which alerts Officers to irregularities, enabling earlier intervention measures.

An application is being considered that may enable Children’s Services to use historic data from a wide range of sources to predict and alert where early intervention may be needed as part of the Troubled Families Programme.

New Houses at Fairmile Road

Plans to build up to 167 homes on the REID factory site off Fairmile Road have been approved by BCP Council.

Under current proposals, none of these houses would be affordable homes even though BCP’s target is to have 35% of the houses in such a scheme classed as “affordable”. The sale of the site to a developer will help to fund the construction of a new REID facility at Bournemouth Airport. REID is one of the largest employers in Christchurch.

Fairmile Road is already a traffic bottleneck. The local schools and doctors are overloaded. The scheme doesn’t appear to envisage even a financial contribution towards increasing their capacity.

The relocation of REID to the airport is a welcome development but negotiating terms with them appears to have been a weak effort. By its own admission the company is very pleased with the outcome. It’s just a pity that it comes at such a high cost to the local community.

Changes in Garden Waste Collections

On 1 April 2020, the Dorset Waste Partnership will no longer be collecting garden waste. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP Council) will take over in Christchurch from this date.

To ensure a continued and uninterrupted service Christchurch residents need to register for the garden waste service with BCP Council. This can be done using the website link

The annual fee is £37.65 for a fortnightly service operating from 1 April to 8 December. A card payment will be required on registration as BCP Council do not offer a direct debit option. Ensure you register by 1 March 2020 to receive all 18 collections.

If you paid by Direct Debit for the garden waste service provided by Dorset Waste Partnership your details will be removed from the Dorset Waste Partnership system. You do not need to take any further action

Please also inform the garden waste team if you do not wish to register for the service with BCP Council, by going online or telephone on 01305 221040 by 28 February 2020.

Community Matters is produced and edited by a team of local residents who try to present you with the facts that will both keep you informed and enable you to make up your own mind on local issues
Jumpers and St Catherine's Hill RA

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