Division and rancour over new town councils

BCP Council's overview and scrutiny committee has been examining the plans

A row over the creation of new town councils in east Dorset has rumbled on into a meeting of the committee looking into the plans.

The three new authorities in Bournemouth, Poole and Broadstone would act independently of the current Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council and have their own budgets and councillors.

In a recent consultation, 78% of the respondents living within the proposed area in Bournemouth said they did not want a town council established.

But those in favour said the new councils would bring benefits to residents.

A report to the committee said the consultation had 1,877 responses - a number opponents pointed out equated to less than 1% of the 400,000 population of the BCP Council area.

The report added "consultation responses are valuable but not definitive" and some of the views expressed were based on "inaccurate information or assumptions".

BCP councillors on the overview and scrutiny committee examining the plans were told by opponents the scheme was "an affront to democracy".

Former Conservative, now Independent councillor Karen Rampton, said her ward of Talbot and Branksome Wood would be split, with half going into a new Bournemouth Town Council and the other being subsumed into Poole.

She warned councillors Reform UK was rising in the polls and came second in a by-election in the ward last month.

She told the meeting "the electorate would remember, and that members who voted to approve the plans would likely lose their seats to Reform UK at the next local elections".

Green councillor Sara Armstrong, for Eastcliffe and Springbourne, said a Bournemouth Town Council would "totally undermine the existing community forum there which has already raised over £100,000 this year for local spending".

She urged members to allow the ward to have its own "community council" and not be subsumed into a larger town council.

Among those in favour, Lib Dem councillor Adrian Chapman-Law told members he wanted all areas of the conurbation to get "the same benefits as Christchurch and other [town councils]".

"...like festivals, markets, flower displays, cafes, sports pavilions, tennis courts, skate parks and football pitches," he said.

Neil Wedge, chief executive of the Dorset Association of Parish & Town Councils, said: "Dorset's existing network of 160 town and parish councils has long demonstrated the benefits of grassroots democracy.

"If implemented with purpose, transparency and genuine community engagement, these new councils could help restore local identity and improve responsiveness to residents' needs."

The board "noted the report" ahead of the cabinet voting to recommend the proposals go to full council on 14 October.