Protests outside BCP Council over new ward introduction

On Tuesday a protest was held outside the BCP Civic Centre to display opposition to motions introducing Town and Parish Councils later that night. 

The introduction of Parish Councils was voted to go ahead on the same day, where Bournemouth will be split into ten different wards allowing more local affairs to be dealt with.

Last June, there was a Community Governance Review (CGR) that intended to gather public opinion on the changes across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.  

Out of the 413 responses from residents living in Bournemouth, 78% of those disagreed with the motion to introduce Parish Councils.  

Introducing Town and Parish Councils will see an increase in council tax to locals, a main source for the protests that day. 

Full communal interest is difficult to gauge due to the low turnout of the CGR, with only 0.2% of the population of Bournemouth responding.

In a Cabinet meeting earlier this year Jeff Hanna, Councillor for West Southbourne,  said: “I don’t believe parishes will divide communities because that’s not how communities work.

“The name ‘Community Governance Review’ means absolutely nothing to anybody outside the council(…) in Southbourne when it was explained to people, they were on-board straight away”. 

When speaking to the Head of Democratic Services, Richard Jones, before the review took place he said: “I see the benefits of what a parish council can do.

“There is an argument that the larger the principal authority becomes, the more remote it becomes from the residents”. 

The transition into Parish councils would not stop any current decisions being made by local councils and would provide leverage to extra funding sources which may otherwise be unavailable.