Next Issue

The next issue of The Village is currently being written - more soon. Its been very busy for us councillors especially with two of our number in the Cabinet. Check out The Village for all our news.

Winter Gardens

On Friday, the Council voted to rescind the decision of the previous administration to go ahead with the controversial plans for the site of the former Winter Gardens. Conservatives have campaigned against this are are delighted with the decision.

Read the Daily Echo article here:
http://www.thisisbournemouth.co.uk/display.var.1394227.0.we_need_a_proper_plan_for_the_town.php

Thank You

Election Results: Conservative candidates John Beesley, Barry Goldbart and Ian Newport were returned as councillors for the Westbourne and West Cliff ward on May 3rd. The three Conservative candidates enjoyed a considerable majority over the nearest other party candidates. Councillors Beesley and Goldbart have been appointed to the Cabinet and Councillor Newport to the Planning Board.

Councillor Newport says "We would like to thank all those people who helped us during the campaign, our agent Wendy and of course the voters in the ward who supported us. Now the hard work really starts, but I am confident that with such a big majority on the council we are finally in the position to get things done".

See all results on the Council website: http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/atlas/

Student Block on the Winter Gardens Site

First we won – then we lost – then we carried on fighting!

Local residents have been horrified by the Lib Dem Council’s plans to build a massive student block at the back of the former Winter Gardens site.

Together with residents in Cranborne Road and Tregonwell Road, the Conservative Ward Councillors have led the fight to change the Council’s mind. The impact on many people in the area will be severe, both from the building itself and from the introduction of housing for 163 students to this quiet and tranquil part of the town.

Ward Councillor, John Beesley, said ‘This has to be one of the worst pieces of planning I have witnessed on Bournemouth Council. The residents in the area really do deserve much better than this in a planning application from their own Council.’

He continued, ‘Whatever your views on the need or viability of the proposed development, if it is going to happen it must be of the highest quality to pass the tests required by planners and the student block clearly does not. It does not satisfy a number of local planning policies and is contrary to the adopted strategy for the site which has only just been adopted by the Council.’

Ward colleague Cllr Barry Goldbart said, ‘The Council’s own policy states that the students should be housed on the part of the site facing out onto Priory Road. This would be across the road from the BIC and well away from the local residents and the many smaller family hotels.’

Ian Newport, who is a Conservative candidate for Westbourne & West Cliff Ward in the local elections said, ‘The Council consulted local residents on the strategy for the Winter Gardens site and having agreed it, then decided to move this student block as near to the local residents as possible. Why should local residents be treated like this just so that the Lib Dem Council can rush through a decision only days before the local elections? It’s a disgrace that the Council should behave in this way and I am sure that a Conservative Council will do everything possible to get the student block removed’.

Residents in Cranborne Road and Tregonwell Road have been extremely robust in fighting their corner and have spoken at both of the Planning Board meetings and the full Council meeting when the decision was made. The Bournemouth hoteliers’ own trade association are also strongly against the student block and brought a deputation to the Council meeting. Local residents are in the process of taking their own action to try to get the student block stopped and are backed up by almost all those living in the area whose homes will be blighted by this dreadful scheme. The residents and local hotels in this part of the West Cliff will continue to receive the fullest support from the Conservative Ward Councillors who will also look at every means possible to try to stop the development of this unwanted and unnecessary student block.

Licence Application Refused

There’s some excellent news from your Conservative Ward Councillors in helping to lift the threat of more anti-social behaviour near your home on the West Cliff.

The license application for the Cliff Court Hotel – now renamed ‘The Last Resort’ – has been refused by the Council’s Licensing Board. Even though the application was scaled back after pressure from the police, there were still major concerns about crime and disorder and public nuisance. Further pressure from local residents and your Conservative Ward Councillors all helped to send out a clear message that late night noise and disturbance is not acceptable on the West Cliff.

Fears that ‘The Last Resort’ would bring the worst elements of Bournemouth’s nightlife to this quiet and tranquil residential part of the town were felt to be justified and the likelihood of inappropriate public entertainment taking place was also found to be totally unacceptable.

Your Conservative Ward Councillors are extremely pleased with the decision. Cllr Barry Goldbart said, ‘If this application had been granted as proposed by Stag & Hen UK Ltd all our worst fears would have become reality.’

Cllr John Beesley who represented residents and nearby hotels at the hearing said, ‘This result is very good news and sends out a clear message that inappropriate license applications will not be acceptable on the West Cliff.’

The residents of Admirals Walk were represented at the hearing by a licensing solicitor and the refusal showed what can be achieved when residents work together with their Ward Councillors.

Ian Newport, who is a Conservative candidate for Westbourne & West Cliff Ward in the local elections, said, ‘We shall need to remain vigilant and look out for any other similar attempts to attract inappropriate late night drinking and entertainment, likely to cause noise and disturbance to local residents in the local area’.

The Daily Echo report can be found at http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/search/display.var.1326490.0.stag_party_hotel_fight_pays_off_for_residents.php

Candidates for 2007

Westbourne and West Cliff Conservatives announce their three candidates for the local government election on May 3rd. Councillors John Beesley and Barry Goldbart will be seeking re-election following a successful four years as ward members. Councillor David Baldwin will be retiring and The Village editor Ian Newport has been selected as the third candidate. Ian, 30, is a local barrister and current chairman of the Conservatives in the ward.

(Promoted by Wendy Keene MBE on behalf of Bournemouth West Conservatives, both of 135 Hankinson Road, Bournemouth).

The Village

With the election coming up on May 3rd, there will be no further paper editions of The Village until after the election. The Village is now being published online on this site. Visit the link on the left of this page.

Yellow Buses

As our readers will know, Bournemouth Council recently sold Yellow Buses to Transdev, a French operator. Since then, a number of changes to bus routes have come into force. The changes to Bournemouth's bus services in Alum Chine and on the West Cliff are a real body blow to many local residents who depend on them as their only form of affordable transport.
For much of the year, Alum Chine now has no bus service after the late afternoon and no service at all on Sundays which has resulted in some of the most vulnerable and elderly residents becoming isolated in their own homes. On the West Cliff, where the service has been reduced to one per hour, the buses are now often full to capacity, meaning that those who are reliant on the service often have to wait a further hour for the next bus. Concerns have been expressed that the operators do not appear to have fully taken seasonal variations of demand into account. A large proportion of bus users in the area are elderly residents, many of whom cannot be expected to walk far. The majority are on low and fixed incomes and rely on public transport as the only means of leaving their homes or to go shopping for essentials. The forthcoming closure of Waitrose in Westbourne will make their plight even more difficult. In Alum Chine there are also many young people on low incomes, living in flatlet housing, who are totally reliant on public transport for getting to and from work, often travelling at unsocial hours to work in local hotels and restaurants. Tourists and visitors to the remaining hotels and guest houses in Alum Chine who arrive in Bournemouth by public transport are also marooned if they want to go very far.

The Ward Councillors have been lobbying hard ever since the changes were first announced earlier this year to try to persuade the Council to provide subsidy to support the reinstatement of these vital social routes. Councillor John Beesley, speaking to The Village, said, “Recently we met with Derek Lott ( MD of Yellow Buses) on behalf of the residents of Westbourne and West Cliff Ward and there is no question of Yellow Buses or any other bus company reinstating the necessary services either now or in the future without subsidy from the Council going to one of the operators. However, our efforts have now achieved a review by the Council which is a start”.

The Village joins with the Ward Councillors and urges all residents in Alum Chine and on the West Cliff to continue to write to the Council so that these routes are reinstated as a Council priority. Cllr Beesley went on, “For our part we shall continue to press the administration to provide financial subsidy to support these socially essential routes and allow eligible residents to properly participate in the concessionary travel scheme. There really is no case for further delay and we hope the Council will act fairly and responsibly to restore a proper service as soon as possible”.

New Homes Everywhere

Government targets for new homes are being pushed through the Regional Assembly and forcing Bournemouth to ignore what local people want for their communities. The amount of new development currently being allowed by Bournemouth Council is even higher than the targets and is adding to urban cramming at the rate of over 1,000 new homes a year. With so little investment in Bournemouth's infrastructure and no extra funds available anyway, many residents are very worried about the ever increasing pressure on our roads, transport, sewerage and utility systems.

The pace of development is very strong in Bournemouth as developers see the town as an easy touch for pushing for ever higher densities of housing on every available plot of land. The town is being targeted by developers who realise their plans are unlikely to be turned down by the Council for fear of the cost of losing at appeal. Conservatives are calling on the Council to create a reserve fund from part of the windfall gain from the sale of Yellow Buses to help call a halt to the changing character of Bournemouth. Such a fund would effectively insure the Council against the cost of planning decisions being overturned at appeal and strengthen the resolve of the Council in being far more critical of the inappropriate overdevelopment of much of our town.

Pensioners Penalised

The Government have given Bournemouth Council new funding to use for the extension of the concessionary travel scheme to everybody aged 60 and over provided it is used after 9.30am.

However the existing scheme introduced by Conservative Councillors allows the over 80's to travel at any time and this important concession is being removed by the Council. It's being kept for the blind and is being extended to those who are partially sighted.

This anomaly has been pointed out to Town Hall bosses as being unfair, unnecessary and mean-spirited, but they will not reverse it.

The Conservatives are acutely aware of the importance of this early morning freedom for elderly residents, many of whom rely entirely on public transport to get around Bournemouth and Poole. Conservative Cllr John Beesley attended meetings to put the case for pensioners and brought the matter to the attention of the Cabinet and Council but the Lib Dems were adamant that this valued concession would be taken away. Cllr Beesley said, 'It is very disappointing that the Lib Dem Council will not listen and change their minds. This existing concession was provided for in the Council's budget and they will give only the flimsiest excuses as to why they will not keep it, despite the budget being underspent. It only affects the over 80's and the cost is tiny - it really is mean-spirited to take early morning travel away from these elderly pensioners.'