TMSTH Area Forum Meeting - 10th November 2025

Chair: Ray O’Luby

Secretary: Conor O’Luby

c50 people attending, including BCP ward councillors Toby Slade and Kieron Wilson. Cllr Lisa Northover gave her apologies

When asked how they had heard about the event:
3 due leaflets
9 website social media
0 banners
7 word of mouth

Ray: talks about Forum financial situation

1. Martin Whitchurch, BCP Strategic Lead BCP Greenspaces

Manages countryside team, nature reserves, not responsible for the mowers/hedge cutters 2500h greenspace in BCP. Great natural environment inc. heath, coast, woodland. BCP Greenspaces works for people and nature, trying to improve public access and maximise benefits for nature.

Partnership with Natural England, Defra, National Trust (NT is becoming more involved in urban areas). Parks Foundation etc. Local people should be involved in decision making, we want to enable local people to help their communities.

Work with community residents’ groups to access Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). In this ward there is £7000 for improvements, please put forward your ideas to the ward councillors.

Council wide plan for play strategy. 171 play areas across BCP. Annual budget £150,000 to manage them all. Financial pressures.

New design guide, all ages should be able to play.

In 2024, £3.9m community infrastructure levy allocated for play improvements (probably 33% of what we need for the whole area). Helps to address maintenance pressures. Problem is many play areas are very old in BCP, so they need a lot of maintenance money.

We created a ranking index to look at condition of play areas.

In the strategy we suggested reducing the number of playspaces down to c130.

Some play spaces are quite big, some small, we might remove some of the very small, lower quality ones.

Consultation: we had 600+ responses, including a couple of hundred children. We didn’t consult by ward, but by zones (where the boundary may be a main road, for example).

Stour Valley Regional Park

The idea seems to have gone quite. Had a consultation which is still valid. We had bids but weren’t successful. Would like to improve nature access, leisure options.

Millhams Mead - funding to improve access to nature.

Erlin Farm - near Hick’s Farm, we want to improve nature access here too

Throop SANG (Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace) - we think it’s been successful, mostly local people using it. There are EV chargers in the new car park. Wildlife monitoring suggests wildlife doing well. We’re getting money for tree-planting, volunteers working there. We will do some maintenance on gravel paths in new year Possiblly put a defibrilator in the car park.

Hicks Farm: we haven’t found a way to improve/ find a use. We’re still waiting for the insurance money to pay out for the barn that was set on fire.

We’d like to retain some of the buildings for our conservation team as they have been, need improvements. The Lottery bid failed for Eco-Centre.

Questions

Q. Trees maintenance? A. We let trees reach their maturity and then manage if they decline, we don’t top trees because this might allow disease in

Q. Fruit trees? A. Especially in hedges, we try to plant

Q. Abandoned council land near homes, Can we plant? A. If it’s council land contact me

Q. Sudden Ash Die-back, can we manage remove? A. I don’t know specifics, but you can contact the council if you’re worried that they pose a risk of falling and being a hazard.

Q. CIL for tree-planting? A. Yes, can apply. We want to plant more trees, but sometimes utility companies object. We want to plant along Boscombe High Street, but there are problems because of services under the ground etc. There is c19% tree cover in BCP, but it is declining.

Q. I live in Bradpole Road, tree branches reaching over into gardens. What can we do about those threatening to fall? A. No real easy answer. Depends on condition, if they look in poor shape, Council will potentially manage them. But if fine, we don’t want to chop them back. You might be liable if you damage the tree. If you’ve had a visit from tree team, the assessment will be logged.

Q. Trees covering lights? A. Tricky issue, we can’t simply damage the tree to deal with this.

Q. Cycle route to Hurn? A. Schemes ran out of money, they are still aspirations.

Q. Throop Mill? A. It’s difficult to enforce maintenance, despite conservation listing

A. Larger trees offer help in hotter climates, keeping temperatures cooler, reduce carbon

Q. Will we have to book in advance to visit rubbish tip? A. Not that I’m aware of. There is an app which tells you how busy the site is.

Q. Is BCP trying to be a nature town? A. We are trying to make BCP greener, with more tree-lined avenues, greener housing estates. We work with planning policy colleagues to strengthen green policy, including in the Local Plan. Most planning applications have to increase biodiversity, either on site or pay for elsewhere. SANGs offset pressure from development, we have high housing targets, to reduce pressure on heathlands. Upton Country Park, we’re adding new greenspace.

Q. Changing the character of the neighbourhood by allowing over-development. A. We have been told by government that we have to meet housing targets. We try to make these new areas as green as possible.

Q. Bradpole Rd play ground closure? It’s a well-used site. Please don’t close it. A. We haven’t decided yet about this area. Thank you to those who came forward to tell us about this during the consultation.

KW: Are we actually talking about Mallard Road? I’m not sure why the petition was generated to save Bradpole Rd play area, because we don’t intend to close it down. We’re looking to invest over £100,000 in this

Q. Berry Hill burial ground? A. No plans

Q. Hedgerows? A. We try to put in more hedges. Great Big Dorset Hedge scheme. They’re great for wildlife.

Greenspace links

www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/parks-nature-and-green-spaces/trees

bcpprojects.net

2. Councillors’ info Toby Slade: 15th December CIL deadline

Q. Can we have a bench top of Bradpole Road hill? Toby Slade and Kieron Wilson: we can look into it

Q. Vanguard Road has had car break-ins over the last few weeks. Very bad recently. We have CCTV footage. The Police tell us to fill in online form. Toby Slade: was with the Police in the ward last week, reporting is not very good, people feel ignored. You can ask us to bring it up directly with the local sergeant and team. The Police do try but are under-resourced, they often get pushed back from CPS, spend a lot of time filling in forms, not much front-line policing.

Q. We had a burglary, the police came from Poole. There weren’t enough in Bournemouth. Toby Slade: We have a small police team for a lot of people.

Q. Dog attacks increasing. E-scooters are also a problem, menacing, they should be licenced. A. Should put pressure on Police Commissioner to put pressure on Police.

Conor: These meetings don’t take place by themselves, they require footwork, money.

Q. The metal bars on entrance to Bradpole Rd have been removed. Now people can speed through on bikes. Toby Slade and Kieron Wilson: we will bring this up with Police Commissioner

Kieron Wilson: Plans for Town Councils. How many people were aware of the plan? (Nobody seems aware). The Council has voted for this, but I was against (as was Toby Slade) as I don’t think it makes financial sense. This means there will be a Bournemouth Town Council.

Q How does Town Council affect your position. Will you be Town Councillors or BCP Councillors?

Kieron Wilson: We could be BCP and Town Councillors at same time.

Q. Another layer of admin. Local people have been ignored, they didn’t want the Town Councils.

On asking audience who they would like to hear from at a future Forum, the following ideas come up: Millie Earl, BCP Council Leader Tom Hayes, Bournemouth East MP

Conor: Hold councillors to account but credit where credit’s due, Toby, Kieron and Lisa work hard. Kieron has been shortlisted for Young Councillor of the Year Award.

Kieron: Thank you, I’m looking forward to going with my Dad to the award ceremony.