PLANS to “brighten up” and improve the town centres in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) will be discussed this week.
BCP Council is considering proposals to jet wash pavements, install planters and local artists’ artwork in public areas, enhance street lighting and create a variety of events – all designed to draw more people into the town centres.
Multiple projects to improve the three town centres will be considered at the next meeting of BCP Council’s Cabinet this Wednesday (October 2).
Bournemouth Coastal and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), and Christchurch Town Council were asked to submit proposals to help deliver long term benefits to the town centres.
Also encouraged were projects which would seed fund new ideas and unlock new opportunities that improve the look, feel and safety of each town centre as well as improving digital infrastructure.
Council leader of BCP Council, Millie Earl, said “Investing in our town centres is a high priority for us, and we’re really pleased to be able to provide this one-off funding for projects that will deliver long term benefits to the town centres of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
“This is about enabling our partners to create and deliver these inspiring projects, and I am excited to see how they will add to the ongoing positive work to revitalise our three town centres.”
Having received a one-off additional revenue grant from government in February, the council approved £358,000 to work with partners on projects that lead to long term improvement in the town centres.
This finance is set to be boosted by over £98K in match funding from the BIDs on most of the projects. There will be no additional or ongoing revenue pressure to the council.
1. Safety. Provide a better police presence to crack down on shoplifting, bike theft etc. 2) Ban electric scooters and enforce “no cycling”. 3) Street markets and fairs add a cheerful atmosphere. 4) Encourage buskers and street entertainers. 5) Reduce cost of parking and business rates-maybe make 1 day free.
Firstly, you need to deal with the junkies, drunks and homeless people causing so much crime that no one wants to go into the towns as they feel so unsafe . More active police presence and severe penalties for those caught committing crime would be a great start. You then need to consider reducing the rent so that small businesses can actually afford to open and stay open. Reduce parking fees by half to attract more people in to town would help with the footfall.
Get rid of those horrible uneven bricks all the way down the high street. They are a danger ! I have seen many people trip on them.
Seeing the mess they have made with Wimborne Rd from Barclays bank to the new inn. We don’t seem to have any one in the council who have any intelligence in efficiency. Why waste so much of our council money on stupid projects when we have tons of rubbish all along our parks and pathways and no effort is being made to get the over paid contractors to clean any of it up.
Safe place for bikes. They spend millions on cycle routes but have nowhere safe for bikes. Mopeds etc. dealing with the never ending homeless drunks druggies. So older people feel safe. Things like chilli markets or homemade products special weekends
Try cleaning up your car parks and stair ways to the shops with some of the money you take from car park fees.