Cllr May Haines has been BCP Councillor for the Canford Cliffs Ward since May 2018
There was a change in administration at BCP Council back in October 2020 and since then, much work has happened. We were keen to not see a repeat of the chaos over the summer season and set to work on a plan to deal with various different scenarios over the holiday period. We saw on some days our population nearly double from the number of visitors to our award-winning beaches. While there were still some issues with inconsiderate parking and traffic congestion, there were significantly less complaints about toilet facilities as well as litter.
Cleaner, Greener, Safer
Our latest campaign is our Cleaner, Greener, Safer initiative to bring back a level of pride to our town centres. We are working in conjunction with Poole BID to run a pilot to make it cleaner, repaint lamp posts, deal with fly tipping, remove graffiti from public property and improve the atmosphere to make the town a more attractive place for visitors, local or from a far.
Our fly-tipping pilot through WISE (https://wasteenforcement.co.uk), who specialise in environmental crime investigations, started at the end of August. So far, several penalty notices have been issues and many businesses have been visited to advise on how they need to manage their waste.
It has indeed been a busy start for our partner with the bonus that it is at virtually NIL cost to the council and our tax payers.
- If you see fly-tipping please report it to community.enforcement@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.
- More information on our Cleaner, Greener, Safe campaign can be found in the Cabinet Report of 29th September 2021 (PDF document).
Tackling anti-social behaviour
In conjunction with Dorset Police, there were operations in place to tackle anti-social behaviour. Most notably, Operation Sandman went off to a very busy start with the gathering of younger people at the start of the Easter weekend. The police were on hand to diffuse the situation before it became more difficult to control. Similar gatherings throughout the season have also been dispersed by the police with quite a volume of alcohol confiscated and disposed off in the process.
Cliff Drive cliff stabilisation
Another project that was successfully completed was the cliff stabilisation project along Cliff Drive. This was on budget and on time. If you are wondering why sections of the green space have been fenced off, it is to allow the rare grasses that grow there to regenerate. It is fair to say I had a lesson on this from the council’s biodiversity officer on these lesser spotted species.
Flooding
Several areas experienced flash flooding during the torrential rains in July. Our council flood management team worked flat out to restore order. As part of this it was discovered that some gutters were blocked or partially blocked. Most have now been dealt with. If you do experience flooding issues, please:
- contact flooding@bcpcouncil.gov.uk
- or report it via www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Roads-and-transport/Maintaining-our-roads/Extreme-weather/Flooding.aspx
It has been a busy few months, and it is hoped that things will slowly get back to a new normal post lockdown. We continue to work with your association on planning matters and other issues that are of concern to your members.
Cllr May Haines
BCP Council
c/o Town Hall
Bourne Avenue
Bournemouth BH2 6DY
Email: May.Haines@bcpcouncil.gov.uk