Community Governance Review

(Please note this consultation was undertaken on our old digital engagement platform - for transparency we have copied the text as shown below)

Have your say

We are consulting on draft proposals to create new parish, town and community councils across Bournemouth and Poole and to make some small changes to the existing town/parish arrangements in Christchurch.

Bournemouth and Poole are the only places in Dorset without town and parish councils. There are four parish councils and a town council in our conurbation already that focus on local priorities, projects, and activities such as improving parks and greenspaces, managing car parks and community centres, providing street furniture, Christmas decorations and community events and entertainment.

We want to hear your views

• Do you want a town and parish council in the area you live?
• Are the proposed boundaries right, or would you change them?
• Do you feel the community you live in is in the right parish or would you prefer to be a part of another parish area?

Before any decisions are made, we want to hear your views on setting up a new parish, town or community council in the following areas:

• Boscombe and Pokesdown
• Bournemouth Town
• Broadstone
• Poole Town
• Redhill and Northbourne
• Southbourne

And your views on existing parish and town council arrangements in the following areas:

• Burton and Winkton
• Christchurch Town
• Highcliffe and Walkford
• Hurn
• Throop and Holdenhurst

Throughout the survey there is space to provide your thoughts and to make alternative suggestions.

The consultation will close at 11:59pm on Sunday 22 June 2025.

First stage Community Governance Review Survey

A group of cross-party councillors reviewed the submissions we received from the first stage of the Community Governance Review. Testing each of the submissions against the review criteria, they came up with recommendations for new town and parish councils which have since been agreed for consultation by Cabinet and Full Council.

Town and Parish Council Tax

We understand residents would like to know the likely cost of a parish or town council. To give an indication, the average Band D council tax charge for parish level councils within Dorset and BCP in 2024/25 was £42.96 a year. The average parish council charge is 1% of the total council tax bill. The 2024/25 charges within the BCP area are as follows:

If a decision is made to set up new town and parish councils, then it would be up to that new council to set its precept. It should be noted that the level of council tax is not a determining factor in the Review.

Video

In this video you can see information about each of the proposals

Maps

The maps of the proposed parish areas can be seen in the documents below.

How to take part

Please tell us your views by:

• Reading the information in the draft recommendations document and completing the online survey which includes key details about each proposal.
• Paper versions of the information document and survey are also available in all of BCP Council's libraries
• Downloading a paper copy of the surveys hosted on this page in the 'Documents' section and returning it to the address below by the deadline
• Send us your views to the email address cgr@bcpcouncil.gov.uk
•  or writing to us at:

Community Governance Review Consultation, BCP Council, Civic Centre, Bourne Avenue, Bournemouth, BH2 6DY; or drop them into the 'Have Your Say' boxes in any of BCP’s libraries

If you are emailing your response to us, please entitle your response ‘BCP Community Governance Review 2025 – Response to Draft Recommendations’

Meetings

If any community groups would like to meet a council officer to discuss the potential impacts of the draft recommendations, please email us at cgr@bcpcouncil.gov.uk with your details so we can arrange a suitable time with you. If you have any questions or need the survey in a different format, please email cgr@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

The consultation will close at 11:59pm on 22 June 2025.

Next steps

After the consultation finishes, the Task and Finish Group of Councillors will carefully review all the consultation responses by judging them against the criteria in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The Council will then decide on the final recommendations for the Community Governance Review, which will be made through a Reorganisation Order. Full Council will make a final decision on 14 October 2025.