Councillors who represent us on the five councils which currently run the South East Dorset Conurbation are meeting this month to decide on the way forward for local governance and decision making. Our democratic structure relies on them to accept and welcome the need to modernise and to react accordingly.
The Uniting the Conurbation group urges them to consider the major issues that a unitary authority for the whole conurbation must tackle and to ensure that we at last have a framework of government which ensures that best use is made of our collective assets.
The current situation has allowed the divide between some business and residential areas to become blurred and perhaps the greatest problem we have is traffic. We must be wasting millions of pounds each year in valuable time and resources when we make even the shortest journey.
Three priorities shout at us. We need the outer Christchurch by-pass from Blackwater to Hinton Admiral to be designed, the land acquired and the new road put into the building programme. We must not allow new building in Christchurch until the traffic flow problem has been addressed. We also need the Ringwood to Bere Regis dual carriageway to be agreed and included in the road build programme to stop further deaths on this road and to ensure a constant traffic flow across the conurbation. Moreover it is vital that urgent consideration is given to the North Bournemouth Relief Road which would link Ringwood Road and Dorset Way with the A338 and the outer Christchurch by-pass.
It is important that the people selected to stand for election to the new body have vision for the future and can be trusted to take an overall view of what is best for the conurbation in which we live and work. However, the cabinet style of government adopted by the present unitary councils is not popular with many councillors and seems to place an unfair burden on cabinet members. A return to the apparently more democratic committee structure should encourage the right people to become involved.
Our newly elected Councillors will have to discuss the precise boundaries of a new unitary authority with our neighbours and with the Local Government Boundaries Commission. There would seem to be a good case for taking in the A338 as far as Ringwood and then westwards in the direction of the A31, looking at what is most appropriate for the communities on the edge of the South East Dorset Conurbation.
We need to lobby for a trunk road linking us to the M4, which is essential to support tourism, Bournemouth Airport, the Port of Poole and our core industries.
The new unitary authority must take this vibrant conurbation forward as an economic and employment hub by planning for the growing needs of housing and industry, promoting and supporting our universities and making our airport and ferry port more accessible. The future is exciting and together we can secure the very best outcome for future generations.
John Probert
