CBC Roadshows

This week has been very interesting as it included two evening roadshows at Grange and Highcliffe. At both events I was really pleased to see so many residents who turned out despite inclement weather on both nights. I started the evening by getting Officers to run through the latest residents survey which is independently undertaken by Bournemouth University and which shows CBC in very good light based on the returns from residents.We then went through the finances explaining the challenges ahead and then on to key issues including waste disposal and the LDF core strategy. Then over to the residents for questions, the best part of the evening for me. At Grange we talked about housing conditions and housing need at length touching on the Councils necessity to see more affordable housing built and how this would effect Christchurch. A very lively but positive discussion took place and some real mutual understanding of the complexity of the problem. I really like the people in Grange down to earth straight talking and really engaged. I think we can make some progress in the discussions that are going on with the Housing provider.
At Highcliffe over one hundred residents who patiently listened to us make our presentation and then ambushed us about Chewton Bunny skate park. The local feeling runs very high against this scheme which is a real shame as it was put out for consultation by CBC with good intentions in respect of providing a place of interest for youngsters. The ridiculous position we as members found was that CBC were making applications on other owners land and so we quite rightly pulled it when the position was clarified. Despite this we took a bit of a beating but all in good heart and we were able to move on to other matters. All in all a very positive meeting and I am pleased to say we have received some good comments as to how we handled matters. We have one roadshow remaining and then we will review all the issues raised.