Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a unitary authority area in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that were previously administered by the unitary authorities of

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

and

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

, and the

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non- ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. The authority covers much of the area of the South Dorset conurbation.

Background

Bournemouth and Christchurch are

historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of the county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, whilst Poole is historically a part of Dorset and was a

county corporate A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Wales, and Ireland. Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing county-empo ...

. By the mid 20th century the towns had begun to coalesce as a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

, and in the 1974 Local Government Act the three areas were brought together under the

of Dorset, whilst still forming separate districts. In 1997 Poole and Bournemouth became unitary authorities, whilst Christchurch remained within

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

. The new authority was formed as a result of local government reorganisation in the ceremonial county of Dorset. Under the plans, dubbed "Future Dorset", all councils within the county were abolished and replaced with two new unitary authorities. One was formed from the existing unitary authorities of

and

, which merged with the non-metropolitan district of

to create the unitary authority to be known as Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. The other was created from the merger of the existing non-metropolitan districts of

Weymouth and Portland Weymouth and Portland was a local government district and borough in Dorset, England. It consisted of the resort of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland, and includes the areas of Wyke Regis, Preston, Melcombe Regis, Upwey, Broadwey, Southi ...

West Dorset West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council was based in Dorchester. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and ...

North Dorset North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. It was largely rural, but included the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Stalbridge and Sturminster Newton. Much of North Dorset was in the River Stour v ...

, Purbeck and East Dorset to form a new

authority. The plans were supported by every affected body except Christchurch Borough Council, which formally opposed the reorganisation and unsuccessfully challenged the proposals in the High Court. Several

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

councillors in Christchurch were suspended from the party for their opposition to the plan, with several of them subsequently standing as independents in the 2019 election.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council

Statutory instruments for the creation of the new authority were made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 25 May 2018, and a shadow authority was formed the following day. The shadow authority was composed of the existing borough councillors from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, as well as the county councillors representing Christchurch. The shadow authority had 125 members, and first met on 6 June 2018. However, a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission's reduced the number of wards for the new authority to 33 multi-member wards, with 76 councillors in total. The first elections took place in 2019 alongside other local elections, and led to the Conservatives holding the most seats but lacking a majority, meaning that the council was under no overall control. Subsequent to the election, the Liberal Democrats, the second largest party in the council, led the creation of the Unity Alliance Administration, made up of the Liberal Democrats (15), Independents (11), Poole People (7), Labour (3),

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

(2) and Alliance for Local Living (1). The Unity Alliance therefore had 39 members, the number required for a majority. The remaining councillors, belonging to the Conservative Party (36) and

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...

(1), remained in opposition. However, two Unity Alliance councillors died in 2020, and two Poole People councillors left both their party and the administration, leaving the administration in minority; a vote of no confidence in council leader Vikki Slade was subsequently passed, removing her as leader. A new leader was elected on 1 October 2020.

Geography

The authority lies in the South East of the ceremonial county of Dorset around 150 km from London. Dorset as a whole is part of the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

region of England, which is used for statistical purposes. The three former boroughs are all historically seaside towns with tourism playing an important part in the local economy. Bournemouth and Poole lie north of

Poole Harbour Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley ( ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest bei ...

, whilst Christchurch contains

Christchurch Harbour Christchurch Harbour is a natural harbour in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England named after the nearby town of Christchurch. Two rivers, the Avon and the Stour, flow into the Harbour at its northwest corner. The harbour is gen ...

, with the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

and

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...

to the East and

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

to the South and West.

Climate

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole has an Oceanic Temperate Climate. The presence of the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the Unit ...

ensures that the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

maintain an all-year-round ambient temperature, and, because of its position on the south coast of England, the area has slightly warmer winters and cooler summers than settlements further inland.

Demographics

South_West_Hampshire_&_South_East_Dorset_Green_Belt

The major settlements within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and

Merley Merley is a large housing estate in the unparished area of Poole, a mile (2 km) south of Wimborne Minster. Originally called Myrle, Merley was a manor in the tithing of Great Canford (or Canford Magna). The village merges with that of Oakle ...

/ Oakley. Within the ceremonial county of Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole are the largest two settlements, whilst Christchurch is the fourth, after Weymouth. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole roughly overlaps with the South-East Dorset Conurbation, although the latter also spreads to the former East Dorset Borough and parts of the

New Forest district New Forest is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Lyndhurst. The district covers most of the New Forest National Park, from which it takes its name. The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Lo ...

of Hampshire. As such, the area lies within the South West Hampshire/South East Dorset Green Belt, created between 1958 and 1980, which regulates environmental and planning policy to manage development expansion.

References

External links

* {{Unitary authorities of England Local government in Bournemouth Local government in Dorset Unitary authority districts of England Local government districts of South West England