TOASTRACK SURVEY REPORT & CHARMAN'S REPORT

During the year there has been a lack of publicity in the Broadstone & Poole Community Magazine and the Poole Advertiser. The editors of both papers told me that they could only publish news of Broadstone if they were made aware of events. As a result I wrote to all or most of the organisations in Broadstone suggesting that the Residents Association would act as a conduit to the papers provided information on events was sent to us. The responses to my letters were either we will do the job ourselves or nil. The 13th September edition is typical of most of the magazines or papers. There is a lot of news of Wimborne, Ferndown, Verwood & Christchurch both in news of events and 'Out and About' but only one mention of Broadstone in an insert about a meeting of the Broadstone & Corfe Mullen Floral Decoration Club!! I know that there is a lot happening in Broadstone, so why not publicise the fact.

Lack of car parking space at Corfe Hills School has caused residents nearby to complain about the use of their road space for parking. The school had a policy of allocating only 50 car parking spaces to 6th formers. However, recently some additional parking has been allocated on the school site but the problem of parking in adjacent roads including Widworthy Drive persists. The school is very successful and popular and likely to increase in popularity, now it has been granted Technology status. We congratulate the school on its success but support the local residents in their campaign to get 6thFormers to park their cars on the school car parks.

Most residents will know something about Footpath 5, which crosses Broadstone Golf Club from opposite Corfe Hills School and 'Goes Nowhere'. Back as far as 1968 this Association has been doing its best to persuade the authorities to come to some arrangement with the golf club to get the footpath diverted so that it went somewhere. The outcome was that in March this year there was to have been a Public Enquiry to accept an arrangement made between the Golf Club and Poole Borough to divert the footpath alongside the defunct railway cutting. The Public Enquiry had to be cancelled due to an objection from English Nature, who quoted Section 28H of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 which they said precluded any access by the general public to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). In fact it is our belief that when Ashington Cutting is cleared, as is proposed by the Borough Management Plan, the general public will, in the absence of any formal footpath, follow the path extensively used and shown on the current edition of the OS map. Surely it would be better to establish a footpath as close to the cutting as is possible and thus minimise any damage to the SSSI. We wrote to English Nature giving those views and in their reply they simply rejected our reasoning. Presently the Borough of Poole appears to be doing nothing, which is disappointing. At the Executive meeting of this Association on the 2nd August considerable concern was expressed by the Area Wardens and Road Wardens at the extent of criminal damage to property in Broadstone. The most recent copy of the Neighbourhood Watch newsletter and the minutes of the Chamber of Trade all reflect the same concern. As a result of this concern a letter was written to the Police. Their reply wished to assure the Association that deterring acts of vandalism was not easy, and that they were ensuring the maximum patrol staff were available and adopting a high profile, with a visible patrol ethos. The reply went on to reassure residents that we enjoy a low crime rate when compared nationally. The author of this letter attended a later Executive meeting to allow members to question him; the result of which was to reveal that the low crime rate in Broadstone appears to be due to the reticence of individuals to report criminal damage. This appears to be due to difficulties in getting through to the police by phone. It was suggested that apart from 999 which should only be used if a crime is in the process of being committed, that you ring HQ and ask for the control room on 01929 462727. Should you have any continuing problems then ring PC Nick Wyer (Community Policeman) on 01202 227816.

The Association regularly attends the recently introduced Local Area Committee Meetings run by our local Councillors. These meetings are a useful addition to their attendance as guests, at our Executive meetings. A recent decision made at one of these meetings was to provide a Skate Park for the youngsters of Broadstone Hillbourne and Creekmoor. Members of the Youth Clubs attended the meeting and it was decided that the park would be constructed under the bridges on Broadstone Way, adjacent to B&Q. Broadstone residents should benefit when this Skate Park is in use, because it will hopefully reduce the number of skate boarders in the Broadway; and incidentally reduce the damage to property and injury to pedestrians. In early August the Local Government Commission began a review of Poole's electoral arrangements to ensure that every councillor represented roughly the same number of electors. We were consulted on this matter, since we were aware that for instance, locally, Creekmoor ward consists of 7056 electors and Canford Heath 10252; both represented by 3 councillors each. Other examples of discrepancies exist across the Borough. Over the Borough as a whole, there are 39 councillors and prior to 1997 there were 52 (before Poole became a Unitary Authority). At the Consultation we were presented with two possible options to consider, which addressed the discrepancies, Option 1 requiring 41 councillors and Option 2 requiring 42 councillors. Your Executive Committee voted for Option 1 requiring 41 councillors.

Your Association has been concerned for some time over the amount of litter deposited in almost every part of the village. Bottles, cans, crisp packets, chocolate bar wrappers, and much other rubbish. Not all of this rubbish is deposited by youngsters but a lot is. You may not be aware that it is an offence to deposit litter or rubbish in a Public place. The Borough Consumer Protection Service staff will be warning schools and people that those who deposit litter are guilty of an offence. The Consumer Protection Service staff will subsequently be making an example of one or more litter bugs by issuing summonses. So watch what you and others are doing. We would all be pleased to see Broadstone tidy as it used to be and if this is the only way of achieving this result so be it. Anyone witnessing a person dumping rubbish illegally should notify Consumer Protection Service Immediately.
Many residents will have voted in the Associations 'Toast Rack Parking Survey' by placing their completed slips in the box at the library. A group of your Executives counted the votes for each of the three options and the following were the totals for each

1. Block the Macaulay Road entrance from the Broadway and access to the Toast Rack car park to be from the Bus stop end of the Service Road and exit via the Service Road and Macaulay Road, Tudor Road, Kirkway. Number of Votes Cast: 63
2. Block the Macaulay Road entrance from the Broadway and access to the Toast Rack car park to be from the Macaulay Road, Tudor Road, Kirkway, Ridgeway approach and exit via the Service Road from Bus stop end of the Service Road. Number of Votes Cast: 328
3. Remove enough of the Broadway median island to allow an overtaking lane for South bound through traffic. Number of Votes Cast: 216

The Association will be sending the results of this survey to The Borough Transportation Department and our local councillors, with a recommendation to proceed with Option: 2

We know however that the implementation of this option will depend on available funds but together with Chamber of Trade we will keep the pressure on. In addition to properly completed voting slips there were a number of letters making alternative suggestions or objecting to one or more options. There was also one shopping list together with other miscellaneous rubbish, some spoilt voting slips and 46 unnumbered slips voting for one option, which were ignored. The letters have not been completely ignored but naturally cannot influence this survey.

Archive Winter 2001 | next

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