The Beryl Interview 1: with Cllr Philip Broadhead

The Beryl

Interviews

In the saddle: Councillor Philip Broadhead

What do you get if you cross a Beryl Bike with BH Living and a member of BCP Council?

Hopefully, some great views of our local area, some interesting chat and two people getting a bit of well-needed exercise.

In this edition of the Beryl Interviews, BH Living’s Brian Case is cycling with Cllr Philip Broadhead, Deputy Leader of BCP Council and portfolio holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning. We’re hoping to get some insight into the latest hot-topics to cross Cllr Broadhead’s desk over recent weeks and his thoughts on all things local.

On a hot July morning, I met up with Philip by the Beryl Bay at Two Rivers Meet Christchurch, I was keen to find out what plans BCP have for regeneration and employment in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole areas as we all emerge tentatively from the pandemic, so after hiring out our Beryl Bikes we set off through Christchurch.

Stopping by the old gas works site next to the council offices, I pointed out that in a small space of just 500 metres we have both an area of outstanding beauty at Stanpit, the Christchurch Nature Reserve and also the now derelict brownfield site which one day may be up for development.

quite rightly keen to get on with development but ‘we as a council need to look at these plans and see what is right for the public’. He added the council needs to speak with fellow councillors, as well as the town council, to see what is needed to suit the residents; what type of housing, access to the river area etc.

“We also have a problem with flooding and are in a flood zone here so we all have to work together to see how all this fits into the local regeneration” Philip said. On the employment front he also said we have the leisure complex and the old gas works brown site by the river, both areas where business can thrive in the future, offering employment to local residents which is what the area local plan will be looking at.

I asked Philip if nature and business can sustainably live side by side? “Absolutely” he said, he went on to say that they had recently met up with the new owners of the land who are

Cycling down over the bridges past the Castle Ruins and into the High Street I mentioned to Philip that recently in Southampton they have introduced free parking after 6pm in certain council car parks to help encourage business growth in the city. I asked if BCP was considering something similar to help out our High Streets?

He said the council have been putting in a tremdious effort to help support our High Streets during the pandemic with bounce back grants and events including the new Festival Coast Live events taking place across the three towns to help encourage people back onto the High Streets.

On parking though he said that is an interesting question. He went onto say that today the High Street is buzzing and we need to keep that growth going. The council are looking at the possibility of a parking offer which would try to help

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keep that growth continuing into the winter. He did stress ‘no promises though’. He added it’s not all about parking, it’s also about bringing life back into the High Streets and recent statistics showed that our area does now have one of the biggest bounce backs, in terms of High Street recovery in the UK and that is something we need to continue.

I pointed out that locally we have four separate BID’s (Business Improvement Districts) each serving their own part of the area and I asked if he felt one BCP wide BID would better suit our area? He said he felt they all work well as they are, as each understand their own areas, he said the council works with all three BID’s plus the steering group for Christchurch BID, so they hear directly from local businesses what their needs are in their own given areas.

We continued cycling up through the high street up to Bargates pulling up outside Cameron’s, I wanted to ask about the shortage of skilled and low skilled workers. I quoted a recent Dorset LEP press release (15 July) which said Dorset had ‘an exponential growth in job vacancies in Q2 of this year when over 20,500 vacancies were advertised in the county, however as reported by the BBC employers complained of significant skills shortages creating barriers for local growth’. I asked how he could see this being tackled in BCP?

Philip seemed aware of the latest stats. “It’s a huge problem” he said. “It’s great that so many job opportunities are being created with businesses growing at an unprecedented rate but not having enough people to fill the jobs is a huge problem”. He went on to say that they have just started talks on looking at a cross Dorset Skills Commission, getting all the players together such as councils, higher education, LEP to see where the shortage of skills is and then tackling the issue on the ground, this is however in the long term.

More immediately he said we have our Local Economic Development Team working on the grants and bounce back schemes to help fill that skills shortage. I asked if he felt the University and Colleges could do more improve on their current engagement with local businesses. He said he believed they wanted to, “we’re so fortunate in our area to have three universities in our local area and there is lots of opportunity which we can’t afford to lose” He did agree we should be doing more to get everyone around the table and discusses what skills the areas need and what they can offer and all work together to help local employers.

Back on our bikes, we were getting thirsty but we avoided the opportunity of popping into the Railway pub for a drink and instead went to the Railway Station. Here I was keen to talk about if our congested roads are having an adverse effect on businesses looking to relocate to our area and also workers who can sometimes spend much of their

time in traffic instead of working. We have the wonderful Beryl bikes and regular bus services but traffic seems to be continually increasing - could discounted rail travel be the answer I asked?

Philip said that getting around our area is key to economic growth. If anything, as we have come out of the pandemic our roads are actually even more congested. The rail network locally is underused and he went on to say that the council is now in advance discussions with the rail networks not just looking at ‘offers’ but more of a mass transit metro style network increasing the frequency of local trains in our region. He added that if you wished to get from Christchurch to Poole then the quickest way is on the train but with only one or two trains an hour that is not very appealing.

“We currently have a £100m transforming travel fund which is not being ‘anti-car’, it’s more about getting around” he said. “Most journeys are under 2km so if we encourage people to walk or even cycle, like us on our Beryl Bikes today, then that helps sort much of the car congestion problem. We need to look at a myriad of solutions utilising bikes, buses, walking, trains etc so those people who need to use their cars, like many of the elderly for example, can do so in a much more pleasant way”.

Finally, I asked if the council are listening to local business? Philip said its not just about listening to local business but also to listening to local residents, he said in the past there has been a feeling that ‘we know best’, this has to change, we need to start listening to local people and find out what their needs are.

It was great spending a couple of hours out in the open, no parking fees, not sat in traffic, and enjoying some exercise on the bikes. I remembered my helmet, mask, even hand sanitiser but somehow, I’d forgotten my bottle of water, a quick walk home and the kettle beckoned.

Interviewed by Brian Case, post covid restrictions July 2021

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