Month: May 2020

Following a year where Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has faced significant difficulties, the new Leader of the Conservative Group, local businessman Councillor Drew Mellor, has announced that the Conservatives will be supporting a vote of no confidence at the forthcoming Council meeting on Tuesday 9th June. Explaining the reasoning behind the move, Councillor Mellor commented: “Over the last year we have seen several high profile disagreements within the ruling seven-group coalition, leading already to a number of resignations. This has left the Administration in even greater difficulty as it becomes harder and harder to satisfy the divergent wishes of each group and individual.  The Conservative Group already make up almost half the Council. Having consulted with a number of councillors outside our Group, we have reached an agreement…

As Leader of the Conservative opposition for BCP I would appreciate the opportunity to comment on two recent Echo articles both relating to the precarious financial position BCP Council finds itself in as a result of Covid-19 and the differing financial responses reported. Firstly, as a clarification, the Conservative Group has asked the Council to explore accelerating the planned economies of scale and duplication of back office functions “Transformation Plan” in order to take some responsibility ourselves for delivering a more efficient Council rather than waiting to be bailed out by Government. Additionally we have asked that consideration be given to maintaining the Town Hall as a civic hub but not to spend £20m - £26m refurbishing the office space behind the Town Hall and instead to buy an existing…