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  BCP Draft Local Plan update : 6 March 2025

  • After the initial hearings, the Government Inspectors have concluded that they do not support the plan at Stage 1 of the examination.​

    • "After very careful consideration of all the evidence...we have unfortunately concluded that the Council has failed the Duty to Cooperate in respect of the preparation of the Plan​."

    • "The Local Plan as submitted...seeks to deliver 1,600 homes per annum. However, this...does not meet the 2,806 homes per annum...housing need calculation for the local authority."

  • It seems likely that BCP will now have to withdraw the plan from examination - we will update residents once we know more.

  • The Inspectors’ letter outlining the reasons and the options open to the Council has been published on the BCP Draft Local Plan examination website and is available at the link below.​

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  • Further background information is available on the News & Initiatives page of this website.

​11 Mar 25

FCRA Annual General Meeting : Thurs, 6 Mar 

  • Probably one of our best meetings to date with +70 attendees

  • Thanks to everyone who turned up and we look forward to seeing you again at our next meeting on Thurs, 5 June

  • The agenda included our first FCRA Community Awards

    • Congratulations to the winners: Mike Bird, Marion Crawford, Sonja Ware, Phil Harris and Anne Jacob​​​

  • There were three votes and each item was approved:​

    • The 'Lest We Forget' memorial bench

    • FCRA rule amendments (updated rules available at the link below)

    • Re-election of the existing committee

  • Our guest speaker, John Ward, talked about the progress being made with the All Saints Church rebuild and the various fundraising initiatives​​​​​​

​9 Mar 25

Two Riversmeet (2RM) Leisure Complex / Christchurch Civic Centre 

  • The sale of the Civic Centre has resulted in the closure of the 2RM West car park on 13th Feb with the loss of approx 1/3 of the total car parking spaces available.

  • FCRA has flagged the loss of this amenity but there is little we can do about the reduction in parking.

  • Following this we have investigated the current pedestrian Right of Way (ROW) from Bridge St towards Stanpit Marsh, which is outside the boundaries of the Civic Centre sale.

  • Due to the poor state of the ROW, pedestrians and cyclists have had to traverse the car park; now that this is closed, access to the ROW is effectively blocked.

  • Your committee has taken up this issue and created a detailed position paper (available at the link below) and escalated the matter to senior levels of BCP drawing attention to their legal requirements under the Highways Act  to maintain the ROW. This route is also an officially designated National cycle way.

  • The matter is now with BCP and we will provide an update when possible.

Water Pollution Update 

  • There has been huge recent coverage in the press and social media about sewage and phosphorous/nitrogen levels in Christchurch harbour, and accusations of sewage being discharged directly onto Friars Cliff beaches.

  • In the December 2021 edition of Forum, FCRA wrote an article on the sewage/phosphorous/nitrogen situation as we saw it at the time.

  • The situation is evolving and FCRA has written a new article which provides an update.

  • A copy of this article is available by clicking the link below.

2025 Member subscriptions

  • We are now offering the option of paying your annual membership subscription by direct debit. 

  • The current system of cash collection puts a considerable burden on our network of road reps, so if you can move to the new system we would strongly encourage you to do so.  The road reps will continue to collect subscriptions in cash from those not signed up as we migrate.

  • We have set our annual subscription for 2025 at £5 per household; however, many households choose to pay more than that, and we are very grateful for this.  We have therefore set up the system with four alternative annual subscription amounts (£5, £10, £15 & £20) so that those who choose to pay more can continue to do so.

  • We are using GoCardless to manage our direct debits.  To set up your direct debit, choose your subscription amount and follow the appropriate link:​​​​​​​​​​

  • You will then be asked to fill in your details, and that is it!  The payment selected will be collected on 1 April each year unless and until you let us know that you want to cancel or amend.  We will email members each year before the collection date to give time to cancel or amend their direct debit before the next collection date.

  • If you are able to move to the direct debit system, it will help us enormously if you could set up your direct debit as soon as possible, and in any event by 15 March. 

  • If you have any problems or questions, please email enquiriesFCRA@gmail.com.

  • Many thanks for your continuing support.

FCRA Action List â€‹

  • An up-to-date copy of our latest Action List is available by clicking the link below.

FCRA Members' FACEBOOK Group 

  • If you are a Residents' Association member PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS GROUP using the link below

  • The page will be a quick way of communicating local issues, events etc - including those mentioned above

Upcoming Events

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