MEDIA RELEASE

BCP and Dorset Motorists Group score a victory with BCP Council

Tuesday 3 June saw the BCP and Dorset Motorists group petition being read out to the full BCP Council and subsequently debated.   This was a significant victory as we needed more than 2000 signatures to force the Council to hear our petition at a full Council meeting.  

Many councillors indicated that they agreed with the overall sentiment of the petition, in that motorists’ interests and requirements are being overlooked whilst those of the very small minority cyclists are being prioritised by this council.

After an hour of discussion, the council voted to pass the contents of the petition to the Local Transport Plan 4 which is run by the same group of councillors who created much of the havoc and congestion in the first place.  The Motorists Group  has little faith in that process and it is more likely that our petition will be carefully parked in the long grass and ignored.  Not only ignored but consistently rejected by this active travel focused council. Which of course follows their mantra of declaring a climate emergency as their first action on becoming BCP council.

Increasingly the public are beginning to realise that terms such as ‘Climate Emergency’ ‘Net Zero 2050’ and ‘Active Travel’ are wasting peoples’ time and money in the UK and will have no effect on the world’s climate. 

The size and number of people who signed a petition has raised the whole issue amongst not only the council but the wider public so that increasingly we are gaining support and our ultimate aim is to make sure that needs and requirements of motorists is considered proportionate with our use of the road network.  Many  say there is no ‘War on Motorists’ however many people think that that is just not true and that there is little short of a war on Motorists by BCP Council.

Our Petition

As local residents and motorists we are both very concerned and apprehensive about the current transport and infrastructure policies being implemented by BCP council. This petition is to highlight our lack of confidence in the management of our local roads by BCP Council. We call on BCP Council to review their current local transport strategy and ensure in future that it is proportionate for all residents and not just those that support Active Travel.

Currently, local residents and businesses are suffering excessive delay, disruption and inconvenience caused by the poor planning and management of our local roads by BCP Council. The construction of extremely expensive and obviously under-utilised cycle paths, along with a huge numbers of local Roadworks , all being carried out at the same time with minimal co-ordination by BCP Council are real and major issues. As a result the quality of local residents lives are being severely and adversely impacted. Accessibility for the less mobile and elderly , who for them the car is their only option. is also significantly reduced. The repercussions of these BCP policies fail to deliver the expectations and needs of our local community. It's not just about congested streets and increased drive times, It’s not just about more carbon emissions rather than less, it's about how these BCP policies are impacting the safety, environment and overall quality of life in our region. As stated by the UK Department for Transport, each year we are seeing an increase in road traffic in Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) area compared to the national average. This indicates that the existing policies are not mitigating transport issues and need to be reevaluated. Moreover, critical decisions affecting thousands of motorists and residents appear to lack the inclusivity and transparency that's required. We feel our voices and concerns are ignored. Therefore, we call for the BCP council to reevaluate current transport policies and provide a transparent, inclusive decision-making process and develop a partnership with all local  road users not just those of Active Travel. Help us champion the cause of improved infrastructural planning and strategies by signing this petition.

Thank you Madam Chair

This petition asks BCP Council to review its current transport and infrastructure policies. Launched in December 2024 , it quickly obtained 3261 signatures.

We started it because of a real lack of confidence in the current management of our
local roads by BCP council.

We have recently seen several major , lengthy and expensive infrastructure projects in support of Active Travel initiatives. For example , just one mile of completed cycling infrastructure can cost £5.5m!!

Views expressed in the public consultations for these were frequently ignored and the original council proposals implemented.

As a result, residents, businesses and trades especially those in Poole, have experienced
significant delay, disruption and inconvenience to their daily lives.

Many arterial roads have been severely narrowed with reduced access for the Emergency services. Many bus lay bays have been removed , buses now stop on the main carriageway causing increased traffic congestion.

Several Council Cabinet members said their aim is to remove 50% of cars from BCP’s roads. This is a huge concern to residents, 83% of whom use a car regularly.

BCP”s approach and mantra to the construction of these cycling infrastructure projects is “ if we build them they will come “ .

However, they remain virtually empty.

Residents have real concerns over the gradual creep of 20 MPH Zones throughout BCP. Currently 77 such zones. We understand that the target number is 120. It will be an effective blanket 20MPH speed limit.

20MPH zones are appropriate near schools and in proven accident black spots  but should operate only on a part time basis outside schools. They are certainly not required 24 hours a day/ 7days a week!

Utility Companies need to be held more accountable. Works should be completed within agreed timescales and repairs durable and fit for purpose. Most potholes are as a result of poorly reinstated surfaces following utility companies work.

BCP should review its routine roads maintenance programme to ensure co-ordination in terms of timing and location to minimise traffic disruption.

There are several practical steps that could be taken to ease congestion in BCP especially at peak times.

Firstly ,the introduction of a Free School Bus programme for all students under 18 This would greatly alleviate pressure at school drop off/ pick up times and reduce the need for Mum/ dad’s taxi services!

BCP could also implement a comprehensive review of current Traffic Light phasing and necessity Residents familiar with Fleetsbridge Roundabout know traffic flows better when the traffic lights are not working!

BCP and Dorset motorists group fully support all aspects traffic enforcement by the police as outlined in our group mission statement.

We represent a large often silent ignored group of Road users.

All we are asking is for BCP Council reviews its current transport and infrastructure
policy to ensure it is fair, equal and proportionate to all road users.

Please listen to your electorate - “ stop the war on motorists!! “


Thank you!

I think there are two distinct aspects to this. Firstly, there has always been a synergy between our group and our colleagues in the LPPA. We both are having to deal with a BCP Council Administration that frequently ignores the opinions and wishes of the majority of residents. They do this in pursuit solely of their own personal agendas and ideologies. The LPPA group exists to protect the history, heritage and customs of Poole park for the people of Poole….and of course to reopen the gate. Our group has always recognised that BCP Council in closing the Park Gate against the wishes of a large majority of local people was also closing a road. This denied an important access through the gate is discriminating against Motorists, the elderly and the less mobile. BCP unilaterally took this action as a part of their ongoing “ war on motorists “ and their continuing appeasement of the vocal but small cycling minority. Our group is against closing roads / LTN’s when they are clearly against the wishes of residents. On that basis we are very happy to fully support the “ Open Poole Park Gate” or OPPG Campaign. As such we will now  include that objective in our group mission statement and look forward to working with others to ensure that the gate is reopened for the benefit of all.

Recently we saw a newspaper article, following a Freedom of Information request regarding the Active Travel spending by BCP.  However the numbers I was sent following a Freedom of Information request are completely different.  The newspaper quote £18.9m whilst the FOI response I got showed that £70 million has been spent.  I am confident that the newspaper is quote the figures they got, but why are council publishing different figures to different people? 

If they can’t get figures like right or even the same what hope have we got for getting the truth from the Council. 

This is an extract from my FOI

1.      How much money had BCP spent in total in the last 5 years on Active Travel Projects (any projects that deliver cycle lanes, for example Ringwood Rd), please include the all the relevant salaries and staff costs for those involved in bidding and delivering these projects.  ANSWER
£70,062,362 Note this includes approx. £14m TCF grant allocated to Dorset Council

2.      How much money has been received from Central Government, directly and indirectly over the same period to directly deliver these projects. ANSWER
 £90,568,849 Note this includes approx. £14m TCF grant allocated to Dorset Council

BCP are rolling out the 20 mph limits, apparently they have 77 so far, with many more to follow.  Their current tack is they want these ‘close to schools’ and where there have been a number of ‘serious collisions’.  On the face of this, this doesn’t seem unreasonable.  Interesting that the most recent proposed zone is quoted by BCP as the ‘most serious area for collisions’ if this is the case why wasn’t this the first area, rather than the 78th?  It is clear that is not BCP’s real aim and that they would have preferred blanket 20mph across the conurbation and when this was muted by the council a poll conducted by the Echo indicated that this was opposed by 82% of the population, so they realised that this would have a great deal of resistance.  Next we were next told that BCP would not go for a blanket 20mph but only in residential streets, which sounds fine until you realise that nearly all the roads in BCP have houses on them and are therefore ‘residential’, so in effect any other disguised blanket limit.

BCP have now moved the policy on to ‘close to schools’ and where there have been serious collisions.  Their idea of close to schools is not the 100 meters either side of the gates as you might expect but much further away, I have seen suggestions of a mile or more.  This again pretty much includes all of BCP when you draw 1 mile radius around each school, so again a blanket limit, by stealth. 

If schools are the real concern, then they should replicate Dorset County Council’s policy and have the 20mph limit when the schools are open, not 24 hours a day 365 days a year and only within 100 meters of the school gates.  Most younger children still arrive and leave school in mum’s car and the driving and parking of mum or dad’s ‘taxi’ which often leaves much to be desire in terms of road safety around school gates. We even have a well know Councilor, who videos these events outside schools, although we now know he is ‘not acting as a councilor’ when filming children outside schools.

On the issue of serious collisions, if we want no collisions, we ban all vehicles. There has to be a reasonable balance between effective travel and road safety, although I think some councilors and other activists might want to ban all private vehicles.  If the council reviewed the road collision statistics, they would see that these show, that despite the number of vehicles on the road increasing every year the number of collisions and deaths reduces every year.  The UK is without doubt one of the safest countries in Europe and the World to be a road user, as a result of the year on year reduction in collisions.

So why are BCP so anti motorist, well it stems from the fact that they declared a ‘climate emergency’ in 2019 and their councilors and officers have openly stated there are too many cars on the road in BCP and they want to get 50% of them off the road.  This is why they are implementing a number of anti-motorist measures; 20mph, LTNs, increased parking charges, removal of bus lay-bys, reducing road widths and removing road junctions.  They want you the motorist off the road, through an undeclared ‘war on motorists’ although they will deny that this is the case.  With the 20mph limits close to schools they have the real option of having these operating only during school hours to protect children, but they won’t and it is clear what the real agenda is and children safety is not the issue. 

We support road safety.  We would like to see a number of measures; proper school buses for all children to reduce congestion and improve safety outside schools that is frequently sadly lacking at the end of the school day.  Better road safety training at schools, increased enforcement of existing laws; get illegal e-scooters and e-motor bikes off the road.  All too often we see existing laws being openly flouted in front of the police who seem to do nothing about it.  We understand that Dorset Police have no intention of even attempting to enforce the 20mph limits, so this becomes more of a suggestion rather than an effective piece of legislation.  Our worry is the more laws that are ignored, then respect for the police and the law is eroded and that is increasingly apparent to us all every day.