Bournemouth Town Centre Citizens’ Panel reflect on the highs and lows of a busy summer

Bournemouth Town Centre Citizens’ Panel reconvened for its third session to discuss the busy summer, learn more about the financial challenges the council faces and share their spending priorities. 

The panel, which was set up by Bournemouth West MP Jessica Toale in partnership with BCP Council Leader Millie Earl, includes 50 local residents selected at random to mirror the demographics of the area following an open call earlier this year. 

Around 250 people applied to be on the panel, and those not in the room were invited to share their thoughts about the town centre over the summer via an online survey – which over 200 people responded to. 

Jessica shared the results of the survey with the panel at Patch on the first floor of Bobby’s on Saturday. Three quarters of respondents shared a positive experience they’d had in the town centre recently which included time spent in the gardens, dining out at The Botanist, The Ivy and independent cafes, as well as listening to buskers and live music. Others mentioned shopping in Bobby’s and the markets and summer events.

The survey asked respondents for their experience of crime in the town centre, with 13.5% saying they had been a victim – or had personally witnessed - a crime. The majority had not.  

“The perception of crime in Bournemouth town centre does not match the statistics,” explained Jessica. “Statistically, Bournemouth is a safe place – with crime reducing year-on-year, backed up by the responses we’ve seen in my summer survey. But it’s clear that many people don’t feel safe, and it’s important we try to understand, and address, that.” 

One panellist suggested that the official crime stats do not accurately represent the prevalence of crime as people may not report crime because of lack of faith in the police or not wanting to/being able to complete an online firm. Others flagged the role of the press in influencing perceptions of crime and the town in general.

Jessica said: “We’ve seen a lot of out-of-town columnists and national journalists reporting Bournemouth as a somewhere people are too afraid to go, neglecting any of the positive news this summer. The fact that 3.8m people visited our town centre in July alone as the town came alive with excellent events, or the increased efforts to keep our town safe with extra police presence, town pastors and town centre rangers.” 

BCP Council spoke to the panel about the financial challenges it faces and challenged panelists to prioritise where they’d spend limited budgets, and where they’d make savings. There was broad agreement that library services deserved investment due to the bigger role they could play in communities – not just a place to borrow books. And, like many of the survey respondents, a clean and well looked after town centre was important requiring investment into waste and recycling and street cleaning. 

Some were surprised to learn that the town centre has almost 150 bins (not including the seafront) that are emptied twice a day. They highlighted the lack of attention for some of the planting and green spaces outside of the gardens, and discussed the role of volunteering. 

The session, on 20 September 2025, ended with panellists suggesting what they wanted next month's session to be. Ideas included inviting the BID and town centre councillors along to share the work they’re doing, to hear from the big landowners who hold much of the property in town, and the charity sector which plays a key role in ensuring our town is safe, vibrant and cared for. 

Richard Eastham, from Bournemouth-based Feria Urbanism which is helping lead the sessions, said: “It was another great session full of energy and ideas and, as we said at the start, we’ll be shaping the agenda for the next session with input from panellists at this session.

"At the end of this, we will have a deliverable action plan to help improve our town – co-created by a representative group of residents. But, perhaps more importantly, we’ll have a group of ambassadors who can engage their communities with the ongoing efforts to help our town thrive.”