Bournemouth News
The latest Bournemouth news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
Bournemouth Poet Ella Dunthorne: 28 Poems on Recovery
Bournemouth writer Ella Dunthorne's debut, It Starts with a Spark, holds 28 poems on mental health and recovery. She tells us why she published it herself.
More stories
Kinson
ElderFest Bournemouth: Free Kinson Fair on Monday 12 October
ElderFest comes to Bournemouth for the first time on 12 October: over 30 organisations, flu and Covid jabs and a tech amnesty at Kinson Community Centre, free.
Business
New Bournemouth Companies: 170 Registered in September
170 new firms registered at Bournemouth addresses in September, up from 118 in August: a Charminster Road bistro, a Westbourne café and a cycle workshop.
Seafront
SoBo Beach and WestBeach: Council Picks Unnamed Bidders
SoBo Beach's lease ends on 31 October and WestBeach has stood empty since May. Cabinet backs unnamed operators for both on Wednesday; Full Council decides.
Boscombe
Churchill Gardens Café: New Charity Operator From January
Minstead Trust, a charity whose cafés give work to neuro-disabled people, takes over the Churchill Gardens café in Boscombe from Joy Café in January 2027.
Property
Bournemouth house prices down £6,142: flats at a 2021 low
The average BCP home fell £6,142 in a year to £310,094 in July. Flats dropped 4.1% to their lowest since 2021, while Dorset and the New Forest held level.
Planning
BCP Local Plan: 2,980 homes a year, Green Belt in play
BCP must plan for 2,980 homes a year, almost triple the 1,100 built last year. Town sites fall 14,100 short, so Green Belt north of Bournemouth is in play.
Roads and Travel
Holdenhurst Road: Plan to Bar Through Traffic, Say by 9 Oct
BCP Council wants Holdenhurst Road open only to buses, taxis and local access between Lansdowne and the station. Comments close on 9 October 2026.
Parking
Bournemouth Blue Badge Pause: Apply Before 27 September
BCP Council stops taking new and renewal Blue Badge applications on Sunday 27 September until 13 October. Renew now if your badge expires before mid-November.
Parks
Bournemouth Play Areas: Five Rebuilds and When They Reopen
Noyce Gardens, Kings Park and Mallard Road are due back mid-October, Muscliff starts 29 September and Churchill Gardens in October. Setley Gardens is next.
Bournemouth Pier
Bournemouth Pier Safety Work Starts 21 September
Bournemouth Pier stays open by day while around 600 metal grilles are lifted out overnight from 21 September. The first phase should take 11 to 12 weeks.
Education
BCP School Transport Rules Rewritten: Have Your Say by 7 Oct
BCP Council's draft school transport policy widens personal travel budgets and ends yearly reapplication for most families. Consultation closes 7 October.
Transport
BCP Local Transport Plan: Where Bournemouth's £112m Goes
Highways maintenance takes £49.3m of the £112.3m BCP has to 2031. The tram is feasibility work only. Every Bournemouth scheme in the adopted plan, named.
Seafront
Bournemouth Beach Lifeguards: Four Beaches Left to 27 Sept
Nine BCP beaches came off lifeguard cover on 6 September. Four run to 27 September. The KidZone scheme reunited 59 people this summer, in 13 minutes each.
Christchurch
Christchurch Harbour Bathing Bid: Defra Deadline 15 Oct
Anyone can apply to designate Christchurch Harbour a bathing water. Defra's deadline is 15 October, and the season the evidence comes from ends 30 September.
Planning
BCP Planning: 9th Slowest of 296 Councils in England
BCP says its planning service now beats national targets, and the latest quarter did. Across 12 months the government ranks it 9th slowest of 296 in England.
schools
SEND Inclusion Bases Open at Eight BCP Schools This Year
Four new Specialist Inclusion Bases open at Muscliff, Bethany, Pokesdown and Somerford primaries in 2026/27, three Boscombe and Poole infant schools convert, and Manorside in Parkstone adds 10 places.
Business
New Bournemouth Companies: 118 Registered in August
Companies House logged 118 new firms at Bournemouth addresses in August, from a Charminster Road shawarma bar to a Winton coffee company. BH8 leads.
Parks
Kings Park Play Area Rebuild: £186,200, Done Mid-October
Contractors started on site at Kings Park on 1 September. The £186,200 rebuild brings a zip-wire and a wheelchair accessible roundabout by mid-October.
Council
BCP Council forecasts £27m overspend and freezes spending
BCP Council forecasts a £27m overspend, 'a real threat' to its financial sustainability. Non-essential spending stopped in July; Cabinet meets 2 September.
Property
Bournemouth house prices: down £5,116 as neighbours rise
The average BCP home fell £5,116 in a year to £312,162 in June, while Dorset, the New Forest and the UK all rose. Flats fell hardest, down 3.1%.
Roads
Kinson One-Way: Bennion and Ibbett Change on 3 September
Bennion and Ibbett roads become one-way north to south from 3 September, with a 20mph zone across four Kinson streets. BCP Council made the orders on 19 August.
Events
Bournemouth Fireworks Back On: Beach Display 28 August
The Bournemouth beach display goes ahead at 10pm on Friday 28 August, and the council has added a fourth date on 4 September to replace the cancelled one.
Events
Bournemouth Fireworks Cancelled: Next Display Is 28 August
BCP Council has cancelled this week's displays at Poole Quay and Bournemouth beach over wildfire risk. The last two of the season are now 27 and 28 August.
Weather
Hosepipe Ban in Bournemouth? No, but Much of Poole Has One
Checked 24 September: much of Poole is still under the Wessex Water ban, Bournemouth Water has none. The line runs through Poole street by street.
Parks
Bournemouth play areas: Noyce Gardens shuts 21 August
Noyce Gardens closes on 21 August for a £181,500 rebuild, back by the end of September. Four Bournemouth play areas share £606,400 under BCP's Plan for Play.
Community
Beaufort Community Centre reopens in September
BCP Council has taken over the Southbourne centre after the association surrendered its lease in April. Parts reopen next month, but childcare is not returning.
Parking
Bournemouth parking fines hit £160 on seafront to 31 Aug
Seafront penalty charges doubled to £110 and £160 until 31 August. The same trial last year cut tickets on East Overcliff Drive by 72 per cent.
Community
West Howe Pride in Place: £20m board named by 27 Aug
The 12 residents who will steer £20m in West Howe are being chosen this fortnight and named before 27 August. Boscombe West is picking its board too.