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.

Twelve people from West Howe are being selected this fortnight to decide how up to £20 million of government money is spent in their own neighbourhood over the next ten years. BCP Council’s published timetable puts the selection process between 10 and 21 August, with the board appointed and announced before 27 August. (BCP Council, Apply to get involved with Pride in Place in West Howe)

The chair is already in post. On 5 August the council announced that Rev Dan Washbrook had been appointed independent chair of the West Howe Pride in Place Board after an open recruitment process. (BCP Council, Independent Chair appointed to lead West Howe Pride in Place Board)

Timeline of the West Howe Pride in Place board appointments: applications closed 20 July 2026, chair interviews 20 to 24 July, chair announced 5 August, selection of 12 board members 10 to 21 August, board announced before 27 August
Graphic by The Bournemouth Post

Two of the three neighbourhoods are in Bournemouth

Pride in Place is a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government programme, and three neighbourhoods across the council area were selected for it: West Howe, Boscombe West, and Hamworthy West and Turlin Moor. Each gets up to £20 million over ten years, so up to £60 million across the three. (BCP Council, Pride in Place) Nationally the programme is worth up to £5.8 billion over ten years across 284 places. (MHCLG, Pride in Place Programme prospectus)

That makes West Howe and Boscombe West, both in Bournemouth, two of the three local recipients. Boscombe West is running the same board timetable, with its twelve members also selected between 10 and 21 August and announced before 27 August. (BCP Council, Apply to get involved with Pride in Place in Boscombe West)

The rules that stop it becoming a council committee

The prospectus is unusually prescriptive about who sits on these boards, and the rules are the interesting part. A neighbourhood board must include the local MP and at least one ward councillor. Over half of members must live or work in the neighbourhood. And there must be more residents and people who work in the area than there are elected representatives, so councillors and the MP cannot outnumber local people.

The council is the accountable body to begin with, but the prospectus expects every Pride in Place area to move towards a community-led model by year three, through a cooperative, community interest company or charity.

What the board produces is a Pride in Place Plan: a ten-year document setting out the neighbourhood’s priorities, co-created with residents, and it has a hard deadline. The three local neighbourhoods were named in the government announcement of 20 March 2026 (BCP Council response to the Pride in Place government funding announcement), and the prospectus requires boards in places named that March to submit their plans to the ministry for assessment and approval by 26 February 2027. That is roughly six months from the day the West Howe board is announced.

For West Howe, the local MP is Jessica Toale, member for Bournemouth West, who said the programme “has the potential to be transformational for West Howe” and that she looked forward to working with the chair to appoint the board.

What it means for you

If you live or work in West Howe or Boscombe West, the board being named in the next fortnight is the body that will decide what the money buys, from neighbourhood spaces and community buildings to local projects and events. The council’s own description keeps the list deliberately open, and the prospectus tells boards its list of interventions is not exhaustive.

The application window for board seats closed on 20 July, so this round is finished. What is not finished is the plan. The board’s stated first job is to engage residents and set the priorities, which means the consultation on what West Howe actually wants is still ahead. The council’s contact address for the programme is prideinplace@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.

Worth keeping in mind: this is up to £20 million spread over a decade, not a lump sum arriving this autumn, and the sequence matters. The plan is submitted for approval first, and it is due by 26 February 2027. Anyone who wants a say in what goes into it has the next six months to make the case.

For other decisions shaping these neighbourhoods, our Bournemouth planning news page tracks what is being applied for and approved, and Bournemouth house prices sets out what homes across the town are actually selling for.