THE idea of a monorail making its way through the streets of BCP has once again crept back into the limelight after it was suggested several times in the town centre survey.
Of the 2,700 people who took part in the survey asking for ideas to improve Bournemouth town centre, a number brought back the idea who decided to bring back the age-old debate of whether the town should invest in a monorail.
One person’s idea for better public transport included: “Free parking, trams, monorails or underground trains.”
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Another person suggested building a monorail to connect Bournemouth town centre to the Airport in Hurn. Along with the monorail idea, others suggested cable cars or autonomous vehicle.
Sir Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, said the basics of the town centre need to be addressed before investing in a monorail.
He said "Whilst I usually agree no idea is too silly to explore, there is a challenge here.
"Some will want to run with some super expensive infrastructure or mess around with local government models.
"I’d rather we focus on some fundamentals: clear the place up, police it properly and make it a place businesses want to come to.
"That means the council and police doing the jobs we pay our taxes to see done."
A monorail was suggested in 2006 by Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood who said it could run between Bournemouth beach to the airport stopping at the hospital, JPMorgan and the railway station.
He said at the time it would help alleviate growing traffic problems which he predicted would become a lot worse in “10 to 15 years time”.
Monorails were previously debated by Bournemouth council in 2018 after former councillor Mark Anderson asked for the feasibility of a light railway system.
He called on councillors to consider having a similar system to the skyTran scheme in America which would link Lansdowne with King’s Park, JP Morgan, Royal Bournemouth Hospital and the airport.
Former council leader David Trenchard said a monorail would help ease traffic on Castle Lane West.
BCP Council was asked if it would reconsider a monorail but declined to comment.
Another form of alternative transport that was suggested was a water taxi service along the shoreline of the three towns.
Jon Weaver, then Bournemouth council's marketing and events manager, first suggested a water taxi in 2007.
He said taxis along Poole Bay could help ease congested roads between Bournemouth and Poole.
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