POOLE could be getting a town council in the not-too-distant future, councillors have said.
The process of setting up a town council could begin before the end of the year, Poole councillor Mark Howell said.
Residents living in a town council area would have to pay an extra tax for living in that area, but in return more can be done in the area.
Christchurch has a town council, established following the merger of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch councils to BCP.
- What are your thoughts on a Poole Town Council? Write a letter for publication to letters@bournemouthecho.co.uk
Cllr Howell said: “My understanding is that the process is going to come forward this autumn, although I've not heard anything definitive.
“It's imminent and it's been made more pressing by the fact the government has asked us about devolution.”
He added there are plenty of benefits to residents living in a town council, despite the extra cost. For comparison, Christchurch residents pay between £46.82 and £140.46 a year towards the town council.
Cllr Howell added: “At the moment a lot of people just think that [BCP Council] do the parks and the roads and the things that they can see.
“They don't understand that we have to spend 70 per cent of our money on social care and children services.
“A town council is much more transparent because it would do the things that people see and you’d certainly better be able to hold the councillors to account.
“It it would mean more money is being spent on the services that aren't just adult social care.”
At a meeting of cabinet members, councillors discussed the possibility of where a potential Poole Town Council would be based. They ruled out Poole civic centre, the former home of Poole borough council.
But on the basis that a town council would be smaller with fewer staff and councillors than a borough council, an alternative would have to be found such as the Guildhall in Market Street.
BCP cabinet member Mike Cox, who is also a Christchurch town councillor, said: “The Three Towns Alliance are all about pushing power down to the lowest level, as far as I’m concerned.
“And this is pushing power down to the lowest level. How that lowest level operates is important and we need to make sure that money is well spent.
“When it gets down there, we can’t have it being [for] vanity projects.”
Council leader Millie Earl said a community governance review put to cabinet may lead to “residents coming forward with [...] their views of democracy”.
She added: “It may be that everyone says BCP meets all of our governance needs and therefore we don’t need any parish or town councils.
“But it may be that places like Poole or Bournemouth want to have a similar governance structure as Christchurch.”
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