From April 1 2018 Christchurch became part of the BCP Council, a unitary authority, by combining with Bournemouth and Poole. There had been considerable discussion, not to say argument, about this merger.
Click the image to see a full account of that lengthy process. A very brief summary is below.
- It began with the proposal in February 2017. In order to gauge local opinion, a consultation took place between August and October.
- This came out in favour of the merger.
- Many Christchurch councillors and residents were not happy about this, and an unofficial survey took place, distributed to local households. the results were strongly against this merger:
Total poll: 53%; FOR: 3321 votes (15.82%); AGAINST: 17676 votes (84.18%) - Despite that, and after a failed judicial review the merger was upheld.
