4.3 - A prosperous economy

Our area is home to over 15,000 businesses and in 2019 there were 193,000 people employed in the area. A high proportion of jobs are within the finance, engineering and manufacturing, and health and social care sectors. 

The government expects us to set out a clear economic strategy for the BCP area, which encourages sustainable economic growth. We have prepared an Economic Strategy which aims to create an inclusive and vibrant economy. The draft strategy has a strong relationship with the Dorset Local Industrial Strategy and Dorset Council’s Economic Strategy.

The draft Economic Strategy for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole has six key themes:

• Economic recovery - responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and supporting new ways of working

• Flourishing people and communities - boosting wage potential and developing skills

• Productive businesses - supporting business growth, inward investment and knowledge-based businesses

• Globally, nationally and locally connected - infrastructure investment and digital coverage

• Creating a vibrant city region - digital and cultural led transformation

• Looking to the future - supporting the Smart Place programme with the use of digital and mobile technologies

The Local Plan will help to support the delivery of our economic strategy. It will identify strategic employment sites for local and inward investment to match the strategy and to meet employment needs over the plan period. 

In terms of anticipated growth, forecasts were produced in Summer 2020. The forecasts estimated that between 2018-2038, 11,000 jobs would be generated in the BCP area which equates to a growth of around 5%. More recently, national forecasts are now suggesting a more positive outlook with a significant bounce-back in the short-term. We are currently reviewing our employment evidence which will provide further detail about the level of growth and the future of employment land provision across the BCP area and parts of Dorset. It will help to determine the amount and type of employment land that is needed, and the different sectors of the economy which are expected to grow.

There are a number of employment sites in locations which lie outside of protected employment areas. These are regarded as isolated employment sites, and some may not be particularly well-suited to continued employment use. Redeveloping these sites for other uses could offer an opportunity to help meet other development needs, such as care homes or housing and improve the amenities of neighbouring residents. 

However, these sites do form part of our employment land supply and it may be appropriate to consider the viability of isolated employment sites for continued employment use. Where a site is no longer appropriate for employment uses on grounds of viability, local character, impact of the employment use on amenity or location, a policy approach could consider applying a priority hierarchy of alternative uses including health or care-related uses; other uses which generate employment; or other forms of housing.

Offices could also be considered as isolated employment sites where they lie outside of protected employment area or town centres. However, offices now fall under Use Class E and can flexibly change to other uses within Class E without the need for a formal planning permission including residential. 

Visitors to the BCP area are crucial to the local economy, bringing spend into the area and providing employment. The Local Plan will need to consider how to maintain a sufficient range and supply of visitor accommodation to help sustain a competitive visitor economy into the future. Economic investment plans such as Lansdowne, Poole Town Centre, Boscombe Towns Fund, Seafront Strategy will fuel demand for new hotel stock. Government policy indicates that visitor accommodation and facilities are “main town centre uses” and should therefore be directed into defined centres.

We are currently gathering evidence on hotel and visitor accommodation which will inform future policy on new hotel developments and retention of existing hotel stock. The work is at an early stage and the issues need to be examined and discussed further before policy approaches on visitor accommodation are consulted upon. The options above give a broad indication of the type of issues that could be considered in future workshops and consultations.

Prioritising central Bournemouth would give a clear direction to the market regarding our priorities. We could consider designated core hotel frontages along parts of Bournemouth town centre where existing hotels would be protected, and new hotels would be encouraged. This would provide a focus for new development and encourage hotel development. While there are fewer hotels within Poole and Christchurch town centres, we could consider areas where existing hotels within these centres are also protected. Alternatively, we could allow hotels to redevelop alongside the provision of residential uses or give consideration to a more flexible approach to assist in the exit of poorer quality hotel stock which does not have a realistic future.

Visitor attractions help to support the visitor economy and make the BCP area an attractive destination. Government policy sets out that leisure, entertainment, cultural and tourism development are "main town centre uses" and therefore should be directed into defined centres.

A range of visitor and cultural attractions exist across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. However, our evidence suggests that trips to museums/art galleries is relatively low, with significant leakage to London. The BCP Cultural Enquiry identified the opportunity to enhance cultural infrastructure across the area creating a network of cultural hubs. We are now setting up a Cultural Compact to help drive this work forward and the Local Plan will support the creation of cultural hubs within the town centres.

Your views on this document will help shape the draft of the Local Plan for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. To respond please visit: 

 haveyoursay.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/localplan 

Please respond by Monday 25 March 2022