Boscombe Spa Village - New Leisure Facilities

The area was named ‘Boscombe Spa’ in the 1800’s because the properties of the nearby spring were said to be a health tonic.  We want to return the area to its former glory and become a modern day Boscombe Spa Village - an attractive and relaxing place for Boscombe residents, the people of Bournemouth and for visitors to our Town.

Boscombe seafront already has a lot going for it.  Many people are proud to live close by, thanks to Boscombe’s unique character and strong community spirit. It is a popular family choice during the summer, has an expanding housing market and visitors who return year after year.

However, outside of the summer months the seafront at Boscombe is quiet and relatively lifeless with a number of buildings in need of renovation. 
Already, we have applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a much-needed face-lift of Boscombe Chine Gardens, to restore the historically stunning Victorian landscape.

Over the years there have been many suggestions for revitalising Boscombe Pier and seafront, and a number of private sector schemes have ultimately not proved viable.
 
Bournemouth Council has taken the most achievable of all the ideas to develop a realistic vision for the future and put Boscombe back on the map.

How will Boscombe Spa Village be created?

The Bournemouth District Wide Local Plan allows a housing scheme at Honeycombe Chine, as a way to pay for leisure improvements in the surrounding area.  This gives the potential to spend up to £9million on new or restored facilities and attractions.

In addition to an already thriving local community, the Boscombe Spa Village area will become full of life all year round.  

Visit Bournemouth Council website for more information

Boscombe Spa Questions and Answers

See also

Boscombe The Victorian Heritage by J A Young

20 April 2004

Uproar at seafront scheme green light

A PACKED council meeting ended in uproar on Monday night (April 19) after town planners gave the green light for 169 flats and new leisure facilities at Boscombe seafront.

Outraged local residents stormed out of King's Park Primary School following three and-a-half hours of heated debate over Barratt's controversial plans for Honeycombe Chine.

The council intends the housing to pay for an £8 million package of leisure improvements including a shortened, refurbished pier, and a pier entrance building housing restaurants and family attractions. The package should also fund Britain's first artificial surf reef.

Director of leisure and tourism, Stephen Godsall, admitted that Boscombe seafront had been "a difficult nut to crack", prompting 50 years of debate.
He stressed that the new Boscombe Spa Village scheme could create 35 new jobs and warned: "There is no plan B."

There was standing room only as planning board members listened to deputations both from those in favour of the scheme and those opposed to the plans.

The Wessex Region of the Federation of Small Businesses, Bournemouth Tourism Action Group and a seafront restaurateur spoke in support of the proposals. But local residents expressed fears that the scheme would devalue local properties and create parking and traffic problems.

Representatives from local residents' associations voiced their concern over the stability of the cliffs and claimed the proposals were in breach of the local development plan. Boscombe hotelier Debbie Utteridge said: "Roads in the area are already jammed with vehicles. This huge development will increase the problem." She also slammed plans to reduce the number of car-parking spaces by 96.

East Cliff ward councillor David Clutterbuck had a stern warning for board members: "If you pass this tonight you will regret it for the rest of your lives."

Moving the officers' recommendation to grant planning permission for the scheme, subject to conditions, Cllr Roger West said: "I have not heard one single planning reason why this proposal should not go ahead."

Cllr Ron Whittaker said he was unhappy with the detailed design of the housing scheme, which he described as "a prison block". Cllr John Beesley expressed concerns over parking and transport provision while Cllr Beryl Baxter said she was concerned about the "adverse effects" the development would have on the cliffs.

Cllr David Smith said he didn't believe "a wholesale leisure scheme" was needed to regenerate Boscombe.

Cllr Neil Russell urged members to support the scheme.

Chairman Ken Mantock was heckled when he said he would be voting in favour of the scheme because there were no planning reasons to reject it.

The board recommended approving both the residential and leisure schemes which will be debated again at tonight's full council meeting.

Tonight's decision will be referred to the Government Office South West.

21 April 2004

Councillors backing leisure development

OBJECTORS to plans to redevelop Boscombe seafront are pinning their hopes on a public inquiry after councillors gave the scheme their backing.

Bournemouth Borough Council approved 169 Barratt homes at Honeycombe Chine and leisure attractions around the pier on Tuesday (April 20).

The council endorsed a decision made at a heated meeting of its planning board the night before. But the final decision could rest with the government, which will consider whether the scheme is a departure from the town's local plan.

Labour group leader Cllr Ben Grower, who was barred from the debate because his house is near the site, said: "This is just the beginning. We now know there will be a full public inquiry into this development, which the people of Bsocombe don't want."

Alf Redland, vice-chairman of Boscombe Cliff Residents Association, said: "After waiting 50 years, please do not make the mistake of rushing into these proposals. Better to wait a little longer so as to make sure it meets all the requirements."

John Barker, co-chairman of Bournemouth Civic Society, said the residential development would be "too large and overbearing". But Tony Ramsden, representing the Federation of Small Business, welcomed the development.

Mark Haslingden, Bournemouth Tourism Action Group, said: "This development should provide a significant boost to the economic and social life of Boscombe."
Councillors rejected moves to throw out the plans or to put them on hold until more details were available of the leisure scheme. But they accepted a move by Conservative Cllr John Beesley requiring a "fresh and accurate" assessment of the transport and parking issues raised by the development.

Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin, leader of the council's Tory opposition, but urged councillors not to "throw the baby out with the bath water" by rejecting it.
The council's Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr John Millward, said: "We've been looking at this to my knowledge for more than 20 years and every single scheme has been defeated, partly because of finance and partly because some members of the council didn't like some form of leisure development."

27 April 2004

Parking fears over chine plan

Planners who backed controversial Boscombe seafront plans were told there would be 476 more parking spaces than there will be. Objectors hope the mistake will help prompt deputy prime minister John Prescott into calling for a public enquiry.

Bournemouth Borough Council has given planning permission for 169 Barratt homes at Honeycombe Chine plus new leisure attractions around the pier. A transport assessment carried out by consultants for the council said there would still be 835 parking spaces within 400 metres of Boscombe Pier. In fact there would only 359 spaces within 400 metres - and the rest of the 835 would be within 1,600 metres. Either way the scheme will mean a loss of 96 spaces.

Conservative councillor John Beesley said: “The difficulty is that the transport assessment is fundamentally flawed so therefore the officers’ comments in the report which were predicated on that assessment, are misleading. - unintentionally misleading but misleading nevertheless.”

He backed the scheme in principle but was concerned the mistake could make the development less viable.

Head of planning Mike Holmes said the mistake was corrected after members of the planning board voted for the plans but ahead of the full council meeting which debated the issue next day. He said the council had known there would be a loss of parking.

Labour councillor Ben Grower hoped the mistake would help prompt John Prescott to call the application in for an enquiry. Cllr. Grower said: I personally would be hopeful that he will be calling it in due to the various errors and mistakes made by the council in arriving at the planning decision. The way in which the council acted has been a disaster from day one. The fact is officers have gone from one disaster to another and they’ve been aided and abetted by some councillors.”

12 October 2004

KIOSKS TO SCUPPER PIER BID?

MULTI-million-pound plans to revive Boscombe's seafront could be sunk because the government wants to make four run-down kiosks into a listed building.

Heritage minister Andrew McIntosh announced on Monday that he wanted to list the pier neck building, citing the "flair" and "vivacity" of its architecture.
The decision has been denounced as "crazy" by the deputy leader of Bournemouth council, which is spearheading plans to put a new leisure complex on the site.

The new building - including family attractions, a restaurant and shops - was to have been part of a £9 million leisure package paid for by allowing Barratt to build 169 seafront homes at Honeycombe Chine.But Mr McIntosh yesterday hailed the existing building, dating from 1958-60, as architecturally important.

He said: "The neck building at Boscombe Pier is a rarity among municipal entertainment structures of the period. It was designed with real conviction and flair. The vivacity of this structure clearly illustrates the revitalisation of the British seaside resort in the 1950s."

There will be a two-week public consultation before a final decision is made.
The row echoes the decision in 1999 to grant listed status to a bus shed at Yellow Buses' depot in Mallard Road, which delayed plans for a shopping centre.

Cllr Richard Smith, Liberal Democrat deputy leader of Bournemouth Borough Council, said: "It's another case of a stupid listing like the garage shed at Mallard Road. It limits the potential development that can happen there. There's us trying to regenerate Boscombe, which the government is saying falls in the list of most deprived wards in the country, and then another branch of government seems to willy-nilly go ahead and put an inappropriate listing on the building, whose sole purpose is to thwart the regeneration process that's under way."

Cllr Ken Mantock, chairman of the council's planning board, said: "I feel it's difficult to believe even the most myopic and prejudiced people who love 20th century architecture would see anything of special architectural interest in it."

It is not known who drew the pier neck building to the government's attention.
Roger Brown, the borough's head of leisure services, said the possibility of listing had already delayed the seafront project.

Labour councillor Ben Grower, who lives near the site, said: "I'm not absolutely surprised at the government. "If they're capable of listing a cow shed at the bus station, they can certainly list the neck of a pier." But he added: "Anything that will hinder this horrendous development is welcomed wholeheartedly."

Parry Brooks, chairman of Boscombe Cliffs Residents Association, said: "Personally I think it doesn't have too much architectural merit, although I can see where they're coming from." He said he was concerned about the council's scheme but did not want to see the re-development scuppered.

The public has until October 24 to write to Elaine Pearce, Historic Environment Designation Branch, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5DH.

9 December 2004

WASHED UP?

IT'S the news that was foreseen as the "nail in the coffin" for Boscombe's seafront. The government has confirmed it will grant listed status to a row of four run-down kiosks at the front of the pier.

Leisure bosses will go back to the drawing board in a desperate bid to salvage their £9 million redevelopment plans for the area.

Heritage minister Andrew McIntosh yesterday ruled that the pier entrance building should be listed, citing the "flair" and "vivacity" of its architecture.
His decision is a major setback for Bournemouth Borough Council's plans to create a new building including family attractions, restaurants and shops on the site. The complex was to have been paid for by allowing Barratt to build 169 seafront homes at Honeycombe Chine. Now a new plan will have to be submitted and any proposals will need listed building consent.

Stephen Godsall, the council's director of leisure and tourism, warned in October: "If this listing goes ahead it really could be the nail in the coffin for the regeneration of Boscombe seafront."

The deputy leader of Bournemouth council, Cllr Richard Smith, said last night the decision was a blow but the council would not be deterred from revitalising the area. "This is a crazy decision and nearly everyone who responded to the consultation said it was a ridiculous suggestion," he said. "It's just another example of central government believing - incorrectly - that it knows best. This scheme is six years old. That's a lot of work and a lot of public money. But a redevelopment will still happen, we just have the added complication of working around the pier entrance."

And Boscombe East Cllr Andrew Garratt said: "It's back to the drawing board now but we do recognise the clarity that this decision brings and it means that we can plan for the future. We've done work in anticipation of the listing and are now working towards a revised scheme." He added they still hoped to start work on site by next September.

Labour group leader Cllr Ben Grower, who lives near the site, said: "I'm surprised at the decision but we have to accept it. A new planning application will now be needed for the site and in that sense I'm delighted, as will be the majority of people in Boscombe."

10 December 2004

Right pier, right now?

IT'S Bournemouth's newest listed building - but nobody seems to have any idea why. To residents, these four little kiosks and concrete canopy are simply somewhere to shelter from the rain.

But heritage minister Andrew McIntosh sees more - much, much more. "It was designed with real conviction and flair," he said while justifying his decision to award Boscombe Pier entrance grade two listed status. "The vivacity of this structure clearly illustrates the revitalisation of the British seaside resort in the 1950s."

But his comments have left local residents and councillors puzzled. Jean Bird, chair of Bournemouth Civic Society said: "The consensus of the Civic Society was that we didn't want it listed. Frankly I couldn't believe it when I heard it was being considered. We went down there to have a closer look and it's in very poor order. It's cracked and rusty."

And Independent councillor Ron Whittaker, who was born in Boscombe, said: "I would describe it as a carbuncle and that's being generous. It's just a slab of concrete and there is no architectural merit in it at all. I want the individual or body that nominated it to come forward and explain their reasons. The council has the right to know who started the ball rolling."

Mr McIntosh's decision has forced a rethink of a £9million scheme to regenerate the area, including family attractions, restaurants and shops. The complex would have been paid for by allowing Barratt to build 169 seafront homes at Honeycomb Chine.

But Cllr Andrew Garratt, cabinet member and Boscombe councillor, said the council was determined to press ahead with plans to revamp the area. "I think a lot of people will find it very difficult to understand what architectural merit the minister has identified," he said. "That said, clearly he has and we must live with that. It doesn't stop the regeneration going ahead and in a quirky sort of way, a controversial listing can prove an attraction. I'm sure we can learn to love it in time. But in the meantime, our main aim is to balance a sympathetic interpretation of the listing with as many as possible of the top priorities that the public have said they want, such as a restaurant, better landscaping and revitalised pier."

Even the people who welcome the listing as a way of halting the development plans can't understand the decision.

Parry Brook, chairman of the Boscombe Cliffs Residents' Association, said: "I'm fairly surprised by the decision but not entirely unhappy with it. I've very little sympathy with the council because they have taken little notice of the residents all the way along. As far as we're concerned, if this causes them to stop and think about the whole scheme again then so much the better."

‘This is a very special building indeed’

Not everyone is aghast at the government's decision to list the buildings at the head of Boscombe Pier. Cordula Zeidler of the Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns and cares for buildings of the last century, and who worked to get the listing status, says she is "delighted".

She explained just why the building was worth saving from the wrecking ball: "The structure was designed for that particular location, which means that there isn't another one like it in the country. The cantilevered roof and the columns and the pale blue and yellow tiles were of their time." And that time was after the 1951 Festival of Britain, which heralded a brighter, more prosperous future, with buildings in public spaces that reflected this new era.
"It's very hard to get a building from this era listed, the criteria is very strict, and that in itself proves how special this building is."

She admitted that structures of that time could end up looking unloved, but denied the kiosks were hideous. "I think that if the building was cleaned up people would feel more positive about it." She urged Bournemouth residents to "try to feel proud to have it there."

Her sentiments on the building's style were echoed by Michael Stead, Technical Assistant Conservation at Bournemouth Borough Council. He said: "It was designed by the then borough architect, Mr John Burton, who has had some of his other work listed, so he must have been good. The fact that it was specially designed for this location makes it quite special. I always think it's a little like something you'd find if you opened up a Dan Dare Pilot of the Future comic, it would be that kind of building; aerodynamic and futuristic and also, you could say, optimistic."

(articles reproduced with permission)