POOLE residents have nothing to fear from super council plans, according to borough leader Councillor Janet Walton.

Cllr Walton is also chairman of the recently convened Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Joint Committee, set up to implement the Future Dorset proposal to unite the three boroughs under one unitary council, with another unitary covering the rest of the county.

Earlier this month the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid indicated he was “minded-to” support the plan, subject to consultation, with a final decision due on January 8.

Under the plans, Cllr Walton said: “This would be a vibrant area fit for the 21st century. It would be the right size to lead on to more economic development.

“It is not a vision to swallow each other up.

“Poole has a very strong identity, as do Christchurch and Bournemouth. I don’t think we will lose that.”

She said she expected councillors from their respective towns to continue to represent them, and said: “I believe when you come down to numbers there will be more Poole and Christchurch councillors than Bournemouth.

“I think there will be a good balance.”

She said there was no reason why the towns’ respective mayoralties and other civic customs could not be retained. That issue is one of the big sticking points in Christchurch.

Cllr Walton said Mr Javid’s ‘minded-to’ decision was “very encouraging” as it showed “recognition of the strong case we have put forward”.

The minister also said further steps were needed “to secure local consent”, a comment used at a meeting last week to back the case for a Local Poll of Christchurch residents, which is due to take place over the coming weeks. Christchurch has also been making overtures about going back into Hampshire.

However Cllr Walton believes this condition can be satisfied by further work between the councils on the Joint Committee.

She said the minister would have to decide what to do if Christchurch voters reject the plan.

“I think the vision was for 2b (all three towns), for all the opportunities available to us,” she said.

“If the decision is to not go ahead with it, we will have to think about that situation then.”

Representing Poole for more than a decade, Cllr Walton spoke to the Echo about the advantages of the Future Dorset plan, and gave answers to some of the concerns raised by its opponents.

“We started out by looking at how we could reduce costs but improve services across the area,” she said.

“There are more opportunities with two large unitaries. We will have a bigger voice in Government, on the national stage.

“With this there will be opportunities to get more funding.

“When we started to talk about this it wasn’t just local authorities. Local businesses came into the conversation, learning establishments, our NHS partners, the police and fire service.

“They are very much in favour of having two points of reference across the whole of Dorset.”

Council tax issues

ONE concern about the plan involves bringing the three boroughs’ council tax into line, with Poole Band D residents currently paying £1,321 per year, Bournemouth £1,358 and Christchurch £1,522.

Cllr Walton said with Government funding to councils being cut, tax rises are inevitable whatever happens.

“If we could take the council tax cap off we would, because we want to preserve those services that vulnerable and elderly people and children desperately need,” she said.

“If we stay as we are it will mean cuts to services.

“Under the proposals we have put together to provide sustainable services, Christchurch will keep their council tax at the same level.

“But if they stay as they were with Dorset - the county council has the same issues around adult social care, their council tax would be going up.”

Christchurch has expressed a preference for a ‘day one’ tax rise for the neighbouring towns. While this has not been officially ruled out - a task and finish group is considering the options - Cllr Walton dismissed this idea.

“Whatever we decide to do must be fair to residents across the whole area,” she said.

“It won’t be right to have a huge hike in one area and very little somewhere else.”

She said a name for the new authority would have to be agreed soon for administrative purposes, but it need not be the final name, and the Joint Committee might consider asking residents to decide.