Boscombe: the new Sandbanks?

8:00pm Sunday 20th May 2007

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WITH millions of pounds in public and private investment pouring into Boscombe over the past few years the area is undoubtedly on the up.

The £8 million Boscombe Spar Village project is transforming the seafront with a redeveloped pier and £1.4 million artificial surf reef, Boscombe Chine Gardens are being refurbished and the historic theatre the Opera House is undergoing a £2 million renovation.

And yet when you ask the average Bournemouth resident what they think, Boscombe somehow still conjures up an image of a slightly shabby place, tainted by crime and prostitution.

But with the news that flats in the area's prestigious developments have hit the magical sales figure of £1 million, surely it's time we all started thinking differently and let Boscombe shake off its reputation at last.

In fact, given the speed and levels of the property price boom, the time is surely right to start asking "Is Boscombe the new Sandbanks?".

Mark Cribb, who owns Urban Beach Hotel on Argyll Road, Boscombe, believes the idea is not at all far fetched.

He bought his business in December 2005 on the back of earlier signs of regeneration and has been riding the wave ever since.

He said: "When we first thought of this everybody said we were crazy to buy a hotel in Boscombe, especially locally. I still don't think people in Bournemouth appreciate how great it is.

"They still wince when you say Boscombe, which is quite amusing in some ways.

"I have couples coming down from London almost every week to look for flats here."

He added: "It could be the new Sandbanks, or certainly a very desirable part of town. The feedback from our customers is that they love it."

Estate agents too report a surge of canny investors, from London and elsewhere, taking an interest.

Kevin Love, sales co-ordinator for the Barratt Homes Honeycombe Beach development in Boscombe, said: "People realise that this is absolutely the time to be buying here. Boscombe Spa Village is such an up-and-coming area with extensive regeneration under way, and demand is going to go through the roof."

Stephen Noble, sales agent for The Reef development at Boscombe Spa Road, said: "If you pick up the penthouses and move them four-and-a-half miles down the road to Sandbanks, they'd be worth three or four million.

"I think people are making an educated guess that this is the next place where it's going to happen."

In its Victorian heyday, Boscombe, then still a separate settlement, was once a resort to rival Bournemouth.

Over the past five decades its reputation grew steadily worse, and a lack of investment diminished the natural charms of its sandy beach and good location.

Local councillors are hopeful this boom will put their community back on the map, but are keen it doesn't lose its identity in the process.

Chris Wakefield, a councillor for Boscombe West, said: "For a long time we have been seen as the poor relation, but now Bournemouth and Boscombe will complement each other and have a mutually beneficial relationship.

"But Boscombe has a real heart and soul, and we don't want to lose that. Sometimes in a big regeneration project the people who actually live in that place can be forced out. I don't want to see that happen here."

Fellow councillor Lisa Northover, who has lived in the area for seven years, said: "I think we need to try to have a balance. It would be sad if there was just development on one side of Christchurch Road and it didn't affect the rest of Boscombe."

Whichever way you look at it, this is an exciting time for Boscombe.

House prices on the seafront have shot up more than 30 per cent since the regeneration process began, and many flats in new developments are being sold before they're even finished.

Cllr Michael Filer, cabinet member for economy and tourism, insists; "The best for both Boscombe and everyone is still yet to come!"