NO SURPRISE that Christopher Chope should be first on his feet at PMQs in Parliament asking Theresa May to safeguard Christchurch as an independent authority. Presumably he will lose his job if Christchurch merges with Bournemouth & Poole to form one gigantic unit. However he need not worry. A safe Tory seat for him will be found somewhere.

Of more concern is if this huge authority comes into being where is the rest of Dorset going to get its money from? My solution would be to keep Poole in Dorset, and split off Bournemouth and Christchurch and move them back into Hampshire where they belong. Christchurch cannot stand on its own. It’s uneconomic.

An alternative for Christchurch would be a more imaginative proposal to go east and link up with Lymington to form a large coastal authority which would be able to deal as one body to deal with issues such as coastal erosion which is hugely expensive. Has nobody thought of this?

Whatever reorganisation takes place, will the number of councillors be culled?

It needs to be. Christchurch in particular is hugely overblown.

Warwick Rust

Bure Close, Christchurch

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