HOPES of inviting residents to have their say on the idea of parish councils in Poole and Bournemouth have been dashed.

A motion, put forward by a Christchurch Conservative and a Poole Liberal Democrat, failed to gain sufficient support at Wednesday’s Shadow Authority meeting.

Cllr David Jones and Cllr Vikki Slade called on members to push Borough of Poole and Bournemouth Borough Councils to initiate community governance reviews, with the view of creating parish councils if there was sufficient support.

They said it was a necessary step to address a “democratic deficit” created by the council merger.

Following a lengthy and at times ill-mannered debate at the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Shadow Authority meeting, a vote came up short in passing the motion.

Christchurch Borough Council has already agreed to set up a new Christchurch Town Council and a community council for Highcliffe and Walkford ahead of Local Government Reorganisation. These add to the existing parish councils in Hurn and Burton.

Cllr Slade said: “How can we be one council and yet deny residents of Poole and Bournemouth the same right as residents in Christchurch?

“Three towns, one vision, two types of democracy, zero fairness.

“The differences are set to widen yet further. As Dorset devolves powers to town and parish councils, residents separated by an invisible border will see services disappear through lack of local council presence.”

Cllr Judy Butt said her immediate thoughts on the subject were the Vicar of Dibley.

“This LGR is supposed to be a forward step, it is supposed to be the coming together of three distinct sovereign councils for economies of scale, better services and to ensure these funding gaps are dealt with,” Cllr Butt said.

Bournemouth councillor Mike Greene said he was not surprised to see Liberal Democrats “jumping on the bandwagon”, which led to a mixed response from the councillors present at the meeting.

Cllr Greene added: “Let us look outwards rather than inwards, forwards rather than backwards and reject this divisive motion.”