I am looking forward to the BCP local elections in May. Whilst I don't actually expect this merger of our local councils to save any money, it does give us, the electorate, a chance to change the policies that are shaping our future.

I can't speak for Christchurch or Poole, but the vision for Bournemouth has been disappointingly unambitious and short-sighted.

I love Bournemouth but feel so resentful that our local politicians seem to prefer concrete buildings to green spaces, have used tax-payers money to frustrate plans for generating enough renewable energy to power our town, and yet have rolled over when confronted with an oil rig in the bay. Where is the green arterial infrastructure we should have?

I want to see our green spaces linked up, and pleasant, off-road routes so that people in the town can seriously consider walking and cycling to school, uni or work rather than contributing to our poor air quality on our gridlocked roads ?

Next month, I'd really like to see people vote to take party politics out of local government, and to vote for people who value our future rather than stuck-in-the-muds from our past.

We need councillors (and MPs) who get that on a planet of finite resources, continual population and economic growth is not a sensible goal, it's a dystopian nightmare.

Theresa McManus

Hendford Road

Bournemouth