“It’s all too easy to moan, and to put a post on social media. But we need to know what those great ideas are, there are some brilliant ideas that I’ve heard already".

Those are the words of BCP Council leader Vikki Slade, who wants to hear from residents about what they want to see in Bournemouth town centre.

Cllr Slade said the survey is ‘everyone’s chance to have their say,’ as the council hopes to collate ideas to help turn the town centre around.

The survey, which will be open until Friday, August 4, asks residents to answer three questions and submit pictures of other ideas in other towns they think would work here.

Cllr Slade said the state of Bournemouth was an issue that has been brought up for months.

In May, the Daily Echo ran a series of articles focusing on the high street and town centre.

“Everybody has got a view, everybody talks about how great it was and how it’s in a decline,” she said.

“So rather than sending messages left, right and centre, we thought why don’t we ask local people what they would like for the future of Bournemouth?

“Rather than what is dreadful about it, what would they like, what would they like to see, what would make them come here more, spend more money here, spend more time here.

“What would their perfect Bournemouth look like.”

She said the council recognised it regularly speaks to the same people and businesses, but that it needs to hear more from residents.

Once residents have responded to the survey, which will be run online, all answers will be collated ahead of a Town Centre Summit in the autumn, where a ‘vibrant, attractive future’ for the town will be drawn up.

Bournemouth Echo: BCP Council's town centre survey has launched.

It is hoped the summit will feature representatives from all the major stakeholders in the town, including the landlords, the universities and the BID.

Chairman of the Bournemouth Town Centre BID, Martin Davies said: “It is vital that residents across the area have the opportunity to input into the future of the town centre and share their ideas, particularly about what they would like to see and do in Bournemouth.

“However, the most important thing is that quick, decisive and tangible action from all parties involved, led by BCP Council, flows from the resulting summit.”

Cllr Slade there are no ideas that are too small or too big for the survey.

“Put it all in the bucket, and then what we will do is take that big chunk of information and then we will take it to those partners in a summit where we say to them, this is what the people of BCP would like to see, [and] how can you help to make it happen,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter how crazy the idea is, if it’s something that you think you’d like to see here, tell us about it.”

THE DAILY ECHO HIGH STREET SERIES

Cllr Slade explained that there would not be a specific budget for the town improvements, but the ideas collated by the survey would prepare the council to be able to apply for grants and funds to make changes happen.

“There will be ideas in there that are not affordable, there will be things that cost tens of millions or hundreds of millions of pounds,” she said. “If we know that that is a priority for the local people, then we can at least prepare funding bids to third parties, we can go to investors.”

Alongside the survey, work is being done to review the relationship with the police in the town centre, to help improve safety.

The hope is that some short-term fixes will be implemented in the town this year, and that residents will be able to notice a difference later on this summer.

Longer-term ideas will be implemented into the local plan or will be the base of funding bids.

Cllr Slade called on as many residents to fill out the survey as possible.

“It’s all too easy to moan, and to put a post on social media. But we need to know what those great ideas are, there are some brilliant ideas that I’ve heard already,” she said.

“If I could bottle some of the enthusiasm some of the people have had, then if I had the money, I’d have built some of the stuff already.”

The survey will be available online. Cllr Slade encouraged those who do not have access to the survey at home to head to their local library, who will be able to help them access the survey.