Category: Dorset

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Happy first birthday, Dorchester Euro Café!

Rachel Lawrence

People who love Europe and who believe that the UK should re-join the European Union celebrated the first anniversary of Dorchester Euro Café on February 24, 2024, with birthday cake, coffee and conversation. Dorchester Euro Café started as a one-off event in February 2023, but attendance was so good it has continued as a regular, […]

BCP’s big SEND dilemma

Adam Sofianos

In a matter of days, the members of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) will make a momentous decision. The result may affect the delivery of services to vulnerable children across the region. And though this will only apply to local council services, it could become a national touchstone. The question is whether to join […]

Climate and nature café to open in Wimborne

Editor-in-chief

A new climate and nature café is to be launched by Extinction Rebellion (XR) Wimborne for people suffering from eco-anxiety over the climate and nature crises. The pop-up café is at the Cafe @ The Allendale in Wimborne on Thursday 15 February from 4pm to 6pm. XR Wimborne say it is an opportunity for people […]

Don’t Pay for Dirty Water campaign vows to get 10,000 to boycott water bills

Daniel Glennon

A bill payers’ boycott targets Wessex Water and demands they fast-track infrastructure upgrades and stop dumping raw sewage in our seas and rivers. Extinction Rebellion Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (XR BCP) has launched a new campaign calling for ten thousand people nationwide, including Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) residents, to stop paying their wastewater bills. […]

BCP stripping public services – an open letter to the council

Editor-in-chief

Councils have been facing a growing funding gap since the Conservatives came into power in 2010. It is estimated that one in ten councils face bankruptcy. The government has just announced the first increase in funding, following this protracted period of austerity, but councils maintain that it is still not enough to meet rising costs […]

‘Defend our Juries’ at Bournemouth Crown Court

Defend Our Juries

On the morning of December 4, 2023, a group of Dorset residents joined about 500 others around the country holding signs outside Bournemouth Crown Court, as part of the growing public campaign Defend Our Juries. Their signs displayed the centuries-old principle of ‘jury equity’, which is the right of all jurors in British courtrooms to […]

LOVE 20 road safety campaign begins in Winton

Cycling Rebellion

Local activists from Cycling Rebellion have launched the LOVE 20 campaign at Winton Banks in Bournemouth, calling for a 20mph speed limit on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) roads where citizens live, work, shop and play. Heart shaped spoof 20 miles per hour (mph) speed limit signs were displayed along the road, chalk art brought […]

“No new oil!”, says Wimborne

Joanna Bury

The colourful campaigners of Extinction Rebellion Wimborne (XR-Wimborne) joined the crowds gathered for the Inside Out Dorset performances in September 2023. “We sang fossil fuels themed songs, processed and unfurled banners before the Inside Out performances started, and in parts of Wimborne where performances weren’t taking place. Our message was simple, there’s still time to […]

Conspiracy theorists awake – and are heading to a town near you

Tom Scott

When Russell Brand issued his pre-emptive denial in an attempt to get ahead of the horrendous allegations of rape and sexual assault aired by The Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches on Saturday, he addressed his 6.6 million YouTube subscribers with the words: “Hello there, you awakening wonders.” It’s Brand’s standard greeting to his followers and […]

The global fight to end fossil fuels comes to Bournemouth

Daniel Glennon

The Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels has registered over 400 actions, marches, rallies, and events around the world. These mobilisations against fossil fuels are coordinated by more than 780 endorsing organisations. They are expected to draw millions of participants between September 15 and 17, 2023. This includes a Pier-to-Pier march and rally in Bournemouth […]

Poo protest at Wessex Water’s Ringwood site – letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear Editor On September 10,2023, activists from Extinction Rebellion Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (XR BCP) held a protest against the illegal dumping of sewage into Dorset’s waterways by Wessex Water at their Ringwood water recycling centre. In the week that a BBC report revealed that in 2022 Wessex Water was responsible for 215 dry spills […]

The BCP Council saga – a closure of sorts

@AdamHighcliffe

A closure of sorts for BCP, as an independent report is revealed at the recent Audit and Governance Committee. The audit covers the 2021-23 era of former Conservative leaders Drew Mellor & Phil Broadhead, and slams their chaotic time in government. The headlines:Red flags were raised against BCP’s financial management, governance, efficiency and effectiveness.Auditors found […]

Human poo chain

Joanna Bury

We have had enough! Our rivers are full of poo because water companies haven’t updated ageing sewage systems. They prefer to pay millions to shareholders and in bonuses to directors. The government says water companies must reduce the dumping of raw sewage, and of course customers must pay, so our bills could go up by […]

The campaign against Perenco continues – letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

On Friday September 1, activists from Extinction Rebellion Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (XR BCP) travelled to Hanover Square in London. Why? To continue our campaign against Perenco, following the spill of reservoir fluid into Poole Quay in March 2023. The spillage occurred just days after it emerged that Perenco were warned in June 2022 by […]

‘Small Boats Week’ fiasco vindicates Portland mayor

Sadie Parker

Suella Braverman is the kind of person who cuts corners and ploughs on regardless. Nothing gets in her way. Not our constitution. Not parliamentary sovereignty. Not the rule of law. Now, in her latest project, the Bibby Stockholm detention barge for asylum seekers, those behaviours have put the lives of people under her department’s care […]

Gaslighting on climate change: letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear Editor Thank you for your great article on gaslighting. It made me wonder if there’s a ‘how to spot a climate change denier’ type exercise or set of questions anywhere? There seem to be various myths which are trotted out in meetings or conversations as excuses for inaction – not just fear of change […]

“We need to wake up to what’s happening.” Letter to the editor

Editor-in-chief

Dear Editor, The extract below is from the Holocaust Encyclopaedia. Just substitute the word ‘Jews’ and ‘Nazi’ for refugees and Conservatives and you have the basis of the Tory government campaign against the refugees crossing the channel. ‘The use of propaganda and laws to define the enemy as a cohesive group was a key factor […]

Bournemouth mass bike ride and rally, demanding sustainable transport

Editor-in-chief

Bournemouth residents today joined Extinction Rebellion Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (XR BCP), who gathered at Horseshoe Common while chanting and ringing bells. The group cycled around Bournemouth in a mass bike ride, in support of better sustainable transport infrastructure. Cars were slowed by the procession cycling around Bournemouth centre, while protesters carried placards and flags […]

Traffic reduction in coastal towns – a suggestion

Dr Richard Lawson

As a young man I took a holiday in the West Country in my van, carrying a small home-built sailing boat, looking for beaches and slipways from which to access the endless ocean. The map showed a slipway in one small town on a beautiful Cornish estuary, so I headed off the main road and […]

Climate campaigners take oil drilling case to the Supreme Court

Sarah Finch

Two women from the South West were among a group of campaigners at the Supreme Court last month fighting to ensure that fossil fuel developments are not given planning permission without a proper assessment of their climate impacts. Sarah Finch, from Exeter, fronted the case on behalf of a network of campaigners called the Weald […]

#NotJustTheTicket: save your ticket office! DEADLINE NOW 1 SEPTEMBER!

Anthea Simmons

The banks have gone, post offices are closing, your minor injuries unit might be shut, your library closed or desperately trying to hang in there and if you don’t have a smartphone you can’t park the car that is your lifeline because there’s no reliable bus service. Welcome to the real world of rural living, […]

‘We cannot trust Perenco with our precious Poole Harbour!’

Greg Lambe

Environmental campaigners from across Dorset met on Sunday June 11, to protest about the continued extraction of oil in Poole Harbour by Perenco. Daniel Glennon from Extinction Rebellion Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (XR BCP), said that “local groups from Wimborne (XRW), Purbeck (XRP), and Dorchester, Weymouth and Portland (XR DWP), supported the event, demonstrating against […]