Free public Wi-Fi for Christchurch town centre from government’s town centre improvement grant
Free public Wi-Fi is coming to Christchurch town centre, with a former mayor saying it will “slowly die” without it.
The funds will come from the government’s town centre improvement grant of £358,000 which was awarded to BCP Council to be spent on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
At a meeting of BCP Council cabinet, it was revealed the money was divided between the three towns according to population.
Announcing what they had decided to spend their cash on, Cllr Richard Herrett revealed that Christchurch had plumped for the Wi-Fi service, saying: “I don’t know if you have ever tried to use data in Christchurch town centre, but I understand it is an absolute nightmare.”
Christchurch town councillor and former mayor Viv Charrett said that there had been a “lot of discussion” about how to spend the money adding: “Although Wi-Fi is not a very visible feature in the town, the lack of a signal in most areas of the town centre has a significant detrimental effect on local businesses and deters new businesses. It stops many people parking as they can’t get a signal so don’t come to shop in the town.
“It makes it difficult for the night time economy as people can’t call for a taxi and any outdoor events have to only be able to trade with cash as they can’t get a signal for paying.
“Some big events, like the food fair, pay a lot to put in a temporary system for the period of the event. In today’s climate, good Wi-Fi is essential for both traders and residents, and the town will slowly die without it. “
The rest of the money awarded to Christchurch is to be spent on improving the flower displays and hanging baskets in the High Street and on Bargates.
Cllr Charrett said: “This government fund is very specifically allocated for town centres, so the town council are currently looking at ways to improve the flower displays in other areas.”
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Cllr David Brown said people should be aware of what the council “can and can’t do”. He said: “We are doing what we can to address the state of town centres in all ways we can. But the council can’t put money into tills and make people go the shops and force them to buy stuff.
“We can’t change business rates, national government set rates. We cannot set rents, rents are calculated by landlords. We are pulling the levers we can but the council cannot do a lot of what people think we can.”
