Letter: Why not move the BCP offices to Christchurch?

SIR – Re the concerns over BCP Council plans to sell former Christchurch Borough Council offices (A&T, 10th February), Cllr Lesley Dedman said the area was already well provided with hotels, claiming the plan showed a lack of ambition and called for greater community use to be considered, opening up the waterfront.

Would it not be better to move the offices in Bournemouth to a new building on the Christchurch site and return the offices in Bournemouth back into a hotel?

The Bournemouth offices do not, anyway, have a chamber big enough for all the councillors (advertiserandtimes.co.uk, 10th February).

Selling the Bournemouth offices would release far more cash than selling the Christchurch offices.

The Christchurch site has far more affordable car parking than Bournemouth. If necessary, a three-story car park could be built next to Two Riversmeet Leisure Centre.

This would lead to more use of the leisure centre, ensuring its future. Calling it Gasometer Tower could show a successful transition from a brownfield site into an eco building.

On the Bournemouth site, perhaps a 24-storey building Civic Towers could bring forward 495 luxury flats to the centre of Bournemouth and a new 105-bedroom five-star hotel and world class restaurant with boutique shops and a community hub and a spacious underground car park (Fortitudo could even design and build this).

If this is a £500m project with a 7% profit margin, the deficit of £33m at BCP could be wiped out with this project. This would resolve BCP's dire financial position.

Geoff Bantock,

Christchurch