Labour Voted Against Overcliff Protection So Why The Sudden Change of Heart!
Around 150 residents attended Friday’s packed meeting to demand action over vans and motorhomes on Boscombe Overcliff Drive. Labour MP Tom Hayes and ward councillors Eleanor Connolly and George Farquhar attended. Their support is welcome but where was it when residents needed it?
The previous Conservative administration recognised the problem, gathered evidence and consulted on a Public Spaces Protection Order restricting overnight sleeping in vehicles. BCP’s FOI response states that 72% of residents supported the proposed prohibition. Following the 2023 election, the incoming Lib Dem led administration decided not to introduce that restriction. When Conservatives sought reconsideration of that decision, Labour councillors voted against the proposed protection.
That was Labour’s opportunity to stand with residents. It chose otherwise, leaving residents campaigning against the consequences for years. I have found no Labour post promoting the PSPO consultation, nor any acknowledgement of that proposed protection in Labour’s recent responses on this issue. Why? At the recent Overview and Scrutiny meeting, Labour representatives emphasised the vulnerability of people living in vans. Where was the same concern for residents affected by the continuing problems? Their wellbeing matters too.
Now that there is a packed meeting, media attention and an opportunity to give interviews, Labour is suddenly front and centre. Residents are entitled to ask what has changed, concern for their wellbeing or concern for Labour’s political wellbeing?
The credit for bringing this issue into the public spotlight belongs to the local residents. Through persistence and sheer determination, they built this campaign from the ground up forming a residents’ group, organising packed meetings, gathering photographs, reporting incidents and securing more than 1,600 petition signatures. They created the momentum and forced the issue onto the political and media agenda; Labour did not. Their work deserves recognition, not political appropriation. Another party survey must not become an excuse to overlook everything residents have already achieved or make them prove the same problem all over again.
Their request is clear, a targeted Traffic Regulation Order restricting vans and motorhomes on the currently unrestricted side of the road between 6pm and 6am, while preserving daytime access. Labour should support that request, explain its previous opposition and demand publication of the £10,000 feasibility study into alternative provision. Any Community Pact must protect affected neighbourhoods and must not replace action on the Overcliff.
Residents deserve answers, a decision and a timetable. Their campaign must remain in their hands. Labour cannot vote against protection, leave residents campaigning for years and then expect applause for turning up when the cameras arrive.
