Motoring & Transport | Posted on September 17th, 2025 | return to news

Help shape the future of travel across Dorset

The Local Transport Plan aims to develop and promote accessible and inclusive travel choices for residents, workers, and visitors.

People who want to have their say about travel across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have until 11.59pm on 12 October to put forward their views.

BCP Council is working with Dorset Council to co-create an updated joint Local Transport Plan to set out a vision for transport across BCP and Dorset for the next 15 years from 2026 through to 2041.

The ambition at the heart of the Local Transport plan is to develop and promote accessible and inclusive travel choices for residents, workers and visitors through the transport network whilst continuing to support sustainable economic growth.

The consultation builds on the public engagement in 2024 and the BCP transport conference earlier this year which saw experts, businesses and other interested parties discuss a range of issues, from public transport integration to decarbonisation.

The consultation focuses on six core objectives so that the Plan can improve health and wellbeing for residents, create access and safe transport routes, deliver accessible public transport, and safeguard the environment.

Cllr Andy Hadley, portfolio holder with responsibility for the Local Transport Plan at BCP Council, said: “Developing a transport plan that has resilience, health, accessibility, sustainability, and safety at its core is vital in supporting our communities for years to come. 

“Balancing the needs of everyone in the area, at all stages of life, and building for the future is really important but not easy. We need highways that enable independent and safe travel for children and young people, support commuting, leisure and commerce, and efficiently enable people to move around our crowded area.

“We need to especially support those in later life with good public transport options. And we need climate resilience. With hotter summers and wetter winters, the importance of shading, increased drainage, and embracing new technologies also needs to be a focus.

“Feedback from businesses and stakeholders during the previous engagement and the Transport Conference targeted at businesses and local stakeholders earlier this year has really helped to inform the development of the draft plan.

“I’d encourage everyone to get involved and have their say so that we can complete creating a plan that truly has residents at its heart.”

The public consultation can be completed online at bcpcouncil.gov.uk/local-transport-plan; paper copies of the consultation documents can be requested at any of BCP’s libraries.

In-person engagement events are being held to enable residents to find out more about the plans and ask questions to the team directly.

The team will be at: the Travel Interchange, by Bournemouth’s ASDA, from 9am until 1pm on 18 September; Scaplen’s Court, adjacent to Poole Museum, between 11am and 3pm on 20 September; and Christchurch Library from 10am until 3pm on 29 September.