The Bournemouth One News Centre

All the news you need for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with travel information and national headlines.

• Dorset Council sets out 2026 budget plans

  Dorset Council has published its proposed budget for this year, setting out how it plans to spend four hundred and eighty two million pounds on services across the county. Around sixty per cent of the funding is set aside for care services for older people, vulnerable adults and children, alongside investment in roads and local infrastructure. Council tax is set to rise by four point nine nine per cent, with car parking charges frozen for another year. The proposals will now be reviewed by scrutiny committees before a final decision later this month.

• Extended Cliff Top Music Festival approved

  This year's Cliff Top Music Festival in Christchurch has won permission to operate across two days for the first time this year despite objections from locals. Stir Events secured approval from BCP Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee for the extra hours, and the new licence permits music and activities on both Saturday the 5th, and Sunday 6th of September. Supporters say it will boost Highcliffe’s cultural life while organisers commit to responsible management. Soul music band The Commitments are already confirmed as the headline act.

• Free first books for BCP’s young readers

  BCP Libraries are marking the National Year of Reading with a new offer for babies and toddlers across the area. Parents and carers can sign up their child for a first library card and, while stocks last, receive a free book and small bundle of goodies. The scheme is part of the national Go All In campaign, which aims to boost enjoyment of reading by focusing on fun, curiosity and the immediate pleasure of stories rather than treating reading as a duty.

• Plans for phone-free kids in Dorset schools

  Dorset Council has issued new guidance encouraging schools to introduce phone-free days, and advising families on managing children’s smartphone use outside school. The guidance recommends delaying smartphone ownership until age fourteen unless there is a specific need and suggests basic phones for travel. Schools are asked to apply clear policies while making reasonable adjustments for pupils with medical or safeguarding requirements. A parent event with further advice is planned for the spring term.

• The art of keeping well available in Poole

  The Art of Keeping Well exhibition opens at Lighthouse Poole this Saturday and runs until the end of February. It brings together community-created artworks exploring caregiving, memory loss, and living well in later life. Pieces include collaged postcards from a Bournemouth University research project and a portrait series by local community groups. The show, on the top floor gallery at Lighthouse, encourages deeper understanding of ageing and carers’ experiences.