The Bournemouth One News Centre

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

• Bridge closure continues during repair work

  A bridge and paths at Poole Park will remain closed until mid December while repair work on the Baiter sluice channel is completed. The structure links Poole Park Lagoon with Poole Harbour and is vital for local water management and wildlife. Council engineers say extra support was required, which extended the timeline. The new footpath and cycleway between Whitecliff and Baiter are due to open by the twelfth of December.

• Kaiser Chiefs set for Poole festival

  Kaiser Chiefs will headline next summer’s Poole Harbour Festival as it marks its tenth anniversary. They join acts including Scouting For Girls, Heather Small, Dodgy, Artful Dodger and East Seventeen. Organisers say the event has grown from a community gathering into a major music weekend.

• Skydive supports Dorset children’s charity

  A Haskins Ferndown team member has raised money for the centre’s charity of the year by completing a skydive from fifteen thousand feet. Her jump has helped support Amelia’s Rainbow, which assists children in Dorset with serious or life-limiting conditions. The charity supports around one hundred and seventy families and offers free breaks at its two holiday homes. Colleagues at the garden centre also helped with a cake raffle to boost the final fundraising total.

• Local grants support cost of living aid

  Residents across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are to benefit from eighty thousand pounds in grants awarded to twenty three local groups to support people experiencing cost of living pressures. The funding, provided through the Department for Work and Pensions’ Household Support Fund, will help deliver warm hubs, free meals and money advice across the area until March next year. Council and charity leaders say the support will ensure help reaches those most in need. They add that community organisations are playing an important role in keeping residents safe and well.

• Local MP urges VAT cut to support venues

  Ahead of today’s Autumn Budget announcements, MP Vikki Slade says high street venues across Mid Dorset and North Poole are at risk without government action. Polling shows many residents fear losing local pubs, bars and restaurants as costs rise and footfall drops. She wants the Chancellor to cut VAT to give businesses some relief. She says firms tell her this change would help them stay open during a difficult winter.