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2 days ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
BCP Council is set to begin work on a new Local Plan after its previous one was thrown out by planning inspectors. The council were told to start again after it was found they had failed to “constructively and actively” engage with Dorset and New Forest District councils – including asking both of them just two weeks before submitting the plan whether they had any land where BCP could build 16,000 homes.
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3 days ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
PEOPLE will be able to enjoy a series of free concerts featuring local bands on Christchurch Quay this summer. The town council is hosting a five-week-long 'Proms on the Bandstand' event that will bring the historic Victorian site to live with live music every Wednesday evening from 28th May to 25th June. Visitors are invited to bring a picnic, chairs and blankets to create a festival atmosphere. Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Paul Hilliard, said: “Proms on the Bandstand is all about community.
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5 days ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
50 YEARS AGOTHE arrival of a new vicar in Lymington led to a disastrous situation when he decided to have a clear-out of the rectory and took what he thought was just a pile of old papers to the tip. They were, in fact, Lymington’s parish records which had been kept safe by local businessman and historian Edward King. After he died in 1974 his family asked the vicar to take back the many boxes. But apparently unaware of their importance, he decided to dispose of them.
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1 week ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
A FORMER Dorset police officer has been found guilty of gross misconduct after he repeatedly accessed the police national computer illegally and contacted someone he found on it. The PC, who has not been named, looked up cases he was not involved with between January 2023 and June 2024. After accessing some of the records, he then contacted someone who had been mentioned in one of the cases.
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1 week ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
50 YEARS AGOGHOULS whose “morbid desire” is to see someone’s home topple over a cliff have turned up at Barton after the falls there. Barton sea front was reminiscent of a busy August bank holiday at the weekend. Perhaps because of a shortage of news, the cliff fall which had been anticipated locally received national coverage with bulletins on ITV and BBC.
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1 week ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
All members of Christchurch Town Council have been asked to take further training on the code of conduct governing the behaviour of councillors after a number of complaints. Members at a meeting of BCP’s standards committee agreed the move following the upholding of two complaints against one male councillor for making “unacceptable, hurtful and misogynistic comments” in emails and on social media.
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2 weeks ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
Published: 12:49, 30 April 2025 | Updated: 13:14, 30 April 2025 A man on trial accused of rape ran out of the witness box at Bournemouth Crown Court sobbing "I am not a rapist, I'm not a wrong-un". Chad Smedburg (35) of Ringwood, was being cross examined on day three of his trial for rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and strangulation. The alleged victim has claimed that she had not wanted sex and had told the defendant this but he had "continued anyway".
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2 weeks ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
A PROPOSAL to extend a restaurant and two shops in Christchurch town centre would make it difficult for disabled and the elderly, a meeting has heard. The plan to change the exterior of the buildings, including Loch & Quay, on Church Lane by filling in columns was first approved in 2016 and 2020 but permission has since expired. Applicant Bond Estates now wants it to be granted approval again to make the changes.
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2 weeks ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
A Christchurch town councillor breached a code of conduct by making "unacceptable, hurtful and misogynistic comments” in an email and on social media. BCP Council received a complaint on 30th April last year alleging the unnamed councillor had made the comments during an email exchange. The complainant said that this was against the code of conduct councillors have to abide by which state they must “behave in such a way that a reasonable person would regard as respectful”.
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2 weeks ago | 
advertiserandtimes.co.uk | Antonella Lazzeri
A PERSONAL trainer beat and raped a woman, a court has heard. The alleged victim said she pleaded with Chad Smedburg to stop, but he continued, a jury at Bournemouth Crown Court was told. Smedburg (29), of Ringwood, denies rape, assault causing actual bodily harm and strangulation, between dates specified in court. Giving evidence, the woman said that, during sex, she had told him to stop – "but he continued anyway". She said Smedburg had beat her, and left her with a split lip and black eyes.
