How a host of big developments are changing the face of Bournemouth

Several major developments are under way at once – perhaps most visibly, its £60m, Hilton Hotel at Terrace Mount.

Across the road, the West Central cinema and leisure scheme is taking shape on the site where the town’s bus station once stood.

Meanwhile, Taylor Wimpey’s Coast development of residential and holiday flats is being built a stone’s throw away, on the former site of the Bournemouth International Hotel and Palace Restaurant.

Cedric Horgnies, general manager of the Hilton, says the arrival of the brand in Bournemouth is a vote of confidence.

“It’s a very positive sign for the economy. Just opposite us, we’ve got a massive leisure complex that is well under way and we believe it’s going to complete in 2017 with the cinema and high street restaurants,” he said.

“It’s a sign of confidence in the town centre.”

The Hilton development includes the three-star Hampton by Hilton, which is already open, plus a block of flats and the eight-storey Hilton itself, with its top-floor Sky Bar. The hotel is expected to open in December.

“The investment goes back to 2010. There was great confidence, not only from Hilton but from our owners in the potential of Bournemouth,” said Mr Horgnies.

The Hilton will bring just over 100 full time equivalent jobs, he said.

The leisure scheme nearby is the one Bournemouth council tried to stop – the West Central leisure complex.

Planners wanted a new bus station on the site and the council looked into a compulsory purchase order before conceding defeat.

Tenants already signed up to the scheme include the Odeon cinema chain and restaurants Nandos, Handmade Burger, Coast to Coast, Prezzo, Ask Italian and TGI Fridays. It would, however, mean the closure of the Odeon and ABC cinemas on Westover Road.

Bournemouth council’s leader, Cllr John Beesley, believes the Town Centre Vision, a 20-year “master plan” for the town centre, played a role in attracting developers.

“We came through the recession and on the other side of the recession we’ve got people investing in Bournemouth on an unprecedented scale, which is great,” he said.

Some of the investment is from the Bournemouth Development Company, a partnership between Bournemouth Borough Council and builder Morgan Sindall Investments.

That partnership was responsible for the £12m Citrus building – a five-storey block of 64 flats plus Turtle Bay restaurant, at Horseshoe Common.

Bournemouth Development Company also built the Madeira Road multi-storey car park which makes a distinctive landmark for drivers on the Wessex Way, and student flats next door.

It plans Berry Court, 113 apartments and a car park in St Peter’s Road.

“There’s a huge amount of pipeline business coming through as well,” said Cllr Beesley.

“We believe the pipeline could be between £200m-£300m of development over the next two to three years and probably, with what’s been completed already and what’s currently under construction, another £200m."

With all this development at once, is there a risk of changing Bournemouth’s character too much?

Ken Mantock, chairman of Bournemouth Civic Society and a former chairman of the council’s planning board, welcomes the Hilton.

“I was on the council when the Hilton plan got its planning consent. I was happy with it and generally I remain happy with it,” he said.

He concedes it looks “enormous” when viewed from Richmond Hill, towering over the former St Andrew’s United Reformed Church, now the nightclub Halo, but says it is an important investment in a prominent site.

He is more concerned about West Central, which he fears is too close to the Lower Gardens.

Tim Stone, chairman and partner at Steele Raymond solicitors on Richmond Hill, has observed the town’s economy picking up.

“Our firm is often a good barometer of what’s going on in the business community because so much of our work is driven by activity and transactions, particularly in the our corporate and commercial teams,” he said.

“We’ve certainly seen an upturn in the volume of our work in the last 12 months or so, particularly in the commercial property side.”

He is concerned, however, that a lack of new office space could be a brake on development, especially in the town’s much-vaunted digital economy.

“We haven’t seen any landmark, quality office buildings going up in Bournemouth in very recent years," he said.

Those interested in tourism and conference business, however, are happy.

Pat Coyne, director of venues at BH Live – the trust that runs the BIC and the council’s other leisure and entertainment venues – said: “Bournemouth is undergoing huge infrastructural change that will dramatically impact the delegate experience, adding a vibrant, contemporary urban feel to Bournemouth, worthy of its standing as the UK’s fastest growing digital economy and a leading centre of learning and creativity."

Jason Freezer is acting director of the National Coastal Tourism Academy, the body based at Bournemouth University to promote the nation’s coastal towns.

“The reason Bournemouth remains one of the premier coastal tourist resorts in the UK is because it doesn’t rest on its laurels, it’s constantly evolving and looking at ways to stay ahead,” he said.

“As a result, it can attract world-class brands such as Hilton which is excellent for the town, both for increasing business and leisure travellers, but it is also the independent shops, accommodation providers and restaurants/bars that give the town its unique appeal."

He added: “By investing in the products and infrastructure for visitors, which benefit local people too, Bournemouth is continuing to live up to the promise of a great place to be on holiday.”