THE closure of the Bournemouth Civic Society will leave a hole in the town’s civic life.
Helping to protect Bournemouth’s cultural and environmental heritage, the organisation achieved many successes over its 50-year lifetime, including saving our beautiful Victorian Central Station.
As part of a multi-group campaign to prevent the destruction of nature and a historic building at Holdenhurst Village and Riverside Avenue by a large flyover (which will hopefully never see the light of day), Friends of Riverside - of which I am a coordinator - worked closely with the society.
Despite these, and many other, successes, it had been difficult for the society to attract new members.
Although many voluntary groups face similar challenges, the nature of the civic society’s work, which largely involved examining planning applications, was perhaps not as ‘front-line’ as some more activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion, which may have more of an appeal to younger people.
Nevertheless, in holding developers and public institutions to account, such in-depth analysis is vital. The loss of the civic society is the town’s loss.
CONOR NIALL O’LUBY
Throop Road, Bournemouth
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