FAQ

We have three categories of membership:

Household membership - individual membership for any member of a household or family who owns or rents property on Sandbanks irrespective of whether you live here most or just some of the time

Visitor membership - individual membership for anyone, wherever you live, who has a close interest in Sandbanks and wishes to contribute to preserving, improving and protecting this uniquely beautiful area

Business/Club membership - membership for local businesses and clubs who serve or operate from Sandbanks and wish to make a tangible commitment to supporting the local community

‍All memberships:

• Organised campaigns to maintain the beauty of Sandbanks  
• Regular news updates from the Chairman
• Planning permission monitoring and feedback
• A co-ordinated strategy to improve traffic issues.
• Development of an official community plan
• Help keep the beaches clean, protect trees and wildlife
• A dedicated team of volunteers living on Sandbanks, working with the Council and speaking for all issues concerning the peninsula.

In addition to benefits for all members listed above

Household membership includes:

• Voting rights and attendance rights at AGM/EGMs
• Social and other events.

Visitor membership includes:

• Supporting preservation and improvement of the Sandbanks area
• Information and guidance on local matters and interest

Business membership includes:

• Create goodwill by demonstrable commitment to supporting local community
• Advertising and sponsorship opportunities for marketing to over 800 local households and thousands of visitors via our website and newsletters.

We generally email members at least once a month and sometimes more often when there are pressing local issues.

Household and visitor membership is limited to those aged 18 or older.

Yes, we enjoy excellent relationships with our Ward Councillors who are currently Mohan Iyengar and May Haines. They attend most of our committee meetings as well as our AGM. They are very helpful in helping us navigate the Council.

• We monitor all planning applications affecting Sandbanks and identify issues early.
• We make representations on behalf of the Community to the planning officers with who we maintain strong relationships.
• We marshall knowledge, expertise, skills and experience within our community and bring it to bear on technical, legal and architectural issues that arise.
• From time to time we instruct specialists to provide expert advice on planning matters, tree protection, traffic management and other issues.
• We occasionally lobby Councillors and other decision makers.
• Finally, we have good connections with local and national media and use these to publicly highlight issues where appropriate.

We treat all funds raised with great care and spend them only where approved by the Committee in the best interests of the community. Committee members are unpaid and only rarely incur reimbursable expenses. Examples of where the money raised from subscriptions goes include:

• Website running costs eg hosting charges, maintenance and updating.
• Upkeep and upgrade of flower beds.
• Community events eg summer party planned for 2019.
• Membership, campaign advertising and marketing costs eg leafleting.
• Professional fees for legal, planning and other technical expertise eg challenging undesirable planning applications, protecting rights of way and beach access.
• Hire of venues for AGM/EGMs and committee meetings.

• We developed a campaign - Protect Sandbanks - in 2017 to fight proposals to demolish the Haven Hotel and replace it with blocks of flats. Within months the campaign resulted in almost 3000 objections being registered with Poole Council to the Haven application - a record - including from our local MP, The National Trust, Natural England, RSPB, The Environmental Agency and others. In the face of such opposition, the original application was withdrawn in favour of a less intrusive plan which we continue to oppose
• By a media campaign and lobbying the Council, we managed to persuade the Council to keep open the public toilets at Haven Ferry in 2017/18
• We have persuaded the Council to make a grant to enable us to replant the flower paths at Midway Path off Banks Road to the beach - work starts Autumn 2018
• We intervened with the owner and Council to address safety of a derelict site on Panorama Road
• We put out around 30,000 dog poop bags on Sandbanks Beach every year
• We are actively looking at options to manage traffic congestion and speeding
• We regularly file comments on Sandbanks planning applications opposing excessive, overly dominant development proposals or buildings that are too high
• We send timely news updates, provide advice and guidance to members and liaise with the Council eg regarding public beach events - like ‘Sandfest’ held on Sandbanks Beach in July each year - which may affect residents

The Localism Act 2011 gives communities the right to prepare a Neighbourhood Plan against which future planning applications are assessed. That means, in principle, a Neighbourhood Plan for Sandbanks might be able to set policies e.g. on maximum height of buildings, retention of community assets like the Haven Hotel and development impact on the character and amenity of the area. Once finalised, the Plan must be given weight as a consideration in planning decisions.

It could contain more detail on things like urban design, trees, traffic, paths, access to beaches and preferred sites for housing/flats.

Effectively, it could give the Sandbanks community more influence and control over development in Sandbanks.

SCG has started the process for forming a Neighbourhood Plan but it is likely to take 3-5 years to bring it to fruition.

The first step is to become a member. Once a household member you can attend AGM/EGMs and perhaps put yourself forward forward to join the Committee. All members receive regular news updates.

If you have a specific expertise or skill you think might be of value in our work then please consider volunteering.

To cancel your membership, log in to your PayPal account and click 'Activity' to view your past transactions.

Find the transaction on the list called Sandbanks Community Group and click on it.

On the next page which includes the transaction details, click on Manage Sandbanks Community Group payments.

Then, click on the Cancel link the cancel the subscription.