Christchurch

Christchurch is an attractive town set on the edge of the Bournemouth conurbation, with its own distinctive character. The town centre, with its priory and riverbank setting is probably familiar to many of the visitors who come to the town. However, the town does have a large thriving business base with over 1,600 companies.

Communications

The town is located close to Bournemouth with easy access to the A338 to the north. The town has a railway station and is in close proximity to Bournemouth International Airport.

Education

Christchurch school pyramid:

2 infant schools
2 junior schools
5 primary schools
3 secondary schools
- Grange School (637 pupils)
- Twynham School (1,515 pupils)
- Highcliffe School (1,347 pupils)
  -all 2009

Commercial land

Between 1994-09, 16.1 hectares of industrial land has been developed in Christchurch. The total area of land with permission or allocated in local plans is 81.7 hectares (March 09). Most of the industrial development for Christchurch (and north Bournemouth) will take place at Bournemouth International Airport, where 70.16 hectares of land are available.

Crime - domestic burglaries

Rate per 1,000 households 2008/09

Area	Rate
Christchurch	4.7
DCC Dorset	4.1
South West	8.2
England and Wales	12.2

Population

Latest population figure (2008 mid year estimate) for the town is 45,820

Year	1921	1931	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001
Census population (enumerated)	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	34,100	37,700	40,330	44,868

Housing growth

Year	98	99	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Housing development	267	120	125	101	131	76	208	87	131	128	190	101

The 2001 Census records 21,769 dwellings in Christchurch.
Since 2001, a further 1,052 have been built giving a total of 22,821. At March 2009, a further 467 units have permission and 15 have been allocated in the local plan.

NOTE: Figures allow for losses from re-development etc. Method revised 2009

Index of deprivation, 2007

(Figures show SOA ranking out of 247 SOAs in Dorset with 1 being the most deprived)

SOA	Multiple	Income	Employment	Education	Health	Services	Crime	Living
Bargates	52	40	37	110	60	131	83	22
Barracks	109	81	56	103	71	210	40	109
Burton Central	112	84	73	51	89	189	79	119
Burton Whitehayes	138	103	105	78	117	118	121	127
Burton Green & Winkton	122	62	104	109	69	170	32	147
Canberra Road	150	156	76	107	105	185	30	158
Chewton	103	87	47	154	113	103	133	80
Christchurch Harbour	32	31	33	75	46	144	11	88
Fairmile North	148	101	125	132	100	76	185	196
Fairmile South & Hospital	113	54	66	106	78	183	114	116
Friars Cliff	203	222	144	236	170	77	151	217
Highcliffe	164	198	43	195	81	151	94	194
Highcliffe West	146	139	68	220	111	84	139	156
Hintonwood	204	227	131	197	165	100	107	198
Hobourne North	176	205	122	210	168	68	91	170
Hobourne South & Runway	193	180	158	217	156	70	227	238
Hurn	106	120	86	130	121	56	48	139
Jumpers Common	53	35	44	58	55	114	49	124
Mudeford North	85	48	87	92	87	72	103	130
Mudeford Quay	186	178	153	233	138	87	87	171
Portfield	149	72	147	143	85	207	70	73
Priory	152	153	173	171	151	212	5	74
Purewell	43	15	36	32	77	178	18	199
River Way	205	185	137	231	164	137	159	175
Somerford East	6	5	6	2	10	88	37	50
Somerford South	17	20	15	9	35	141	65	81
Somerford West	9	4	13	1	20	92	17	53
Stanpit	174	155	80	164	135	223	62	149
Walkford	105	67	75	134	152	54	129	179
Wingfield	181	228	124	147	173	52	181	221

SOA = Super Output Area (minimum 400 households or 1,000 population). Note: The figures in the health column are revised from those published in the 2008 Dorset Databook.

House prices

Dwelling type	Average Price
Detached	£318,622
Semi-detached	£224,140
Terraced	£302,078
Flats/Maisonettes	£163,966

Land Registry average prices (July-September 2009)
(Prices may be affected by low number of sales)

Area
Approx. 'built-up' area = 1,590 hectares (3,930 acres)

Local authority revenue

Year	Council tax payable
Council tax band D for year 09/10	£1,535.06
Council tax band D for year 08/09	£1,479.40
Council tax band D for year 07/08	£1,414.83
Council tax band D for year 06/07	£1,348.59
Council tax band D for year 05/06	£1,285.25
Council tax band D for year 04/05	£1,235.36
Council tax band D for year 03/04	£1,156.93
Council tax band D for year 02/03	£1,011.99
Council tax band D for year 01/02	£904.13
Council tax band D for year 00/01	£858.96
Council tax band D for year 99/00	£815.59

Car availability, 2001 (% of households)

Number of cars	percentage
No car	19.3%
1 car	48.8%
2 cars	25.7%
3+ cars	6.1%

2001 Census data:

Gender breakdown	Christchurch	Dorset
Resident population	44,868	390,979
Males	21,131	188,780
Females	23,737	202,199

Age Structure (%) - 2001 Census data

Age range	Christchurch	Dorset
0-15	15.8	17.9
16+17	2.0	2.4
18-44	27.1	29.6
45-59	19.1	20.8
60-84	31.9	26.2
85+	4.1	3.1

Ethnicity (%) - 2001 Census data

Ethnicity	Christchurch	Dorset
White	98.9	98.7
Non-white	1.1	1.3

Household characteristics - 2001 Census data

Household category	Christchurch	Dorset
Number of all household spaces	21,769	178,065
% second residences / holiday homes	3.0	2.8
% vacant household spaces (no residents)	3.0	2.9
Number of households (with residents)	20,608	167,998
% of households with no car/van	19.4	17.0
% of households with 2 or more cars/vans	31.8	36.7
% of households without all basic amenities (bathroom and/or heating)	4.9	7.2

Household composition (%) - 2001 Census data

Household status	Christchurch	Dorset
Pensioner	40.6	33.4
Married couples	32.5	37.8
Co-habiting couples	5.9	7.0
Lone-parent	7.2	6.8
Owner occupied	79.8	76.3
Renting publicly	12.4	12.1
Renting privately (and other)	7.8	11.6

Economic activity - 2001 Census data

Employment category	Christchurch	Dorset
Economically active population (16-74 yrs)	18,859	178,519
% employed: part-time	21.5	20.9
% employed: full-time	55.7	55.3
% self-employed	15.6	17.6
% unemployed (economically active)	3.5	3.1

Economic inactivity - 2001 Census data

Economic inactivity category	Christchurch	Dorset
Economically inactive population (16-74 yrs)	11,899	96,674
% retired	62.9	56.1
% student	5.2	7.9
% looking after family/home	15.5	17.5
% permanently sick/disabled	10.9	11.4

Occupational characteristics - 2001 Census data

Skill category	Christchurch	Dorset
% high skill	39.4	39.7
% low skill	17.3	18.7

Qualifications - 2001 Census data

Qualifications category	Christchurch	Dorset
% with no qualifications	28.2	26.2
% with higher qualifications (level 4+)*	16.6	18.3

* First degree; Higher degree; NVQ levels 4 and 5; HNC; HND; Qualified Teacher Status; Qualified Medical Doctor; Qualified Dentist; Qualified Nurse; Midwife; Health Visitor.

Health - 2001 Census data

Health category	Christchurch	Dorset
% with long-term illness/disability	22.1	19.2
Health: % good	64.3	68.1
Health: % not good	10.0	8.4
% providing unpaid care	11.6	10.8
% in communal establishment	0.9	2.6

Retail profile - total town floorspace
159shops/180,000 sq.ft. (2005)

Town centre:

The town centre has some local shops, but includes Nationals such as Argos, Boots, Burtons, Co-op/Pioneer, Dorothy Perkins, Iceland, New Look, Somerfield, and WH Smiths.

Catchment population

The shopping catchment for Christchurch (major food shopping) extends around the town centre, and also across towards Lymington. The population within the Dorset part of the catchment is around 40,300 (Mid 2001)

Industrial estates

Airfield Way Industrial Estate (14.4h), Aviation Park,Bournemouth Airport (over 100h), Fairmile/Avon Trading Park(3.0h), Groveley Road (1.36h), Priory Park (2.5h), Sea Vixen Trading Estate (0.59h), Somerford Road (13.1h), Stony Lane (3.2h), Silver Business Park (0.8h), Hughes Business park (0.4h)

Poverty indicators

Benefit population (2009) as a % of total town population: = 15.9%

Unemployment % (persons)

Year	Male	Female	Total
July 1997	4.2 (428)	1.6 (134)	3.1 (562)
July 1998	3.1 ( 316)	1.2 (101)	2.3 (417)
July 1999	3.1 (314)	0.9 (79)	2.1 (393)
July 2000	2.4 (247)	0.8 (69)	1.6 (316)
July 2001	1.8 (186)	0.7 (64)	1.3 (250)
July 2002	1.8 (202)	0.7 (68)	1.3 (270)
July 2003	1.5 (182)	0.7 (65)	1.1 (210)
July 2004	1.3 (117)	0.5 (41)	0.9 (158)
July 2005	1.6 (145)	0.7 (59)	1.1 (204)
July 2006	1.7 (156)	0.5 (45)	1.1 (201)
July 2007	1.3 (116)	0.6 (56)	1.0 (172)
July 2008	1.4 (126)	0.7 (60)	1.0 (186)
July 2009	4.0 (375)	1.5 (128)	2.8 (503)

Of July 2009 unemployment figures, the long-term unemployed = 3.6%

2008 employment

Total number of people working in the town: 14,800 Number of Firms (excluding self employed): 1,630

Work pattern/Gender category	percentage
Full-time	64%
Part-time	36%
Male	53%
Female	47%

Type of employment	%
Manufacturing	12
Other non service activities	*<5
Construction	6
Wholesale and retail trade;repair of motor vehicles/motorcycles	17
Accommodation and food service activities	8
Business services	28
Public administration, Ed and Health	24
Other services	5

* Approximation

Source: Annual Business Inquiry 2008.

Major employers

BAE Systems,BASCO, Beagle Aircraft Ltd, Bournemouth Aviation Services Ltd, Bournemouth International Airport Ltd, Channel Express, Christchurch Borough Council, Christchurch Hospital, College of Air Traffic Control, Data Track Process Instruments, Dorset County Council, European Aviation, FR Aviation Ltd, John Reid & Sons, Mostyns Ltd, Honeywell Normalair Garrett Ltd, Penny and Giles, Revvo Castor Co, Sainsbury's, Siemans VAI, Stewarts Garden Lands, Selex Communications.