So you are thinking of moving to Christchurch in Dorset? You've found some estate agents and they have told you what you wanted to hear. You've read some speil by a local councillor who says that Christchurch is on the up an up? Now it's time for a bit of reality. Cold hard statistics culled from the Police, the Indices of Deprivation and the latest census. Is Christchurch the land of milk and honey or are Bournemouth, New Milton and Ringwood a lot better? Time to find out.
Crime in Christchurch
Using the latest Police street crime figures for the month of July 2020 we have compiled a table of the most voilent Policing areas in and around Christchurch. Naturally the more urban and more central areas will have a higher rate of crime, but often you can be surprised when that is not the case and that is the area you want to move to.
| Polcing Area | Voilent Crimes |
|---|---|
| Stour | 77 |
| Tuckton | 72 |
| Christchurch | 54 |
| Jumpers Common | 51 |
| Fairmile | 42 |
| Southbourne | 34 |
| South Bockhampton | 15 |
| Friars Cliff | 8 |
| Hengistbury Head | 1 |
| Waterditch | 0 |
The English Indices of Deprivation also has crime statistics for Christchurch. These statitics are published by the government every 2-3 years. They are a measure of how likely you are to be a victim of personal or material crime in an area, such as muggings or burglary. We've collated an average rank for all the Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA) in each ward in and around Christchurch. The table below shows ten wards in this area, from the best to the worst.
| Ward | Average rank in England |
|---|---|
| Ringwood East and Sopley (Best) | 14666/32845 |
| West Southbourne | 17041/32845 |
| Littledown & Ilford | 17587/32845 |
| Burton & Grange | 18814/32845 |
| Christchurch Town | 20304/32845 |
| East Southbourne & Tuckton | 24363/32845 |
| Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe | 27146/32845 |
| Highcliffe & Walkford | 30351/32845 |
| Boscombe West | 5863/32845 |
| Boscombe East & Pokesdown (Worst) | 7576/32845 |
Boscombe & Southbourne in Bournemouth, my advice is stay away!
Your Health in Christchurch
If you are thinking of moving to Christchurch, you want to know if the place is likely to put you on a downward spiral of ill health. We've taken the healh question from the latest census to find out and how Christchurch compares to its neighbouring local authorities. People were asked to rate their current health from very bad to very good;
| Local Authority | Very Bad | Bad | Fair | Good | Very Good |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southampton | 1.2% | 3.89% | 12.36% | 34.99% | 47.56% |
| Isle of Wight | 1.47% | 5.01% | 16.18% | 36.53% | 40.81% |
| New Forest | 1.08% | 3.81% | 14.09% | 35.87% | 45.15% |
The English Indices of Deprivation also has health statistics for Christchurch. They measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health, lovely! We've collated an average rank for all the Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA) in each ward in and around Christchurch. The table below shows ten wards in this area, from the best to the worst;
| Ward | Average rank in England |
|---|---|
| Boscombe East & Pokesdown (Best) | 13726/32845 |
| West Southbourne | 15411/32845 |
| Burton & Grange | 18769/32845 |
| East Southbourne & Tuckton | 20344/32845 |
| Littledown & Ilford | 20491/32845 |
| Christchurch Town | 23975/32845 |
| Highcliffe & Walkford | 26206/32845 |
| Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe | 26306/32845 |
| Ringwood East and Sopley | 26547/32845 |
| Boscombe West (Worst) | 8867/32845 |
I had the misfortune of visiting Boscombe
Deprivation in Christchurch
Using the English Indices of Deprivation statistics, we've collated the average Index of Multiple Deprivation rank of all the LSOAs in the wards in and around Christchurch. In layman's terms, this is how rough the ward is based on mutiple measures of deprivation including; employment, income, health, crime, housing and outside space.
| Ward | Average rank in England |
|---|---|
| Boscombe East & Pokesdown (Best) | 12348/32845 |
| Burton & Grange | 16014/32845 |
| West Southbourne | 17654/32845 |
| Ringwood East and Sopley | 20577/32845 |
| Christchurch Town | 21650/32845 |
| Littledown & Ilford | 23601/32845 |
| East Southbourne & Tuckton | 25197/32845 |
| Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe | 26561/32845 |
| Highcliffe & Walkford | 27200/32845 |
| Boscombe West (Worst) | 8887/32845 |
Sunny, Sunny Bournemouth, it’s more like crappy, crappy Bournemouth
Poole “it’s a beautiful place”, yeah right!!!!!!
Bournemouth, quite possibly the biggest lie ever conceived.
Shaftesbury – it’s great if you’re old and rich
Bridport: historic **** town
I had the misfortune of visiting Boscombe
Weymouth: Every day is like Sunday
Isle of Portland – Where hope goes to die
Boscombe & Southbourne in Bournemouth, my advice is stay away!