News in Dorchester

Infection rates continue to fall across Dorset but levels are still high and above the South West average.

Public Health Dorset reports there are 1,001 coronavirus cases in the Dorset Council area, compared to 1,175 on January 22, and 2,342 in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council area, compared to 3,138.

Dorset County Hospital is to add a temporary dialysis unit.

The hospital says the portable building will allow for an expansion of the service to meet current demand and in the short-term could be used as an isolation unit for any dialysis patients who are COVID-19 positive, if needed.

Expensive repairs could be needed to old buildings on the edge of the Dorchester market site.

Recent storms blew tiles from the roof of the North Linneys into gardens in Great Western Road which back on to the area.

Large rear extensions are being planned for two Dorchester South Street shops.

The planning application, for 52 and 52A, asks Dorset Council to approve a two storey extension and to allow internal alterations.

Repairs to a Dorchester wall which has taken almost a year to complete have been praised by town mayor Richard Biggs.

The wall, on the corner of Bowling Alley Walk and West Walk, close to the Borough Gardens, came down just as lockdown was starting in March 2020.

Police officers in Dorchester have secured a closure order for a property in the town.

The order was secured for an address in St Georges Road following reports of anti-social behaviour and drug-related activity.

Dorchester town councillors say they will continue to press for a better site for the town's household recycling centre.

The tip, at Louds Mill, is at the end of a pot-holed road which often floods in winter and is difficult for many people to use without assistance. The site frequently has to be completely closed for lorries to remove the skip containers, resulting in long queues in the narrow approach road.

Travelling families who need to move from Dorchester to a new site on the outskirts of the town have won the backing of the town council to get power to their homes.

The site, off Slyers Lane at Cokers Frome, already has other services, including permission for its own sewage works, but according to Dorchester town councillor Alistair Chisholm, getting electrical power has proved difficult.

Another Dorchester town centre office building could be converted to flats.

The latest application is for a former estate agents at 51 High West Street, with a request to Dorset Council for a change of use from office and ancillary accommodation to provide three flats.

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