News in Dorchester

A former estate agent business in Dorchester's High West Street is to be converted into a home.

The upper floors of the building, No 54, previously used for offices, have already been converted for residential use.

Covid appears not to have happened in the world of Dorset Council planning.

The claim comes from Dorchester town councillors who say the proposals currently being put forward for the revised local plan are the same as were presented four years ago by the former district council.

Town councillors in Dorchester are being urged to support 'infill' housing in the town to offset the need for the Dorchester North scheme.

They are being asked to back proposals in the local plan review for new housing off Castle Park, south of St Georges Road and off Alington Avenue.

Dorset CPRE has slammed Dorset Council's draft local plan and has come with its own alternative approach.

It states that it has not adequately consulted communities before it was published and that it fails to challenge central housing targets, which "are way in excess of any sensible forecast of local housing need".

There's still time to enter the Dorchester and Poundbury Business Awards - a celebration of local business.

Organisers Marketing West want to get business moving again and there are a range of categories to enter.

The Dorchester Virtual Market is back up and running for February.

Support local, independent traders during this difficult time and shop from your sofa.

Proposals for a park and ride for Dorchester should be dropped from future plans for the area – according to town councillors.

They say the last loss-making scheme failed to work and was closed down despite being subsidised by the previous district council.

Hundreds of armed forces medics have been deployed to hospitals in the South West, including Dorset County Hospital, to support the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine.

More than 100 defence medics are supporting hospitals in the South West, working in intensive care units and other patient facing roles, providing care alongside NHS professionals and general duties to fulfil non-clinical roles and help relieve pressure on the NHS where it is needed most.

West Dorset MP Chris Loder is encouraging residents to have their say on the Dorset Council Local Plan to prevent developments like the one proposed for north Dorchester.

The local plan is open for consultation and it sets out the targets for future housing developments in Dorset, identifying areas where they can be built, including the 4,000 homes proposed on the outskirts of the town.

Owners and residents of Dorset's park home sites are being asked to give their views on a draft policy for how Dorset Council sets park home license fees, which could see some increase.

A new policy is needed to standardise how park home license fees are calculated across Dorset. It will replace the policies of the county's former district and borough councils which each determined their fees differently.