Flooding at the Trumpet Major Junction Picture: Trevor Bevins AT LAST – work is to start this week on solving the flooding problems at three locations on Dorchester bypass. Engineers will also install motion sensitive Toucan lights at the Stadium Roundabout to improve safety while crossing five lanes of traffic for cyclists and pedestrian. Other works planned in the area by Highways England and Dorset Council include completing the gaps around Dorchester on the national cycle route which runs from Portishead to Portland and stopping verge parking outside McDonalds. The news was given to a Dorchester town council meeting on Monday evening by Cllr Roland Tarr, who represents parishes south of the county town on Dorset Council.
A BID for Dorchester to gain city status has been dismissed as a vanity project , with one councillor saying there is more chance of plaiting fog than there is of the bid being successful. Some councillors have argued that the status would reflect its importance as county town and it would bring publicity and tourism to Dorchester which would help to boost the local economy. However, the move has been dismissed as a vanity project and a pointless waste of time by some councillors who believe there should be more focus placed in other areas, such as climate change, than on the town gaining city status.
North Dorchester area AN EXTRA 3,500 homes for Dorchester, being proposed by Dorset Council, could destabilise the county town’s future – according to the town council. It says the unitary council has done little to justify the Dorchester North site for the extra housing, other than it being a ‘quick fix’ with a ready developer. Town councillors were told at a meeting on Monday evening: This specific site carries a significant level of risk that it will fail to address the local needs of the town, nor will it produce a comprehensive, relevant, viable and sustainable development that supports the area’s future rather than destabilising it.
The Dorchester site which families are moving from 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. He told the town council that the fairground families, who for decades have been based at the old Flax Factory site in St George’s Road, Dorchester, are having to move because their site, based around an old barn, is being re-developed for housing.