South Walks House in Dorchester was packed full today for the first meeting of the brand-new Dorset Council.
82 newly elected councillors, senior officers and a full public gallery filled
the committee suite at South Walks House to debate the business of the new council and vote in its new Leader and Chairman.
During a lively public questions session, there were statements read and questions asked about the new council’s approach to environmental matters and specifically climate change, including questions from climate change group Extinction Rebellion and Friends of the Earth.
In response to this, Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment said:
“We have an opportunity and an obligation to demonstrate leadership – thinking globally about the implications of climate change and acting locally to help address it in our communities.
“The crucial need to tackle climate change is something that we can all agree on. It is an issue which transcends party politics and after discussions with the other group leaders we have agreed on the need to create a cross-party Panel on Climate Change to develop a policy for Dorset Council.”
Further to this, a motion was proposed by Cllr Nick Ireland, leader of the Liberal Democrats which asked for the council to recognise that climate change is happening and that the council agrees to declare a climate emergency.
69 councillors voted to pass this motion, two voted against and 6 abstained meaning Dorset has officially declared a climate emergency.
New positions on the council
Cllr Pauline Batstone has taken up the position of Chairman. This role was previously held for the Shadow Dorset Council by Cllr Hilary Cox.
Cllr Batstone began the meeting by thanking Mrs Cox for her work and dedication over the past five years as Dorset County Council Chairman and latterly as the Chairman of the Shadow Dorset Council.
Cllr Batstone went on to say: “The next year is vital for setting the tone of the new council and the manner in which it operates as a 21st century council.
“The aspirations and ambitions of this new council are for Dorset to be a place where people want to live, visit, learn and work and I am delighted to be able to play a key role in that.”
Cllr Spencer Flower was then voted in as Leader of Dorset Council. He thanked the Chairman and members for putting their faith in him to be the first leader of Dorset Council.
Cllr Flower went on to say: “This is a great honour and an immense privilege. As Leader I want to promote a collaborative approach to the delivery of quality public services, whilst dealing with the known challenges of rising demand and severe financial pressures.
“We need to create a ‘can-do culture’ within the council that puts the interests of our communities first. A member led council, making a real and lasting difference in Dorset. This is a big job, but with the support of members in this chamber we really can make the difference our communities deserve.”
Following the election of the Chairman and Leader, Cllr Flower announced the members of the Dorset Council Cabinet, as follows:
- Leader / Governance, Performance and Communications – Cllr Spencer Flower
- Deputy Leader / Corporate Development and Change – Cllr Peter Wharf
- Finance, Commercial and Assets – Cllr Tony Ferrari
- Housing – Cllr Graham Carr-Jones
- Economic Growth and Skills – Cllr Gary Suttle
- Children, Education and Early Help – Cllr Andrew Parry
- Adult Social Care and Health – Cllr Laura Miller
- Planning – Cllr David Walsh
- Highways, Travel and Environment – Cllr Ray Bryan
- Customer, Community and Regulatory Services – Cllr Tony Alford
A further debate on the issue of climate change is on the agenda for the next meeting of the full council.
I am delighted to read that the new Council has declared a climate emergency. Climate change is the greatest current threat to all of us. On 26 June I shall be joining thousands of others at Westminster as part of CAFOD’s Our Common Home campaign to persuade the government to legislate policies to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 which the IPCC and the leading science say we must do.
2045? way too late!
It dissent look too good that there is only one woman councillor. I wish her all the best and power to her elbow for this challenging role of adult social care.
Happy days, Spencer Flower back as leader, just what’s wrong with these councillors can’t they do better than this.
The answer to climate change is better and cheaper public transport, and getting the conurbations of BPC on board.
Typical overpaid, under performing politicians, posturing for the press!
Congratulations to the new Council. As a member of Wool Parish Council and a ‘retired’ environmental scientist I welcome the commitment by the new Council to recognise climate change.
I sincerely hope a new approach to integrated transport links through the use of better park and ride facilities for our urban centres can be encouraged alongside improved bus and train links particularly pressing better investment and promoting new routes to Weymouth eg using the Yeovil/ Castle Cary line for direct services to London and expanding SWR route options west of Bmth using the same route to add services to Exeter and the west via Yeovil Junction or east to London via Salisbury.
The changes society are going to have to face across every facet of consumerism are immense and only by such commitments and statements can we begin to hope something can be done, however small.
one small change that is obviously needed, I have observed is to replace the HUGE buses with small ones. I see buses, ALL THE TIME with not even one single occupant, apart from the driver!
Great, but I suggest there a few more immediate issues affecting our County that the new Council needs to focus upon; it can then sort global warming.
The dreadful housing plans from the former WDDC Local Plan must be addressed and reversed. We now live in an exclusively rural community which must be sustained, not further alienated by developing Dorchester and Sherborne to the point they become urban wildernesses akin to Yeovil, just across the county boundary.
We need rural development to sustain small communities across the County, address deprivation, creating effective transport and communication networks.
I voted for, and want to see, real change that sustains a rural Dorset.
I do anticipate no more than a piecemeal, half-baked response from councils to what is the looming end of existence on this planet.
The Jurassic Coast provides all the evidence that is needed to see that the climate has changed, occasionally quite rapidly. There is nothing unusual about today’s changing climate so quite why the new council feels the need to declare a climate emergency as the first order of business is disappointing. Surely there are more pressing issues to address rather than this vacuous virtue signalling.
Please can the council consider not trimming verges except where clear sight is necessary? For example, not trimming along the A352 from Warmwell cross to Owermoigne except for at Watercombe Farm crossing and on the roundabout at Warmwell Cross. You can help the environment and save money at the same time…
I agree.
More important than trimming verges is trimming bushes away from road signs.
The A350 sign on the A35 in the bournemouth direction from the Bakers Arms roundabout is almost completely hidden! As are many speed restriction signs.
Climate Emergency.. not rocket science to bring down emissions, ban cars from idling engines within a set distance of schools when picking up children, ban bonfires and log burning stoves that are so popular at the moment.. this is one of the biggest pollution issues in West Moors where I live, many many houses and bungalows have these hideous silver pipes extruding up, churning out the so called smokeless wood ( really??!!) you only have to look at the top of the pipe to see the black tar the smoke has created as its dripped down the pipe. Scrap the charge on the garden bins, this is why people are burning their garden rubbish, I can provide addresses of people in West Moors that burn garden rubbish on a regular basis, there is no point in complaining to the council as there is no smoke free zone here and the council do nothing to stop these people because they can’t. You don’t need a huge debate to ban bonfires and set a huge fine for those that ignore the rules.
you make some good points here.
Please make regular roadside litter collection a priority. Fining flytippers is only part of the solution.
Charging residents for taking tyres, rubble etc to their local tip only encourages flytipping.
If our new Council is really serious about climate change, I suggest it invests in a Municipal Waste to Energy (MWE) facility for Dorset, using the latest pyrolysis technology, built on a brownfield site.
I wait with bated breath.
Hello Gordon. Roadside litter collection is most definitely a priority for Dorset Council – have a read of https://news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/2019/03/14/dorset-waste-partnership-leads-the-fight-against-roadside-litter/
And it’s always worth pointing out that there wouldn’t be a need to pick this litter if people didn’t throw it out of their vehicles in the first place – http://www.litterfreedorset.co.uk/current-projects-and-campaigns/dont-be-a-tos53r/
In regards to charges at the tip, please check out https://news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/2018/05/16/charges-at-the-dump-cause-fly-tipping-time-to-think-again/
Thank you, James
are you referring to the latest incinerator technology? I can see not reason why we do not dispose of much of our waste by this means.
Declaring a Climate Change Emergency is amazing and cross party agreement beyond politics is fantastic. Now part of the worldwide movement there is some hope…:)
Thank you everyone!!
Can I ask if the climate action was solely due to the eco-warriors (terrorists ) lazing about on the grass outside the council offices. If so, you have been played by a bunch of terrorists. Climate changes have been happening with the plant was evolved from dawn of time.
This climate change is happening much faster than in the old days. Please watch Blue Planet by David Attenborough.
These are young people afraid for their futures with species being threatened, disruptions of the food chains causing problems by other species getting out of hand, all too much too soon. Please read some series literature on the subject. The Green Party (of which I am not a member) and Jonathon Porritt have been flagging all this up since the 80s and still people are not really listening when the evidence is there for all to see.
Is anyone aware that the UK produces less than 1% of CO2 emissions worldwide? I’d be interested to know what percentage Dorset produce.
This is pure ridiculous virtue signalling by those with a political agenda.
Perhaps people would be better focusing their attention on India and China (building over 300 coal power stations this year) and the EU where GHG emissions are rising.
What a surprise nothing changes still think we are all idiots and don’t understand what’s going on climate change prove it anything can be proved just depends on who you believe, in reality just another excuse to raise more charges and taxes like central government politicians you can always tell when they are lying their lips move, tell me when did you ever do anything for me or society at your cost
Jump on the bandwagon eh? So how much is this going to cost in Council Tax Rises? And how about buses back into rural areas so we don’t have to use cars? No? Didn’t think so. Back to the diesel to buy some milk 10 miles away .
yes, we will see, won’t we?
Let us be the first county to tackle the appalling litter on roads, be they highways, main roads or rural lanes. I have written to all 52 Councillors in the past on more than one occasion about the disgusting filth along our so-called Areas of Outstanding Beauty!! No-one will tackle this problem. Why not have signs, CCTVs, heavy fines, shame people in local papers… The possibilities are endless yet NO-ONE will stand up as a councillor and fight this scourge on our landscape and environment. I am extremely dismayed at the cowardice nature of Councillors to tackle this problem. Let’s show other counties it CAN be tackled. How lily-livered is our Council to clean our county highways of litter before key tourist times arrive to make it look better!! Shame on you!!!
Hello Barry. Dorset Council regularly tackles roadside litter via the hardworking staff of the Dorset Waste Partnership – have a read of https://news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/2019/03/14/dorset-waste-partnership-leads-the-fight-against-roadside-litter/
We are also proud supporters of Litter Free Dorset and Keep Britain’s Tidy’s Don’t Be A Tos53r campaign – http://www.litterfreedorset.co.uk/current-projects-and-campaigns/dont-be-a-tos53r/
We have signs – both static and digital – all over the county’s roads and roundabouts warning motorists of the penalties if caught dropping litter. We publicise successful prosecutions and our Enforcement Team are out every day, working with the public to find those who would pollute our environment with their waste.
Roadside litter can be reported to us directly at https://dorset-self.achieveservice.com/service/DWP_Report_litter_on_the_highway_or_pavement
Thank you, James
if only litter was really our problem!
That’s all well & good but until the road network is improved & I mean improved to keep flowing instead of omitting carbon in traffic jams there is not going to be any improvement….. and also If Devon Somerset & Hampshire havnt done the same how I’d Dorset going to save the county… don’t get me wrong I’ve been doing my bit for years way before Dorset brought in the recycling system
Well said. I am fed up that Wimborne is suffering an unsustainable amount of housing development which has under provided for parking and the road network is gridlocked already at certain times of day. So goodness only knows what will happen when all the new residents move in! Many of our new councillors are responsible for allowing and passing these planning permissions!!
We have no railway and bus services are limited. Travel times are reaching an all time high. Residents have no real option other than using their cars.
This is a total joke. There is not a climate emergency in Dorset. There may be an imminent climate change problem for the world but it is not an emergency in Dorset. This is a total misuse of the English language.
If the council wishes to take action such as solar panels on the roof of every council owned building or changing every council owned vehicle to run on electricity that would be great.
Please don’t use phrases such as a climate emergency in Dorset. It makes you all a laughing stock.
I agree with this comment.
Creating a ‘Climate Emergency’ is daft. It should be kept in reserve for actioning a real problem, eg when sea levels have risen 2 metres in 100 years (like when it last happened in the 6th century AD – that one wasn’t due to us).
If we must raise a £1 billion to adapt our coastal towns then that’s more like an ’emergency’.
Reducing CO2 emissions in Dorset to undo the effects of our prior neglect should be part of a well-managed set of Policies acting through the Budget, not a knee-jerk reaction to a pressure group (however well-meaning).
have you not been looking outside of your four walls at all? Please look at news.
Well done Dorset Council on your declaration! Now is the time for collective action, once we have helped six councillors off the fence and pulled the other two heads out of the sand what are we going to do to make Dorset lead by its actions.
yes, ACTION, not words, are needed.
It would be useful if you could state the political parties of the councillors who are leading the various committees, and which councillors from other parties are on those committees. That way, the public knows who to contact and who to hold to account. Thanks.
Exactly what I thought , why keep it secret ?
Well done to declare the climate emergency!
I must say, whoever manages your coms is doing a refreshingly good job!
I wouldn’t want to be a farting cow in Dorset, my days are obviously numbered. Are you seriously taking advice from XR ?
The truth of climate change is that the Sun is going into a cyclical (every 220 years or so) hibernation, known as a Grand Solar Minimum. This will affect global weather patterns to the detriment of agriculture. The UV spectrum has changed, making uvB rays the prominent frequency, resulting in a rise in skin cancers.
Here’s a video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1yjlhti2AE&t=11s
the problem for the existence of life on this planet is not even about climate change anyway. It is about the existence of evil in humans, and I am doubting that any local councils have a clue how to change that.
Unbelievable that the new Dorset Council first meeting has been hijacked by the climate change brigade. There are so many local issues ; roads, schools, health, recycling and housing requiring attention. While climate change is an international problem let us not devote too much attention and money to something that needs to be tackled on a world wide stage first.
All the little local issues are as nothing compared to the catastrophe we , the human race, now faces, imminently.
Don’t forget, the climate change brigade have time to hijack everything as they are largely unemployed and living on benefits we, taxpayers, provide. Get them clearing roadside ditches of weeds etc. that clog them and cause flooding. Just look at the maid road west of Winterbourne Abbas. This neglect caused serious flooding the village in very recent time. ‘Winterbournes’ have been there generations to avoid the problem. They can then really call themselves ‘green’ instead of idle.
I think the council have promoted themselves to their level of incompetence! Declaring a ‘global emergency’ from the comfort of South Walks House is both sanctimonious and hypocritical! Unless of course the committee will set us all an example and become vegetarians , ditch their phones/TV etc, live in a recycled box and refrain from farting!
A good start keep it up and the ‘can do culture’ is certainly long overdue
Perhaps Dorset Council would like to declare a Litter Emergency while it is at it and show that it can show environmental “leadership” on a local level and prevent Dorset from resembling an open landfill site.
Hello Keith. Roadside litter collection is a priority for Dorset Council – have a read of https://news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/2019/03/14/dorset-waste-partnership-leads-the-fight-against-roadside-litter/
We have street cleansing staff out every day of the week, helping keep Dorset’s public places clean.
And it’s always worth pointing out that there wouldn’t be a need to pick this litter if people didn’t drop it in the first place – http://www.litterfreedorset.co.uk/current-projects-and-campaigns/dont-be-a-tos53r/
Thank you, James
Start heavily fining people who park and leave their engines running. In the last 2 weeks I have told 18 parents outside my daughters school to turn their engines off. This is the tip of the ice burg. Everywhere you go there are people who park and sit there playing with their phones for long periods of time whilst their engines are running. Slapping a ticket on these inconsiderate people would certainly be a step in the right direction.
Also fine roadwork companies who have unnecessary traffic lights. On 3 occasions in the last year we have had roadworks that have finished and gone but the traffic lights have stayed there for between 1-5 days afterwards!
Stop allowing bent tree surgeons from cutting down protected trees because they say they are deceased when they are not.
Stop allowing Hoburne developments cutting down any tree they like in Christchurch so they can build what they like where they like. There doesn`t seem to be any rules for them.
Human, including councillors, need to become vegans, stop using planes and cars and animals, and evolve their minds out of the stone-age mentality in which they are still stuck.
You are so right about trees. There is clearly corruption. Idiots making money out of tree felling. Even protected trees.
PS A comment I made on another reply has ended up on this one somehow!
Thank God someone is taking climate change seriously.
What percentage of Dorset Councillors are female? What percentage of Dorset Council Cabinet members are female?
Hello Howard, 33 per cent of the council are female (27 women and 55 men). There is one woman on the Cabinet of ten members.
How disappointing, and as a woman in the county how depressing to be so underrepresented. Could the Council explain this please?
The United Nations have declared that there is a global climate emergency. For Dorset Council to declare a local one is underwhelming in the extreme.
To declare it as their first public statement implies that they can’t think of anything more important and relevant to their local community.
If this is the limit of their vision I want my money back.
there IS nothing more important.
I wonder why the first council meeting took place in such a place where there was not enough space left for the public to join in. Do people living in rural Dorset not deserve to be able to access to the meeting? Is it really suitable such meetings to take place in South Walk Offices? Are meeting rooms are large enough and suitable public meetings??
excellent point
I hope councillor Walsh, in his environmental role, will stop pouring concrete over grass verges, for cycle lanes that are unnecessary and will force all new building to have solar panels for hot water and feed in tariffs for power generation.
One woman in the cabinet? Hardly a balanced council. Come on Dorset – do better!
wow! only one!
Did you apply then?
A new council and immediately divert from local Dorset business and want to take on the world…what nonsense you are not going to change the weather
and all the wordly issues…so stop listening to minority groups and get on and do some ‘Dorset’ work.
There will be not Dorset after the catasrophic environmental collapse, and the human societal collapse which we are imminently faced with.
All very noble and all very global….but your first duty is to provide the statutory services determined by Successive Governments…to provide them effectively and efficiently. Then develop existing and new approaches to discretionary services.
So, before you get carried away with ‘extinction rebellion’, some of whose members seem to forget that the manufacture and consumption of cheap clothing / throw away clothes contributes to perhaps 30% of destructive emissions ….please concentrate on core services and get ALL those right, before ‘ transcending local politics’
Do these people actually live in the real world? The main concerns of the majority of people in Dorset, and Weymouth in particular, are whether they can afford to pay their bills this month, if their jobs are secure, the education of their children, and healthcare. Climate change will be far down the list for people living month to month trying to keep their heads above water. And how did Spencer Flower get to be leader of this council?
There is about to be no world, let alone a Dorset to live in. All those little local and personal issues will not matter at all.
Can you advise if any of the Dorset Council Cabinet are from Weymouth & Portland as I do not recognise any of the names and wondered if in the new structure our area was represented on the cabinet
same old thing all for east of Weymouth , seems we don’t exist
Its great to see that you have declared an climate change emergency.
Is this just political rhetoric, I ask due to the appearance of very little engagement in PV across public buildings council and schools for example, there is significant amount of areas to place PV, and if you are serious about climate change the do something more significant than declaring a statement. You could always give yourselves planning permission to do so!!!
Ha! That is funny! Now we need to see MASSIVE ACTION, not just words.
We still have the same climate as we had when I was born! What we do have is a massive population explosion throughout the world and it is that that will destroy the world. It is the cause of all the polution problems including the increase in CO2. We wouldn’t have housing problems if the population had not increased. Please declare this an emergency rather than something that is dubvious!!
Part of the reason for increase in population here is migration of humans from hotter climates. Possibly that migration is not just due to the weather getting hotter , but many other factors. Certainly on local issue, all over the UK is to house our citizens, but even that is an insignificant problem to the collapse of world environment and, so, the collapse of human societies and then of human species.
Out of 69 Councillors 6 abstained on the 1st Vote of the new Council on climate change. Why on earth did they put themselves forward for election if they cannot make a decision. An extremely dissapointing start.
Worse still, 5 didn’t vote at all.
Awareness of the environment should be business as normal but to adopt the language of pressure groups and to declare an emergency is a meaningless gesture. Extrapolate the logic and all Council issues should be designated using ever more extreme terminology.
I look forward to seeing how the status of emergency affects decision making, if it doesn’t then it is a hollow gesture.
yes, ACTION not words.
A wise, logical start would be with the preservation of our local countryside, flora and fauna. To achieve this, the current constant and accelerated use of redesignated greenbelt sites for development of extensive, compacted housing estates with the resulting increase in the number of vehicles must stop. And maybe councillors could set an example by holding video conference sessions to decrease the number of vehicles on our extremely overcrowded roads.
If people’s objections to overdevelopment were heeded, we would not be in the position we find ourselves today. Don’t wait until we have gridlock which is fast approaching.
Good morning
Could we have more discussion on the Council Tax which again is the one of the highest in the UK (the second I believe)? We’ve been consistently at the top. Not everyone has large pensions and this cost now is extremely hard to bare. When I see BPC council’s tax Band D and then Dorset’s there is a very big difference. I know we have a more rural area but here in Upton all we see are the benefits in Poole which we should be part of.
I am pleased that Climate change has been declared as an emergency.
We can only wait to see whether this is a genuine concern or only when it suits the Council. Will the construction of new housing still be approved on flood planes? Will food waste continue to rise? Will the Council continue to waste money unsustainable schemes? Will the Council continue to support speeding fuel hungry vehicles through our villages? Hopefully all this will soon be in the past.
Why is there only one woman in the Council Cabinet? And why so many familiar male names? Surely this is the perfect opportunity for some real changes to be made in the way the Council does business but the fine words all makes it look depressingly familiar. I hope that some of the newly elected people on the Council will really make a difference.
Solar panels on all new buildings should be mandatory – there are very few buildings that do not have at least one roof surface exposed to the sun. There is no reason that such a policy would increase the cost of new builds. Think ahead – electric cars – houses will need more electricity for charging. Go to any recent housing development, such as Poundbury, and how many solar panels are there? Why not? It is no excuse that central government are taking a mealy-mouthed attitude to solar panels, as a local council get on and make the necessary changes to planning approval requirements.
unfortunately, a reply I made to another comment seems to have landed here, after your comment.
I see the Council have just had an injection of common sense regarding the climate. But why have so many new developments been granted planning permission? Devastating the total local environments and climate, particularly in East Dorset.
Climate emergency! Ridiculous, concentrate on providing the services we pay for and leave out the new age virtue signalling nonsense.
From these comments it sounds like some people could have put a little more thought in before voting.
the only other pressing issue is the issue of the evil holocaust being perpetrated against the animals, particularly in the evil fharming industries.
Dorset’s new council will not be able to save the planned its not even there job to try
I meant plannet
Thank heavens. So glad our new Council are willing to act and that they have made this a cross party issue. All around the world councils are being asked to take action because 97% of all the worlds climatologists are saying we have an emergency on our hands. It’s up to our elected representatives to take this extremely seriously and commit to emergency planning.
No they are not. The 97% figure was conjured up and widely discredited, but still it lingers on in peoples minds. Besides, consensus has no place in science. If consensus is being used as an argument, it sure isn’t science.