The Parish Council has a vacancy for the Clerk to start as soon as possible.

The Parish Council has been in contact with OpenReach to see how the Bradford Abbas Ultrafast Community Project is progressing as several people have enquired about the fibre cables that have been strung up now for some time.  

The Fibre Community Partnership team at Openreach have given us this progress report:

Dorset Council are planning to close Underdown Hollow between Back Lane and Westbury to allow their contractor to fell a storm-damaged tree.

These works are programmed to commence between 0930 and 1600 from 03 May 2022 until 06 May 2022.
The contractor will publicise the road closure by:

You may have been concerned to receive an email from culture.gov.uk (DCMS) warning you that your Gigabit voucher was about to expire if Openreach hasn’t completed the fibre installation to your premises within the next 4 weeks.

Hopefully installation work will continue apace but … 

I contacted Openreach and received the following answer. (TL;DR: Don’t panic! There’s no action we need to take.)

Fantastic News!

What is being replaced

The multi-play unit is the well-loved and much-used castle-like structure with its ramp, slide and boarding ladder -  but it will soon need to be replaced.

Since it was erected 25? years ago it has been loved by several generations and must have given many hundreds (and possibly thousands) of children and their parents so much enjoyment.

I am the Parish Council’s Footpath Officer. I regularly walk the Rights of Way in the Parish and beyond … when not flooded! 

If you notice any issues with styles, kissing gates, overgrown paths and so on, please contact me or  use Dorset Council’s easy-to-use interactive map to report a problem at a precise location.

Following the Parish Council’s unsuccessful attempt to have Gollop's Ground designated a Village Green, the Chair and Vice Chair and two other residents met with the landowners on Friday 3rd September in Gollop's Ground. 

The landowners rejected the Parish Council's proposal to lease or purchase the field for the continued use of the community.

You may know that the Parish Council was asked by members of the public present at the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting of June 1st 2021 to apply to Dorset Council to have Gollop’s Ground registered as a Village Green since, in the terms of the Commons Act, the field had been used as one for as long as anyone can remember and as far as we know, at least from the 1880’s.