I hope you had a wonderful Easter. We didn’t quite get the glorious sunshine I might have hoped for, but at least it didn’t rain the whole time! Bradpole put together an Easter egg trail for the kids, which was great fun, despite the drizzle, and Cerne Abbas did a brilliant job with an Easter egg hunt on the school playing field despite the mud. The sun did at least shine on the Lyme Regis Easter Bonnet Parade, and I was proud to wear a hat fashioned by my extremely talented wife. There was a huge turnout, both in participants and spectators, and I was hugely impressed by the amazing millinery on display from people of all ages.
I also nipped in to the Dorset Food and Drink Festival at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, which had so many of our amazing local producers displaying.
In other news …
With fast approaching local elections across the border in Devon, I spent some time supporting LibDem candidates in Sidmouth at the weekend, as well as visiting residents in Sherborne to hear their views on what improvements they would like to see in the town.
I also had the opportunity to meet with the English Heritage team responsible for looking after Sherborne Old Castle. We discussed their plans to move to a ‘free to visit’ model, and increase opening times. However this will be reliant on them being able to recruit local volunteers. If it is something you might be interested in getting involved with, please get in touch with them.
On planning
The Housing Minister, Baroness Taylor, visited Poundbury last week, and I joined the estate team and representatives from the Duchy to discuss responsible house building. With Labour’s 1.5 million housing target and Dorset earmarked for a significant increase, it is incredibly important that where we do build new houses we build good, sustainable, environmentally friendly, attractive – and, above all, genuinely affordable homes. It is also vital that any development comes with the necessary infrastructure (GPs, schools, dentists) and doesn’t just increase the burden of Dorset’s already-stretched services.
Edward Morello
MP for West Dorset
