Not all hedgehogs need rescuing, no matter how vulnerable they look. Here’s how to spot those that need help – and how to give it.
Image by reader Judi Low of the ‘Hedgehog Highway’ which she installed in her garden fence to encourage hedgehog traffic. She says “almost straight away hedgehogs started to come in to the garden, and I now have a resident hibernating in an also newly-installed hedgehog house!”
This year has been incredibly busy at our Hedgehog Rescue; we have now had over 780 hedgehogs admitted since 2018. This month we have really struggled to cope with the number of young and orphaned or abandoned urchins. It is really hard to have to turn so many away from our door, especially as there are very few other places close by to take them. It is heart breaking.
What can you do to help these poor baby hedgehogs? Firstly, keep feeding them in your garden to help them put on weight. Even if they do not come for a few nights, please keep putting the food in the same position in your garden at around the same time and they will know where and when the food will arrive. The hungriest ones will always be the first to arrive. They eat more than you think and a hungry hedgehog can eat up to 200 grams of food a night.
Safe feeding tips
Place the food in a dish, not on the ground. A dish will keep the food cleaner than if put on the earth. Wet cat food in jelly freezes more quickly than dry cat food but either will help a hungry hoglet. Leave fresh water out in several places in your garden. Do not feed a hedgehog by the light of a torch. They will get used to seeing the torch light and associate it with food delivery. When they see a car’s lights they will run towards it expecting food only to find something much bigger and less forgiving.
When to rescue
If you find a small hedgehog out during the day, at this time of the year they will be in need of help. Pick the hedgehog up wearing gloves and put it in a high sided box with some heat. A hot water bottle or warm water in a plastic bottle will need to be replaced regularly to keep the hog warm. Put an old towel or jumper into the box to help it stay warm and snug. Give it some water in a shallow saucer or bowl. Let it have a good drink before offering some cat food in jelly. Our maximum capacity for hedgehogs is 38, as we only have space and time to care for that many. Anything over puts pressure and stress on me and the lovely volunteers who all kindly give their time and energy free to help the hedgehogs. However, a healthy hedgehog out at night feeding in your garden will probably do very well. If you continue support feeding all winter, it will survive; it is the lack of available food that causes most issues. Some folk are encouraging people to pick these night visitors up and take them to a rescue. If they are healthy and well, they are more likely to die in a rescue of the stress caused by being picked up and put into a box, driven to a rescue and caged. A healthy hog does not need to be inside in the warm but outside in the wild so it can look after itself.
Which animals to rescue
A healthy hog is out at night; an ill hedgehog can be seen out of its nest during the day, and these are the ones the spaces in a rescue should be saved for. If you do pick a hedgehog up at night because you consider it is too small to hibernate, and put it in a box with the intention of caring for it yourself, please do so with the support of your local rescue. They will talk you through the care needed and give you help and assistance.
Jeanette at Hedgehog Rescue of Hazelbury Bryan 01258 818266
If you’d like to support Jeanette’s work and our North Dorset hedgehogs, please consider purchasing something from the rescue’s Amazon wishlist here
A book is a foolproof gift for most people at Christmas – if you love to read, you can never be disappointed when you received a thoughtfully chosen new book. If you’re looking for some inspiration, we’ve rounded up our favoutite, exceedingly gift-able, books by local authors.
Dipping into Somerset and Wiltshire
IF you love Somerset, or know someone who does, Deepest Somerset, by journalists Gay Pirrie-Weir and Fanny Charles, would be the perfect Christmas present. It’s packed full of fascinating facts and gorgeous photographs. And your gift also helps local charities – the proceeds of Deepest Somerset will be shared between the Children’s Hospice South West, the Farming Community Network and Somerset Community Foundation. Somerset is the third and final book in the Deepest series, following Deepest Dorset, (published in 2016 and now sold out), and Deepest Wiltshire, which is supporting Wiltshire Community Foundation, with donations also to Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the military charity SSAFA.
Scandals and innocents The aim of the Deepest series is to go beyond the familiar features – whether it’s Lulworth Cove or the Cerne Giant in Dorset, Stonehenge in Wiltshire or Cheddar Gorge and the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset to reveal more about the history, culture, and lives of the people who live in these beautiful counties. In Wiltshire, the authors discovered the stories of the real Winnie the Pooh, the scandalous Lady Meux and a 19 year old boy hung for a crime he didn’t commit, whose tomb at Trowbridge is a place of pilgrimage for anyone interested in the early history of trade unionism.
Prince Charles’ ’wonderful book’ Somerset has a rich food and drink heritage. Chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury, who has created recipes with local ingredients for all three Deepest books, went to Porlock to learn about – and taste – Porlock Oysters. Fanny Charles spent a day with one of the world’s great cheese-makers, George Keen, at Wincanton, to learn about cheddaring and how his family has been making this traditional, clothbound, unpasteurised, farmhouse Cheddar for more than 100 years. Gay Pirrie-Weir talked to Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis about his lifelong Methodism. They all tasted a range of artisan ciders and heard from cider-maker Julian Temperley about his historic victory over the EU to be allowed to call his great creation Somerset Cider Brandy. In the introduction to what he calls “this wonderful book,” Prince Charles writes about the connection between people and the land, and “the profound cultural role” that farming plays. He contrasts it with the “industrial production process which severs us, not just from the source of our food, but from the sacred and cultural aspects of a community’s precious sense of place.”
Famous contributors Contributors to Deepest Somerset include Sir Cameron Mackintosh and National Hunt champion trainer Paul Nicholls, while Wiltshire contributors range from the president of the NFU to Time Team star, archaeologist Phil Harding. Deepest Somerset and Deepest Wiltshire, both £25; for more information ring 01963 32525 or visit www.deepestbooks.co.uk
Regular readers cannot fail to have noticed that in addition to his regular allotment column, Barry Cuff’s name frequently appears beside historical black and white images of Dorset. Barry is a collector, and has amassed the largest collection of historical Dorset postcards. David Burnett, the author, has worked with Barry to select the right images to illustrate the county’s towns. Rare images Lost Dorset – the towns is a backwards glance at Dorset’s towns through the period covered by the postcards – on the coast, inland market towns, or the scattered heathland settlements that have since grown into some of the county’s largest communities. Few of the 375 postcards chosen for this book have been published before, many are extremely rare, and they combine to form a unique portrait of urban Dorset between the invention of the postcard in 1869 until just after the First World War, a period of extraordinary change. Local towns included in the book: Blandford • Dorchester • Gillingham • Shaftesbury • Sherborne • Stalbridge • Sturminster Newton • Verwood • Wimborne
In addition to being an utterly perfect gift for any gardener or plant lover, this bestseller and Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlist title made our round up because Jonathan Drori and his wife, novelist Tracy Chevalier, live in the Piddle Valley in North Dorset. In his follow-up to the bestselling Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori has created an inspirational and beautifully illustrated book that tells the stories of 80 plants from around the globe. He skilfully brings to life the science of plants by revealing how their worlds are intricately entwined with our own history, culture and folklore. From the seemingly familiar tomato and dandelion to the eerie mandrake and Spanish ‘moss’ of Louisiana, each of these stories is full of surprises. Some have a troubling past, while others have ignited human creativity or enabled whole civilizations to flourish. With a colourful cast of characters all brought to life by illustrator Lucille Clerc, this is a botanical journey of beauty and brilliance.
In this remarkable new collection of photographs, renowned portrait photographer Lucy Sewill turns her lens to man’s best friend and the bond that they have with some of the nation’s favourite celebrities. Lucy lives near Dorchester with her family, and you can see one of the images from this book in this month’s Random19 – that of Hermione Norris with Ophelia, her Great Dane. Lucy’s intimate portraits give the reader a glimpse of some remarkable, and previously unseen, relationships between some well-known faces and their favourite pets. Among the celebrities Lucy has photographed are BBC Radio DJ Sara Cox and her dog Dolly; Spandau Ballet musician and actor Gary Kemp and his dog Piper and BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin and her dog Waffle. “It’s not about the celebrities at all” says Lucy “you have squeaky toys, and it’s all about the dog.” The result is a revealing series of photographs
Sturminster Newton resident Nahla Summers spent ten years having some remarkable adventures – and this is the book whoch chronicles her journey. Have you ever wanted to know how to achieve your goals? Live your dream? Understand the meaning of it all? Do you want to change the inner chatter in your mind that stops you from your fullest living life? Nahla Summers will take you on a journey of resilience, purpose, facing fears and taking the time to stop and stare. From a place of deep sorrow, Nahla transformed her life by travelling 8,000 miles raising nearly 250,000 of kindness. 8,500 miles Nahla has cycled 3000 miles across America, walked 500 miles from South to North England, and completed a World Record breaking, 5000-mile journey on a stand-up bike through every city in the UK. Why? Because she is driven by a message and a community that is so much bigger than her. The message is simple, if happiness is the goal we seek, then kindness is the action that will get us there.
Where are the jackdaws and rooks going at dusk? In this month’s nature column, Jane Adams discovers her local corvids are having a noisy sleepover.
The jackdaw has several call notes, commonest is the ‘jickaaw’ (like it is saying jackdaw). Other notes in the same pitch are ‘Kyak’ – ‘Keeyak‘ and an alarm call of ‘Kiiyaar’ image: Jane Adams
Have you noticed how jackdaws and rooks often fly in broken lines across the sky at dusk? Get up high and you might spot hundreds of lines, each one like a spoke in an aerial wheel leading to a central hub. Their winter roost.
If you’re below a ‘spoke’, it can be a noisy affair. I can’t help imagining frustrated parents screaming at their wing-dragging youngsters, imploring them to get a move on.
Home to roost
In reality, this calling whilst flying may just be a way for family groups to stick together as the light fades, and if you follow one of these lines, you’ll be in for a treat.
I live on a ridge. It’s a supple spine of Dorset chalk flecked with oak, beech and elm. Half a mile away is another ridge, and between lies a valley cradling a patchwork of rain-soaked fields. I came across my local rook and jackdaw roost by chance. They’re worth looking out for – though goodness knows how I missed mine for so many years.
A noise you feel inside
From my ridge, I can see black wings converging on a group of tall beech trees across the valley. Silhouetted against a blood-red sky, they resemble black bees buzzing round a towering hive. I can’t hear them properly from this distance, but as I walk down the hill and cross the valley, the sound of yaks and craws increases. By the time I reach their roosting trees, their individual calls have combined into a bellow. A sound that gets right inside you.
There must be hundreds, maybe thousands of birds. But within the chaos of flapping wings and calls, there’s also order. I pick out groups – possibly families – sitting side-by-side on branches. They’re squeezed together, their wings touching, somehow ignoring the surrounding chaos.
As I walk away, there’s the sound of a distant gunshot. The roost takes to the air as one screaming, dislodged entity. It circles, rising and falling in the fading light like a billowing black sheet.
Gradually, it settles back into the trees. Then silence.
By our wildlife guest columnist, Jane Adams – Naturalist. bTB Badger Vaccinator. Nature writer. Photographer. Bee Watcher.
It’s not the greatest idea to include farm stock with your church nativity play, explains Andrew Livingstone.
image by Andrew Livingston
With this being the month of good tidings and general merriment, I will share the tale of the legendary nativity that culminated in faecal matter desecrating the floor of our local church. In a time pre-millennium, as a four-year-old I would pretend to pitch in on our farm. I would run around, tripping over everything while hunting for eggs. Or I would spend an hour or so sitting on the tractor, pretending to plough fields. However, during lambing season, I would actually do my favourite job – feeding the orphan lambs. Our farm in the village of Hooke was unique in the fact that with our Poll Dorset ewes, we could lamb any time of the year.
Famous Christmas birth
Whilst most farms have lambs yearly in the spring, Dorset ewes, including our Polls, can have lambs in the late autumn in the lead up to Christmas.
Rearing lambs around Christmas allows for less competition in the market, allowing for a better price for your produce.
In the lead up to Christmas 1999, our small herd of ewes looked as if they were about to pop, and not from eating too many Christmas puds! All the served ewes got promoted into the spare stable with the chickens to hunker down to survive the cold and sure enough, December was filled with many woolly Christmas lambs. One such lamb, affectionately (and with great original thought) called Woolly, took a shine to me as a young child after we bottle- fed it from birth. The little lamb would follow me around the farm helping with my chores before being locked up at night. Woolly soon became a hit with the village. She was as famous as a lamb could be. People would come from far away after hearing of the birth of the Christmas lamb. With Christmas Day fast approaching someone had the bizarre idea of utilising our little Christmas lambs to take this year’s nativity to the next level.
Christmas Woolly
So on Christmas Eve, with the village packed into the church like Christmas crackers in their box, Woolly made her showbiz debut. Rumours had travelled about the special guest acting in this year’s show, but the nativity started as any normal one would with the standard hymns and readings. However, with the news of shepherds on their way to the stables, the next hymn began.
Poor Mary
The rejoiceful sounds of Silent Night being sung by the congregation were met with the percussion instruments of tiny Shepherd’s hooks as they walked down the church aisle, with the accompaniment of bleating. Oddly, laughter began to reverberate around the church as my little Woolly had her moment of fame. However, the poor Three Wise Men who followed suit weren’t laughing – and had to ask Santa for new trainers that year as they couldn’t quite dodge the trail of excrement left in Woolly’s wake. Meanwhile poor Mary at the front of the church had more than childbirth to contend with as Woolly began to eat her costume. Playing the role of Joseph on the day, I smiled and laughed with the locals of the village at Woolly’s antics. I’m still not sure if this is the traditional message of Christmas, but laughter has been a staple ingredient of our Christmases ever since!
In last month’s column, Louise Stratton was considering how farming is part of the solution to climate change; this month she muses on how so much of the NFU’s work is about finding that solution.
The NFU is working on solutions primarily through our lobbying work; an example of this occurred last week when Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset, kindly arranged a meeting in his constituency for a group of farmers with Victoria Prentis MP, Minister of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). As with any decision it is so valuable to hear the other point of view. Defra are in the midst of moulding new policy for the agricultural industry, and this was an excellent opportunity for both the farmers and the Minister to hear one another’s viewpoint. We had a hearty discussion on a range of topics – new environmental schemes, the dairy and pig sectors and water regulations.
Having some input
To be able to openly discuss the barriers, and for the farmers to have the opportunity to offer tweaks and alternatives to certain policy issues is so valuable. They are practical people, and it is fundamental that the policy makers hear the actual implications on those whose businesses these decisions impact. We are fortunate that the local MPs and the DEFRA Ministers are willing to have this conversation.
As farming impacts across so many areas, it is imperative that policy for one area doesn’t conflict with another, so our take home message to the Minister was “ensure policy is joined up, using carrots not sticks, and farming will have a positive future.”
How the Piddle Valley affects Poole Harbour’s wildlife Continuing the theme of providing solutions, the big example in Dorset is the work on nutrient reductions into the Poole Harbour catchment.
The Poole Harbour catchment is one of three sub catchments in Dorset. Both the Frome and Piddle rivers, two of the main rivers flowing into the Harbour, are in picturesque rural catchments rising in the Dorset Downs and flowing through the chalklands and across clay and gravel to enter Poole Harbour. Over 75% of the land within the catchment is used for agriculture – cereals are dominant over the chalklands, with much dairy and beef farming in the west and in the lower floodplains.
Poole Harbour is one of the largest and shallowest natural harbours in the world. The harbour is of exceptional ecological value, renowned for its outstanding landscape, wildlife and fisheries and is protected by a multitude of conservation designations, of local and international importance.
A solution for an historic issue
Poole Harbour’s nitrate levels have been building up for many years. The nitrates come from several sources, with agriculture being one of them, but it can take nitrates 30-plus years to filtrate from the top of the catchment to the Harbour itself, so we are dealing with an historic issue as well. Water habitats have a much lower concentration of natural nitrate, so excess nitrates in the Harbour will have an impact on the natural environment. The most visible example is a rapid growth of algae, challenging the habitat and reducing the amount of food for birds and fish. Defra’s initial response was to impose a Water Protection Zone (WPZ) on the whole catchment. The creation of a WPZ in Poole Harbour presents a real threat to the future of farming in the whole of Poole Harbour’s catchment. This approach creates a lack of flexibility for farmers and a loss of control over their business, not an approach any business would relish being forced into. A regulative approach creates no support for farms as they adapt. We’d rather create a joined-up policy, and work on using carrots not sticks.
Leadership in partnering
We believe that there is another option, namely a voluntary scheme to address farming’s contribution to nitrates in the Harbour. The proposed scheme will support farmers to reduce the amount of nitrate being lost from their soil, helping slow, stop, or even reverse the Harbour hypertrophication. The scheme is being driven by a group of farmers from within the catchment, who are passionate about creating a different future for our industry and improving the environment at the same time. Poole Harbour Catchment’s farmers have a unique opportunity to work together, to become leaders in voluntary nutrient management and to show there is a better, alternative solution to simply adding further regulation. The scheme has attracted funding, it has run a small trial in 2021 and in 2022 a pilot scheme will be up and running. It is hugely exciting and the NFU are supporting the farmers with the developments, alongside many different individuals and organisations, making it a brilliant example of partnership working. But sitting at the heart of this, are the farmers. In the New Year I will introduce you to some of our Dorset farmers and what they are doing on their farm. But until then, I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and don’t forget to support our British farmers with what is on your plate on Christmas Day, starting with the turkey! From today we have a useful NFU Turkey Finder to help you purchase your turkey direct from a local producer.
Farmers are working together to improve the habitat and increase quality food production, but we can’t be undermined by lower standard imports, argues James Cossins.
Shutterstock
November is normally one of my least favourite months of the year. The days are getting shorter and, generally, there’s wetter and colder weather arriving. This year, although the days are shorter, the weather has been particularly kind to us farmers. There’s been very little rain and the generally mild temperature has led to cattle being able to stay out grazing for longer without creating an enormous amount of mud. Also most of the autumn arable operations have come to a close. Most of the crops sown have established well and there should be a mass of yellow flowering oilseeds in April to look forward to.
Improving diversity
In the past month there have been many farmer meetings taking place out on the farm or in other venues rather than looking at each other on Zoom It makes a pleasant change to actually meet fellow farmers again.
I am sure that online meetings will still have a place but it is great to get out and about once more.
One such meeting involved our Cranborne Chase Cluster group which is made up of like-minded neighbouring farmers looking to co-operate to improve the diversity of our farms. We join forces to create a better environment for soil, water, air and wildlife habits.
The most recent gathering involved us learning from an advisor how best to manage our soils in order to produce good crops. This involves not destroying the soil structure by poor management involving compaction and poor organic soil content. We were also encouraged to do an earthworm count as a measure of soil health.
Our local agricultural discussion group hosted an interesting evening with our MP Simon Hoare. Simon gave us his thoughts on the future of farming which he thought was positive; although we must accept the need for change in how Government support is implemented, with a greater emphasis on the environment rather than just food production. Simon stressed that, with his involvement in the shaping of the Agricultural Bill, food production was still a key part of farming activities. It seems that some MPs have forgotten that food production was a key part of the UK economy. He said that although some trade deals have been successfully negotiated we must not let food production standards from imported foods undermine the high standards and potentially higher costs of production that we have in this country.
Thank you Simon for the support you give to agriculture and it’s associated industries, as I know you are often in a minority voice within government in keeping the rural voice alive.
Higher prices inevitable
As we look forward to next year we as farmers and growers face many challenges, especially with high input costs such as fuel, fertilisers and feed costs.
We have recently received a milk price increase, which is very welcome, and also cereals remain high, but I fear and believe that food prices in the shops will have to increase without anyone being any better off.
Let’s hope that maybe there will be some normality back next year. Perhaps that is wishful thinking.
Merry Christmas to you all! James
by James Cossins, a fifth generation farmer in the Tarrant Valley.
Breeding stock sales, tracking horses and the glory that is the matchless Honeysuckle – Lucy Procter reflects on November at the Glanvilles Stud.
Here on the stud, we’re still enjoying the dry autumn as we can keep our later foaling mares living out on grass, day and night. As the in-foal mares enter the last three months of their pregnancy, we bring them into individual stables overnight so we can give them more food, as this is when the foal inside them does the majority of its growing. Once winter proper arrives and the land gets wet, the rest of the mares will also come in at night to limit the damage to our paddocks.
Tattersalls December is in November Our focus this month has been preparing Demonstration, a three-year-old French flat-bred filly from a strong German family, to be sold in Newmarket at the Tattersalls December Mares Sales – which is, perversely, usually at the end of November as it was this year!
Breeding stock sales are the start of the whole breeding process; where fillies retiring from racing are sold as broodmare prospects, and in-foal mares change hands as breeders adjust their broodmare bands. Demonstration arrived with us from France just five weeks before the sale, straight out of racing, and she needed plenty of feeding to get more weight on her in a very short space of time. As well as daily turnout, we built her fitness on the horse walker, and the girls spent many hours grooming her to help build muscle and improve the condition of her coat. At the sales earlier this week, the hammer fell at 18,000 guineas (a guinea is £1.05), making a modest profit and keeping everyone happy. But if the Tattersalls sales ring is where the breeding dream begins, the winner’s enclosure for a Group/Grade 1 race is the ultimate destination.
Our girl Honeysuckle
We were all delighted that our TGS-bred wonder-mare, Honeysuckle, managed to reach this ultimate destination for the ninth time on Sunday, when winning the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse in Ireland for the third year on the trot. Including those nine Grade 1 races, at the start of her fourth season under rules, Honeysuckle has 13 wins to her name from 13 runs.
There is little that hasn’t already been written about her and her partnership with her equally indomitable jockey, Rachel Blackmore.
But the really hot news is that Honeysuckle’s win on Sunday makes her record equal to that of Bula’s from the 1970s – 13 consecutive wins from debut under rules.
Indeed, if you include her point- to-point win, which doesn’t count as under rules, she has technically already surpassed his record with 14 wins from debut! How much further can this mare go?
And can her full brother, Last Royal, due to make his seasonal debut soon, after over a year’s absence from the racecourse due to injury, prove himself worthy of her?
Tracking the best of the rest
There are plenty of other TGS- bred runners for the coming season and, as our Racing Post horse tracker shows (right), it is starting to get jolly busy out there on the racecourse.
Some of these racehorses we are following with particular interest as we are still breeding from their dams. Any good performances on the track from them will help improve the sales potential of their younger siblings.
Could one of these TGS-bred racehorses scale the heights to glory and be our next Grade 1 winner?
Since retiring in 2018, top five- star horse Happy Times has lived on the outskirts of Gillingham with the Berry family. Frances ‘Mouse’ Berry, who cared for him during his eventing career, and groomed for him at the London 2012 Olympics, shared with us how the now-20-year-old Oldenberg gelding is adapting to retirement. “He now enjoys a varied life, including being introduced to hacking quietly, rather than with a view to fitness. By taking him out with no pressure, I am introducing Happy to the idea that his role has changed. He makes the 10 minutes trip back to Sam Griffith’ s yard at Symphony Farm most weeks where he’s schooled to keep him supple and to ensure his mind is settled.” Having always had a life of routine, Mouse says it’s important to keep everything as similar as possible for him. “He no longer jumps as there is no need to. He always jumped with so much velocity and enthusiasm that it would be easy for him to pick up an injury. He loves his time in the field with his pony companions, Bluebell (Happy’s ‘wife’), Enya and Donk.” Since his retirement, Happy has successfully shown in veteran classes ridden by Sarah Gwilliam, coming second at Royal Windsor and winning the Gillingham and Shaftesbury and Frome Cheese shows this summer.
“He still loves a crowd and enjoys showing off in the ring. His signature move is a flying change; asked for or not!
This winter he will do some dressage with Hayley Lippiatt, and hopefully return to the show ring next summer. He’s certainly not thinking of putting his hooves up yet! Keeping Happy fit and well is very rewarding and his long term soundness is a tribute to Sam’s management.
He’s fed on Saracen Horse Feeds, he has regular physiotherapy and acupuncture and is still cared for buy the same team of vets and farrier as he was when competing.”
In 2016 Happy was inducted into the Eventing Hall of Fame. He loved cross-country and had total confidence in Sam – and vice versa. Together they were known for making the most enormous and technical courses around the world look easy. “He’s retired, but he is still very much the superstar with all that know and love him.”
The Happy facts:
Happy Times.
Born in 1999.
Sire – Heraldik
Owned by Dinah Posford, Juliet Donald and Sam Griffiths.
Ridden by Sam Griffiths.
1,711 British Eventing Points. Completed:
27 3* (now 4*)
13 4*(now 5*)
3rd at Badminton, and twice 3rd at Burghley.
Represented Australia at the 2012 London Olympic Games
The CPRE feels Dorset Council’s summary of responses to the consultation on the Draft Local Plan raises more questions than it answers, says Rupert Hardy, Chair of the North Dorset branch.
The view towards Ball Hill, Plush, in Dorset AONB image – Rupert Hardy
Dorset Council (DC) recently published a summary of responses to the consultation on the Draft Local Plan. Dorset CPRE is undertaking analysis of the responses and what they purport to show.
A community response
Firstly, the recently published summary of responses to the draft Local Plan (LP) has revealed overwhelming opposition to Dorset Council’s housing strategy, disguised as a misleadingly low number of responses. This was achieved by recording the submission of each town and parish council as a single response and by incorrect categorisation of many of their responses.
A search for answers to the question DEV1: Do you agree with the suggested approach and what it is trying to achieve? suggests only 460 responses, of whom 72% disagree.
Although this shows a rejection, it is highly misleading in number. Amongst the responses are the names of Town and Parish Council Clerks, who represent over 108,000 residents between them.
Sorting the data
As statutory consultees, the views of Town and Parish Councils should be easily accessible; but the alphabetical listing of responses by first name, rather than surname, makes this more difficult. Discovering the true scale opposition to the LP is further complicated by the fact that responses are recorded in the name of individuals, rather than their organisations. Who would know that the Dorset CPRE response can only be found under the name of Chairman Peter Bowyer, or Jo Witherden – the Planning Consultant who put together our submission to the Draft Local Plan? All of this seems like an effort to hide the reality, or at best it is a poor collation.
Town by town
CPRE also found numerous examples of respondents who had comments to make on housing policy, but their comments have been recorded elsewhere. Places such as Wimborne Minster and Weymouth are unable to support the LP, but have confined their comments, understandably, to their own town.
CPRE identified the representatives of a further 124,000 residents of Dorset towns and villages, who do not agree with the housing proposals. Dorset CPRE will be requesting a meeting with the chairs of Dorset Council’s Planning Committees to outline their case that Dorset Council should claim exceptional circumstances to reduce the number of planned homes, following the example of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.
Dorset’s Green Pastures Under Threat From Developers Secondly we analysed the responses relating to the
AONB. Some 56% of Dorset is designated as Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), more than any other county in England. Much of the housing proposed in the draft LP will be built either in or very close to AONB land, changing forever the county’s unique landscape and rich biodiversity. Research carried out by CPRE, the Countryside Charity, reveals that housing that has been approved in AONBs nationally, since 2017/18, is overwhelmingly large executive homes, with only 16% affordable housing. Dorset is one of the main authorities regularly surrendering green fields as opposed to brownfield sites.
Adverse impacts on AONB
Natural England and a number of neighbouring authorities are highly critical of the Dorset plan. For example, “Natural England considers there is limited scope for major new development within the Dorset AONB above that already allocated.” With reference to development at Blandford Forum, they state that “The scale and location of the development will inevitably result in residual adverse impacts on the Cranborne Chase AONB.” By contrast, numerous developers’ submissions propose reducing the current protection of AONBs. Wyatt Homes suggests “these sites should not be excluded simply because the village is within the AONB”.
Persimmon Grainger admit that part of the proposed Dorchester development would have an impact on the setting of the AONB, but promise to minimize any “specific, evidenced reports” by tree planting. Dorset Council admits that the public interest test used to justify the release of AONB for major development is necessary to meet its excess housing target and Cllr David Walsh concedes it is ‘likely’ that protected areas will be affected by development. This means that town and parish councils who believe themselves protected from development are enjoying a false sense of security.
Town and parish councils who responded to the Dorset Draft Local Plan represent 287,000 voters.
Of these, 88% do not agree with the draft LP, which proposes over 4,500 homes in or within 250m of an AONB.
Dorset CPRE now calls for Dorset Council to acknowledge the overwhelming public opposition to the Local Plan and to accept that its findings put at risk the special areas of Dorset’s countryside. Accordingly, we believe it is now timely to revisit the whole Plan, especially in the light of recent statements by Michael Gove, who clearly signalled a shift towards greater recognition of AONBs as meriting special consideration in future development plans.
