This report covers the final year of office of the Parish Council which formally came to an end on 1st May 2003 with the Local Council elections. During the year the Council held 6 regular 2-monthly meetings, plus four special meetings to consider planning applications. Throughout the year the Council met under the chairmanship of Cdr W Norman.

Planning has probably the highest profile of all Council business, and certainly has the highest capacity for controversy. It must be noted that, though Development Authorities have a duty to consult Parish Councils on planning applications within their areas, they are not bound to take any specific action on their response. Nevertheless, the responsible Development Control Committee of West Dorset District Council has made a point of listening to and weighing Parish views, even if in the end they are over-ruled by other policy considerations. Altogether the Council considered 22 planning applications this year. Most of them were minor and comparatively uncontroversial. The principal ones to which objections were raised were:

An informal approach was made with tentative proposals for a longer-term development of Cox’s Field, adjoining Osmington House. This was assessed as being against all current planning policies and the proposer was advised that it would be pointless to discuss it further. There was also an unresolved development situation from the previous year, where a building at Standfast, Osmington Mills, was put up despite a refusal of planning permission. This is currently the subject of legal enforcement action by the District Council to ensure its removal.

2002 saw the start of the Golden Jubilee project, to restore and upgrade the play equipment on the Parish Field to complement the new Hall as part of an overall parish recreation facility. The Jubilee Playground was opened in March 2003, and is a tribute to the vision and hard work of the Project Group, led by Peter Hales and supported by a dedicated team drawn from a number of parish activity groups. The Parish Council now takes over the running and maintenance of the playground.

The other obvious material improvement carried in the year, with grant aid assistance from Dorset County Council, was the re-thatching of the memorial bus shelter. Unfortunately, it was subsequently badly damaged by a passing vehicle, though the roof remained intact. Clearance has been given by insurers to go ahead with repairs on the basis of quotations from local contractors and work will be carried out in 2003. A further traffic casualty, the seat and waste bin by the opposite bus stop, has taken longer to sort out the insurance claim, but should be replaced with new furniture in the near future.

The campaign for better protection for pedestrians, especially children, crossing the main road by Shortlake lane has resulted in some high-visibility traffic signs for cars coming down the hill - and a subsequent promise of equivalent treatment for those coming the other way. In the longer term there could be a central pedestrian refuge, which should have a greater effect.

In January, Barry’s Coaches’ announced their imminent withdrawal from running bus services, which meant that the Wednesday bus to Dorchester would cease at the end of March. An Action Group was formed to look into possible alternatives - Michael Hart, the Transport Coordinator, represents the Parish on this group, which also includes District and County members under the chairmanship of Dorset Community Action. The work has involved a number of surveys and questionnaires to establish whether any alternative is likely to be viable, and discussions with a number of transport providers. The most promising solution so far identified involves hiring a small bus once a week from a community scheme north of Dorchester to run on a timetable to suit the parish users. The action group is actively chasing possible sources of grant funding, to set up a trial scheme for a few months to test whether it will work in the longer term.

Other activities have included:

Financially, it has not been a good year. The Council committed ourselves to several projects, and exceeded its planned budget in some areas. As a result, the financial year with no surplus to carry forward, and some planned expenditure items deferred until the next year. To recoup the situation without sacrificing important items from the budget, it has been resolved, with considerable regret, to raise the precept request for 2003/04 to £4,500 - resulting in a Council Tax rate of £16 at band D. The income and expenditure record for 2002/03 and the budget forecast for 2003/04 are appended to this report.

The new Parish Clerk, Nigel Hayes, joined last July in place of John Hayward, and has taken a firm grasp of the administrative and financial control of the Parish - the councillors may dictate the policy, but it is the Clerk who has to implement it. For the first time for many years, the Parish Clerk lives within the parish community, which has proved to be a great advantage.

The year ended on a sad note with the death of Yvonne Symes, who had been a keen and conscientious member of the Council for many years. There was no need to co-opt a member to take her place, as the local elections were imminent. When they came there were, for once, enough candidates to hold a contested election, and the new 4-year cycle begins with a fully elected Parish Council including 3 new members, Michael Seall, Keith Pratt and Peter Lockwood.

Throughout the year unfailing help and support on local issues has been given by County Councillor David Crowhurst, and the 2 District Councillors for Owermoigne Ward, Teresa Seall and Daniel Smy - both of whom have now been re-elected for a further term.