Local News

Land behind Badger’s Row, Bradpole Old Village. January 2019 Update.

Admin Editor District & County Council, Local News, Parish Council 23/01/201910/02/2019

Within the centre of Bradpole old village and situated behind the recently constructed Badgers Row cottages is an area of land which has been largely unattended since the cottages were constructed a few years ago.

The planning arrangements were that the developer of Badgers Row cottages would landscape and manage the site for a number of years. A sum of money had been deposited with WDDC as surety. This money is ring-fenced for uses directly relating to this land.

Bradpole Parish Council had raised concerns over the lack of progress on several occasions but matters between the developer and WDDC came to a deadlock and the site was deteriorating.

Following meetings in 2018 between Parish Councillors and WDDC the DEADLOCK was BROKEN and responsibility for managing the site reverted to the owners WDDC and in due course DORSET COUNCIL as unification proceeds.

LATEST NEWS

Late January 2019. After recent efforts by Parish councillors work has commenced on the clearing of the site to create a wildlife area (see photo). This is part of a revised Wildlife Landscaping plan*, details of which will be published here when they have been formally agreed by the planning authorities. *For more information about the draft Plan (Jan 2019) please contact the Parish Clerk.

Jan 2019 – Work commences on site preparation, compare this photo to that above taken last year.

PREVIOUSLY:

1st November 2018 Councillors received an updated report from WDDC confirming that there will be some light maintenance work over the coming weeks followed by further work in the Spring.

15th October 2018: A meeting has been held between parish councillors, WDDC and the ecology consultants. The views of residents had been sought and where there was a commonality of views these were discussed. These largely surrounded issues of site & property security, density and number of trees, low cost maintenance. A revised wildlife landscape plan will now be produced taking into account these views and will probably result in a focus on native shrubs rather than trees. There are many other points to consider and in the meantime Bradpole councillors have asked for some site maintenance to be undertaken in the short term as this had been lacking for a number of years.

bradpole@dorset-aptc.gov.uk

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BPC Jan 2019

Community Bus Trial ~ “Use It or Lose It”

Admin Editor Community, Local News 03/01/201908/02/2019

Service 7 (Bridport Local) commenced on 22 August, and will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays for a six-month trial* period across Bridport, West Bay, Bothenhampton, Lower Walditch, Bradpole and Allington.

First Wessex run the service under contract to Bridport Town Council, with a £2 single/£3 return fare.

Concessionary passes can be used but contributions towards the running cost may be made.

Whilst buses will stop at all First Wessex stops, they can also be hailed along the route.

The initiative has been championed by a working group of Bridport Town Council, Bradpole and other parish councils, the Bridport Local Area Partnership and the Western Area Transport Action Group.

The inaugural no. 7 arrives at Jessopp Avenue

The trial will show whether or not the service can be sustained in the long run, and concessionary pass users are encouraged to help meet the cost.

*The 6 month trial was initially set to finish in February 2019.

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LATEST NEWS:

January 2019: Usage figures for the first three months to the end of November 2018 indicate increasing passenger numbers although still short of the target figure. With some re-routing based upon customer feed back to come into effect in early March 2019 it is hoped that further increased usage will be achieved.

The new routing & timetable, when received, will be available on this website and on Parish Council Notice boards.

In December 2018 Bridport Town Council agreed to extend the trial by 6 months to enable further assessments based upon some re-routing options,to be applied in early March 2019, stating that “passenger numbers need to improve but we are hopeful that these changes will help achieve that”

“It’s very much a – use it or lose it service,”