What is your parish council for? Well time for me, as your new Chairman to explain what we do. Before I do so though, I’d like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Chris Hill, who has led our parish council with distinction for the past few years. Thank you Chris.
So, on to what we are for. Well we don’t do schools, bins, roads or footpaths. What does that leave? You’d be surprised. One thing we do is provide a distinct Dorchester voice with our District and County councillors on the decisions those bodies make that do affect our village and our lives. But in addition we get a chance to make a difference to the things than can make Dorchester just that bit better, that bit more special.
Over the past couple of years we have spent a lot of our effort on looking after Dorchester’s interest with the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway and where gravel extraction might take place as well as improving things like our cemetery and bus service. But with a new council, this month, we took the opportunity to discuss what we’d like to do in our village over the next couple of years. The themes round the table were ones I hope are familiar to you; smartening up the footpaths, verges and flower beds around the village; doing more on cycle racks and links to the X39/40 bus; doing more to develop more affordable housing; and more.
You may agree or disagree with these priorities. Either way I’d love to hear from you. Its not everybody’s cup of tea to attend a council meeting in the village hall on a Wednesday evening to tell us what you think, but if not, don’t be shy, tell me what you think and would like your council to do for our village. You can contact me on chairman@dorchesteronthames.co.uk
I’ll keep you updated as the months go by on how we get on and hopefully hear from some residents with your views.
Mark Williams
Chairman of DoT Parish Council