West Dorset Schools getting extra £617,000 thanks to Lib Dems

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg with School Children

A key policy at the last General Election for the Lib Dems was to bring in a ‘Pupil Premium’ to help children from poorer backgrounds get a better education.

Last autumn Liberal Democrats in government were able to announce that every school would get £488 a year per pupil who was eligible for free school meals.

Across West Dorset that means £617,002 of new funding available to local schools.

“So, in spite of the harsh economic climate and public sector cuts, most of our schools will be better off,” says County Councillor Trevor Jones. “This is just the start. The Pupil Premium will more than treble by 2015.” This is an effective example of Liberal Democrats making a real difference in government!

What the Pupil Premium will mean this year:

Senior Schools
Budmouth £87,844
Thomas Hardye’s £47,890
Colfox’s £38,349
The Gryphon £37,915
Beaminster £31,023
The Woodroffe £15,312
Middle Schools
Dorchester Middle £40,607
St Osmund’s £20,656
Puddletown £18,968
First and Primary Schools
Damers First £34,760
St Mary’s Bridport £25,091
Sherborne Primary £22,011
Bridport Primary £21,096
Manor Park £16,743
Sherborne Abbey £14,152
St Mary’s Beaminster £12,606
Chickerell £11,072
Lyme Regis Primary £11,048
Greenford £9,272
Frome Valley £7,920
Prince of Wales £7,829

Full details are contained in the attached spreadsheet PUPIL-PREMIUM-ALLOCATIONS-TO-SCHOOLS-2011-12.xls.

Posted in Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis, Miscellaneous, News, Rural West Dorset, Sherborne, West Dorset | Comments Off

1 in 5 houses are Second Homes!

Lyme Regis

Amazingly, official figures show that one in five houses in Lyme Regis is a second home.

For the whole of West Dorset around one in twenty houses are second homes.

This means that there are 2,500 homes across the district unavailable for local people to live in – with many of them empty for much of the year.

Depending on their circumstances the owners of these second homes can get up to a 50% reduction in their Council Tax! This is a huge loss to local councils at a time of very tight budgets and cuts to local services.

Continue reading

Posted in Lyme Regis, News, West Dorset | Comments Off

Bringing Justice Back to Local Communities

Ros Kayes and Dave Rickard at Bristol Magistrates Court

Cllr Ros Kayes and Cllr Dave Rickard at Bridport Magistrates Court

For the last 18 months Lib Dem-run Bridport Town Council has been supporting a pioneering project to bring local restorative justice to our community, by way of Community Justice Panels (CJPs).

The idea was introduced by Cllr. Dave Rickard who saw a successful pilot working wonders in Somerset. With support of Cllr. Ros Kayes they developed the project through the Town Council, using its new powers of Social Wellbeing.

Continue reading

Posted in Bridport, News, West Dorset | Comments Off

Keep it local on May 5th

In the Council Elections on May 5th you can’t change the Government but you can stop the new Council Offices being built. So Vote

to a 10% cut
in the District’s
Council Tax
to keeping open
Day Care Centres
to saving School
Crossing Patrols
to building more
Affordable Homes
to keeping open
local libraries

West Dorset Liberal Democrats can afford to do all this by:

  • cancelling Conservative plans to spend £10 million on new Council Offices, £6 million on a new Dorchester Library and up to £4 million on a new Dorchester Park & Ride
  • using some of the £50 million in investments that the Conservative Council has built up ‘for a rainy day’ and
  • merging local councils, as they have done in Cornwall and Wiltshire recently, which independent experts have estimated will save £20 million
Election results last time

“On May 5th either the Liberal Democrats will be in control of West Dorset District Council, the new Council Offices will be cancelled and local services will be saved or the Conservatives will be back again, the Offices will be built and the cuts will go ahead. No other result is possible here.”

Posted in Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester, Lyme Regis, News, Rural West Dorset, Sherborne, West Dorset | Comments Off

Is it time to tackle second homes?

Sue Farrant with Catherine Brabner, SW Regional Manager, National Housing Federation at the launch of SW Home Truths 2010

Just over one in twenty homes in West Dorset  is somebody’s second home, occupied for a small part of the year and contributing little to the local economy. Meanwhile, there are more than 2,000 households on the social housing waiting list. With an average house price of £223,000 and an average income of £17,000, not many local people are in a position to get a mortgage to buy themselves a home.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s Home Truths, published by the National Housing Federation last week, Sue Farrant of West Dorset Liberal Democrats said, “This report makes grim reading. There is a terrible shortage of affordable housing in the south west of England and West Dorset is one of the worst places to be looking for a home unless your income is way above average. We’ve really got to tackle house prices and we’ve also got to have a great many more houses and flats at affordable rents.

Continue reading

Posted in News, West Dorset | Comments Off

We don’t need new Council offices – or a new library building!

The planning application for the Charles Street development, which includes West Dorset District Council’s new office building and Dorset County Council’s new library building, will be heard at a special meeting on Tuesday 28th September. The meeting is in County Hall, starting at 2.15pm. If you have commented on the application you will have the right to speak to the planning committee and should have had a letter from the Council.

The proposed new development includes a new library building for Dorset County Council. It’s not an additional library, but a replacement for the existing building in Dorchester. That will cost the County Council a projected £4 million. Meanwhile, the Council is planning significant cuts to its book budget and is considering closing village libraries.

At the same time, Dorset County Council has a £4.2 million deficit on its adult social care budget and expects that to rise to £6 million. That will hit the old, the infirm and the disabled. Is building a new library when there is nothing wrong with the old one the right priority?

If you want to send a message to the councillors who will be making the decision without having to speak at the meeting, come and join us on the steps of County Hall at 2pm. I’m expecting a large number of people to be there to demonstrate that this planned expenditure of somewhere between £10 million and £15 million of our money does not have public support.

Don’t forget that all the councillors are up for election in May 2011 – that will give every voter a chance to give their opinion about the decision that is made on 28th September!

Posted in Dorchester, News, West Dorset | Comments Off

New Council Offices – have your say on the planning application

The planning application for the new West Dorset District Council Offices has finally been lodged with the Council. The next step is for the Council to decide whether to grant itself planning consent for its new offices. Yes, really!

Continue reading

Posted in Dorchester, News, West Dorset | Comments Off

Election Results

After a hard fought campaign Dr Sue Farrant sadly lost out in the battle for the West Dorset seat at the General Election on Thursday. But despite the final result, Sue did increase the Liberal Democrat vote since the last election by 1,062.

The result was as follows:

Name Party Votes %
Oliver Letwin Conservative 27,287 47.6
Sue Farrant Liberal Democrat 23,364 40.7
Steve Bick Labour 3,815 6.7
Oliver Chisholm UK Independence Party 2,196 3.8
Susan Greene Green 675 1.2
Turnout 57,337 74.6

Sue would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the campaign for their hard work and the superb support they have given her throughout.

Sue said: “Very many people have been kind enough to contact me with messages of support since Thursday night and I really appreciate that kindness. Losing an election is not a pleasant experience but knowing that I have your backing makes all the difference.”

There are always a number of people who do not get to vote on polling day itself. So, to make it easier we would like to suggest to as many people as possible to register for a postal vote.

If you would like more information on how to apply, please phone us at the office on 01935 815947.

Alternatively, go to aboutmyvote.co.uk to register online.

Posted in News, News Releases, West Dorset | Comments Off

Shirley Williams joins Dr Sue Farrant on the campaign trail in Sherborne

Shirley Williams joins Sue Farrant to visit local shops in Sherborne

Dr Sue Farrant, parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats in West Dorset, was joined by Shirley Williams, revered politician and founder of the SDP, on the election campaign trail in Sherborne yesterday.

Meeting at ‘The Conduit’ in Cheap Street, and joined by a throng of Liberal Democrat activists, they embarked on a ‘meet and greet’ through the town centre, stopping to speak to local residents and dropping in to shops to chat with owners and customers.

Party workers were then invited back to Sue Farrant’s house for tea and Baroness Williams gave a speech on Liberal Democrat values and her views on this intriguing election campaign.

By way of an introduction, Sue Farrant said: “It is a great honour for me to have Shirley Williams here to lend her support to my campaign. She is one of my heroines and a wonderful role model. It gives us great encouragement in the last stage of the campaign.”

Shirley Williams said: “This election is tremendously exciting. It is much bigger for us now than at any other time. I’ve seen the mould cracking. The people of Great Britain are fed up with the voting system. I was on Channel Four last night and when the audience was asked if they wanted real change at this election, nine tenths were in favour. The debates have presented the Liberal Democrats to the British people as a party of real change.”

Continue reading

Posted in News, News Releases, Sherborne, West Dorset | Comments Off

Shirley Williams joins Sue Farrant in Sherborne Tomorrow.

Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby and former Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, will be visiting Sherborne tomorrow to support Dr Sue Farrant in her election campaign.

They will be walking up Cheap Street between 3.30-4.30pm starting at the Conduit.  All are welcome.

Posted in Miscellaneous, News, Sherborne, West Dorset | Comments Off