The photo is taken from the tower of St Peter’s Church in the centre of Dorchester. The view is to the north east and looks over the water meadows of the river Frome to the gently rising ground of the Dorset Downs beyond. The CGI depicts what a small part of the North of Dorchester … Continue reading Dorchester Before and After →

The long-awaited Report into Dorset’s Housing Needs, commissioned by the Dorset branch of the CPRE, has now been released and makes for very interesting and important reading. It challenges the Government’s figures for the number of houses to be built in Dorset and suggests that only half the number are actually needed. We can only … Continue reading CPRE Report – Dorset Housing Needs Evidence 2020 →

The group opposed to the proposed 3,500 housing development north of Dorchester have welcomed last week’s statement in the House of Commons by Chris Loder, the Member of Parliament for West Dorset. Addressing the house he expressed his opposition to the development and called upon the government to instead encourage growth in the rural economy, … Continue reading Campaign group welcomes intervention of West Dorset MP in controversial housing plans →

Extract from DTC’s Planning and Environment Committee minutes of 6th July 2020 : Urgent Items WDDC Consultation on the Local Plan Preferred Options – Policy DOR15 The Chairman (Cllr. Robin Potter) reminded the Committee of the Town Council’s recommendation to object to the WDDC Local Plan Preferred Options (October 2018) – Policy DOR15 as per … Continue reading Dorchester Town Council reconfirm their opposition to the North of Dorchester Garden Community. →

Sunday the 25th of October 2020 STAND, together with the Thomas Hardy Society, are organizing a walk over the proposed development area and finishing in Stinsford. The whole walk is 8.5 miles long and starts at 10:30am at Thomas Hardy statue at the top of town. Join us for as much or as little of … Continue reading October 2020 Walk →

As you probably expected by now, our Spring walks have all been cancelled. We hope to have more later in the year.

10.30am Sunday 5 April 2020 Meet on Frome Terrace green (DT1 1JQ) by the bridge over the Millstream. 3.5 mile walk across the water-meadows and over the downland to the north of Dorchester, the countryside which would be destroyed by the proposed building of 3,500-4,000 houses. The walk, led by Alistair Chisholm of STAND and … Continue reading Spring walk →

11am, Sunday 6 October Join us on a two hour walk led by Dr Tony Fincham of the Thomas Hardy Society. The walk will start from Frome Terrace green and will go along the river path and up past Higher Burton Farm to the Sheep Downs, before returning to Dorchester via Coker's Frome. Along the … Continue reading Take a walk through Hardy’s timeless land →

Come and find out more about the natural history of the area on a walk with a local naturalist. We'll be discovering what birds, animals, trees, plants and insects make this area special. Meet at 10am on Saturday 3 August at Frome Terrace green, DT1 1JQ.