C

“So far this year 160 hectares of Dorset heathland have burned due to wildfire, equivalent to 225 football pitches, across 37 heaths. This is 15 times more than all the heathland burned last year. 

This weekend, please avoid using disposable BBQs and lighting campfires in the countryside. Let’s protect our wildlife and beautiful landscapes together.Find out more: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/news/public-urged-to-help-prevent-wildfires-over-bank-holiday-weekend”

ontent coming soon

 

Dorset Council Local Plan Options consultation 2025 - 18 August to 13 October 2025 This letter gives notification that we have published the Dorset Council Local Plan Options consultation 2025. This consultation document sets out opportunities for meeting the development needs of the Dorset Council area. It will help form the Dorset Council Local Plan which will be used when making planning decisions in Dorset. The Local Plan will be Dorset Council’s response to the Government’s commitment to addressing the shortage of housing, to enable economic growth and deliver essential infrastructure to enable this growth. It will also set out how planning decisions will seek to conserve and enhance the environment, including measures to address climate change. We are seeking feedback on the identified opportunities to help us prepare for the next round of the local plan production. Alongside the Dorset Council Local Plan Options Consultation 2025 and its Appendices A-D (Appendix A – Opportunity Sites for Housing; Appendix B – Opportunity Sites for Employment; Appendix C – Opportunity Sites for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople; and Appendix D – Opportunity areas for renewable energy) the Council has published a Habitats Regulation Assessment, a Sustainability Appraisal and a number of background papers and evidence reports. These documents can be found online at www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/dorset-is-changing and at County Hall, Dorchester during normal opening hours. The options consultation document (though not the appendices) will also be available in Dorset libraries. The consultation document and opportunity sites can be viewed on our online consultation portal, where you can also make your comments. Our preferred method is for you to provide a response through the on-line survey. This will significantly speed up the analysis of comments. If you’re not able to submit your response online you can respond in writing using the council’s response form, including your name and address. We are not able to accept anonymous responses. The council response form can be found online, downloaded and completed electronically or printed off and filled out by hand with completed response forms being sent to planningpolicyconsult@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or to the address at the top of this letter. Comments should reach the Council by no later than 13th October 2025. If you have any queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch by telephone on 01305 838334, or email planningpolicyconsult@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk using ‘Dorset Local Plan Options 2025’ in the subject bar. We have also sent a copy of this letter to you via post enclosing a notice. We would be grateful if you could display the notice at an appropriate location in the town/parish telling people about the consultation. If you would like some text to be provided for your town/parish newsletter we would be happy to provide this on request. The Council is also consulting on the Dorset and BCP Councils Local Transport Plan over the same period.

High Stoy consists of three parishes – Hermitage, Hilfield and Batcombe – located in the best part of the Blackmore Vale between Sherborne and Cerne Abbas

Total population is around 350 to 400 – mainly involved in agriculture, trout fisheries, a friary and local support businesses.

Hermitage parish includes around 50 homes, with the village centred around a green, the village hall and St Mary’s church. There are several active local groups who run a variety of events, including an annual event centred on the green, and a number of themed activities around the hall. Money raised goes to support the village facilities and charities.

Batcombe village, hidden under the northern slope of the Dorset Downs, is surrounded by mysterious legends. The church of St. Mary Magdalene, built on an ancient site, is the subject of one of these curious tales. The local squire, who dabbled in magic and was regarded with a great deal of fear and superstition, was said to have knocked off one of the pinnacles on the tower when he made his horse leap over it. The fearful villagers were afraid that they might offend the devil by repairing the damage, so for a hundred years they left it alone. When it was repaired, it was repaired crooked.

The second legend features a mystic stone on the summit of the hill above the village called the ‘Cross-in-Hand’, which is mentioned in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles. This small, Grade II listed Pillar dates back before the Norman Conquest and has acquired stories about images of a ghostly hand being seen grasping a bowl at its top.

Newlands Farm was the Manor house between the 16th and 18th centuries and the front roadside wall of the farmhouse has an Ashlar Hamstone archway dating from 1622.

Hilfield is a small, scattered village with a population of about 50 situated in the beautiful Dorset Downs. Hilfield parish church, dedicated to St Nicholas, dates from the 15th century but its origins may be as early as late 13th century. Within the parish is Hilfield Friary a faith-based community centred on Franciscan brothers of the Anglican Society of St Francis. The village also has a Manor House, a nature reserve on Hilfield Hill and last and probably least it has featured on Escape to the Country !

 

 

The Governance and Accountability Report for the year ending 31st March 2025 is now available to read. It is located as an "Additional Document" under the Parish Council meeting of 10th March within the "Agendas and Minutes" section.

 The "Notice of Public Rights" in realation to the above is  showing as a separate item but also in the "Agendas and Minutes" section.

The next Full meeting of the Parish Council will be on the 9th September at The Friary