Sustainable Shaftesbury

NATURE: CPRE wants to make September ‘Love your countryside’ month

The CPRE is hoping to bring thousands of people together in September for its ‘Love Your Countryside’ campaign as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations.

It says the hope is that people will come together to share ‘inspiring stories, local walks and shared experiences, celebrating the places that shape our lives and the many different ways we connect with them.’

The CPRE says this is ‘because the countryside people love is the countryside they’ll want to protect.’

It adds this means ‘not just the famous places’ but ‘the extraordinary ordinary, the footpath you’ve walked for years, the view that tells you you’re nearly home, the places where community and countryside meet.’

CPRE campaign lead Verity Warne says that CPRE branches across England will also be hosting walks and events as part of Love Your Countryside, ‘giving you the chance to discover new places, meet other countryside lovers and celebrate the landscapes that matter to your local community.

‘We’ll also be inviting everyone to share the places they love, the walks they enjoy and the moments that help them see the countryside differently using #LoveYourCountryside.

‘Together, we’ll celebrate the countryside and inspire more people to value and care for the places that matter to us all.’

She says details of walks near you will be part of the campaign. To join in the celebration go to:

Join Love Your Countryside

12 August 2026

ENERGY: Free tool to reduce energy bills now available to local residents

Whether you’re looking to reduce your energy bills, make your home more comfortable, or explore improvements such as insulation, heating upgrades or solar panels, a free tool to help you decide what’s best is now available to Dorset residents.

Recommended by Dorset Council, the tool – called Homewise – claims to provide personalised, impartial advice based on your home and budget.

By answering a few questions homeowners receive a tailored action plan showing improvements that could work for you, along with estimated costs and potential savings.

The charity Energy Saving Trust is also asking to hear about the experience of those who’ve already used Homewise and found it helpful. Some users may be invited to take part in a short phone call and contribute to a written or filmed case study to help others make informed decisions about improving their homes.

As a thank you Energy Saving Trust will give selected participants a £100 voucher. If you’re interested, contact climate@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.

To find out more go to Home energy advice – Dorset Council.

6 August 2026

CLIMATE: National TV debate on the climate and nature crisis ‘essential’, says climate expert

Leading climate scientist Professor Mike Berners-Lee has told an online audience of 5,000 that Britain now has to work towards achieving ‘a cultural and social tipping point’ if it is to prevent the worst effects of the climate and nature crisis.

Speaking at the start of the National Emergency Briefing (NEB) campaign’s latest update on 31 July, Prof Berners-Lee said that the climate and nature activism movement has to convince a majority of the voting British public to put maximum pressure on MPs and local councils to get the Government to take more urgent action.

He said it’s no longer a case of working to mitigate what is coming, essential though that still is, so much as the need to adapt to what is now inevitable and to develop resilience in dealing with it.

Prof Berners-Lee, of Lancaster University, is one of those leading the call for a national televised debate on the climate and nature crisis to put what he defined as ‘the certifiably accurate scientific facts’ in front of people.

The call for a televised debate on the issue is now supported by almost 150 MPs of all parties, including all but one of Dorset ‘s eight MPs. It includes North Dorset MP Simon Hoare.

You can watch the full hour-long NEB update on You Tube

Big Update Webinar – National Emergency Briefing. | 31 July 26

Plus…

NEB student programme now accepting sign-ups

Following a ‘hugely successful’ pilot using the People’s Emergency Briefing film, the NEB’s new schools initiative has now gone live. Working with Coombe Dean School in Plymouth, the initiative includes a dedicated resource pack for 16–18 year-olds ahead of the new school year in September.

The NEB says its aim is ‘to help young people understand that they have a real voice in local and national politics, and to give them confidence to play an active role in shaping the future.’

It asks the video is shared with teachers, sixth forms, colleges and anyone working with 16–18 year olds.

Schools are also being asked to sign up for a preview prospectus for the NEB Student Programme. By signing up on the last slide the NEB campaign says schools will receive the full lesson programme when it’s released in August.

NEB Student Programme Preview

5 August 2026

CLIMATE: Wildfires will be worse next summer, forecasts climate expert

Co-director of the Climate Majority Project Dr Rupert Read has said that the wildfires breaking out all over Britain now are ‘very sadly exactly the kind of event we now have to expect as climate breakdown accelerates.’

Speaking in East Anglia today (30 July), Dr Read, an environmental philosopher and a former professor at the University of East Anglia, forecast that next summer will ‘almost certainly be worse.’

He said the current spate of wildfires ‘is only the beginning.’

‘Next summer will almost certainly be worse. Making ourselves safer begins with citizen vigilance. But it doesn’t end there.

”We need to act as a high priority to make ourselves safer against this sort of thing now, across East Anglia and far beyond.’

Dr Read is the latest climate expert to forecast severe heatwaves affecting most the planet in 2027, including the UK, from climate change and the ‘super El Nino’ now building in the Pacific region.

Experts have already said that Europe is the fastest warming part of the planet and that Earth has already reached the first 1.5 degree ‘tipping point’ increase in mean global temperature not meant to have been reached for several more years yet.

31 July 2026

TRAVEL: Dorset’s latest Rights of Way plan now out for consultation

A 10-year Rights of Way Improvement Plan for Dorset is now out for public consultation and wants your comments and suggestions for improvement.

Launched last week by Dorset Council, the council says the plan is looking to improve access to a network of Rights of Way (RoW) such as public footpaths to make them more connected and easier for people to use for recreation, active travel and everyday journeys.

Shaftesbury already has an ambition to create a safe cycle and pedestrian route between Shaftesbury and Gillingham station via Motcombe along an existing bridleway already running between Gillingham and Motcombe.

SuSAC’s travel and footpath lead John Nelson has suggested a network of safe cycle routes linking all local towns should be created on the same lines as the North Dorset Trailway linking Blandford with Sturminster Newton along the old railway line (see https://www.northdorsettrailway.org.uk/).

A public right of way in England is a legally protected path crossing private land that anyone has the right to use. The four main types are footpaths, bridleways, and byways.

Types of Public Rights of Way (RoW)

• Footpaths: For walkers, runners, mobility scooters, and wheelchairs only (marked with yellow arrows).
• Bridleways: For walkers, horse riders, and cyclists (marked with blue arrows).
• Restricted Byways: For walkers, horse riders, and non-motorized vehicles like horse-drawn carriages (marked with purple arrows).
• Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs): For all types of transport, including cars, though mainly used by walkers and riders.

Starting on 21 July, the Dorset consultation runs for three months to 12 October 2026. The final plan is intended to cover the years 2026-2036.

The link to the consultation is Dorset Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) Consultation – Dorset Council – Citizen Space

29 July 2026

CLIMATE: Changes happening in the Atlantic could change our seasons, warn scientists

It’s not just climate change and global warming we have to worry about, say scientists in a new study. It’s what’s happening in the north Atlantic.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC – a vast, north-south system of currents that carries warm surface water towards the Arctic and returns colder water thousands of miles south through the deep ocean – is weakening, say scientists.

And if it weakens enough, which it is now forecast to do this century, it could change not only our weather but also our seasons in drastic ways we’re not ready for – with ice cold winters and dry hot summers, much more severe than we’re having now.

The UK’s climate is already milder than it should be for our latitude because of the warming effect of the south west to north east flow of the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean. But all that could change, and it could change quickly.

Prof Stefan Rahmstorf, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and one of the world’s leading experts on the AMOC, is just one of many scientists monitoring the AMOC now saying the paleoclimate evidence shows that rather than climate change happening smoothly it’s more likely to be ‘in some jumps and jolts and non-linear effects’.

How fast and by how much the AMOC is weakening is now under close scientific investigation in the North Atlantic – but the threat is already acknowledged by the Government that’s on record as saying that as ‘a key component within the Earth’s climate system’ the AMOC contributes to the UK’s long-term climate risks.

It’s a research programme scientists are taking an ever-increasing interest in and humanity will soon be watching with ever-closer interest.

22 July 2026

RESEARCH: Climate Coalition recommends reliable info sources

To recommend reliable sources of information and to counter what it claims is the increasing amount of mis- and disinformation about climate change and nature loss being spread by climate change deniers and vested interests, the long-established Climate Coalition has published a list of what it considers are reliable online sources on the issues.

It recommends Carbon Brief and the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) for technical information and for campaigning information they recommend growing campaign groups such as Uplift, Climate Emergency UK and Possible.

The Climate Coalition (TCC), set up in 2005, is the UK’s largest group of people and organisations dedicated to tackling climate change as an umbrella organisation comprising over 130 members including the National Trust, Women’s Institute and Oxfam among others.

It focuses on national campaigning and political lobbying and is best known for organising the annual Great Big Green Week in June.

It partners with but is separate from The Great Collaboration, a UK-wide initiative and toolkit set up in 2019 that partners primarily with parish, town, and county councils to help communities take practical, bottom-up action on climate change.

17 July 2026

NATURE RECOVERY: DWT launches major new nature recovery programme in Shaftesbury

Dorset Wildlife Trust has encouraged Shaftesbury to put forward two trial activities and ideas for green space improvements under its major new Heritage Lottery-funded Nature Connection North Dorset (NCND) project to help raise public awareness in nature recovery and leave a legacy of ‘thriving wildlife and communities’ in the town over the next six years.

This followed the project’s Shaftesbury launch on 30 June when the DWT’s Nicki Brunt and Sophie Headdon outlined the aims and objectives of the NCND project to members of Sustainable Shaftesbury Advisory Committee (SuSAC) and Planet Shaftesbury at the town hall.

After discussion of a long list of suggested projects for nature enhancement in the town, it was decided to start by recommending one small and one larger scheme to ‘trial’ the town’s interest in the subject.

It is hoped that by coming up with some relatively straight forward ideas for trial activities and nature connection during DWT’s year-long development phase – that runs to next spring – it will provide enough evidence for DWT to qualify for almost £1 million of Heritage Lottery funding for a full five year delivery phase of many more nature-based projects to 2032.

If successful, the delivery phase will provide an annual community grant pot of £25,000 a year, for communities across North Dorset. The project would also provide traineeships, training, events and support for community groups.

In Shaftesbury, it’s being suggested some activity is particularly focussed on SuSAC’s all-encompassing Green Wheel project for a protective nature-rich habitat around the town – with wildlife corridors or ‘spokes’ feeding into and out of the town centre along footpaths, bridleways, hedgerows and trees – to boost the town’s recent declarations of becoming an Orchard Town and Nature Friendly Town that already has the support of the Town Council and Dorset Council.

For more information on the NCND project email Sophie Headdon at SHeaddon@dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

For how to make your garden nature friendly go to DWT’s Wilder Communities team at wildercommunities@dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk or find resources at Wildlife-friendly gardening | Dorset Wildlife Trust.

For updates on the NCND project in the Shaftesbury area keep watching this space.

The Nature Connection North Dorset is a new project from Dorset Wildlife Trust being developed thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund that supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. The project is now in its development phase with the aim of full delivery over five years from July 2027–June 2032.

10 July 2026

PLANNING: Dorset CPRE’s major planning conference recordings now online

Recordings of Dorset CPRE’s major 2026 webinar last month on the challenge of delivering for nature and the environment within Dorset’s planning and development strategy are now available online via its 2026 Planning Conference webpage. They will also shortly be added to CPRE’s YouTube Channel.

A summary of the main points from the conference on ‘Getting the balance right between Dorset’s housing, nature and the countryside’ will also feature in Dorset CPRE’s July newsletter.

A highlight of the online event, chaired by CPRE’s national CEO Roger Mortlock, was the forthright presentation ‘A watery perspective’ by Matt Wheeldon, Wessex Water’s infrastructure development director, who pleaded powerfully for a more common-sense and sustainable approach to the use of water on both new and existing development ‘so mankind can tread more lightly on planet Earth’.

1 July 2026

Meet Dorset Wildlife Trust’s new Nature Connection North Dorset project officer SOPHIE HEADDON:

‘Hello, my name is Sophie and I am the new project officer on the Nature Connection North Dorset project with the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

‘I have recently moved from Devon where I worked with the National Trust on a nature connection community project, and have previously undertaken traineeships with the rewilding site ‘Ambios’ and the RSPB.

‘I have a love for all things nature with particular interests in botany and birds. I also have enjoyed previous roles in the arts, heritage and higher education sectors in comms, curating and project coordination. I am looking forward to meeting everyone in Shaftesbury!’

Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) recently won support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for its Nature Connection North Dorset project. Focussing on the five market towns of Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Blandford, Sturminster Newton and Sherborne, the project seeks to support communities to take the lead in restoring nature to their local places.

An initial £142,176 development phase is intended to lead to an application for £970,822 further funding for a full five-year project at a later date.

‘The project aims to help communities reconnect with nature and take restorative action in a corner of Dorset where natural habitats are more degraded and special wildlife sites scarce,’ said Sophie who can be contacted on sheaddon@dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk.

Sophie will be meeting members of SuSAC and Planet Shaftesbury to introduce the project and discuss ideas for Shaftesbury on 30 June.

26 June 2026

Reports from Dorset Council

The following items are from a report provided to a meeting of Shaftesbury Town Council on 16 June 2026 by Dorset councillors Jack Jeanes and Derek Beer:

Dorset flood recovery and resilience programme

Dorset Council has launched a £9.25 million programme to repair damage and strengthen resilience following significant flooding in winter 2025–26, including funding for drainage clearance and targeted infrastructure works in affected areas.

The council plans to carry out detailed flood investigations and local reviews in partnership with communities to understand causes, clarify responsibilities across drainage systems,and identify practical measures to reduce future risk. Findings will be published and used to prioritise further investment in recovery, road repairs, drainage improvements and long-term flood prevention.

The flooding followed prolonged and intense rainfall, including Storm Chandra, with January 2026 recorded as the second wettest on record in the Wessex area, leading to widespread disruption, property flooding, and amarked increase in road damage and emergency callouts.

Consultation on proposed dog control rules in public spaces

Dorset Council is consulting residents, visitors and businesses on proposed new rules for dogs in public places through a Dog-related Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

The current order, in force since January 2024, is due to expire at the end of 2026, with a replacement planned to run from 1 January 2027 for three years.

The consultation seeks views on where dogs should be permitted, any seasonal or time-limited restrictions (including on beaches), and requirements for keeping dogs on leads. The aim is to balance responsible dog ownership with the need to protect public spaces, particularly those used by children, families and for recreational activities, while also addressing issues such as dog fouling and associated health risks.

The consultation is open until 7 August, with responses helping to inform recommendations to be considered by the council later in the year.

Progress on biodiversity and planting at new Blandford waste management centre

Planting work at the new waste management facility in Blandford is well underway, with around 45–50 per cent of structural planting completed, including native trees, hedgerows and grassland that are beginning to establish and support wildlife.

The development will replace the existing recycling site and is scheduled to open in spring 2027, transforming former agricultural land into a diverse landscape of woodland, meadows and wetlands designed to strengthen local biodiversity. The scheme is expected to deliver a 33 per cent biodiversity net gain, exceeding national targets, and includes features such as wildlife corridors, ponds, and habitats for protected species.

Long-term environmental management is central to the project, with habitats to be maintained for at least 25 years and sustainable drainage systems incorporated to improve water quality, reduce flood risk and create additional ecological benefits.

Autonomous robot trialled in Dorset to tackle ragwort

A new autonomous robot designed to tackle ragwort – a poisonous weed harmful to livestock – has been introduced to Dorset for final testing at Dorset Innovation Park.

The electrically-powered machine, known as ‘Raggy’, uses advanced machine vision and AI technology to identify and remove the plant at its root, reducing the need for manual labour and chemical treatments while supporting targeted control that protects biodiversity.

Developed by South West firm Robotriks, in partnership with Dorset Council and other collaborators, the robot will undergo field trials across local farms during the summer.

The project forms part of wider innovation activity at the park, which is emerging as a centre for testing autonomous technologies and aims to support economic growth, job creation and sustainable land management solutions in the region.

16 June 2026

Top speakers at key Dorset CPRE online planning v nature conference

Dorset Council Leader Cllr Nick Ireland is among top speakers at a ground-breaking planning conference organised by Dorset CPRE on ‘Getting the balance right between Dorset’s housing, nature and the countryside’.

Other speakers at the online event on 9 June are Imogen Davenport, director of nature-based solutions at Dorset Wildlife Trust, and Dr Kiera Chapman of the University of Oxford who is part of the research team working on the Planning for Nature project.

Asking the question ‘how do we move from policy aims and promises to real environmental outcomes on the ground?’, the conference – opened by former BBC chief news correspondent, Dorset CPRE president and Dorset resident Kate Adie – aims to:

• increase awareness and provide clarity and leadership ahead of the next round of Local Plans and major housing allocations
• make attendees aware that nature and Dorset’s countryside are critically under threat
• explore how local authorities, wildlife bodies, and communities can collaborate to secure better results
• explore how a balance between nature recovery and development can be achieved under the planning system
• look at the role CPRE can play in scrutiny, community engagement, and positive proposals.

Other speakers at the free event, starting at 6.30pm, include Professor Malcolm Tait, professor of planning at the University of Sheffield, Matt Wheeldon, director, Wessex Water, Maria Grant of Land Use Consultants (LUC) and leader of Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole (BCP) Council Millie Earl.

For more details and to book the conference via Zoom see the latest programme and timetable here.

5 June 2026

CLIMATE 3: Dorset MPs in call for parliamentary and televised debate on the climate and nature crisis

Some 56 MPs of all parties have so far signed the ‘Early Day Motion’ put forward on 14 May by Cornwall MP Andrew George calling on the Government to ‘support a televised briefing on the climate and nature crisis delivered by independent experts and supported by the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser, setting out the nature and scale of the climate and nature threats facing the UK, why these threats matter to people’s lives and livelihoods, and to introduce emergency legislation, investment and public engagement commensurate with the scale and urgency of the crisis.’

All but one of Dorset’s eight MPs, including North Dorset MP Simon Hoare, have also signed a parliamentary call for a televised briefing on the climate and nature crisis following the National Emergency Briefing convention in London last November. The one Dorset MP yet to sign is Christopher Chope, Conservative MP for Christchurch.

20 May 2026

NATURE RECOVERY: New CPRE campaign echoes Shaftesbury’s Green Wheel project

Shaftesbury environmentalists have welcomed a new national campaign inviting people across England to stand behind ‘a shared ambition’ that every town and city should be surrounded by thriving and protected countryside — for nature, climate and wellbeing.

Launched by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the On the Edge campaign echoes very precisely Shaftesbury’s own Green Wheel project launched two years ago with the support of the town council to create a protective ‘green circle’ around Shaftesbury with safeguarded wildlife corridors or ‘spokes’ into the centre of the town.

CPRE says it is launching the campaign because the countryside around towns and villages is under growing pressure and too often overlooked when decisions are made about land use.

‘Across England, the countryside on the edge of our towns and cities shapes everyday life,’ says CPRE’s public affairs and advocacy officer Rosella Cottam.

‘These places play a vital role in tackling the nature and climate crises — supporting wildlife, sustaining local food systems, shielding communities from flooding and heat, and offering millions of people access to nature close to home.’

Insisting the countryside surrounding towns is ‘essential’ to human health and happiness as well as nature recovery and wildlife, she says the CPRE’s campaign will be calling for changes to ‘ensure these places are recognised, valued and shaped with care instead of threatened by poorly planned development.’

These changes include:

• protecting Green Belt land
• valuing our ‘edgelands’ by putting brownfield land first for development
• funding and supporting edgeland farmers
• giving communities a stronger voice in shaping nearby countryside.

Anyone signing a pledge will be invited to add their local countryside to a national map, helping to build a shared picture of why these places matter to people across the country.

‘Together, we can unlock the potential of the countryside on our doorsteps, protecting what matters today and shaping the landscapes future generations will inherit,’ the CPRE says.

Sign the petition | Stand up for the countryside near you

15 May 2026

FOOD: New ‘Eat Well’ leaflet with online map joins four other popular reprints

An updated version of the popular ‘Eat Well’ leaflet, unveiled at the Shaftesbury Food Festival last weekend, is the latest in a series of takeaway information pamphlets about Shaftesbury’s flora, fauna and food now available from various places in town.

Also released in the last few weeks are new versions of Shaftesbury’s ever popular tree walks leaflets and its Orchard Town leaflet, and all four will be joined shortly by a reprint of the now famous ‘Let’s Go Wild’ foldout pamphlet.

A notable feature of the ‘Eat Well’ publication – that has sections of where to buy such locally-sourced items as meat and fish, fruit and veg, eggs and dairy, and bread and savouries – is an online map via QR code to help people find the local food and drink suppliers listed.

See more information on the Planet Shaftesbury Eat Well page

…and as if to prove the point

Clearly taking inspiration from Shaftesbury’s very own ‘Let’s Go Wild’ leaflet, the latest summer issue of the National Trust‘s monthly magazine has an article on how private gardens can become part of the battle to save nature and combat climate change.

Pointing out that public and domestic gardens cover about 4.6 per cent of the UK, the National Trust’s head of gardens and parks Sheila Das writes that linked together they can ‘form powerful wildlife corridors’ and bring ‘more diversity into our lives again.’

Just, in fact, as the ‘Let’s Go Wild’ leaflet and SuSAC have been advocating for the last three years and now forming an integral part of our National Trust-supported ‘Green Wheel’ project!

Don’t ever let anyone say that ordinary people can’t make a difference!

8 May 2026

SPECIAL REPORT

CLIMATE: Dorset’s leader sets out the county’s vision to meet the People’s Emergency Briefing film’s challenges

Responding to The People’s Emergency Briefing film now doing the rounds of towns and parishes in Dorset as throughout the country, Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland has said he expects his council ‘to lead by example’ in tackling the climate and nature crisis.

And he insisted ‘planning is one of the strongest climate powers councils hold in England’ as it ‘effectively shapes emissions and resilience for decades.’

But at the same time he warned Dorset Council ‘should not pretend’ it can do it all alone.

‘For credibility, it is important to be explicit that Dorset Council cannot by itself prevent global temperature rise, replace national energy or transport policy or fully fund adaptation without stable central government support,’ he said.

The People’s Emergency Briefing film is based on the National Emergency Briefing (NEB), a national conference held in Westminster in November at which nine of Britain’s top scientists warned about the range of approaching threats to human life on Earth from a combination of extreme weather and rapid loss of the natural world.

‘The NEB calls for national mobilisation but it also recognises that councils deliver change on the ground provided government enables them properly,’ said Cllr Ireland.

Cllr Ireland, who attended the National Emergency Briefing (NEB) in London, as well as local MP Simon Hoare, was responding this week to a question from Richard Thomas, chair of Shaftesbury Town Council’s Sustainable Shaftesbury Advisory Committee.

Richard had asked Cllr Ireland what Dorset Council has done, is doing and will do to respond to the issues highlighted in The People’s Emergency Briefing film and what can town and parish councils do to help the council as well as themselves, for example in supporting initiatives such as Shaftesbury’s Orchard Town, Nature Friendly Town and Green Wheel projects for nature recovery?

Cllr Ireland, in a long and detailed response, reiterated that the National Emergency Briefing had brought together evidence from leading UK scientists on how climate and nature breakdown are already affecting the UK through:

• more frequent and extreme weather (heatwaves, flooding, drought, storms)
• rising food insecurity and agricultural disruption
• threats to public health, especially heat stress and flooding-related illness
• nature collapse, reducing ecosystem resilience
• systemic economic risks and infrastructure failure if warming exceeds 2–3°C.

He said the ‘consistent message is that national action alone will not be sufficient and that local delivery is critical because most real-world decisions – planning, transport, buildings, land use, emergency response – happen locally.

Thus the realistic role of Dorset Council, as it can’t control national energy markets, aviation, or fossil fuel extraction, he said, is ‘to try and control or influence a large share of the levers that determine Dorset’s emissions and resilience as a council.’

Legally, he said, English councils operate through a “mosaic” of powers rather than a single climate duty, relying on planning and development control, flood and emergency management duties, transport, housing, waste, highways and public health functions, and the so-called ‘general power of competence’ that enables council’s to take action beyond minimum statutory duties where justified.

He said the ‘realistic, high impact actions Dorset Council can take’ is to

• reduce emissions where Dorset Council has direct control
• use the planning system as a climate lever
• prepare Dorset for unavoidable climate impacts through adaptation
• protect and restore nature as infrastructure
• support households, communities and the local economy.

Reducing emissions

Taking actions to reduce missions are the most reliable and lowest risk because Dorset Council controls the assets. The council can do this by

• continuing the decarbonising of council buildings and its estate by retrofitting, installing heat pumps, solar panels and improving energy efficiency
• accelerating the electrification of the council fleet and its procurement standards.
• requiring net zero operational standards for new council developments and schools.

Cllr Ireland claimed Dorset has already achieved ‘significant emissions reductions from its own operations since 2019’.

Using the planning system as a climate lever

The NEB is clear that infrastructure and land use decisions must align with climate reality, not historic norms, and Cllr Ireland said what Dorset Council can realistically do now is to:

• strengthen local plan policies on energy efficiency and low carbon heating, overheating standards by shading, ventilation and providing green space, and through flood risk avoidance and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
• resist development in areas that will become unsustainable under future climate scenarios, even if technically viable today
• embed nature-based solutions in new development such as trees, wetlands and green corridors.

‘Planning is one of the strongest climate powers councils hold in England, effectively shaping emissions and resilience for decades,’ he said.

Prepare Dorset for unavoidable climate impacts through adaptation

Cllr Ireland said that the NEB stresses that even rapid emissions cuts will not prevent serious impact on society in the short term. ‘Priority risks’ in Dorset are from:

• flooding from rivers, surface water and the sea
• heatwaves affecting older and vulnerable residents
• coastal erosion and infrastructure risk
• drought and water stress affecting farming and ecosystems.

He said what Dorset Council can do in response is to:

• complete and implement a countywide Climate Adaptation Strategy, building on its climate risk assessment
• expand natural flood management through catchment restoration, wetlands, and soil health
• align emergency planning, public health, adult social care and highways maintenance to extreme weather readiness.

He said these actions are realistic because they ‘build directly on existing statutory duties for flood risk, emergencies and public health rather than creating new structures.

Protect and restore nature as infrastructure

The NEB highlights that the climate and nature crises are inseparable and so what Dorset Council can realistically do is to:

• deliver the Local Nature Recovery Strategy at scale
• treat chalk streams, floodplains, woodlands and soils as critical infrastructure, not just “nice to have” assets
• integrate biodiversity recovery into highways, estates and capital programmes.

This matters because healthy ecosystems absorb floods, reduce heat, store carbon and protect food systems – often more cheaply than engineered solutions.

Support households, communities and the local economy

Councils cannot force behaviour change, he said, but they can remove barriers identified by the NEB that stresses fairness, public consent and community level delivery as essential for rapid transition. Dorset Council can help by:

• expanding schemes such as Healthy Homes Dorset, Solar Together and business retrofit support
• using convening power to bring together farmers, businesses, NHS, utilities and communities around resilience planning
• targeting support at fuel poor and climate vulnerable residents
• continue to roll-out both off and on street EV charging points

Cllr Ireland concluded by saying that realistically Dorset Council can cut emissions it directly controls, lock in low carbon and climate safe development, prepare communities for unavoidable impacts, restore nature as a resilience asset, and enable rather than lecture residents and businesses.

‘This is not symbolic action,’ he said. ‘It’s delivery where Dorset has real power, and it is exactly the kind of leadership the National Emergency Briefing argues is essential if the UK is to avoid far worse outcomes.’

He added that as for the part to be played by town and parish councils, this is something that he claimed will be part of what he called a ‘Community Conversation’ exercise later this year.

This, he said, is a continuation of the major ‘A Big Conversation’ community engagement exercise his administration introduced in 2024 to shape the council’s priorities for the next five years. The initiative focuses on listening to residents from all backgrounds across the county to understand what matters most to them on four four main areas, known as the council’s ‘proposed priorities’, viz:

• Growing the economy
• Providing high-quality housing
• Responding to the climate crisis
• Supporting communities for all

‘The aim is to move beyond standard surveys to create a more meaningful dialogue to inform the new Council Plan,’ he said.

Cllr Ireland didn’t have a date when the latest phase of the Community Conversation exercise would start but said it would be soon.

For more information on everything in this report see:

[National Emergency Briefing]

[Dorset Council home page]

[Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk]

[CAG Consultants Informing Positive Change | Home page]

[Met Office home page]

[Dorset Local Nature Partnership | Home page]

[New Scientist | Home page]

[Local Government Association | Home page]

Point of Care Foundation on the Community Conversation process.

1 May 2026