Sustainable Shaftesbury

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 when local MP Simon Hoare did not, 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

WASTE: Great Dorset Beach Clean 2026 doubles last year’s record

Countering the bad news about the increase in plastic waste comes the better news that more than half a tonne of rubbish was cleared from Dorset beaches during the Great Dorset Beach Clean held between 1-12 April.

Organisers Litter Free Dorset report that the coastal clean-up campaign, now in its 36th year, was the most successful to date.

Almost 350 volunteers collected 628kg of rubbish – nearly double last year’s total of 330kg – in a total of 21 cleans carried out across the county’s beaches over the two weeks of the clean-up.

Organisers say that where possible rubbish was sorted for recycling to help onward processing.

Find out more on the Litter Free Dorset website.

26 April 2026

ENERGY: Questions remain on the benefits of heat pumps

Doubts on the cost benefits of installing heat pumps in all homes in the UK to replace boilers remain after research has claimed they don’t make much of a saving over the cost of running a gas boiler.

A senior consultant at the Energy Saving Trust in 2024 analysed data from 350 homes and found a heat pump, on its own, even with a smart tariff, typically delivered only ‘modest savings’.

Heating homes accounts for about a fifth of the UK’s planet-warming emissions, so switching from gas and oil to heat pumps – which run on electricity – is seen as key to meeting net-zero targets.

According to the Heat Pump Association, nearly 125,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK in 2025.

Heat pumps cost an average of £12,500 to supply and install but the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), that provides a £7,500 grant to switch from a gas boiler to heat pump (or up to £9,000 if you’re on oil or LPG), can reduce the net cost closer to £5-6,000 or less overall. The scheme runs until the end of March 2028.

But the relative price of electricity to gas remains a major issue.

The UK’s Heat Pump Federation has said people can get installing a heat pump right technically but savings turn out to be minimal because the price of electricity in the UK is still artificially high.

How heat pumps work

Heat pumps run on electricity instead of gas and so are more efficient than traditional boilers. They warm buildings by absorbing and amplifying heat from the air, ground, or water.
There are two sorts: Air source heat pumps and ground source heat pumps.

Ground source heat pumps are more efficient than air-source models. But they are typically more expensive and less common as they require either a deep bore-hole or a large horizontal system dug into the ground.
Air source heat pumps are the most common type. They work by sucking in outdoor air and passing it over tubes containing refrigerant fluids. The heat from the outdoor air causes the refrigerants to evaporate into a gas. Compressing the gas increases the temperature, and this heat is passed round the home.
The system consists of a box measuring about 1m x 1m x 0.4m (or 3ft x 3ft x 1.3ft) which stands outside the property, as well as a heat pump unit and hot water cylinder inside the property.
The indoor unit is about the size of a gas boiler, while the size of the cylinder depends on the property.

24 April 2026

ENERGY: Latest on plug-in solar panels

In March we reported here on the news from the Government’s Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) that ‘plug-in’ solar panels with be available to buy in shops ‘within months.’

These are portable 800W solar panels that you can hang on balconies or put on outside walls that plug into an ordinary 13-amp socket in your house or flat so you don’t need to pay a professional installer to do it for you.

The Government hasn’t yet said exactly when they might be available in shops because the law has to be changed to allow it to be legally possible. But details about the size and cost of the panels is beginning to emerge.

The latest information is that they will cost around £400-500 each to buy and install, provide up to 730kWh of electricity, and save around £70-110 a year on the average energy bill.

Plug-in solar panels are already legal in all EU member countries except Sweden and Hungary. In many European countries, they can be bought easily at the supermarket or online.

Germany leads the way with more than a million systems installed between 2022 and 2025.

Issues – apart from the legal situation – to be sorted out in the UK before they can be bought at your local Lidl or Tesco or wherever are that warranties currently last only about ten years and ‘pay back’ time, after breaking even, may not be for as long as seven years after installation.

More details are expected from DESNZ later this summer.

20 April 2026

WILDLIFE: Dorset Wildlife Trust recruits Shaftesbury to £1.5m North Dorset Nature Connection project

Shaftesbury has become a key part of Dorset Wildlife Trust ‘s (DWT) latest £1.5 million environmental project to energise community involvement in nature and wildlife recovery in the North Dorset area.

Centred on the five market towns of Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Sherborne, Blandford and Sturminster Newton, the Heritage Lottery-funded six-year project was launched at the start of April.

It consists of an initial £142k 12-month ‘development’ phase during which a development worker is to be hired (the deadline for applications was Easter Sunday) to head up the development work and help devise a £1.4 million five-year ‘delivery’ phase for DWT to help local communities deliver a mutually agreed action plan.

Part of that plan is to identify 40 public spaces with potential for biodiversity improvement. The delivery phase is subject to final approval of the plan by the Lottery so is not guaranteed but is more likely to happen than not, says DWT.

DWT’s conservation director Imogen Davenport and wilder communities manager Nicki Brunt were welcomed to Shaftesbury town hall to launch the project at Sustainable Shaftesbury Advisory Committee’s (SuSAC) meeting on 31 March.

SuSAC members outlined a number of nature priorities in town including Shaftesbury’s ‘flagship’ Nature Friendly Town (NFT), Orchard Town and Green Wheel projects – on which members pointed out much time and effort had already been spent – as well as the poor state of biodiversity on the open spaces left by the housing developers on the east and north side of town, where many hard-to-reach young families lived.

Members also asked that DWT liaise with The National Trust to integrate work already under way on The Green Wheel initiative.

Imogen and Nicki said they welcomed and supported all three projects – including the possibility of some support funding – and that these gave Shaftesbury a proactive head start in the project.

SuSAC member Jen Hirsch reminded the meeting that SuSAC had initiated the original NFT project three years ago that had helped DWT develop the Nature Connection project in the first place.

It was also mentioned how much of an important part The Green Wheel, Nature Friendly Town and Orchard Town projects played in Dorset Council’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy, launched on 25 March, and Shaftesbury’s Neighbourhood Plan now out for adoption by Dorset Council.

Members were promised DWT would be in touch when the development worker was in post and in a position to help us take things forward – so watch this space folks!

Author: Richard Thomas

10 April 2026

Dorset’s new Local Nature Recovery Strategy promises large-scale action….

Slides from the LNRS launch are on the Local Nature Partnership (LNP) website Dorset Local Nature Partnership.

For updates on Nature Recovery Dorset work see the News and Updates page on the Dorset Council website.

31 March 2026

SPECIAL NEWS FEATURE

Wessex Farms biodigester approval splits Dorset’s environmental opinion

Both anger and support have been expressed by local environmental campaigners in Dorset following Dorset Council’s controversial approval last month of planning permission for a large scale anaerobic digester plant near Shaftesbury.

Dorset Council’s strategic and technical planning committee granted permission for the 6.16 hectare plant at its meeting on 24 March despite opposition from both Gillingham and Shaftesbury town councils as well as Motcombe parish council.

The approval has split Dorset’s environmental campaigners.

The developers 1st Estate Biomethane Ltd* claim the site, a mile to the west of Shaftesbury off the A30 Sherborne Causeway, will produce some 18.3 million cubic metres of biogas that would be upgraded to 9.9 million cubic metres of biomethane a year.

But the decision angered local activist Jenny Morisetti, chair of Sustainable Dorset and vice-chair of Sustainable Shaftesbury Advisory Committee (SuSAC) who lives at Stour Provost, who said she ‘despaired’ at the decision.

“I’m passing on my frustration at the nonsense of growing crops to feed bio-digesters. Shaftesbury already has a large battery storage unit and more solar capacity planned than the local population can use.”

“Why are we not concerned about food security? There is already a large bio-digester plant at Brains Farm near Wincanton less than 30 mins from this proposed site. Where will all the maize, grass and cereals come from to feed two nearby digester plants?”

“Why not opt for wind turbines instead which provide energy without the need to grow crops? Why don’t the planning committee understand that this is not “green” energy [but] just another money-making scheme hiding under green credentials. I’m in despair!”

She added she realised approval had been granted but she’s fearful that further applications will follow.

“There’s very little of the type of waste that the planning application states will be used in the area. The Blackmore Vale is predominantly pasture.”

“I can’t find where they said they’d use hedge clippings but I find that hard to believe. [Its] very difficult to collect up. Feeding the biodigester with silage waste is better than spreading it on fields but growing maize to feed it is damaging in many ways.”

Jenny continued: “Although wheat and sugar beet are also planted as bioenergy crops, it is the area allotted to maize crops for energy that has mushroomed in recent years. The latest government figures show that 88,000 hectares of maize are now planted each year just to feed anaerobic digesters.”

“It’s so important to look at the bigger picture and not at one planning application in isolation. What interest does a Japanese company have in protecting the UK’s food security?”

But she was opposed by the Green Party’s Dorset county councillor Belinda Bawden who supported the application. She said: “The planning officer’s report and presentation was very thorough and the benefits of the proposal seemed to me to outweigh the harms, especially over time, [for example by offering] 79% biodiversity net gain [BNG].”

She said “[there’s] 153% BNG from hedgerows, more control of water pollution (animal & human waste is currently spread on farms, so gets into water courses), replacement of poor quality agricultural land with a circular process which converts a waste problem into two valuable products – biogas for 87,000 homes and fertiliser.”

She added that the developer had assured Dorset planners that ‘much of the material will be existing waste from the farm itself and from farms within a 15-mile radius.’

“It’s mostly animal slurry which would otherwise be less well managed and regulated. It seems a much more safe, modern and circular system which benefits farmers by turning their waste into useful products which will save them money.”

She said she felt the food security and loss of food production issue in this case was ‘a red herring – assuming the information [from the developer] is honest, of course.

“We are a long way behind Europe on this and the NFU and other farming groups are crying out for more bio-digesters as an environmentally sensible way to manage animal and plant waste.”

Belinda, who represents Charmouth & Lyme Regis, concluded that she felt the planning debate had been ‘thorough and considered’ and urged people to watch the recording and read the reports (see: Agenda for Strategic and Technical Planning Committee on Tuesday, 24th March, 2026, 10.00 am – Dorset Council).

Dorset Climate Action Network (DCAN) chair Giles Watts, however, said he was ‘not swayed by the BNG arguments’ and wondered whether DCAN should be mounting a campaign against any more digesters in Dorset.

He said “the issue seems to be whether maize is grown specifically to feed biodigesters or whether it only uses waste that would need to be got rid of anyway. Certainly wind turbines, or even solar panels, are a much better way of generating electricity.”

But Belinda was supported by DCAN coordinators John West and Sam Wilberforce who both claimed that biodigesters were on balance ‘a valuable element in a waste management strategy.’

John said he had read the Shaftesbury [planning] report and could see why it was considered acceptable [to approve the application] on planning policy grounds – ‘assuming the information is reliable’.

“Bio-digesters that rely primarily on feedstock grown for the digester are perhaps more questionable. However to put things into context, the figure of 88,000 hectares quoted as used to grow maize for feedstock represents just 0.014% of all land available for crop growing in the UK [according to UK government figures].”

Sam said he agreed with Jenny that food security was an important issue that needed to be taken into account but he knew of good examples of biodigesters in use as well as bad.

“When Poundbury was built, the anaerobic digester was built to produce biogas from food waste from restaurants, used thatch, stubble and chocolate waste! But what happened was all the farms for several square miles around started growing maize and rye grass to feed the plant.”

“Of course the Duchy [of Cornwall] is not subject to the same planning regulations as the rest of us but I feel the planners were duped by the greenwash without any specification of where the feedstuff is coming from.”

“On the other hand the biodigester at Piddlehinton does turn peelings into power and appears to me to deserve its green credentials.”

The challengers were supported by SuSAC chair Richard Thomas who said Jenny Morisetti had raised “a series of quite proper political challenges that need to be and should be addressed and that I suspect many people both locally and nationally agree with.”

He said it was not just the food security issue under scrutiny but planning law in the UK and the trustworthiness of what developers claim that is also at stake.

“The problem in this country is the quasi-judicial nature of planning law and planning policy that sits – theoretically at least – outside local government policy. Planning law lags way behind what we need and have needed for many years – for example, the need for all new builds to have solar panels and heat pumps as routine as well as proper insulation.”

“Planning law does not yet mandate this and the latest Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 that’s now law does not mandate it either and so developers just ignore it.”

He said the government published changes to building regulations last month that would make developers install panels and heat pumps on all new build but they don’t come into force until March 2028 (see separate news item on this page).

“It means housing developers can continue to ignore “green build” with impunity – and planning officers are powerless to prevent them. Everyone agrees it’s wrong but all you’ll get from planning officials and most elected members is a wringing of hands begging for understanding while the law catches up.”

He said that despite the approval for the Wessex Farm biodigester two issues remained: that of food production on the one hand and the reliability of the claims made by the developer on the other.

“A lot of local people fear that a lot of land will be turned over to sterile crops to feed the bio-digester rather than people. At the same time, local people – in both Shaftesbury and Gillingham – have been so severely betrayed by developers who have lied to get planning permission and by planners who have been hoodwinked by the lies that they simply neither trust anything that any developer says nor the local planning authority’s ability to accurately check and monitor the claims.”

“We will only know the truth, of course, when it’s too late – and we discover fields of maize being grown to feed the Wessex Farm digester.”

“Meanwhile we can now only cross our fingers and hope that the developers want what’s best for us all rather than their own bottom line and that Dorset Council follows up properly on the planning conditions.”

*1st Estate Biomethane Ltd is a joint venture set up in 2023 between 1st Estate Service Limited, an agricultural land and rural estate manager, and Iona Capital Ltd, a renewable energy infrastructure investor. It is based in central London.

30 March 2026

Dorset’s new Local Nature Recovery Strategy promises large-scale action – and praises Shaftesbury’s key nature projects

Dorset Council has promised comprehensive action on nature recovery in the county following the formal launch of its long-awaited Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) on Wednesday (25 March).

Speaking to SuSAC after the event, Amy Smith, Dorset Council’s local nature recovery officer, said: ‘The strategy is not just a document, but [it’s] a mechanism that triggers practical action for nature’s recovery’.

And she praised the three key projects that Shaftesbury is already working on as part of the strategy – the Nature Friendly Town, Orchard Town and Green Wheel initiatives.

‘It’s fantastic that [those three] initiatives are happening in Shaftesbury [and] we’ll be looking at ways we can best gather together the ambitions and outputs from that great work as part of measuring progress in the county and sharing knowledge to inspire similar action in other places,’ she said.

‘We’ll also be looking at ways to identify shared barriers to delivery and find ways to unblock or overcome these, as well as working together to drive forward and support new actions and projects.

She added the launch event explained how Dorset Council is interpreting the four key strands for delivery Dorset must meet as ‘the responsible authority’ under the Environment Act 2021 legislation and the different groups that the council is proposing to set up.

The four key strands, or functions, to ‘ensure the implementation of nature recovery actions’ are:

1. Lead and convene a delivery partnership: To plan and prioritise delivery, bringing together stakeholders such as BCP Council, Natural England, farmers, and community groups.
2. Embed LNRS into local decision-making: To incorporate the strategy into local plans, planning processes (like Biodiversity Net Gain), and other environmental initiatives.
3. Identify strategic projects and facilitate project development: To identify key on-the-ground projects that will meet the priorities set out in the strategy, such as habitat creation and nature-based solutions.
4. Monitor and report on delivery: To track progress on the implementation of nature recovery activities and evaluate achievements every three to ten years.

Amy said the first of the delivery groups – the Nature Recovery Dorset Delivery Group (NRDDG) – has been set up and has already held its first meeting.

‘More updates will be available as the delivery work progresses and the slides from the event will be shared so this will hopefully provide you some more clarity, ‘ she said.

More information is on the Dorset Council website and will also be featured on this page as developments occur.

Dorset Council | Dorset unites to launch landmark local nature recovery strategy

27 March 2026

NATURE: New rewilding film launched

Rewilding Britain celebrated World Rewilding Day on 20 March with the release of this new film on rewilding in Britain: Think you know what wild is? | You Tube

23 March 2026

Dorset Council highlights two years of action to support wildlife and nature recovery

Two big announcements with major significance for the future of nature recovery in Dorset have been made by Dorset Council in the last few days.

The council has published a special biodiversity report showing the scale of work to protect and restore nature in Dorset.

Published on its website, the council’s report brings together actions from 28 teams between 2023-2025 and claims to show how biodiversity is embedded in day-to-day council operations – from land management and planning to education, highways and social care.

In comes in the week that Dorset’s first Local Nature Recovery Strategy is launched at a special event near Dorchester.

Outlining the council’s work over the last two years to conserve and enhance habitats, support species recovery and create opportunities for residents to connect with nature, the biodiversity report lists Dorset Council’s key achievements as including:

• Nearly 5,000 trees planted across council land
• Over 6,000m of new hedgerow grown
• 345,702m² of wildflower areas created
• 160,140m² of invasive species removed
• 25 natural flood management projects installed
• 62% of urban verges now managed specifically for wildlife
• 40% reduction in glyphosate use on the highway network
• More than £9 million invested in nature recovery through grants and stewardship schemes

Dorset Council also claims its country parks have recorded encouraging signs of wildlife resilience, including increases in breeding birds, butterflies and other species.

Council leader and cabinet member for climate Cllr Nick Ireland said: ‘This report shows how deeply the protection and restoration of nature is being built into the work of teams right across the council.

‘We’ve been taking action for many years, but bringing this together in one report demonstrates the breadth of activity and the commitment of our staff, partners and communities.

‘Protecting and enhancing Dorset’s natural environment is a shared responsibility, and this report highlights the progress being made.’

The comprehensive report, which shows how the council is meeting its biodiversity duty as required by the Environment Act 2021, also provides examples of nature‑positive practices happening across the county.

There has been wildlife‑friendly planting and habitat creation in schools, care homes and housing schemes and sustainable farming trials at council-owned farms.

Roadside verges and green spaces are being managed to support pollinators and increase biodiversity while outdoor learning opportunities are being provided for children.

Community engagement has been strengthened through the Nature Recovery Dorset Network, which now has 299 active members.

Major schemes such as the Blandford Waste Management Centre are also delivering significant biodiversity net gain through woodland, wetland and wildlife‑friendly design.

Dorset Council claims that the new Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy, officially launched on Wednesday this week, will expand nature‑based solutions over the next five years that support climate adaptation, increase support for sustainable farming and strengthen biodiversity monitoring across all services.

Cllr Ireland added: ‘This report sets the foundation for the next stage of Dorset’s nature recovery. By working together and investing in local projects, we can help ensure a healthier natural environment for future generations.’

The full Biodiversity Report 2023–25 can be found on the Dorset Council website.

23 March 2026

ENERGY: Register now for the latest Dorset Climate Action Energy meeting

Join the Dorset CAN Energy Group for an online meeting on Monday 30th March at 7pm until 8.30pm.

Discussion Topics include:

Community Energy Projects
BESS systems
The Warmer Homes Plan, the Future Homes standards and the Local Power Plan
The DCE initiatives on Retrofit

Register your place for the Zoom meeting here – Dorset CAN Energy Group Meeting | DCAN

16 March 2026

NATURE: Latest episode of ‘Down in Dorset’ nature podcast now out

Bringing beavers back to Dorset’s rivers is one of the highlights of the latest episode of Down in Dorset, the new monthly podcast exploring local farming and wildlife now available.

Hosts Tim and Lizzie follow the great response to last month’s launch by returning with a closer look at how Dorset’s farms and natural habitats work side-by-side, they speak to ecologist Ian Alexander about his long-running mission to bring beavers back to local rivers, and farmer James Cousins shares his life on a 2,000 acre working farm.

They discuss Dorset’s ‘Big Five’ (deer, badgers, foxes, beavers and otters), how farmer cluster groups are creating new wildlife corridors, and the local partnerships helping to restore nature after decades of decline.

Down in Dorset is released on the last Friday of every month.

Listen by searching ‘Second Nature: Down in Dorset’ on your usual podcast app or by visiting the Second Nature website.

9 March 2026

ENERGY: Dorset Council wins national Clean Energy Power award

Dorset Council was last week named the national winner of the Clean Energy – Power Award at the 2026 APSE Energy Awards.

In a message to Dorset residents after the Birmingham NEC ceremony Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland said he had the privilege of representing Dorset at the Energy Summit, held in partnership with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ), and chairing two of the morning sessions.

These brought councils, energy experts and community organisations together to talk honestly about the challenges and opportunities facing everyone.

He said one theme came up time and again: ‘How we can make it possible for local people to enjoy warmer, healthier homes that cost less to heat. It’s something I feel strongly about.

‘Everyone deserves a home that stays warm for longer, is affordable to run, and supports good health. A Greener Dorset means warmer, healthier, cheaper to run homes!

He added to win the Clean Energy Power Award ‘is a significant recognition of the hard work and innovation happening right across the council – from installing solar PV on more than 100 of our buildings, to supporting households and businesses through dedicated low carbon programmes, we’re proving that local government can lead the clean power revolution.

‘Our work is already cutting carbon, reducing the council’s energy bills and strengthening Dorset’s growing clean energy sector. We’re generating millions of kilowatt-hours of clean electricity each year and have reduced our grid electricity use by almost half. And we’re not slowing down.

‘Plans are underway for even more solar installations and future proofing our buildings for heat pumps, helping us move steadily toward our commitment to become a net zero council by 2035 and a net zero Dorset by 2045.

He continued: ‘We’re also making progress in other areas that support a greener future. A joint project with BCP Council – to roll-out thousands of new on-street “chargepoints” for electric vehicles – was announced this week. We’re making it easier for residents, businesses and visitors to make the switch to cleaner travel.

‘This £16.5 million project has been funded by mainly private sector investment plus government funding and will be delivered by Connected Kerb over the next 5 years.

‘Together, these steps are building a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable Dorset – one that we can all be proud of.’

* The Association for Public Services (APSE) is a UK-based not-for-profit organisation that helps over 300 local authorities improve frontline services like waste collection, parks, and housing. It acts as a network for local government officers, providing advice, training, and benchmarking.

2 March 2026

NATURE: Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy finally set to launch

It’s been two years in the making but now the first Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) is set to be launched in March.

Formally adopted by Dorset Council in December, the strategy is the result of two years’ effort by the Dorset Local Nature Partnership (LNP) working with Dorset Council, Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole (BCP) Council and Natural England plus a wide selection of organisations, community groups, land managers, farmers and individuals from across the county.

The daytime launch is taking place on 25 March at the George Albert Hotel at Evershot near Dorchester. It’s free to attend (starting at 9.30am) but anyone interested must register online first.

For more information and to register go to: Annual Forum 2026: Launching the Dorset LNRS

27 February 2026

ENERGY: Climate change guru says opposition is looking like King Canute

Former chief executive of the independent Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, is now in charge of the government’s ‘mission for clean power by 2030.’ In a special interview with Carbon Brief he explains why he thinks the economics of clean energy ‘just get better and better’, leaving opponents of the transition looking like ‘King Canute.’

King Canute – or Cnut – has a special place in the history of Shaftesbury because the famous Danish Christian king of England mysteriously died at Shaftesbury Abbey in 1035 aged only 45.

He was famous for allegedly demonstrating to gullible followers that even a king had no power to hold back the sea after getting a soaking by sitting on a chair on an Essex beach and unsuccessfully ordering the sea to turn back mid-tide.

Stream The Carbon Brief Interview: Chris Stark CBE by CarbonBrief | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

18 February 2026

HEALTH & WELLBEING: Dorset NHS wants the public’s comments on its first five-year plan

The Dorset public are being invited to comment and provide feedback on Dorset NHS’s first five-year health plan by responding to a webinar’ – a video presentation – it has launched online.

Dorset NHS is now working with Somerset and Wiltshire NHS on a new regional ‘hub’ concept of healthcare it hopes will benefit all residents living in the wider area.

A special feature of the plan is an emphasis on mental health in an effort to address the national pandemic.

You can watch the webinar and get more information at NHS Dorset 5-year plan webinar.

13 February 2026

Dorset’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy to launch in March

Dorset Local Nature Partnership is to launch its major Local Nature Recovery Strategy at a special forum near Dorchester on 25 March 2026.

Over the past few years Dorset Council – working as the Responsible Authority alongside BCP Council and Natural England as Supporting Authorities – has led an extensive and collaborative effort to create the Dorset LNRS, formally adopted in December 2025.

This milestone has only been made possible thanks to the involvement of so many organisations, community groups, land managers, farmers and individuals from across the county, including those who contributed valuable insights at our 2024 Annual Forum.

This year’s forum is about celebrating some of the fantastic work already happening to restore nature in Dorset and marking the transition from developing the strategy to delivering it collectively on the ground.

The event is free and includes:

· plenty of networking opportunities

· information stalls

· a complementary buffet lunch

Book your free spot for the Dorset Local Nature Partnership Forum.

11 February 2026