The Parish Council met on Thursday 15^th May 2025 in the Village Hall for the Annual Parish Meeting, followed by the Annual Parish Council Meeting. No members of the public were present. Members of the press and public are welcome and there is a period for public participation at the start. If you are unable to attend but wish to submit a comment or question, please contact the Clerk or any member of the Parish Council.

Annual Parish Meeting
We welcomed Samantha Dallimore, Community Engagement Officer for Wareham Arc Landscape Recovery who gave a brief talk on the aims of the initiative. Should funding be forthcoming, the delivery phase of the project will start in January 2026. The project area covers approximately 4,000 hectares of Purbeck and aims to restore the natural processes of the area by creating resilient habitats and businesses which deliver environmental benefits. The objective is to give wildlife the ability to move within the landscape rather than from natural island to natural island. In addition, the project hopes to encourage people out into the landscape and expand opportunities for engagement with nature. The environmental objectives will include slowing the flow of rivers to allow nutrients time to drop out of the water naturally before reaching Poole Harbour; the restoration of peat bogs and planting of woodland pastures. The team will be working with Kingston Maurward and local schools but this is all in the very early stages. Once funding is confirmed, more information and details of how to get involved will be made available.

Parish Council Roles & Vacancy
At the Annual Parish Council Meeting, Councillor Jon Park was voted in for another year as Chair, with Simon Walker elected as Vice-Chair. Despite two new Councillors joining us in recent months, there is still a vacancy for a new Parish Councillor. If you would be interested in giving up some of your time to help our community then please contact the Clerk on clerk@bereregisparishcouncil.gov.uk for more information.

Community Speed Watch (CSW)
The CSW team are now managing to get out more frequently and, thanks to their efforts and the placement of the Speed Indicator Devices, the speed of vehicles is being noticeably reduced. The team were out three times in April and provided data on 33 vehicles travelling in excess of 35mph, with a maximum speed recorded at 46mph. Because we have a CSW, the Police camera crew visit more frequently which further deters speeding. However, as with all volunteer initiatives, more people are needed to help. If you can spare a couple of hours a month, please, please let the Clerk know and your name will be passed to the CSW team.

Communibus
The new bus is now operational and the old one has been sold. Hardy Signs have offered to sign write the bus at a reduced cost of £150 if they are able to put their logo on the bus. We will continue to operate the new bus under the Section 19 conditions as before.

Neighbourhood Plan Review
This is continuing and we have reached the stage of needing a Strategic Environmental Assessment. This would originally have been undertaken by Dorset Council but they have said they no longer have the manpower to do the work. If we wish to continue, it will now be necessary to pay for the work ourselves. Members felt that, as so much time and work has been put into the Review, we should carry on. It is estimated that the cost will be in the region of £2,500 and the Review should be ready to go to consultation in September.

Finance
The accounts for the year ended 31^st March 2025 were agreed and have now been sent to the external auditor – BDO LLP. They will be available on the Parish Council website from the beginning of June. The Parish Council is in a healthy position with £248,727.75 in hand. However, this does include 50% of the annual precept and will be used to cover costs up to the end of September. The balance is held in reserves for key on-going projects, such as the play park and new community hall, and to cover the cost of replacing such items as dog bins, benches, signs. A full breakdown of the reserves held will be available on the Parish Council website.

Treeworks
The next phase of the necessary tree work along the riverside walkway will take place in June. Alongside the tree work, an ecological survey of the area has been undertaken. This highlighted the use of the stream by both people and dogs. Whilst we do not want to prevent access to the stream, we would ask that, if you have used a non-oral flea treatment on your dog, please read the instructions and don’t let them go in the stream for at least 24 hours. Most treatments contain a compound that is harmful to water insects and the fish and birds that depend on them. We are lucky to have one of the most important chalk streams in the area and we need to protect it.

And finally
A number of parishioners have raised concerns around the reliability and speed of broadband connections throughout the parish. With the Bere Regis exchange not yet part of the Openreach roll out of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) and EEhomes still reliant on traditional copper connections (at least from the Cabinets to homes), the Parish Council would like to canvas for expressions of interest from households that would like to upgrade their Internet connections to fibre to the premises. 

If there is a sufficient level of interest, the Parish Council will approach several fibre providers to determine if enough households are interested for the provider(s) to roll out fibre broadband to the parish.

If you would like to express interest in upgrading your broadband connection to fibre to the premises, please contact the Clerk at clerk@bereregisparishcouncil.gov.uk. 

Next Meeting – The next meeting will be held on Thursday 12^th June 2025 commencing 7pm at the Village Hall. If you wish to have an item added to the agenda for discussion, please contact the Clerk or a member of the Parish Council. A full copy of the minutes is available on the Parish Council website.

Chairman: Jon Park 07970 727792 chair@bereregisparishcouncil.gov.uk
Vice Chairman: Simon Walker 07714 329396 s.walker@bereregisparishcouncil.gov.uk
Parish Clerk: Amanda Crocker 07855 396073 clerk@bereregisparishcouncil.gov.uk

Websites:
www.bereregisparishcouncil.co.uk
www.bereregis.org

The Parish Council met on Thursday 10^th April 2025 in the Village Hall. 2 members of the public were present. Members of the press and public are welcome and there is a period for public participation at the start. If you are unable to attend but wish to submit a comment or question, please contact the Clerk or any member of the Parish Council.

New Councillor
We are very pleased to welcome Kevin Hazell to the Parish Council. His wealth of experience and knowledge will undoubtedly prove invaluable to the Parish Council and the community. At the same time, we were sorry to hear that Bryan Benjafield had decided to step down from the Council. He has been a councillor since 2014 and has been key in running the social media for the Parish Council. He has always been a voice of reason in any discussions and will be greatly missed. We wish him well for the future.

Communibus
We are very pleased to announce that we have been able to purchase a new bus to replace our existing one. The current bus has been very well used over the last few years and is beginning to show signs of wear. With the closure of Nordcat, we have been able to secure one of their fleet at a cost of £11,000. This will be funded by an £8,000 grant from Dorset Council and £3,000 raised by donations and the sale of the current bus. We are still hopeful that the bus will be with us by the end of April but it is currently undergoing some work prior to being handed over.

Tree works
As reported last month, the priority work necessary on the streamside walk trees has been undertaken. The full report was considered at the meeting and the next phase of work considered. This will be brought back to the May meeting for confirmation, by which time costs will be known. Once the trees are in full leaf, a better idea of their condition can be gained. This will then lead on to a more detailed Management Plan. At the same time, an ecological survey will be undertaken on the site which will be an integral part of the Management Plan.

Play Park
The Play Park Group met on the 19^th March. Cllrs Sam Bardwell and Kevin Hazell will be heading the project and Cllr Hazell is in the process of drawing up a document to highlight what the group hopes to achieve, together with what funding is available. Our thanks are extended to the current volunteers but, as ever, more are needed. If you are able to help at all, please contact either Cllr Bardwell or Cllr Hazell.

EV Charging Points
These will now be installed in the central car park on the 22^nd to 24^th April with the second fix on the 5^th to 6^th May. The bays will be coned off from the 21^st April and we would be grateful if you could ensure any vehicles are moved in order to make way for the work.

Road Traffic Incidents
This is something that we have raised before. If you or a neighbour are involved in a near-miss on the parish roads, please report it. This also includes if your vehicle incurs any damage (broken wing mirror, etc) when parked on a parish road. At present, there are no reports of any near miss incidents in the parish but local knowledge tells us this is incorrect.

Collisions and/or driving offences can be reported via a call to 101 or via the Dorset Police website – https://www.dorset.police.uk/ro/report/rti/rti-beta-2.1/report-a-road-traffic-incident/
(Clearly use 999 for reporting emergencies, serious road traffic incidents etc)

Near misses can be reported via the Dorset Council website – https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/roads-highways-maintenance/road-safety

Rye Hill
Most of you will have spotted this but for those that have not, the 30mph speed limit extension on Rye Hill came into force on the 21^st March. The 30mph now extends to the top of the hill and out to the village signs after the Yearlings Drove turning on the way to Wool.

And finally
A big thank you to Cllr Jon Park for repairing the bench at the entrance to Shitterton. It has been looking very sad for some time now but Cllr Park has replaced all the wooden slats with hard wood, giving it a new lease of life.

Next Meeting – The next meeting will be held on Thursday 15^th May 2025 commencing 7pm at the Village Hall. This is a week after the normal date due to the VE Day celebrations on the 8^th May. This meeting will also be the Annual Parish Meeting and we will have a guest speaker in attendance. This year, our speaker will be Samantha Dallimore, Community Engagement Officer Wareham Arc Landscape Recovery. If you wish to have an item added to the agenda for discussion, please contact the Clerk or a member of the Parish Council. A full copy of the minutes is available on the Parish Council website.

As per the report from the February 2025 meeting, here is a brief traffic update.

Following the 2024 parish survey, there was strong support for measures to reduce the speed of traffic in the village and to address a number of other vehicle related issues. In July 2024, we met with representatives from Dorset Council to discuss both speed and parking issues in the centre of the village and on Rye Hill. As a result of this meeting, we requested that an all our yellow lines be repainted, and our white lines in the village centre be either repainted, or in some cases added at various junctions. We also requested that yellow lines outside the Royal Oak be investigated, and that Green Close / Rye Hill junction be reviewed to see what safety improvements could be made. Yellow lines outside the Royal Oak have subsequently being rejected. None of our requested yellow or white lines have so far been repainted or added. We are not aware of the outcome of any review of the Green Close / Rye Hill Junction.

As a further result of the July meeting, in October 2024, Dorset Council undertook four traffic speed and volume surveys on our behalf, on Rye Hill, Southbrook, West Street and Elder Road. The results of these surveys have been published on the Bere Regis Parish Council website. In summary, they indicate that less traffic than we perhaps expected is exceeding the 30mph speed limit, with the exception of Rye Hill where levels of speeding match previous surveys, and remain unacceptable. In the centre of the village, in particular West Street, average vehicle speed is less than 20mph. On Southbrook and Elder Road, average vehicle speed is less than 30 mph. We therefore do not believe it is necessary to apply for a 20mph speed limit in the village centre at this stage.

Rye Hill remains a problem, but far more traffic was recorded as speeding coming down the hill. We still await the extension of the 30 mile an hour zone further towards Wool, and we will assess the impact on speeding traffic once this has taken place.

Outcome of October 2024 Traffic Surveys

4 locations were surveyed between the 21^st & 27^th of October 2024.
– Rye Hill – near Green Close
– Southbrook – between Elder Road junction & Egdon/school junction
– Elder Road – between Southbrook junction and Manor Farm Road junction
– West Street – just past Southmead junction (heading West)

Surveys were conducted using laser type devices, not pressure tube devices, and thus we received no information about vehicle types/sizes.

Rye Hill

Traffic volume – 6166 vehicles per day average (3917 southbound, 2969 northbound)
Average flow – ~420 vehicles per hour 7am – 7pm
Peak flow – ~620 vehicles per hour around 5pm
Speeding vehicles – 12.2% >35 mph (752 vehicles daily),  2.6 % >40 mph (159 vehicles daily)
Note 20% of downhill traffic (northbound) >35 mph, but only 5% heading south to Wool.
Mean speed of traffic on Rye Hill is ~30mph

Southbrook

Traffic volume – 6107 vehicles per day average
Average flow – ~420 vehicles per hour 7am – 7pm
Peak flow – ~620 vehicles per hour around 4pm
Speeding vehicles – 7.1% >35 mph (436 vehicles daily), 1.5% >40 mph (91 vehicles daily)
Note 12.3% of northbound traffic >35 mph, but only 3% heading South towards Wool.
Mean speed of traffic on Southbrook is ~28mph

Elder Road

Traffic volume – 1022 vehicles per day average (561 eastbound, 461 westbound)
Average flow – ~75 vehicles per hour between 8am-6pm
Peak flow – 100 vehicles per hour around 5pm
Speeding vehicles – 4.5% >35 mph eastbound (25 vehicles daily)
7.8% >35mph westbound (36 vehicles daily)
Much traffic well under 30mph – 68% of eastbound, 78% of westbound
Mean speed of traffic on Elder Road is ~25mph

West Street

Traffic volume – 1568 vehicles per day average (741 eastbound, 827 westbound)
Average flow – ~110 vehicles per hour 7am – 6pm
Peak flow – 140 vehicles per hour around 5pm
Speeding vehicles – virtually no traffic over 30mph (2 eastbound, 1 westbound)
Most traffic under 20mph – 27% >20mph eastbound, 15% >20mph westbound
Mean speed of traffic on West Street is less than 20mph

A PDF version of this page with graphical data is available here.

3 Walks Around Bere Regis
Due to restricted access in some parts of May’s Wood, the Parish Council has made some revisions to the 3 Walks Around Bere Regis leaflet that we published a number of years ago, with a new walk through Wild Woodbury being added to 3 walks around the village centre, May’s Wood and Black Hill.

Choosing the location for a new Community Hall
For a number of years, we have been seeking a suitable location for a new Community Hall in Bere Regis, to replace the Drax Hall in North Street. There are 4 potential sites identified below.  Click here for details about each site.

We would like as many parishioners as possible to express their views by voting with an order of preference.   Click here to vote online before 30/9/24
*** from 1st October 2024 – voting now closed ***

Potential Community Hall Locations 2024

The Community Survey was undertaken during April 2024. At the Village Forum on 22 July 2024, we displayed half a dozen poster boards showing the results of survey. These poster boards are provided as links below.

Submission details – Poster Board 1
How many responses; and geographical breakdown by post code in the village centre and wider parish.

Your communications feedback – Poster Board 2
Your preferences – how you want to receive information from the Parish Council, and the type of information you want to receive.

Poster Board 3 – traffic survey 1
What you think the main traffic issues are in Bere Regis.

Poster Board 4 – traffic survey 2
Analysis of your comments on traffic & road issues in the village.

Poster Board 5 – traffic survey 3
Your view on some potential traffic & road improvement measures.

Poster Board 6 – traffic survey 4
Illustrated map of the Village Centre identifying many of the traffic & road issues – for discussion with Dorset Council.

The Parish Council is keen to improve the way that it engages with the community. We have prepared a survey to address this issue and, in addition, a couple of other topics that the Council is currently working on. In particular, there are a number of questions about traffic issues (speeding, traffic volumes, parking, etc) which we know cause a variety of concerns in various locations.

The survey is available both electronically, via the link below, and also as a paper version which will be delivered to all households in the parish. Electronic completion would greatly help us in assembling the results, but the paper option is fine should you wish to complete the survey that way. You can post hard copies of the survey in the black letterbox by the village shop.

Bere Regis Parish Council Community Survey (online form)

The survey is now closed.

The results of the survey will be made available as part of the displays at the next Parish Forum on 20th July 2024. In particular, we hope to use the results to improve communication with the community, and, from the traffic perspective, to support our requests to Dorset Council for more traffic control measures in various locations. If the electronic survey version proves successful, it may give us another way of seeking views from the community going forward.

Your details will never be disclosed to a third party and will only be kept on file for the length of time necessary to complete this survey, after which they will be removed from the Parish Council records. Should you wish to receive the results of the survey direct or be kept informed of Parish events, please email the Clerk and mark the email Parish Information in the subject bar (clerk@bereregisparishcouncil.gov.uk )

Please see the following Notices of Elections for the following elections to be held on 2 May 2024:

• Dorset Council.pdf
• Town and Parish Councils within the Dorset Council area.pdf