Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Education Swanage

Does anyone know the outcome of Education Swanage's meeting with the government last 10 August???? There is nothing up on its website and my enquiries are not being answered.



Posted by Anonymous to swanageview at 31/8/11 12:05

Monday, August 22, 2011

Localism Bill

Does anyone have any thoughts on the planning aspects of the Localism Bill? This will enhance the position of parish councils, such as Swanage Town Council and enable any local group of 21 people or more to demand official recognition and support and draw up a "neigbourhood development plan" As a result, it is claimed, "Neighbourhood planning will allow communities to come together through a local parish council or neighbourhood forum and say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go – and what they should look like." (source "A plain English guide to the Localism Bill")

The idea of a couple of dozen random and self-selecting and unelected citizens being able to take control of planning looks pretty scary to me. You notice the word "or" in my quote. You can set up in opposition to the parish council and there does not seem to be anything to stop a determined developer setting up a group if they can persuade 21 noddies to join it and writng their own neighbourhood plan for their patch of the town.

On the other hand it looks like the residents of a conservation area could put themselves in a better position to safeguard the area against unsympathetic changes, an area in which it must be said PDC have been more than a little lacking. A problem we have discussed on here in the past.



Posted by Anonymous to swanageview at 21/8/11 10:23 PM

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Mowlem Live Music

Let's all get together and support the attempt by the Hospitality Association to bring the Mowlem Theatre into the mainstream of Swanage's thriving live music scene!
On Saturday, 27 August 2011 at 7.30pm there will be three bands - well worth your money.
Click on 'Mowlem Live Music' above to go to the Mowlem website.

posted by Steve Darrington



Posted by Mowlem Live Music to swanageview at 21/8/11 12:31 PM

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Dorset Minerals Core Strategy



Have your say on the strategy for quarrying

Dorset County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council and the Borough of Poole are inviting your comments on the future strategy for quarrying sand and gravel, building stone and other minerals.

We tend to take minerals for granted – yet materials sourced from quarries are around us every moment of every day.

The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Minerals Core Strategy aims to ensure the supply of minerals in environmentally acceptable ways.

Purbeck Stone is a mineral of national importance found locally, occurring west of Swanage to Worth Matravers. Many villages in Purbeck are characterised by buildings made of the stone and it has also been used in the architectural detailing of a number of cathedrals in England. The minerals strategy supports further stone working and considers the appropriate scale of workings within the distinctive limestone landscape of the area. People are asked if they agree with the approach in the minerals strategy.

Elsewhere in Purbeck, the minerals strategy identifies areas where sand and gravel is found and people are asked to comment on these areas as well as the way in which specific locations for future quarry sites will be selected

Additionally, important resources of ball clay, used in the ceramics industry, are also found in Purbeck. The strategy identifies two future areas for future extraction, one north-west of Wareham and one west of Stoborough, in order to direct working to the least sensitive areas.

The Minerals Core Strategy also sets out the approach for dealing with other minerals and policies to manage quarry development and restoration.

The strategy for minerals extraction is available to comment on until 9 September 2011.

For further information go to www.dorsetforyou.com/mcs or call Dorset County Council’s minerals and waste planning team on (01305) 228571.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Mobile phones


Does anyone have comments on mobile phone coverage in Purbeck/South Dorset between the big 3 providers, Vodafone, Orange, 02. I understand some people have problems with 02 at certain times as their network tends to get overloaded. Any info gratefully accepted. Thank you.



Posted by Anonymous to swanageview at 17/8/11 7:23 PM

Sewage on the beach

Article from the Avertiser page 4 August 18, 2011 by George Willy.

RAW SEWAGE ON THE BEACH.

With our busy simmer season in full swing , about the last thing we want is the news of a sewage spill located in the press as happening ' just yards from Swanage's Blue Flag beach.'

Wessex Water has launched an investigation into what is delicately described as ' sewage solids ' that escaped onto the privately-owned beach at Ocean Bay following recent intense rainfalls.

As the report makes clear , if the spill had happened on the adjoining public beach- which is of course owned by Swanage council - we would be disqualified from having a Blue Flag. The award recognises ' excellence in cleanliness.'
Beach owner Dick Woodford said ' The thing that appalled me is that it took Wessex Water 24 hours to turn out.I spent the first day cleaning up the mess on my own.'
Wessex Water said the spillage occurred ' following a period of intense rainfall which temporarily inundated the system'
The result was that what were delicately described as ' sewage solids ' escaped into a private beach - ' a very important seafront area.'


So anyway being a member of Surfers Against Sewage and I am hoping soon to be a representative for the them for Swanage and Durlston bay. I find this appalling and upsetting not just for myself and my family , but for the many people who use our beach.

This is SAS’s core campaign protecting the health of recreational water users from sewage polluted water.

Scientific studies have consistently highlighted that those using beaches, lakes or rivers for sports are most at risk of falling sick from an illness associated with sewage polluted water. In some cases this risk is 3 times greater than your typical bather because sports like surfing involve more immersion and ingestion of water.

Despite SAS’s success at virtually eliminating continuous sewage outfalls there are some notable brown spots’ across the country where raw sewage is still discharged on a daily basis and these areas are subject to current SAS campaigning. The main examples of this are in Brighton, Guernsey, The Thames and Northern Ireland.

We are also seeking improvements to the combined sewer overflow (CSOs) systems that pollute recreational waters all too frequently, usually after heavy rainfall.

The way water companies plan their investment programmes also requires major attention. Much of the current investment has ignored or disregarded the impacts of climate change, in particular changing weather patterns that will result in increased flows of water into and out of the sewage works without treatment because there is not enough capacity to store the sewage. It is therefore discharged through CSO’s. More pollution incidents are expected because of this and that means more time out of the water for the likes of YOU and US!

Surfers Against Sewage have a alert text system which is free to sign up too , which I myself use and many times during the summer have received text stating sewage is going to the bay. I suggest anyone to have this text service. Link here
http://www.sas.org.uk/campaigns/sewage-and-sickness/sewage-alert-service/.

I hope this is sorted out soon and make everyone feel safe to use our beach.



Posted by David Furmage to swanageview at 17/8/11 6:01 PM

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Broadband funding for Dorset

£9.4 million broadband allocation for Dorset

Here is a link to a document released by the government today detailing their commitment to superfast broadband I the uk: http://t.co/RhHnFew

As you can see, Dorset is to receive 9.4 million to help with updating broadband services. Unfortunately, allocations will be left in charge of local councils, and thus if they don't know what to do with the money, it'll be left unspent. However, it looks like local businesses and residents will have a say too, so there is hope here.

So, come on Dorset county Council - now is your chance. The money is there for the taking and the government want to assist rural areas - there should be no excuses anymore.

No excuses.



Posted by Reece de Ville to swanageview at 16/8/11 9:12 AM

Thursday, August 11, 2011

New subject

If you want to raise a new topic, post your comment here — just click first on Comments below, then type in post a comment (top right of the next window). Can you choose a title for your post, please? Sometimes it's hard to work out what a comment is about and what the subject is. A new heading will soon be set up, allowing others to see and add their own comments. It seems it's sometimes easier to click on 'Post anonymously' than to open an account in your name - you can always add your name to your message. We try to keep posts civilized. And any posts that become too provocative, insulting, threatening or otherwise unpleasant will be deleted.

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Behaviour

Some of the people commenting on here are being nasty, petty and abusive of others in the expression of their opinions. In future any comments containing such attitudes will be deleted in their entirety.