Most things in the village that go wrong are Dorset Council's to fix. This page says who deals with what and gives the right form or number, so it gets logged properly. If nothing happens, the complaints page says what to do next.
Say which road, something to find it by (a house number or a landmark), roughly how big it is and whether it is dangerous. Potholes are routine: the council aims to attend the most hazardous within 32 hours and to resolve most reports within 28 days. Anything with an immediate risk to safety, ring 01305 221020, which is answered round the clock. Dorset Council's online highways forms are switched off from 14 to 28 September 2026 while a new system goes in, so until then ring 01305 221020 for anything urgent and try the form again after the 28th.
A blocked gully is routine. Significant flooding on the road, or a missing drain cover or grille, counts as an emergency, so ring 01305 221020 for those. Flooding from a river or the sea is the Environment Agency, further down this list. Dorset Council's online highways forms are switched off from 14 to 28 September 2026 while a new system goes in, so until then ring 01305 221020 for anything urgent and try the form again after the 28th.
Street lights are looked after by Enerveo on the council's behalf, on their own Lights On In Dorset site rather than the council's forms. Note the number on the lamp column if it has one. The phone line is for emergencies, and also covers lit signs and bollards.
A damaged or missing sign is a routine report through the 'other road or pavement problem' form. A failed traffic signal counts as an emergency: ring 01305 221020. Dorset Council's online highways forms are switched off from 14 to 28 September 2026 while a new system goes in, so until then ring 01305 221020 for anything urgent and try the form again after the 28th.
Say exactly where it is and what it is blocking: the pavement, a sign, or the view at a junction. Overgrown vegetation is routine. A fallen tree on the road is an emergency, ring 01305 221020. Dorset Council's online highways forms are switched off from 14 to 28 September 2026 while a new system goes in, so until then ring 01305 221020 for anything urgent and try the form again after the 28th.
Stiles, gates, missing signs, blocked or overgrown paths, including the coast path. You can check progress on a report at the same address. The rights of way page carries the same September 2026 notice about the online forms being off.
For a public bin that is full, damaged or missing. We have not been able to find out who empties the dog bins in Abbotsbury: neither Dorset Council's pages nor the parish council's street furniture list mentions them. Use the council form and, if nothing happens, ask the parish clerk. Litter on the road itself goes on the council's road sweeping form.
To get it cleaned up, use the form. To get someone fined, the council needs a witness statement and the owner's address or vehicle registration, so a description alone will not get far.
Only after 4pm on collection day, or once the council's site shows your street as done. Leave the bin out; they aim to come back within 5 working days. Bins have to be out by 6am. A missed bin is not something the council's complaints team will take on, so this form is the route.
Dorset Council does not collect sofas, mattresses and the like itself; it sends you to Dorset Reclaim. The charge depends on whether the item can be reused. Or take it to Lodmoor tip in Weymouth yourself, open every day 9 to 5.
The council asks you to keep a log of dates and times first. They send you a log sheet, and it has to go back within the period they set. Have a word with the neighbour first if you can.
Planning: search or comment on an application
Dorset Council planning, Southern and Western area
Search by address or application number and comment from the application's own page. There is a map version on Dorset Explorer (gi.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk) and the council publishes a guide to commenting. Planning appeals and enforcement are not handled through the complaints process.
105 is free from any phone and gets you the network operator, which for us is SSEN, to report a cut or damage to their equipment. If someone in the house depends on power for medical equipment, sign up to SSEN's Priority Services Register. The Swan Inn has backup power and stays lit and warm.
Floodline is 24 hours; textphone 0345 602 6340. You can sign up for flood warnings at gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings. Water on the road from a blocked drain is Dorset Highways, above.
Ring 999 and ask for the Coastguard. Chesil is steep and shelving with big waves, and by local advice it is no place to swim or paddle, and there are no lifeguards that we know of. The RNLI's advice if you end up in the water is to float: tilt your head back, ears under, and try to breathe normally until you can call for help.
The parish council owns the benches on the Village Green and in the Recreation Ground, the notice board on the wall next to Bellenie's, the grit and sand bins and the bus shelters. Dog bins, litter bins and the defibrillators are not on its list, so for those ask the parish clerk, Michele Harding, who will know who to send you to.
Have the reference number ready. If a report has gone nowhere, the next steps are our Dorset councillor, Sally Holland, and then a formal complaint (see Making a complaint to Dorset Council).
If nothing happens
Reporting it on the right form gives it a reference number, and that is what to quote if you have to chase. If a few weeks go by and nothing changes, the page on making a complaint to Dorset Council says how to take it further, and your councillor and MP can be asked to chase it for you.
Things that are not the council's
Not everything is Dorset Council's. Water and sewage are Wessex Water's, the power lines are SSEN's, the buses are First Bus's, and the Ilchester Estate looks after its own property in the village. Where one of those is the right place to go, the entry above says so.