Chesil Bank Parish Council

The parish council covers four villages: Abbotsbury, Portesham, Langton Herring and Fleet. It is the bottom rung of local government, the one that looks after the benches on the Village Green and in the Recreation Ground, the bus shelters, the grit and sand bins and the notice board on the wall next to Bellenie's. Bins, roads and planning are Dorset Council's, not the parish council's, but the parish council is where the village gets heard, and it can put things to Dorset Council and to our Dorset councillor on our behalf.

The clerk is Michele Harding. She has done the job since July 2008 and works part time. Ring 07814 016971 or email [email protected]. Office hours are Monday 9 to 3, Tuesday and Wednesday 1 to 3, Thursday 9 to 3 and Friday 10 to 1, closed at weekends. Letters go c/o West Elworth Farm, Portesham, Weymouth DT3 4HF.

Abbotsbury has four seats on the council. Pete Reid is the vice chair and looks after Community Speed Watch, rights of way and resilience planning ([email protected]). Lorraine Dalley covers recreation, Speed Watch and the staffing committee ([email protected]). Sam Wood ([email protected]) and Jacqui Haskins ([email protected]) make up the four. The chair of the whole council is Sue Weeden, from Portesham. None of the councillors publish a phone number, so email them or go through the clerk. There was an Abbotsbury vacancy earlier in 2026; it is not advertised now, so the seat looks to be filled.

The full council meets on the first Monday of the month, except August and January, at 7pm, and it moves round the villages rather than always sitting in Abbotsbury. The dates published so far are Monday 5 October 2026 at Strangways Hall here in Abbotsbury, Monday 2 November at Langton Herring, Monday 7 December at Portesham Village Hall, and Monday 8 February 2027 back at Strangways Hall. That last one is a second Monday, so check the calendar on the council website rather than assume. Agendas and minutes are on the website too; the latest are for 7 September 2026.

Anyone can come and anyone can speak. There are two public slots on every agenda. Near the start there are 20 minutes for comments on the items on that night's agenda, and no decisions are taken during that slot. Near the end there are 10 minutes for questions, concerns or comments about anything in the parish. Put your hand up and speak to the chair. You get three minutes. If several of you have come about the same thing, pick one person to speak for all of you. The councillors may not be able to answer on the night and may bring it back to a later meeting. If you would rather put it in writing, a written statement needs to reach the clerk at least three days before the meeting. Meetings can be filmed and recorded, which the 2014 openness regulations allow.

At the September 2026 meeting 20 members of the public turned up, mostly about lorries too long for the village bends using the B3157, and Cllr Sally Holland agreed to raise it with Dorset Highways. Abbotsbury has had a permanent 30mph limit since 13 May 2026, and Dorset Council consulted over the summer on 20mph and 30mph limits for parts of Abbotsbury and Portesham; we have not yet seen the outcome.

There used to be separate Abbotsbury parish meetings as well as the group council. None is on the calendar for 2026 and the last minutes we can find are from the annual parish meeting of 20 May 2025, so ask the clerk if you want to know when the next one is. The Recreation Ground is at the end of Seaway and Hannahs Lane; there is no parking there, so use the Rodden Row car park. The public toilets are on Back Street.

[email protected], 07814 016971, Website, Agendas and minutes, Meeting calendar

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