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April 2019 April 2019

 harmonised fees and charges across the county for planning, building irascible and unpredictable individual with whom Lucy falls in love, definitely beats
control and regulatory services Hercule Poirot in the running for the most memorable Belgian fictional character
ever.
 a new constitution for Dorset Council, approved by shadow councillors
Brontë was extremely progressive for her time. Her description of a (fictional) nude
 a new domain for the website: www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and emails painting of Cleopatra is remarkable not just for its forthright aesthetic judgement
(@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk) (‘an enormous piece of claptrap’), but for lambasting the double standards of the
 new social media handles for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram day which permitted Victorian gentlemen to ogle such works lasciviously under
(@dorsetcounciluk) the pretext of appreciating ‘high art’, while respectable ladies were expected to
hurry past with eyes averted. Even the linguistic peculiarities mentioned above
Dorset Council’s Chief Executive (Designate), Matt Prosser said: can be seen as foreshadowing the later word-games of modernist writers such as
“It’s been a challenge to disband six councils and create one unitary authority in Joyce, Pound and Nabokov. And Brontë concludes her novel by offering the
the short amount of time available, but I’m delighted with our progress and want reader two alternative endings to choose from – another decidedly modernist
to thank all colleagues and elected councillors for their hard work and twist.
commitment. This is the right move for Dorset, enabling us to protect frontline
services for residents by reducing back office duplication and management The Kindness of Strangers - Kate Adie
overheads. Like many councils across the country, all Dorset councils have faced
significant budget pressures over recent years. By moving from six councils to one March found the Reading Group united in praise for,
we can ensure our resources are used where they are needed most, to provide Kate Adie’s fascinating 2002 memoir of her career
the day-to-day services Dorset residents rely on. with the BBC. In this she comes across, as she does on
screen, as a strong, forthright woman with deeply held
“It has not been an easy process and we’re having to make some difficult convictions. She clearly has no truck with political
decisions, but everyone has really pulled together to make this happen. We hope correctness, occasionally indeed straying in the view
that residents will see little or no change to services on day one. Bin days will be of some of the group across the boundaries of good
the same, we’ll continue to maintain roads, our libraries and parks will be open as taste in this respect. She describes for instance the
usual and we’ll still be caring for our most vulnerable people.” underprivileged and uneducated GIs recruited en
masse for the Gulf War as ‘20% women, 70% black and
The council’s first budget – for financial year 2019-20 – ensures all existing council 100% dim’. The acronym ‘MRE’ used by the American
services continue unchanged and provides an increase in funding to a number of military (pre-packaged ‘Meals Ready to Eat’) she says
priority areas. Matt continued:
was ‘rightly’ taken with black humour to mean ‘Meals
“Our first budget protects and invests in frontline services such as education, Rejected by Ethiopians’. Her description of the
social care, waste collection and tackling homelessness. This wouldn’t have been Northern Irish underclass’s outward appearance was
possible without the reorganisation of our councils. We know that some residents also felt to be less than charitable. (Incidentally, Northern Ireland was, she says,
are concerned that moving to a single unitary council might mean their local the only place she ever saw men frothing at the mouth.)
community receives less attention and representation. I’d like to reassure people
that we’re aware of their concerns and addressing this will be a top priority for the Skating over her early years and private life in general (a subject she is known to
new councillors. We’re really excited for day one and the opportunities the new be notoriously defensive about), she tells us how she was rejected initially by the
BBC for being ‘wrong sex, wrong brix’ (i.e. with a redbrick university education),
council will bring for Dorset.”
before eventually finding an opening with local radio, defying the prejudice and
After 1 April, Dorset Council will prepare for the local elections on 2 May when discrimination endemic not just to the BBC to work her way up through the ranks of
residents will be able to vote for the 82 councillors who will represent the new that august institution. Despite this, it is clear that she has never had a chip on her
council area. shoulder. Early assignments found her as a square peg in a round hole as Court
Correspondent and agricultural reporter (when as a townee ignorant of such
Find out more about Dorset Council www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/about
matters, she claims to have acquired as a reference work the I-Spy Book of Cows
and Sheep!), before she eventually found her feet as the go-to reporter to send to
conflict zones.

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