We have just held our Annual Executive Meeting at DAPTC and I’m pleased to announce that the following appointments have been made; Jill Crouch (Cerne Valley PC) will Chair the Executive and will assisted by K D Johnson (Colehill PC) as Vice Chair. Congratulations too for Janet Wallace (Holt PC) whom will pick up the NALC Representative Role from Lindsey Dedden (Verwood TC).
Planning Matters:
Can I make an appeal please – we are just wanting to see if any members parishes or towns do not get notified about planning applications from their planning authority. I’m not looking for examples of errors, more if you don’t receive any at all? If that is the situation for your council can you let me know and we will help support you change the circumstances.
Consultations:
I just want to draw your attention to an extended period for the consultation on Standards in Public Life by NALC – many have seen how destructive poor behaviour can be for councils so I’d urge you to respond individually from the Consultations and Surveys section below.
Heads up if you haven’t heard – Dorset Council like BCP will be consulting on their Local Plan and this starts in mid January 2021. Important you all contribute given the depth of feeling I witness regularly on planning matters.
And finally, myself, Debbie and Lisa would like to send our early best wishes for a happy (as much as possible under the current guidelines) and healthy Christmas and New Year.
Please forward this update to elected members so they can also keep up-to-date and have an appreciation of what's happening in the sector.
Along with the many changes that have been happening at DAPTC this year, we have decided to update our brand with a new suite of logos. The logo shown above will be the main one used and the new Training logo will go on all training administration, promotion and course content. We hope you like the changes.
INFORMATION | GUIDANCE | ADVICE
1. Website offer for smaller parishes
DAPTC are very pleased to announce that we have partnered up with technology company Aubergine to allow us offer those smaller councils in our membership a very reasonably priced WCAG (Web Content Accessibilty Guidelines) compliant parish council website.
For further information on the offer please click here.
If your council is interested in signing up to this offer, or hearing more pleasecontact the DAPTC office.
2. Start spreading the word on the 2021 Census
DAPTC will be working with Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to give some practical tips on how your council can help to engage your communities in the lead up to the Census going live next year.
The census takes place on 21st March 2021. ACouncillor Handbook has been created and explains what the census is all about, why it matters and how you can help spread the word in your council and community.
A poster to display in your community has also been produced, please find ithere to download and place on your noticeboards.
For Census documents that you use around your towns and parishes, here is the link to the official government Census logos along with other resources.
The person who is taking the lead on the 2021 Census in the Dorset is Philip Eades. Philip can be reached via philip.eades98@field.census.gov.uk
As well as providing you with this regular E-News, we intend to introduce a quarterly publication which showcases the work being done around the county by our members. Please send into us your news with a view to it being included in the publication.
We would be very happy to receive any photographs (along with your permission to reproduce them) and news articles as soon as you have them. Please send them in to the DAPTC office
Please complete this survey for you to tell us the training you need in 2021. It should take no longer than a few minutes to complete and will help us shape our training schedule in 2021. Completion of the survey can be by individuals and/or on behalf of the whole council.
In the December training e-news emailed on 3rd December, DAPTC's Chief Executive Neil Wedge stated 'your training budget over the next two years could be incredibly useful and rewarding - don't erode it please'.
8th December 10-11am DAPTC - what we do.
Join the DAPTC team for this FREE OF CHARGE session to help new and existing Clerks, elected members and prospective councillors understand how we support members in Dorset. Neil and Debbie will be on hand to talk you through the resources available and an overview of the Dorset Association of Parish and Town Council (DAPTC) and how we link up with the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), Dorset Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP). We finish each hour with a question and answer session. We are happy to fun these sessions for individual councils.
Recent feedback from attendees at 'DAPTC - what we do':
"I now have a much better understanding of DAPTC and how it can support my parish council".
"The Zoom meeting is an efficient use of time, I was able to hear and see everyone. It was very inclusive and friendly and the staff were genuinely happy to help".
NALC continues to update it's #MakeAChange campaign guidance for the May 2021 elections. To find out more, NALC have further information on their Make a Change webpage here.
On the webpage you will be able to find all new resources such as:
Posters
Flyers
Branded images
Information for prospective candidates
Suggested tweets
A local media press release
Local Council Awards Scheme (LCAS) National Panel deadline.
Applications for the next accreditation round of the national panel will need to be sent tonalc@nalc.gov.ukby 8 January 2021.
To find all the dates relevant to the national panel for 2021, they can be found here.
Dorset Council's Local Plan consultation will begin in January 2021 and will last for eight weeks. For information on where you can view the plan and details of how the consulation will take place, please see the attached document.
Get the latest news from Dorset Council, including leisure centre offers, waste and recycling, libraries and more. Sign up to their various newsletters though thislink.
Community Engagement - Website Content & Navigation
We are looking for more volunteers to join our group to help us review the structure of our content and website navigation to ensure it is user-friendly, accessible and easy to understand. Do you think you could help? To get involved and join the group, please complete our quick survey here.
Latest news from the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
Standards In Public Life - NALC are asking for responses by 17pm on Friday, 15 January 2021. topolicycomms@nalc.gov.uk. Each DAPTC member council received an email direct from DAPTC with the background information and a short list of questions. The email was issued 23/10/20. More information on the consultation can be found in this briefing note.
