Agenda and minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2025.

The minutes of the last meeting held on 30 July were confirmed and signed.

To disclose any pecuniary, other registrable or personal interest as set out in the adopted Code of Conduct.  In making their decision councillors are asked to state the agenda item, the nature of the interest and any action they propose to take as part of their declaration.

If required, further advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Representatives of town or parish councils and members of the public who live, work, or represent an organisation within the Dorset Council area are welcome to submit either 1 question or 1 statement for each meeting.  You are welcome to attend the meeting in person or via MS Teams to read out your question and to receive the response.   If you submit a statement for the committee this will be circulated to all members of the committee in advance of the meeting as a supplement to the agenda and appended to the minutes for the formal record but will not be read out at the meeting. The first 8 questions and the first 8 statements received from members of the public or organisations for each meeting will be accepted on a first come first served basis in accordance with the deadline set out below.  Further information read Public Participation - Dorset Council

All submissions must be emailed in full to [email protected] by 08:00am on Monday 10 November 2025.

When submitting your question(s) and/or statement(s) please note that:

·       You can submit 1 question or 1 statement.

·       A question may include a short pre-amble to set the context.

·       It must be a single question and any sub-divided questions will not be permitted.

·       Each question will consist of no more than 450 words, and you will be given up to 3 minutes to present your question.

·       When submitting a question please indicate who the question is for (e.g., the name of the committee or Portfolio Holder). 

·       Include your name, address, and contact details.  Only your name will be published but we may need your other details to contact you about your question or statement in advance of the meeting.

·       Questions and statements received in line with the council’s rules for public participation will be published as a supplement to the agenda. 

·       All questions, statements and responses will be published in full within the minutes of the meeting.   

There were no public questions.

To consider any items of business which the Chairman has had prior notification and considers to be urgent pursuant to section 100B (4) b) of the Local Government Act 1972. The reason for the urgency shall be recorded in the minutes.

The Chair raised an urgent item, to address the requirement for the membership of the Car Boot Fund Panel.

It was proposed by Cllr Hughes and seconded by Cllr Jones.

Decision: That Cllr Reid, Cllr Hewitt and Cllr Holland be appointed to the Car Boot Panel in addition to the Chair and Vice-Chair.

To consider the draft Market Agreement.  

The Head of Community and Public Protection presented the draft market agreement report to the panel and invited members to comment on the report.

Members asked for further clarification about the financial arrangements for car parking in Fairfield Car Park, particularly in regard to the boundaries of the car park.

It was confirmed that both Dorset Council and Dorchester Town Council would have liability insurance, which would cover their respective roles in the market.

The Head of Community and Public Protection provided a suggested change to the Terms of Reference to widen the area from which Dorset Council members can be appointed from to ensure that there will always be 3 members from Dorset Council. It was proposed by Cllr Beddow and seconded by Cllr Williams, that this amendment be accepted.

Decision: That para (b) of the Terms of Reference be amended to allow appointments from Dorset Council to be from the remainder of the Dorset Council administrative area if a Dorchester Ward Member cannot be appointed.

Proposed by Cllr Beddow and seconded by Cllr Hewitt.

Decision: That the draft agreement be referred for approval to Dorset Council and Dorchester Town Council, with the agreed change to the Terms of Reference.

To move the exclusion of the press and the public for the following item in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information within the meaning of paragraph x of schedule 12 A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). The public and the press will be asked to leave the meeting whilst the item of business is considered.

There are no exempt items scheduled for this meeting.

There was no exempt business.