What is the point of West Dorset District Council?

Ever wondered whether its top priority is serving the public, or serving itself? Ever wondered how it manages to deliver such abysmal value for money?

When making its decisions, does it firstly entertain a wide variety of viewpoints in open debate, or does it simply rely on the wisdom of a tiny coterie of hand-picked councillors?

Alas, WDDC doesn’t seem to enjoy interacting with those who are obliged to pay for it.

Each year, it holds about sixty council and committee meetings at which members of the public are said, officially, to be welcome.

The meetings take place, perhaps to suit councillors and staff rather than anyone else, on weekday afternoons. They are often patchily inaudible.

Unsurprisingly, many meetings are attended by not a single member of the public.

The public may ask questions, pre-vetted and without right of reply, at only four of those meetings. And ‘the public are welcome’?

Just try the all-powerful Executive Committee or Shared Services Joint Committee meetings. The hostility is almost tangible.

Now, imagine this: widely-advertised and well-attended public meetings, held on weekday evenings, well-equipped with microphones so every syllable is clearly audible; a good-natured, inclusive atmosphere; the public encouraged to speak their minds and ask questions, without notice or pre-vetting, about any agenda item; interactive debate with councillors, before the councillors vote publicly on how to use the local budget; the primary purpose being consensus whenever possible, rather than the engineered imposition of pre-determined, doctrinaire decisions.

Pure fantasy? Some faraway utopia? Not really. It’s how Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority, typically conducts its area board meetings, where public participation is actively promoted and genuinely valued.

How strange to see a council that isn’t terrified of its own tax-paying public!

Chris Holmes, Dorchester