August Team news
Posted : August 9, 2019

DCF NEWS

We are pleased to announce that Nikki Parker-Goadsby has been appointed to the Support Officer role; she will switch roles as of September 9^th, and will be your first point of contact when you contact the Forum. Nikki has been with us for just over two years working on the Dorset Coastal Connections project and is delighted to be staying with the Forum in this new role. She has a wealth of experience in similar roles prior to DCF and we’re sure she’ll continue to be a real asset to Rhiannon and the team going forwards.

Natalie recently ran a ‘Deep Dive’ workshop for Dorset LEP to inform their forthcoming Local Industrial Strategy about coastal issues, strengths, needs and opportunities in Dorset. The workshop focussed particularly on how the coastal parts of the county are different to other rural and urban areas, with unique challenges and opportunities, and how these might be addressed in the LIS. Similar ‘Deep Dives’ have been carried out on specific sectors (e.g. small business, tourism and others) by the LIS, and the body of evidence they gather will be used to write the final Strategy due for draft release around Christmas.

It’s reports season for DCF at the moment as we are writing up a number of other workshops and projects we’ve been working on with Dorset Wildlife Trust, Southern IFCA, Cefas and our own projects funded through the FLAG and MHCLG; thank you to all those partners and stakeholders who have contributed to each of these projects and are helping us pull the data together.

Dorset Coastal Connections (DoCC)

Litter Free Food & Drink: ‘Leave only footprints’ sculptures were installed at Bournemouth, Weymouth, West Bay and Lyme Regis beaches at the end of July and will be on display until the end of August. It is great to see families and visitors to the beaches stopping to take in the sculptures, together with the facts and options of how to be more plastic clever and reduce their single use plastic waste.
Fossil Forest access: Construction work to rebuild the steps leading to the Fossil Forest started on the week of 22nd July. Access to the Fossil Forest will remain closed whilst work is taking place. Dorset Council Highways are the contractor and will be working to repair the steps whilst the MOD (Ministry of Defence) ranges are open during the summer holidays. Any remaining work that does not happen over the summer will take place during the Autumn when the ranges are open at weekends. It is expected the improved steps and viewing area will be open for all visitors by December 2019.
River Lim path: The final element of the project is now complete. The restoration of a stone ramp leading to the Ford at the end of Millstream provides the final touch by enhancing both the natural character and restoring the natural heritage of the path. This specialist stone work on the Ford was carried out by Tom Trouton.
Poole Seafront: Plans for Shore Road and Branksome Chine improvements as part of the Poole Seafront Development project have taken a step forward with the appointment of the contractor, construction specialist Stepnell Ltd. Work is planned to start early September 2019.
West Dorset Walkers Welcome: Local artists have been invited to create concepts for ten parish boundary markers, each celebrating and telling stories about parish boundaries in West Dorset. The first element to improve sections of the South West Coast path in West Dorset is now complete.
Weymouth Seafront artistic lighting: Engineers have conducted important on-site testing of the new artistic scheme. This involved testing the installation methods, the electrical equipment and the wireless technology; all of which need to be fully tested before the team can plan the full installation. Installation of the scheme is expected by November.

Dorset and East Devon Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG)

FLAG has now paid out just over £300,000 in claims to projects that have completed and Martin is continuing to work with project managers to process even more claims.
The FLAG Board will be meeting on September 17^th for a retrospective look at the work the FLAG has achieved over the last two and a bit years.
The Future of Inshore Fisheries Conference is being held in London on October 8^th and 9^th and Seafish are offering bursaries to commercial fishermen who wish to attend that will help cover their travel costs. If you know or are a commercial fisher and would like to attend, please contact Holly Kaiser at Seafish via e-mail at: holly.kaiser@seafish.co.uk. You can find out more about the conference here.
Martin will be attending the Aquaculture Common Issues Group meeting in September in London. These meetings focus on issues that direct affect the aquaculture sector in the UK and with the High Potential Opportunity for Aquaculture in Dorset currently being promoted through the Department for International Trade the ACIG meetings give the chance to ensure that Dorset is in the forefront of the sector’s thinking.
The final Dorset Coastal Stories short film “Aquaculture: Open for Business” was premiered at the Portland Port open day last week and is now available to view on the Dorset Coast Forum website and YouTube channel here. The film has been well received by the aquaculture sector in the FLAG area and the Dorset Growth Hub team.

Litter Free Coast and Sea (LFCS)

Sustainable Swanage continues to gather momentum, with Project Officer Sarah Spurling working with the community and supporting the community social pages with tips, experiences and best practice on how to help make Swanage a Plastic Free Town. Find out more about Sustainable Swanage here.

LFC&S Business Awards It’s good to know there are businesses out there going that extra step, and we’ve had four more businesses apply to become accredited since the end of July. The common denominator is that they know how important clean beaches with high bathing water quality are to the local communities, tourism and the environment and by making simple changes, recognise how they can support and help create cleaner seas and beaches. If you are, have or know a business that that would be eligible; click here and go from good to great with simple measures that make all the difference.
Beach Cleans Summer heralds a marked increase in enquiries from individuals and large corporate groups, all wanting to ‘do their bit’ and help keep our beaches clean. We’ve been busy coordinating beach cleans up and down the coast with our beach clean partners and volunteers from Highcliffe to Lyme Regis working with; HMP Avon & South Dorset Prison Group, Planet Bofa, Utility Point and the Chiesi Group. It’s great to help, either with a conversation or by sending our step by step guide to organising a beach clean…it as easy as A B Sea! See what our beach care groups have been up to here.
We want you to help spread the message! We can all do our bit to help look after our beautiful beaches by :
- Not pouring fats/oils/greases down the sink
- Picking up dog poo, even if it’s not near a beach
- Taking part in a #2MinuteBeachClean
- Switching to reusable plastics
- Taking your litter home

The Art of Food and Drink…’Leave Only Footprints’ Take only memories, leave only footprints…If you go down to the beach today, you’re sure of a big surprise! This summer Litter Free Coast and Sea are encouraging visitors enjoying the Dorset coast, to be plastic savvy and ‘litter free’, to reduce the amount of rubbish entering the sea and littering our beautiful Dorset beaches. Architectural designer Jack Raisey was commissioned after an open call for submissions and has designed and built 4 installations which will reside on Bournemouth, Weymouth, West Bay and Lyme Regis beaches until the end of August. Leave only Footprints is part of the Dorset Coastal Connections portfolio, and involves working in partnership with our friends at Dorset Food and Drink and the Arts Development Company as well as Dorset Council, Lyme Regis Town Council, West Bay Harbour Master’s office, Weymouth Town Council and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. Read more about the project here.
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Tags: Dorset & East Devon FLAG, Dorset Coast Forum, Dorset Coastal Connections, Litter Free Coast & Sea