Roads
Beaminster Tunnel Closed From 9 November to 4 December
Beaminster Tunnel on the A3066 shuts for four weeks from Monday 9 November for landslip safety work. Drivers follow a signed diversion on other A roads.
Read the full storyDorset news, what's on and local information
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All The eventsLatest Dorset news
Parking
Dorset Parking Charges 2027: £1.20 Hour Could Hit £2.10
Dorset Council plans town-by-town parking charges from April 2027: one hour in town rises from £1.20 to up to £2.10, and five free car parks could start charging.
What's On
Hengistbury Head: £2.70 Winter Parking, No Land Train
Hengistbury Head's winter parking is £2.70 for 2 hours and the land train is off until April. The walk to Mudeford Spit, the Double Dykes, dogs and the ferry.
Christmas
Christmas Shopping in Dorset: 20 Independents Worth the Drive
We checked 20 independent Dorset shops, from Goulds in Dorchester to Folde in Shaftesbury, for opening hours and what they sell. Updated November 2026.
Christmas
Where to Buy a Christmas Tree in Dorset 2026 With Prices
We checked 6 places to buy a real Christmas tree in Dorset, from Trinity Street in Dorchester to Moors Valley, for prices and dates. Updated November 2026.
Crime
Dorchester Appeal: Woman Found Injured Off Herringston Road
A woman in her 60s was found with potentially life-changing injuries in an alleyway off Herringston Road, Dorchester, on 29 October. Police want witnesses and footage.
Portland
Chesil Cove Seawall: £11m Plan to Stop Portland Wall Failing
Portland's 1965 Chesil Cove seawall could fail in a big storm, a council report warns. A £10.96m scheme goes to Cabinet on 10 November, with work in 2028-29.
What's On
Brownsea Island: Shut Until Sat 13 March 2027, No Dogs
Brownsea Island is closed for winter and reopens on Saturday 13 March 2027. Ferries from Poole Quay, red squirrels, the no-dogs rule and what it costs.
Environment
Broadstone Climate Film: 15% of Dorset Rivers in Good Health
Dorset Wildlife Trust's chief executive told a Broadstone screening only around 15% of rivers are in good health. Vikki Slade MP wants more groups to host it.
Dorset
Dorset Mind Joins Solent Mind: Services Carry On as Usual
Dorset Mind became part of Solent Mind on 1 November, forming one charity for Dorset, Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton. Services carry on as usual.
Food hygiene
Dorset Food Hygiene: Lytchett Matravers Café Rated 2
A Lytchett Matravers café is rated 2 over the condition of its premises. All 65 Dorset Council inspections from October published so far scored 5.
Dorset
New Arbor Vitae Fund Puts £50,000 Into Dorset Small Groups
A new Dorset charity, the Arbor Vitae Foundation, is putting £50,000 through Dorset Community Foundation for small-group grants and college bursaries.
What's On
Abbotsbury Swannery: Shut Until March, Cygnets From May
Abbotsbury Swannery closes for winter on 1 November and reopens in mid-March. Cygnets hatch from early May; swan feeds are at noon and 4pm. Tickets and rules.
Dorset Council covers everything the Bournemouth conurbation does not, which is a very large and very rural authority with no single town at the middle of it. Dorchester is the county town and where the council is based. Weymouth is the largest place. Sherborne, Shaftesbury, Gillingham and Sturminster Newton are up in the north around the Blackmore Vale, Bridport and Lyme Regis are out west, Blandford Forum sits in the middle, and Wimborne, Ferndown, Verwood and Swanage are east and south.
The Dorset Post reports what the record shows across all of it. One council makes the decisions on planning, bins, parking and council tax for the lot, and publishes the evidence where hardly anybody reads it. We read it and write down what it says, with a link to the document on every fact.
Start here
- Dorset house prices: the £326,381 county average, and what the middle home actually sold for in nineteen towns from Portland to the Hampshire border.
- Trains to London: Gillingham reaches Waterloo in 2h 07m for £8,212 a year, Weymouth takes 2h 51m and costs £10,260.
- Roadworks and travel: what is dug up and when, the A35 speed cameras, the chain ferry and the Weymouth park and ride.
- Things to do in Dorset: checked 2026 prices, from free hillforts to a £15 car park at Durdle Door.
- Planning news: 2.53 years of housing land against the five required, and a Local Plan that will not be adopted until 2029.
How the site is laid out
- Local Info: house prices, trains, roadworks and planning for the Dorset Council area.
- News: the public record, from the Vale to the coast.
- What’s On: what is on across the county this week.
Every fact is linked to the document it came from.