Blandford St Mary is getting a new village hall with £456,780 of developer money, plus £85,000 for its school nursery. Six more Dorset awards were published.
Blandford St Mary is to get a new village hall, paid for with £456,780 of money from housebuilders. Dorset Council published the award on 9 November.
The hall will be built on land secured through the housing development south-west of the Blandford bypass, the council’s decision record says. The decision was taken by council officers on 23 October.
A second award to the same village was published a day later. £85,000 will go towards early years places at Blandford St Mary Primary School. The existing pre-school building will be demolished and the school extended to house the nursery, with:
- toilets
- a sleeping room
- an office
The council says that money supports a Department for Education Childcare Expansion Grant for the same project.
Where the money comes from
The money is “section 106” funding. When a developer gets planning permission, it often signs an agreement to pay towards things the new homes will need, such as schools, halls and open space. The council holds the money and later awards it to specific projects.
Officers can award it without a committee vote under the council’s scheme of delegation. Neither Blandford St Mary record says when building will start or what the hall will cost in total.
Six more awards across Dorset
The council published six more section 106 awards on 9 November. Several were decided months earlier, between December 2025 and August 2026, and appeared on the council’s decisions list only this week.
| Project | Award | What it pays for | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorset Wildlife Trust | £48,623.68 | Making up for grassland lost at Tout Quarry, Portland | 14 July 2026 |
| Poundbury Village Hall Trust | £46,512 | Extending the life of the passenger lift at Brownsword Hall, Poundbury | 10 April 2026 |
| Stalbridge Village Hall | £42,229.18 | New flooring, electrics, emergency doors, kitchen storage, and sound and visual equipment | 30 March 2026 |
| Child Okeford Parish Council | £10,000 | Extending the village hall car park | 1 December 2025 |
| Charminster Parish Council | £7,872 | A new roof on the community hall bin store and refurbishing the village bus shelter | 21 July 2026 |
| Pimperne Parish Council | £7,471.50 | Improvements at Pimperne Community Field | 20 August 2026 |
With the two Blandford St Mary awards, that is £704,488.36 across eight projects. Almost two thirds of it goes to the new village hall.
What it means for you
If you live in Blandford St Mary, the village is getting a hall of its own, and the primary school’s nursery is moving into a purpose-built extension. The records do not give dates for either project, so the parish council and the school are the people to ask about timing.
If you run a hall or community space elsewhere, section 106 money is tied to the developments that paid it, so it is only available where new homes have been built nearby. Your parish or town council will know whether any is held for your area. Groups without that option can still bid for the council’s own community building grants of up to £25,000, which close on 10 January.
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