Since I called out South Western Railway last week about their neglect for West Dorset, I have received considerable support from the community for challenging SWR – thank you.

It shows exactly how important the railways are to the people of West Dorset and the urgency with which we need to see proper steps taken by the railway companies to sort them out. I hope to update you on this as soon as possible – with a further meeting planning with SWR this week.

I hosted a summit with regional executives of the BBC last week. The status of our national broadcaster has of course sparked much debate in light of the planned TV licence removal. For me, the main issue right now is making sure West Dorset has proper coverage by our regional news team, as right now I do not believe we do. The summit posed a great opportunity to put across the many concerns people have expressed to me, which primarily is that West Dorset is overshadowed by a very Devon-centric BBC Spotlight.

Buses are a vital lifeline for many rural communities, and for too long now, I feel their importance has been undervalued, especially by the bus companies themselves. It has been a real struggle simply to keep existing services, such as the number 6 service which I was heavily involved in over a year ago. Fortunately, the new Bus Service Improvement Plan has offered some hope that the situation will be improving. Over the next few weeks, I will be meeting with local Transport Action Groups, as well as Dorset Council to ensure we get our fair share under the Bus Service improvement plan. If you have any thoughts you would like to add, I would love to hear from you.