FLYING pigs, the Balkans and the 38th parallel all got a mention during an at times acrimonious debate on the future of Blandford.

But the result went much as expected with district councillors voting to keep Blandford St Mary separate from her bigger sister and Blandford Camp to stay as part of the Tarrant Valley and not to be incorporated into the town.

Council leader Cllr David Whitehead started the debate by warning members that boundaries were second only to religion as a cause of wars - he referred to the Balkans, the Versailles treaty after World War I, the cease-fire border between the two Koreas and Northern Ireland.

He expressed sympathy for the town council's wish to get more land, saying it was in a "straitjacket". But he said there was no evidence that people in the villages supported the move.

Blandford town and district councillor Steve Hitchings, however, said Blandford had perhaps been nave in the survey it conducted by leaving out the question of council tax - "because strictly speaking council tax was not to be taken into consideration", he said.

Others on the other side had drummed up support by talking about Blandford's high tax, he added.

Cllr Hitchings made a plea for the camp to be included in the town but conceded that pigs were more likely to fly through the council chamber than the idea to be approved. He was proved correct.

Members voted to recommend shifting the tiny bit of Bryanston between the gates of Bryanston School and the Stour Inn to the parish of Blandford St Mary.

And they backed the idea of including Downside Close and Meadow Road of Langton Long and bits of Pimperne - including Sunrise Business Park, Nutford, the new town allotments and fields destined for sports use - as part of Blandford.

The whole scheme will now go out to consultation all over again before being sent to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for a final decision.

First published: November 1