Dorchester could be branded 'quiet and slow' in new survey

Town and unitary councillor Stella Jones told a joint heritage committee meeting on Tuesday evening that she worried that the county town was being labelled ‘quiet and slow’ in a tourism study.

Cllr Jones said the image of the town may have been distorted because of the pandemic which had resulted in few younger people being questioned for the study – but said she said neither word described the town.

“I am sure we have got to start re-inventing the town centre because of Covid and we’ve got to get on with it quickly,” she said.

She said that the town needed to take onboard the view of younger people and work closer with Dorchester Arts which, she said, had an ambition to make the town a centre for performing arts.

“We need to try and get people keep coming back to see different types of things, we need to get exciting and stimulating, instead of being called quiet Dorchester. It would be nice to be known as dynamic Dorchester. We can do it, we’ve got these things, let’s get on and do it,” she said.

Tess James from the town’s Civic Society said the town’s tourist information service needed investment to provide a high quality service, spreading the news about the town and what it and the area had to offer visitors.

Discussion at the meeting included how to find the balance between the town’s history and its other attractions and how to link with other, nearby visitor attractions, including the Jurassic Coast.

Committee chair Gareth Jones said the next stage would be to publish the draft report for public discussion, to be available in digital form with printed copies on demand.

He said the study, organised by the Red Kite organisation, had made him realise what a good town Dorchester is and how much it had to offer for visitors.

A tourism partnership is now in the process of being set up in the town with working groups expected to look at different aspects of promoting the town during the coming year.

By Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporter