Other Projects
Other Dorset AONB Sustainable Development Fund projects we have supported 2005 - 2008:
Dorchester & Weymouth Greenways Study: to investigate potential car free off road routes in the area.
Rural Roads Pilot: to develop a new protocol for managing rural roads to respect character of the landscape - which has now been adopted.
Low impact recycling facility: collecting and recycling farm plastic to provide an alternative to burning. New regulations which prohibit burning & burying plastic on farms, together with great enthusiasm to recycle from Dorset landowners were the triggers for a farm plastic collection scheme. Co-ordinated by Somerset FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group) and rolled out across Dorset and parts of Devon, the scheme collects farm plastic and takes it to a reprocessing plant in south Wales. Here it is cleaned, recycled and returned to the plastic industry for reworking. The project is developing the economic and commercial viability of farm plastic collection so that it can be sustained in the future without grant support.
Local food processing training: butchery skill course to local producers.
Bridging Hooke Park: exploring new designs for foot bridges that enhance the landscape.
Harman Cross: early feasibility study into Park & Ride facility.
Chalk & Cheese: study into future development in promotion of local food.
Hardys Wessex: exploration of how to explore Hardys view of the landscape in a meaning way.
Over the past three years, the Dorset AONB Sustainable Development Fund has given £250 000 in grants to community groups, individuals and local organisations to enable them to take the local landscape into their own hands.