May 2025
The Bridport Local Area Partnership (BLAP) is one of the most influential local organisations, but many people have no idea what it does. Because it’s made up of other existing groups and bodies, it beavers away in the background – yet in terms of local impact delivers more ‘bang for your buck’ than its member organisations could ever produce alone.
BLAP dates back about 20 years and grew out of a government initiative giving local communities more of a say in decisions affecting their social, economic and environmental wellbeing. It brings together representatives from more than 80 different bodies from the public, voluntary and private sectors.
“We’re a network, a forum for organisations and groups locally to come together and share information and experience,” says Brian Wilson, BLAP Chair. “We learn and work together for the good of the whole community, and we feed opinions and ideas ‘up the chain’ to Dorset Council, too.”
BLAP’s member organisations include Bridport Town Council and 10 neighbouring parish councils, from Charmouth in the west, Puncknowle & Swyre and Litton Cheney in the east, and Char Valley, Netherbury and Loders going inland. Most other member groups are from the voluntary and community field, with some from the business, health and statutory sectors (this last includes the local police community support officers).
As well as a management team and steering group, which both meet at least quarterly, the partnership has three working groups: the Parish Liaison Group, for the town council and member parish councils; the Health & Wellbeing Group, which monitors local health and social care services, responds to issues and contributes to public consultations; and the Housing Needs Group, which works to influence the provision of affordable housing and to help rough sleepers and homeless people.
“There’s no point in having BLAP meetings for the sake of it,” says Brian, who has been in his role for four and a half years. “We have to add value to the work that our member groups are doing anyway. For instance, in early March the Parish Liaison Group met to discuss land use planning, and we had two speakers from Dorset Council. We’ve also met our MP, Ed Morello, and met those responsible for public transport at Dorset Council.
“That council has to produce a Local Plan covering land use planning – including new housebuilding sites – and one of our ambitions is to feed into that. We also put in a substantial response to Dorset Council’s current overarching Five Year Plan, particularly emphasising the need for better transport options and affordable housing. We definitely influenced that and many of our points are in the final version.”
One ongoing topic for the Health & Wellbeing Group is the provision of NHS dentistry. The struggle to recruit and retain staff means this is still a big issue in West Dorset and elsewhere. The group is also keen to support the development of the Family Hub on Skilling Hill Road, which offers services for families and children.
BLAP recognises that a key challenge for many of its member organisations is recruiting volunteers, such as the proposed ‘Lend a hand’ scheme to be run by Bridport Good Neighbours with support from the NHS Jurassic Coast Social Prescribing Team. This is a way for willing drivers to help more isolated people in the community by offering lifts to healthcare appointments or social activities.
“We have more ‘clout’ when it comes to engaging with organisations like Dorset Council because we operate over a large area – council officers are typically more willing to engage with a group than with parish councils individually. BLAP is also pretty cheap to run – benefiting as it does from the work of many volunteers, myself included – so offers excellent value for money. We get some funding from Bridport Town Council and the parish councils, and the town council provides admin support.
“One effect of our work is to create strong links between the town and the surrounding parishes. Bridport feels like the ‘mother ship’ to the villages that surround it.”
Chris Noon, Chair of Char Valley Parish Council, agrees that BLAP is more than the sum of its parts. “With the formation of Dorset Council in 2019, we lost immediate access to the more local district council,” he says. “Since then, everyone tends to think that people in other parts of the county are getting more! BLAP gives us a group of a reasonable size for Dorset Council to talk to.
“We’ve lost so many services in the villages, like shops and restaurants, because only the towns can sustain them, so access to those towns is vital. Bridport is an important town for us all, and it’s bad news if parking prices there are too high or we lose the few buses we do have.
“BLAP is also a very useful information exchange – it’s great to meet people from other parish councils and find out how they do things. For instance, there are many other parishes locally where farming and tourism are the primary sources of income, and it’s great to learn how other people operate. Our parish council has little power by itself – being able to access a bigger group is so important.”
Any local organisation or group wishing to become a BLAP member (for which there is no fee) should contact Jo Hughes at enquiries@bridport-tc.gov.uk
There’s more information about BLAP, including a link to its last annual report, at www.bridport-tc.gov.uk/projects/bridport-localarea-partnership
To volunteer for Lend a Hand, email the NHS Social Prescribing Team at jcsocialprescribing@dorsetgp.nhs.uk