Appeal for volunteers allays fears lack of candidates could stop Dorset parish councils functioning
An embarrassing lack of parish council candidates in the area of the new Dorset Council has been partly solved by an appeal for volunteers, it has been reported.
The BBC said that 130 out of 163 parishes originally had so few candidates they could not have functioned.
An appeal for volunteers improved the situation in most parishes, although some co-options will still be needed.
Most elections will still be uncontested and in three parishes - Chedington, West Compton and Wynford Eagle - there were still no candidates.
The new Dorset Council is a unitary replacing the former Dorset County Council and the districts of East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, West Dorset and Weymouth & Portland.
A separate new unitary covers adjacent Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Mark Smulian
