LAST week came the announcement that I have been campaigning on long and hard in Parliament.
The Government has confirmed that funding will be allocated to The Gryphon School to finally rebuild its ‘temporary’ classrooms, which I was educated in – 25 years ago!
I have kept the pressure on the Government, having asked many questions in the Commons chamber, urging Ministers to support this bid, that is vital to for our local secondary school that reaches far and wide.

This is great news for the school and for Sherborne as a community. I will continue working to ensure this is done as soon as possible.
One of the flagship new Bills working through the Government machine at Whitehall is the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
Some of the remit of this new Bill will deal with the current planning system and particularly issues relating to the Local Plan and development.

This follows on from a summit I held in May this year, with Housing Secretary Michael Gove. I made clear the concerns among communities against developments such as the West of Sherborne and North of Dorchester development.
The Government will soon be launching a consultation on measures within this new Bill. Among the proposals will be steps to give councils the teeth they need to say no to developers who have acted badly in the past, like failing to deliver on their Section 106 obligations.
It also removes the need for councils to provide a five-year rolling supply of development, meaning the emphasis will be less on mandatory targets, but of the needs of communities, who will now have a greater say on how their areas develop.
Back in October last year, I started campaigning for the Government to take action on the issue of short-term holiday lettings of former established residential properties at the expense of local people’s access to accommodation within their price range.

The Government confirmed a review on 29 June into this and last week confirmed its intentions to implement a licensing arrangement for short-term holiday lets which must be ‘licensed’ for their conversion from residential to take place.
There will be more information regarding this policy which will come clear into the New Year, but this is certainly good news for now and a step in the right direction.
I know the situation on the A30 in Sherborne has gone on for a totally unacceptable period of time and I will give you a full appraisal of the what has been done and what the local authority is and is not doing in my next column.
May I take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.