Courts closure plans criticised

SUGGESTIONS that justice for North Dorset can be served adequately in Weymouth have been criticised at town, district and county council level.

Closure of Blandford court is one of the Government’s proposed cost-saving measures but Weymouth as an alternative has been described as “simply not tenable” in a report by Dorset County Council’s director for corporate resources, Elaine Taylor.

The council’s cabinet was meeting yesterday to consider its response to the HM Court Service National Estates Strategy proposal to close magistrates courts in Blandford and Wimborne, as well as the County Court in Poole.

Mrs Taylor said: “Such a broad brush approach does not reflect the continuing relevance of market towns as important centres servicing large rural areas.

“It does not reflect the difficult reality for rural court users of travelling to attend hearings, whether as victims of crime, witnesses or defendants.

“While it is possible to travel by bus from Blandford to Weymouth, it is simply not possible to do so in time to attend a hearing beginning at 10am.”

She said that when the county council requested hearings of prosecutions in Blandford it was told that apart from the once-fortnightly traffic court, no matters could be listed there.

She said: “It is not lack of business but the unwillingness of the Court Service to use the facility at Blandford.”

Custody facilities at Wimborne are said to be not compliant with current standards, and court use restricted by limited victim and witness facilities.

North Dorset District Council has also highlighted concerns about the erosion of the local administration of justice, saying the proposed cl0sures go counter to the Government’s decentralisation agenda.

Councillor Colin Dann said: “I spoke to our local Member of Parliament regarding this matter to make him aware of the problems involved for residents living in the north of the county who will have to travel to Weymouth.

“We are being treated as second class citizens, with ever diminishing public services.”

Councillor David Milsted said: “It is not just a problem for those summoned to appear in court.

“It is also a problem for witnesses, who, as a result, are more reluctant to come forward.

“It also poses problems for police officers. When they attend court in Weymouth it results in a day’s lost policing in Gillingham.”