DORSET Council meetings not taking place this week include the People scrutiny committee today and a joint public health board on the same day.

The scrutiny committee will be held on July 20 with the joint public health board re-arranged for Tuesday, July 21.

Meetings which will be taking place are the audit and governance committee today at 10am which largely concerns internal measures, administrative, audit functions and protocols; and the West and South area planning committee on Thursday.

The planning committee is expected to be an all-day event, starting at 9.30am, with items including an application to extend the season at the Creek caravan site at Ringstead and an application for 16 flats on the site of the former St Nicholas Church, Buxton Road, Weymouth. The meeting will also deal with an application for five homes off East Street, Beaminster and access for a potential homes site close to the Wessex stadium, Weymouth.

The following week sees the meeting of the full council, planned for Thursday, July 16 cancelled.

The only meetings shown as taking place that week will be a staffing committee meeting on Tuesday 14 and a licensing sub-committee on Wednesday 15, a meeting which has a membership of just three councillors.

All of the council’s committees, when they are held, are available to view online. The right of the public to address committees has been stopped although questions can be submitted provided they meet the council's strict rules and timetable.

The council’s 82 elected members no longer have an obligation to attend meetings, either online or in person.