I WROTE this column on Tuesday, just before the Budget which I will comment on next week. But rest assured that I continue to make representations to the Treasury as to what support we need for our unique community here in Dorset.

More than 20 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. At the start of last week, more than 35% of constituents in West Dorset have received their first jab, and I expect that proportion has risen higher still since then. It feels to me that a return to normality is in sight.

Last week, I spoke with the West Dorset Environmental Alliance and, earlier this week, I met with a group of national charities that support my campaign against single use plastics. We must leave our environment in a better state than we found it – this was and is an election manifesto commitment I was proud to stand on.

This week, I joined online meetings about the Dorset Local Plan. I’m concerned that our market towns are being pressured into having large housing quota for the primary reason that they are not within the proposed Dorset National Park. This only strengthens my view that we should not have a National Park in Dorset. Our beautiful natural environment must be protected in a way that fully involves and supports the people of Dorset.

Another area where I feel we are being rash with the environment is with the rewilding of beavers. As a farmer’s son, I am a great supporter of nature and I recognise the benefits that rewilding can offer. But we must tread with caution. Despite being small, the beaver has the ability to damage infrastructure and impact farmland. In pursuit of nostalgia, meddling further in the natural world does not seem a sensible way forward.

Chris Loder

West Dorset MP