Parish and town councils in North Dorset
In total there are 12 parish meetings, 33 parish councils, 9 grouped councils and 5 town councils in North Dorset forming the first tier of local government.
Town Councils
The term 'town council' means much the same as 'parish council' as the two have the same duties and powers. In North Dorset the five town councils tend to carry out a wider range of functions than the smaller councils. The five town Councils of North Dorset are:
Parish Councils
Some of the parish councils are grouped together for administrative convenience and are "grouped councils" and have a single clerk for each group. An example of this would be Lower Winterborne Grouped Council made up of Anderson, Winterborne Kingston and Winterborne Zelston. The parish councils of North Dorset are:
- Anderson
- Ashmore
- Blandford St Mary
- Bourton
- Bryanston
- Buckhorn Weston
- Cann
- Charlton Marshall
- Chettle
- Child Okeford
- Comptron Abbas
- Durweston
- East Orchard
- East Stour
- Farnham
- Fontmell Magna
- Hammoon
- Hazelbury Bryan parish council
- Hilton
- Hinton St Mary
- Ibberton
- Iwerne Courtney
- Iwerne Minster
- Iwerne Stepleton
- Kington Magna
- Lydlinch
- Manston
- Margaret Marsh
- Marnhull
- Melbury Abbas
- Milborne St Andres
- Milton Abbas
- Motcombe
- Okeford Fitzpaine
- Pimperne
- Shillingstone
- Spetisbury
- Stourpaine
- Stour Provost
- Stourton Caundle
- Sutton Waldron
- Tarrant Crawford
- Tarrant Gunville
- Tarrant Hinton Parish Council
- Tarrant Keyneston
- Tarrant Launceston
- Tarrant Monkton
- Tarrant Rawston
- Tarrant Rushton
- Todber
- West Orchard
- West Stour
- Winterborne Houghton
- Winterborne Kingston
- Winterborne Stickland
- Winterborne Whitechurch
- Winterborne Zelston
Parish Meetings
Smaller parishes tend to have parish meetings rather than full parish councils. The 12 parish meeting of North Dorset are:
