So far as the country as a whole is concerned, it will not surprise readers of this column to know that I hope 2010 will be a year for change. Both literally and metaphorically, we can’t afford to go on in the way we have been doing for the last 13 years.
But, in the midst of much anxiety about our nation’s future, I think it’s worth bearing in mind the things locally, here in West Dorset, that are worth preserving rather than changing. And there are many of them.
The most obvious point — not just about Bridport and its surroundings but also about the whole world heritage coastline and the hinterland that lies behind it — is the incredible beauty of our landscape. No-one with any aesthetic sensibility can avoid a sharp intake of breath as Abbotsbury and the Chesil come into view on the coastal road, or at the sight of the western cliffs of Lyme Bay from Pilsdon Pen.
Preserving and enhancing those sublime vistas — and the quieter, but no less compelling charm of the villages and land of the Marshwood Vale, or of the Bride Valley — must surely remain one of our great aims, not just for 2010 but for all the years beyond.
We have this beauty on loan to us, and we have a duty to be its stewards.
But, alongside this rich natural treasure, there is also a social inheritance of inestimable worth — the community spirit that pervades our towns and villages.
Yes, of course there are tensions and hostilities from time to time in particular places. But these are far out matched by the extraordinary willingness of people to come together in communal activity. The Bridport CAB, the community pub at Shipton Gorge, the community shop at Thorncombe, the historical records centre at Burton Bradstock, riding for the disabled in Bradpole, the vast multitude of clubs and societies and events within a few miles of the centre of Bridport — all of these attest to the thriving spirit of social enterprise and mutual support.
As we face what will, alas, be for many a difficult year, we should recommit ourselves to sustaining and nurturing these wonderful examples of social responsibility. And those of us involved in politics at all levels should be seeking ways of lightening the bureaucratic load that too often inhibits their expansion and unnecessarily absorbs their energy.