Dennis Holmes retires after 26 years in the office (From Dorset Echo)

Dennis Holmes retires after 26 years in the office

2:10pm Friday 15th March 2013 in News By Harry Hogger

DORCHESTER’S town clerk is set to hand over the reins after more than 26 years in the post.

Adrian Stuart has been revealed as the new clerk for the county town and will take over from long-serving in-cumbent Dennis Holmes.

Mr Stuart has spent over 20 years in local government and is currently director of corporate resources for West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.

The 49-year-old, who lives in Winterborne Kingston, will take up the post of town clerk designate on June 3 and spend a month working alongside Mr Holmes at Dorchester Town Council before his predecessor bids farewell and retires on June 30.

Mr Holmes said his highlights over the years include the refurbishment of the Borough Gardens and the delivery of Sandringham Sports Centre.

He said: “It’s a rewarding role as the town council is very significant in Dorchester.

“People know and value the services that we provide and it’s really rewarding to be able to contribute towards the provision of those services that all help make Dorchester an even nicer place to live and work in and to visit.”

Mr Stuart said he felt one of Mr Holmes’s greatest achievements during his time in office was the town’s skate-park, which had offered something for the young people in the town.

He said he was looking forward to the challenge that his new role was going to offer.

‘Successor has many strengths’

CHAIRMAN of the town council’s policy committee, Coun Trevor Jones, who led the recruitment process for the new town clerk, paid tribute to the departing Mr Holmes and backed his successor to rise to the challenge of the role.

He said: “Adrian was appointed on merit from a strong field of candidates following a national advertisement. “Some of us know him, of course, from his time with West Dorset District Council, and he has many strengths which we know he will exert for the benefit of the people of the town. “We look forward to working with him and, together, taking the development of the facilities which the town council provides to the next stage.