IT’S over – 130 years of Dorset County Council has come to an end.

From Monday its duties and those of the district and borough councils will be under the new unitary Dorset Council with the reorganisation also seeing the creation of a town council for Weymouth.

The changes will see a loss of around 200 well-paid jobs with an eventual sale of more council buildings and land.

There will also be fewer councillors, 82, down from more than 170, after the May 2nd election, making a financial saving but also resulting in individual councillor having to represent more residents.

The new council claims that over the coming years it will save millions of pounds and improve or protect key services – but many residents will still be smarting from above inflation increases in their council tax this April. The Dorset Council area is now one of the most highly taxed in the country: millionaire homes in London in many cases will pay half that of a Dorset home in the same tax band.

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Thursday’s final Dorset County Council is Dorchester on Thursday was a day for thanking staff, each other, for planting a tree, lowering the Dorset flag and giving gifts to the last chief executive Mike Harries and to the final council chairman Hilary Cox.

Many remarked on how council officers have worked long and hard to bring about the change to the new council in less than a year – with many, at the same time, worrying about their own futures. Job losses, so far, have been mainly from the ranks of senior level staff.

Outgoing chief executive, Mike Harries, who has been with the authority since 2003, paid tribute to councillors as he himself prepares for retirement, his post being made redundant.

He said that few people, outside the walls of County Hall, realised just how many hours councillors put in and how hard they worked for the interest of the county.

He and others also reflected how the council had changed – from the days when only heads of department were allowed to talk to councillors, and councillors were only allowed to talk to heads of department.

Dorchester councillor Richard Biggs said that going to see the chief executive as a councillor was more like going to see the headmaster. “It was always alright, but it gave you that feeling,” he said.

Cllr Hilary Cox, 22 years with the council, remarked how few women were involved when she was first elected: “Never did I dream that one day I would be the council chairman,” she said.

End of an era celebrations are being held at Kingston Maurward on Friday, including the presentation of long-service awards and an evening formal event.