Update on temporary pause to non-emergency highway issue reporting

From 14 September Dorset Council's Highway Service has temporarily paused the reporting of non-emergency highway issues. 

It was anticipated the service would resume on 22 September but the pause has been extended as additional work is required to ensure our new highways management system is operating reliably before the service is reopened.

We now expect online reporting to resume on Monday 28 September.

We apologise for the delay and thank residents for their patience and understanding while we complete this essential upgrade

During this pause period, residents will be unable to submit new reports for non-emergency highway defects and enquiries through our online reporting system or via Dorset Direct. 

This temporary pause is necessary to support the introduction of Aurora, our new highways asset management system. 

The move to Aurora will help us manage and maintain the county's highway infrastructure more effectively, and will introduce real benefits in how we are able to work with residents and communities to keep the highway network safe and provide associated services such as licence applications for skips, scaffolding, road closures etc. 

The transition to this new system is a significant project and, to ensure information is transferred accurately and the changeover is as smooth as possible, we need to temporarily suspend the receipt of new non-emergency reports during the migration period. 

What does this mean for residents? 

Whilst we introduce a new reporting system: 

• non-emergency highway reports and enquiries cannot be submitted between 14 September and 28 September 2026. 

• existing reports already logged with the Highway Service will continue to be managed and will be migrated to the new system. 

The new Aurora system is scheduled to go live on  28 September 2026, after which normal reporting services will resume. 

We appreciate residents' patience while we make these improvements. 

Thank you for your understanding as we introduce a more modern and efficient system that will help us manage Dorset's highways network more effectively in the future. 

Find out how to contact us and what is considered a highways emergency.