St Mary’s Church Aspenden Forthcoming Events
The Christmas Tree Festival will be held once again over the weekend of the 13th and 14th December.
The event will be open on Saturday 13th December 10.00am to 4.00pm and Sunday 14th December 11.00am to 4.00pm.
Aspenden Candlelit Carol Service will be held on 18th December at 7.30pm.
A Crib Service will be held on 24th December at 4.00pm.
A Christmas Day All Age Holy Communion service will start at 9.30am.
Aspenden Road – Update on Works
From 5 January 2026, temporary traffic signals will be in operation to manage vehicle flow safely. These lights will remain in situ for the duration of the works and that standard working hours will apply on weekdays, with limited weekend working. Suitable widths will be maintained to ensure HGV movements are unobstructed.
The Temporary Traffic Lights will remain in place until the 3 March when works will move to a week of night closures which will commence from 8pm-5am. For any HGVs requiring access during these times will be managed by onsite gateman. All being well works should be completed on the 10 March 2025. Throughout the works, every effort will be made to minimise inconvenience and ensure the safety of both residents and road users.
Dandara will be responsible for doing a letter drop to all affected residents/businesses two weeks prior to works commencing. Additionally, they will be responsible for placing advance warning boards on site two weeks in advance of the works commencing.
Ward Freman Pool Crowdfunder Campaign
The really good news is that Ward Freman Community Pool Group CIO has been offered the freehold of the swimming pool by Hertfordshire County Council. This is still subject to negotiation but represents a significant step forward and would mean the pool would be wholly owned by the charity. This will bring with it greater up-front costs associated with the freehold transfer and means that it is more important than ever that fund raising continues. The pool group are also working hard in the background preparing grant applications for when the freehold is transferred.
The group have been advised that legal costs to secure the transfer of freehold could be as much as £6000 + VAT. As a charity the group are looking to get best value for the money raised by our supporters and are asking if there is a Commercial Conveyancing Solicitor who may be able to offer their time pro bono, the group would love to hear from you (disbursements would be paid).
New Crowd Funder appeal to pay for pool tile repairs
East Herts District Council have already pledged the pool group a large sum of money which should pay for a new filtration system. However, an additional £30,000 is needed to repair the pool tiles and replace the expansion joints.
Sport England have agreed to support a Crowdfunder project to repair the tiles by donating a match funded amount of £15,000. The pool group then need to raise a further £15,000 in order to guarantee the generous donation from Sport England.
So far, over £4700 has been raised, but there is still a long way to go to reach the target amount by the deadline in 37 days’ time.
You can donate by visiting the crowdfunding page at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/repair-pool-tiles-and-replace-expansion-joints
If you are a UK taxpayer, you can tick the gift aid box which will increase your donation by 25%! Any contribution large or small will be greatly appreciated.
Cllr Sue Nicholls
Buntingford Ward
East Herts District Council
Email:
Update on roadworks affecting Aspenden village
Aspenden Road/Dandara compound
30 – 31 October Bridge inspections and vegetation clearance on Aspenden Road between 9.30pm – 5.00am.
Road signs have recently gone up notifying residents of the works.
U20 Unnamed Road (road between Aspenden & Westmill)
24 – 25 November Drainage investigation works between Aspenden and Westmill between 9.30am – 3.30pm
9 – 11 December Surface Dressing preparation works between Aspenden and Westmill between 7.30am – 6.00pm
Given the width of the U20 road, it is very likely it will be closed to traffic on the above dates/times (tbc).
The works to Aspenden Road that Dandara will be carrying out are now likely to take place in the new year, January 2026 at the earliest.
New Commemorative Lilac Tree
Aspenden Parish Council’s thanks go to Councillor Chambers for sourcing and planting a new commemorative Lilac tree to replace the one that became a tasty snack for wildlife!
Just a quick polish of the plaque commemorating the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and everything is as good as new.
Write to your local MP – Save Our Green Belt!
Dear Supporter,
Thanks to everyone that has signed and shared our petition to Save our Countryside so far. Thanks to your help, we have achieved over 25,000 petition signatures.
Unfortunately unless we reach 100,000 signatures, the Government will not debate our petition in Parliament.
The Government has already made it clear in their response to our petition, when we hit 10,000 signatures, that they will not review the grey belt definition in the revised National Planning Policy Framework.
Without a review of grey belt and reinstatement of all Five Green Belt protections, we will face a huge loss of green spaces in Hertfordshire. So it’s absolutely vital that we hit our target of 100,000 signatures by 14th November to guarantee a debate in Parliament.
How can you support?
As well as signing and sharing the petition with as many people as possible across the UK, you can urge your local MP to support the petition.
We have created a template for this letter that you can download to email to your local MP here.
And please keep sharing our petition as widely as possible with any connections you may have anywhere in the UK.
The petition can be found here on this link and by clicking on the button below.
We hope you will be able to join us in standing up for our countryside before it’s too late.
Best wishes,
Abby Coften
Chief Executive
CPRE Hertfordshire
Local Government Reorganisation: Public Engagement
You may already be aware that, together with Hertfordshire County Council and the nine other district and borough councils, we have launched public engagement on Local Government Reorganisation.
Attached you’ll find:
A PowerPoint presentation outlining the context, ambitions, timelines, and options;
A dedicated microsite can be accessed here: https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/
And the survey here: https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/LNoAgAHR/i/0
Lindsey Creed
Communications and Digital Media Manager
East Herts District Council