Archive for category: News

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:

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.

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

 

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