Bovingdon Parish Council

Dacorum Borough Council is carrying out a very limited consultation in connection with the Pre-Submission Core Strategy.  The consultation period lasts until 5.15 p.m. on 28 March 2012.

 It is legally necessary to show the boundaries of Hemel Hempstead town centre and East Hemel Hempstead Area Action Plan (within Dacorum) as changes to the Dacorum Borough Local Plan 1991-2011 Proposals Map. The boundaries agreed by the Council are as shown in Figures 21 and 22 in the written statement. 

 This information was omitted from the Pre-Submission Core Strategy consultation held between 26 October and 7 December 2011. The omissions will be corrected by the forthcoming ‘Omissions Consultation’.

The Borough Council will also show the revised boundaries of the following conservation areas for information:

• Bovingdon
• Chipperfeld
• Frithsden
• Great Gaddesden; and
• Nettleden

 (These have separately been agreed by the Borough Council).

The public can only make representations on the map changes. 

 The documentation and the representation form are available on the Borough Council’s website www.dacorum.gov.uk/planning

For sometime, the Parish Council have been working with the Countryside Management Services on a project to restore the pond and surrounding area. 

The scheme has now been approved and all the funding is in place  and work is due to commence on 6 February 2012. 

The first part of the project will be to remove all the unwanted vegetation and this should take approximately four to five days.  There will be a week’s gap and then the main pond works will start on Monday 20 February and this part of the work will take two days. 

After the main pond clearance, other work will be undertaken to provide a footpath and to install some benches and an area for wheelchairs.   Arrangements are also in hand to provide an interpretation board but this will not be in situ for sometime.

After the main works have been completed the area will look rather like a ‘bomb’ site.  The silt that is removed will be spread around the area and left.  Eventually this will be covered by planting new and more appropriate vegetation.

The project aims to create a tranquil environment and to provide increased recreational facilities for people to enjoy and to learn about the history of the area and the importance of providing areas for wildlife.

For more information please contact the Parish Office on 01442 833036 or by e-mail bpc@dacorum.gov.uk

Below is a letter received from County Councillor Richard Roberts

Dear all,

Yesterday I met with Highways officers to discuss the arrangements for the installation of the gizmo’s that will allow street lights to be turned off from midnight through to six in the morning. (12:00 midnight -6:00am.)

 This programme is rolling out across the County and is about half way through. The anticipation is that by shutting off approximately 70% of all street lights after midnight there will be energy savings of at least £1million/year. This has been agreed by Hertfordshire County Council’s cabinet and is one of the savings strands that will contribute to reducing our budget by £200m over the next 4 years.

 There are no lights in Chipperfield or Flaunden or the rural patches outside of the villages but there are approximately 1000 lights across the Kings Langley ward. The main concentrations are in Kings Langley, Bovingdon, Felden, Bourne End and along the A4251(old A41)

Important points

 All lights on public roads and paths are marked on a map and have been risk assessed by Highways (road safety) and the Police (crime).

 No lights on the A4251 are being turned off.(main road through Kings Langley and Bourne End)

No lights that illuminate traffic calming (exclusively Kings Langley) are being turned off

No lights at roundabouts are being turned off

The lights under the station tunnel are not being turned off, Hemel Station is privately lit.

 Residential lighting will be turned off at 12:00 midnight until 6:00am with the above exemptions applying.

 I have not put forward any additional exemptions.

 The police are right behind this scheme and evidence from across the country where this has already been carried out show no increases in crime.

 Longer, straighter roads will be done first simply to get economies of scale, before smaller side streets.

 There is a high degree of caution built into the road safety aspect of the “A” road hence why the lights are staying on. Contrast this with the A41 Bypass where there are no lights at all.  Councillor Stuart Pile was telling me that unlit motorways have up to 10% reduction in speed compared with lit ones.

 It is likely that the work in Dacorum will commence with us in the Kings Langley ward at the beginning of February.

 I would be grateful if you could forward this information as widely as possible.

 Richard Roberts

 Hertfordshire County Councillor for the Kings Langley division.

Executive member for children’s services

Details of the history of the Airfield:- “Airfield Focus 80: Bovingdon”. Published by GMS Enterorises, 67 Pyhill, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8QQ. Tel 01733 265123. E-mail:- gmsimons@btconnect.com

Friday 18^th November saw the end of Save a Space for Me; a month long online campaign to support outdoor spaces nominated to be safeguarded as part of the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge. Over 20,000 people from councillors, members of the public and sports leaders showed their support for fields and parks with over 10,000 web visits recorded on the day of launch alone. In Dacorum, Bovingdon Green (170 votes) and Gadebridge Park  (138 votes) came out top in the vote.  Four other sites put forward by Dacorum Borough Council to be considered by the public were Canal Fields, Margaret Lloyd Park, Northridge Park, and Randalls Park.

Led by charity Fields in Trust and supported  by Asda, Save a Space for Me was the public’s chance to have a say in creating a local legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. HRH The Duke of Cambridge, Patron of the Challenge, lent his voice to the campaign urging people to support their local sites to ensure vital outdoor recreational spaces are protected for future generations.

Alison Moore-Gwyn, Chief Executive of Fields in Trust said: “We’re absolutely delighted that thousands of people took the time to say ‘Save a Space for Me’. The passion Dacorum people have shown for their local parks is exactly the community spirit that is so vital to the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge. Support from our partners Asda has been important in helping us get out there and let people know about the chance to vote for their local spaces.  We’ve had hundreds of postal votes as well, from people determined not to let lack of internet access stop them from showing their support for their local fields”.

Thank you to everyone who voted for Bovingdon Green.