Villagers tackle speeding
drivers
SPEEDING drivers in Wilstone better watch out because new volunteers have
joined a police scheme to clamp down on the number of motorists exceeding
village speed limits.
Residents from the area have come forward to be trained
by police officers on how to use special hand-held speed guns to monitor how
fast cars are travelling through the village.
The move comes after a spate of
early morning incidents with drivers speeding through Wilstone on their way to
work. Three new volunteers from Wilstone and Puttenham will join a community
group that has already been working to clamp down on speeding motorists.
The
laser guns alert users to speeding cars so that volunteers can record the
registration numbers, car make and model of cars exceeding the speed
limit.
The details are passed to Herts Police who send out warning letters.
If drivers are caught speeding a second time final warnings are sent out. If it
happens a third time police are deployed to the area to monitor speeds which can
result in drivers facing costly fines. The crackdown has seen more than 200
letters dished out to drivers by traffic police and records have shown that most
drivers slow down after their first warning.
The scheme, which checks speeds
in Long Marston, Puttenham and Wilstone, has been hailed a success in slashing
the numbers of speeding drivers. Cllr Mike Tomlinson, heading the project, said:
"We are aware the majority of road users are sensible people but there will
always be a few who get into a vehicle and think the laws of the road don’t
apply to them."
Man's battle against wheelie
bins
BUREAUCRACY gone mad’ is how one Tring resident has dsecribed his fight with
Dacorum Borough Council over wheelie bins in his narrow street.
Rowland Bray,
of King Street was, therefore, horrified when a number of new bins were
delivered last Friday disturbing his recovery from a heart by-pass
operation.
Mr Bray, 57 is so opposed to the wheelie bins in the street that
he refused to have them on his property and told council workers to take his
bins away. Now he has no way to get rid of his rubbish unless the council agrees
to him using an old-style, smaller waste bin.
Mr Bray said: "They have
decided to inflict the wheelie bins on the neighbourhood with no consideration
to health and safety or the welfare of people living here.
"We are in a
narrow street where cars are parked on both sides of the street and parked on
the pavement. When the wheelie bins are out there is no way through at all. It
is highly dangerous for children and mothers with pushchairs."
Mr Bray has
just spent three weeks in hospital recovering from a heart by-pass operation.
Before becoming ill he had been getting a petition together with other residents
against the wheelie bins.
He added that it is difficult to keep such large
bins in the area’s small courtyard gardens.
Mr Bray said: "These bins are
ugly. There is no collection for two weeks, they smell dreadfully and in a tight
community like this it is not very pleasant. This is bureaucracy gone
mad."
Dacorum Borough Council spokeswoman Sarah Jones said that council
workers are due to go to King Street to look at the problem and assess the
options.
Bid to put mental health
services into town
TRING has the highest number of people in Hertfordshire admitted to hospital
with mental health problems because back up community services are not on offer
to the town.
Dacorum Primary Care Trust wants to slash the number of people
in Tring admitted to hospital by offering community services like day care
centres, out-reach services and talking therapies for the town.
At the moment
mental health services for Tring are provided by Buckinghamshire Mental Health
NHS Trust on behalf of Dacorum PCT. Elsewhere in Dacorum services are provided
by Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust.
Over recent years developments within
Herts have seen a number of new community services made available, which offer
an alternative to hospital admission, but these are not accessible in
Tring.
Catherine Pelley, Director of Partnership Commissioning Dacorum PCT
said: "This has resulted in the Tring population’s use of Hospital Inpatient
Services being in the region of 50 per cent higher than that in other parts of
Hertfordshire."
Plans to cut the number of people admitted to hospital is
part of a 10 year plan to strengthen primary care, community services,
specialist services and modernise the mental health service.
Mrs Pelley said:
"The PCT has been working with local services on the return of mental health
service provision to Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust. More detailed work
will take place with individual service users and their carers to make any
changeover in service as smooth as possible."
An Investing in Your Mental
Health consultation meeting was held at Victoria Hall in Akeman Street by
Dacorum PCT on Wednesday, August 17 to discuss the ways services could be
improved for those living in the area.
Most people in Tring with mental
health problems travel to Stoke Mandeville Hospital but plans are for residents
to have local community services.
Simon des Forges from Viewpoint, the mental
health service charity, said at the meeting: "The expertise is already there,
let’s bring it to Tring."
Over the next ten years £150 million will be spent
on buildings in Beds, Luton and Herts by the NHS and nearly £25 million will
also be spent each year on local services. The cash will come from income over
the next 10 years.
Mrs Pelley said: "Our aim is to support people to live as
full a life as possible and help people to remain in their own
community.
"Investing in Mental Health is a ten year plan. We are not going
to meet all of our aims and sort out all of our problems within a year of
starting out."
She added: "Within the PCT over the last couple of years we
have been getting increasing representations from users and carers that they
would like to go to their services in Herts."
Greyhound
Barbecue
WIGGINTON’S only pub, The Greyhound, is holding a fundraising barbeque this
weekend so the pub’s new owners can get to know local residents.
On bank
holiday Monday between noon and 6pm for a small donation locals will be able to
enjoy an outdoor feast. All the funds raised from the day will go to The
National Autistic Society.
Sue Bickerdike and Chris Ward took over the pub in
Chesham Road about three months ago. Sue said: "This is an opportunity to meet
everyone in the village and raise money for charity."
There will be a raffle,
magician, a clown and bouncy castle to keep the youngsters
happy.
