‘We’ll get tough
on yob menace’

Police sergeant’s pledge for town

by Victoria West
victoria.west@ccnltd.com

POLICE in Berkhamsted and Tring have pledged to get tough on antisocial yobs.
The crackdown comes after vandalism, car crime and nuisance behaviour were pinpointed as the main problems facing the towns.
As part of moves to stamp out these crimes police and volunteers from community groups in both towns will be looking at ways to improve after-school and weekend facilities for teenagers.
Sergeant Mike Saunders said: “This is the area where we can have an effect. I’m not going to say that everyone who commits an antisocial crime is a youth. It is not only the kids that are causing the problems in antisocial behaviour, but it is the majority.
“I want to get the message out to both towns as the issues are the same. We want to look at the causes of these problems rather than the effects.”
Sgt Saunders admitted that during the last 18 months the problems in the towns had become worse due to police officers being diverted to Watford during the weekend.
He said: “The levels of antisocial behaviour would seem to tie in with some of the changes we have had to make. In the last 18 months things did start to get worse due to a lack of police presence. These things have changed now and the cover is there, but we are playing catch-up. The last couple of months has seen an improvement.
“Recently our concern has been the amount of alcohol we have been confiscating which has gone up quite dramatically. That is something we definitely want to counter.”
Sgt Saunders said his team is increasing police presence in the towns by making sure officers are out on the beat as much as possible.
He said: “We have just got two new Police Community Support Officers, one working out of Berkhamsted and one out of Tring. They have done fantastic work. They won’t replace PCs but they will be a big support both to us and in our community.”
Police officers in Berkhamsted and Tring already make regular visits to schools to deter crime, but now officers want parents to go along to help hammer home the message that parents must take responsibility for their children.
During a meeting in Tring where police met with community groups last Wednesday, Sgt Saunders said that nuisance behaviour and vandalism had left many people, especially the elderly feeling isolated and scared to report crimes.
Proposals mooted so far in Tring include the possibility of a graffiti wall to cut down on vandalism and a coffee shop where youngsters can socialise.
Sgt Saunders said: “It is about building our community back up again. It is not just this community, it is all communities. People aren’t committed to their community anymore.
“It is important we bring back community support. A major part of that is Neighbourhood Watch and the Crime Prevention Panels.”
Crime prevention groups, groups for pensioners and the police will be holding coffee meetings to reassure elderly people about reporting crimes.
Leaflets promoting the non-emergency number will also be posted to homes in the town.
PS Saunders said: “From my point of view I will be looking at the feedback from the general public and the general feeling on the streets of the towns. We need to make people report things back to us to give us a better idea of the problems.”

Homes set  for former water site

THE former Danone site in Aldbury could be developed with ten luxury homes.
Plans have been put forward to demolish industrial units at Toms Hill Estate with the creation of two, three, four and five bedroom houses and the conversion of an old farmhouse, coach house and barn.
Architects Tempietto, of Berkhamsted, has designed the homes to fit in with the surrounding area of Ashridge. The houses will be finished to a high standard, with timber window frames and built with locally purchased bricks.
Under a planning application submitted to Dacorum Council, Toms Hill House will also get a face-lift. The home built in the 1930s will have an outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts and changing rooms installed. The garages and the indoor swimming pool will be replaced with a single storey extension and two new garages and an annex will be built.
Christopher Higenbottam from Tempietto said: “The application involves re-developing the Danone site and Angel Water site, converting a number of older buildings and replacing all industrial buildings with some housing.”
Danone left the Aldbury estate last month when the new site owners refused to renew their lease. Angel Springs also uses the site but will be leaving when its lease expires in April next year.
Both water companies had been using the same water spring, which flows through the Chiltern Hills.
Danone owns the right to the spring but a spokesman for the firm has said
there are no plans at the moment to use the source
in the future.

Support for watermill

A SPECIAL group dedicated to preserving Ivinghoe’s 400-year-old watermill has been set up.
The Ford End Watermill Society will be introduced during a public meeting on Wednesday, November 16 at the town hall in Ivinghoe from 8pm.
To mark the new group the watermill will be open on Sunday, November 27 from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. Milling will take place between 3pm and 5pm and stoneground wholemeal flour will be on sale.
Admission to the watermill on Ford End Farm, Station Road, costs £1.20 for adults and 40p for children aged five to 15 years-old.

We can fix it for you

LIBERAL Democrat councillors in Tring are on hand to talk to local residents about any problems during
Saturday morning surgeries held at Tring Community Centre in Silk Mill Way. The surgeries are held most
Saturdays from 10am to 11am. Check the community
centre’s noticeboards for any changes.

Ssshh,says Lucy

CHATTERBOX Lucy Riches managed to stay silent for a whole day to raise cash for nurses who looked after her sick auntie.
Eleven-year-old Lucy came up with the idea of a sponsored silence after asking her family how she could help.
She managed to stay silent from the time she woke up at about 8am until 5pm, raising £201 for the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home.
Lucy, of Deans Furlong, Tring, said: “It was very hard and I had to put a scarf over my mouth so I wouldn’t forget not to talk! I screamed when I finished.”
Her aunt Susan Kelleher, 32, died from a brain tumour in September, but was able to see Lucy’s fundraising efforts.
Lucy said: “The nurses are really kind and they helped my auntie a lot. They came round mostly every morning and gave her medicine and when she wasn’t feeling very well they came round and talked to her.
“My auntie thought I did
really well and couldn’t believe how much I raised.”
Iain Rennie nurses were on hand to give Susan around-the-clock care and support during her illness.
Lucy’s mum Julie said: “Lucy was very close to my sister and saw Iain Rennie nurses coming and going out of the house giving my sister a lot of help and Lucy wanted to do something to help.
“The nurses were absolutely fantastic. I can’t praise those nurses enough.
“They were just there for all of us. Until you are in a position where you have to use that service you don’t realise how amazing it is,” she added.
Community fundraiser at the Iain Rennie Hospice at Home, Jo Dyson said: “We think Lucy’s wonderful.
“Thanks to her determination, commitment to succeed and the £201 raised, Lucy has helped others like her aunt to
receive the specialist nursing care that the Iain Rennie nurses provide.”

Third time unlucky for hotel plan

AMBITIOUS plans to transform Tring’s landmark Rose and Crown Hotel have not been welcomed by Tring Town Council which has objected for a third time.
Councillors are concerned the proposals would overdevelop the site and say the access road to car parking is too narrow.
At a planning committee on Monday, October 31, Cllr Lloyd Harris said: “I think we don’t need to discuss this area much. I think we need to object to it again for the same two reasons we objected to it before.”
Councillors rejected the plans in September and October on grounds the proposals were over-development of the site and the access road leading to the car park is inadequate.
Cllr Richard Jameson said: “I think it has to be refused because of the access point. I have no objection to the flats if the access was better.”
Cllr Denise Rance said: “What we need to avoid is going through the same arguments. I can’t see what has changed except some additional units. Considering we said there were too many units in the first place I think we should object.”
The town council recommended the plans for refusal and Dacorum Borough Council will have the final say.

Cardinal to join parades and services

MARCHES and services to commemorate Remembrance Day will be taking place across Dacorum this weekend.
In Hemel Hempstead the Royal British Legion will be observing two minutes silence at the Civic Centre, Marlowes on November 11 at 11am overseen by the Mayor of Dacorum Cllr Jane Hogg.
On Sunday November 13 the RBL will be marching along Marlowes to the War Memorial at St John’s Church Boxmoor. The march is to gather at the Civic Centre for 10am before beginning the parade at 10.15am.
In Tring there will be a ceremony at the cemetery on Friday November 11 at 11am where crosses will be placed on war graves. On Sunday November 13 there will be a parade and wreath laying at Church Square from 2.20pm followed by a church service.
Secretary of the Tring RBL Pat Gray said: “Members of the Tring RBL have been going into primary schools to talk about the war. I wanted to try and get children involved and on Sunday children from Dundale school will be coming along with their parents to lay a wreath. We thought it would be a nice way for them to remember their grandparents and great grandparents.”
In Berkhamsted there will be a remembrance parade at 2.30pm from the Waitrose car park going on to St Peter’s Church.
Paul Phillips, of the Berkhamsted Branch of the Royal British Legion, said: “The public are welcome to come along and show their support.”
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor will be at the Sacred Heart Church on Park Street in Berkhamsted to say Mass for the fallen of the two World Wars.
He will also be giving thanks for the 25 years of the parish since the consecration of the church by the late Cardinal Basil Hume.

Residents left off leaflet flight path

by Neil Puffett
neil.puffett@ccnltd.com

THOUSANDS of residents in Dacorum are being deprived the chance to have a say on proposals to make Luton Airport the size of Gatwick because airport bosses have excluded them from the mailing list, it has been claimed.
As part of a public consultation into its expansion plans airport chiefs have been sending out a community newsletter to 210,000 households in Herts and Beds containing a comment section allowing people to get their views heard.
However, The Gazette can reveal that the newsletter's mailing area excludes the majority of Hemel Hempstead as well as the whole of Berkhamsted, Tring and villages in the borough.
The exclusion comes despite warnings from community figures that expansion at the airport could lead to increased noise and airport pollution as well as gridlock on the borough's roads.
Airport campaigner Michael Nidd, who lives in Piccotts End, says the consultation process – set to run until January 27 – is fundamentally flawed as it neglects to give all those affected a chance to speak out on the issue.
“They are missing out on thousands of comments without a doubt,” Mr Nidd,
“I suspect it is not altogether an accident,” he added.
According to Mr Nidd concerns about the range of distribution of the leaflet were raised with bosses at the airport during a public meeting back in September but as yet nothing has been done to address the situation.
Under the expansion proposals, announced on October 25, the airport would build a new, longer runway and terminal in time for the 2012 Olympics.
This would mean the airport could deal with up to 30 million passengers a year, more than treble the current number.
Just last week The Gazette revealed that Dacorum could be in line for increased noise pollution if plans to build the new runway – to be sited around a kilometre south of the existing one – get the go-ahead.
It is feared the shift south could lead to a similar shift in the flight paths of planes taking off and landing at Luton, affecting a larger number of residents in the borough.
Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning and Ian Reay, portfolio holder for planning at Dacorum Borough Council, have both expressed concern at the plans and fear the local transport infrastructure could be overwhelmed by increases in traffic.
Mr Penning is urging residents worried about the expansion to contact him through a section set up on his website www.mikepenning.com and has called an urgent meeting with bosses at the airport.
Bosses at the airport are expected to apply for planning permission for the necessary expansion works in late 2006 or early 2007.
A spokesman for Luton Airport was unavailable for comment at the time going to press.

Drive to scrap parking charges

A HIGH Street trader in Tring is calling for council bosses to scrap car parking charges in the town in a bid to boost business.
Owner of House of Cards, Nigel Williamson, has put the dwindling numbers of shoppers in the town down to car parking charges and the hefty fines drivers face if their ticket expires.
He says the recent closure of Budgens, the town’s main food store, has made the situation even worse with less people bothering to visit the town. He said: “The week after Budgens closed was a very poor week. It is a bit worrying because business had dropped off anyway before the store closed. I don’t think these councils understand how much damage the way they police the parking has.
“If you go shopping in a town and end up with a fine you’re not going to be very happy. I think it creates bad vibes.”
Records show that 2,430 parking tickets were issued in Tring from January to October this year and the revenue raised in 2004 from parking fines totalled about £58,800.
Mr Williamson, has written to car parking bosses calling for them to abandon car parking charges.
He said: “I believe the council needs to think seriously about stopping these parking charges temporarily while we have no anchor store or preferably for good. This would send a message that we want customers to shop in Tring town centre.”
He is the latest town trader to speak out against car parking charges.
Last week The Gazette reported that furious Gurunathan Prapaharan, owner of the Old Stables convenience store in Miswell Lane blames motorists avoiding High Street parking charges for filling up parking spaces reserved for his shop, which leaves no space for the passing trade he relies on.
A letter to Mr Williamson from Dacorum Borough Council’s head of street care, Brian Scott, said: “The removal of charges in the town would, in all likelihood, return the parking situation to that which prevailed before 2003 when all the prime parking spaces were occupied on a long term basis by people working in the town. “This clearly disadvantaged shoppers who had little choice but to park in the less attractive spaces further from the shops.”
Dacorum Borough Council spokesman Sarah Jones confirmed that car parking bosses are not considering scrapping parking charges. New homes in industrial area PROPOSALS to build seven houses at Harrow Yard, Akeman Street, Tring will be discussed during a development control meeting this week.
The plans are to demolish an industrial building on the site and replace it with one, two and three bedroom houses and maisonettes.
Tring Town Council has already recommended the plans for refusal on the grounds that the site should be retained as light industrial units, the access is inadequate for the dwellings and the extra housing would cause add more traffic to the already hazardous area of Langdon Street and Akeman Street.
The application will be considered on Thursday, November 10 at the Civic Centre in Hemel Hempstead at 7pm.

Shoppers urged to stay in town Mayor says ‘use them or lose them’

by Victoria West
victoria.west@ccnltd.com

TRING’S Mayor is calling for residents to make more use of the town’s shops in a bid to ensure their survival following the closure of the town’s anchor store Budgens.
The store in Dolphin Square closed last month and Mayor Mike James has received more than 20 letters and telephone calls from people complaining about the shut down.
During a Tring Town Council meeting last week he said: “Quite often in these cases people have the ability to change the course themselves. If people don’t use the shops, quite often they do go.
“I went back to 17 people and asked them where they brought their last TV and only two purchased their TV in Tring. We have some really excellent retailers in Tring and people need to use them or lose them.
“A number of people I went back to have used Budgens over the years as a convenience store while doing their main shopping at Tesco.”
Tring Town Council has set up a group to try and ensure that the Budgens site, which now stands empty, will be retained as a food store. Budgens closed its doors for the last time on Saturday, October 22 leaving many pensioners and those without transport wondering how they would get to Tesco, set just outside the town, to do their shopping.
Cllr Penny Hearn said: “Tring Town Council has set up a working group to see what we can do about the situation. A good conclusion would be having another food store in Dolphin Square. That is what the town council wants and will be working towards. We are very concerned about it.”
Tring Town Council decided to write to Budgens to express its disappointment at the way the store was closed in short notice. Cllr Chris Fryd said: “The way that it has been handled has been very poor.”
Cllr Hearn said getting a new store to fill the space Budgens has left would be a slow process.
She said: “As much as we are going to do our very best, nothing is going to happen very quickly.”
Budgens decided to move out of the town after bosses failed to reach an agreement to renew the lease. Eighteen staff at the store either transferred to other Budgens supermarkets or chose to seek other jobs

. ... and end with a massage

MASSAGE therapist Julie Bickerton will be flexing some muscles on Friday, November 18 during a
day-long ‘massagathon’ to raise cash for Children in Need.
Starting at 10.30am at Tesco in Tring, Julie will be offering relaxing ten-minute massages to stressed-out shoppers in return for a suggested £5 donation to the children's charity.
Julie said: “I have wanted to do this for a couple of years.
“It is for a high profile charity that does a lot of good work and I thought it would be a good idea to de-stress the shoppers. ”
36-year-old Julie has been doing massages for about four years and has her own mobile business and offers corporate massage to businesses.
She hopes to have a massage stall at this year’s Tring Victorian Fiesta on Friday, November 25.
During school holidays Julie works with troubled teenagers in London teaching them massage techniques and giving them nutritional and health advice.
For more information about Julie’s fundraising event call her on 07790 609657.

Gifts on offer at festive fair

Handmade Christmas gifts and other festive goodies will be on offer during the Brookmead School Christmas Fair in Pitstone next month.
The school is holding the fair to raise funds for new outdoor play equipment and Father Christmas will be making a guest appearance to meet with children and hand out gifts.
Visitors to the picturesque village will be able to browse the many festive stalls bearing perfect gifts for Christmas from 10am to 12.30pm on Saturday, December 3.

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