Petition to stop clothes store

HUNDREDS of stranded Tring pensioners have backed a petition in a bid to ensure that the town’s former Budgens site remains as a food store.
Local volunteer for the elderly and disabled, Pat Gray, has collected more than 600 signatures to get the message across to the leaseholders.
Many pensioners, disabled people and mums without cars are struggling to get to Tesco, which is outside of the town centre, or are paying extra for foods sold in small local shops.
Mrs Gray, a former councillor, said: “At the moment I have got a petition to let Dacorum Borough Council, the ground leaseholder, know the feelings about there not being a food store in the area.
“People are desperate, asking what on earth are we going to do?”
The protest comes after news that clothes shop Mackays is considering moving into the Dolphin Square site.
Mrs Gray said: “I can’t see how people are going to survive without a food store there. The whole thing is really traumatic for the elderly people, young families and disabled.”
Mackays has already advertised in The Gazette for staff to work in the new shop opening in Tring.
Lisa Duffey from Mackays said: “We have been interested in the site, but everything hasn’t been approved legally. We are in the process of putting in an offer, but we have not completed the transaction of the lease.”
Estates director Andrew Smith, from the head leaseholder of the site, the Lear Group, said that no deal has been made with any retailer yet, but they expect to come to an agreement in the next few weeks.
He said: “There are a number of interested national retailers, but no deal has been struck yet. We are hopeful that one of those national retailers will be a food store.”
Councillors from Tring Town Council have set up a working group to try to ensure the town gets a new food store.
Cllr John Allen said: “What we know is that Mackays, which has a shop in Berkhamsted, is negotiating at the moment for the site.
“What we are trying to do is ensure that, whatever the solution, there is a food shop of some sort.
“We are going to fight very strongly to have a food retailer there.”
As the ground leaseholder Dacorum Borough Council has to approve any new tenants.
Dacorum Borough Council spokesman Leida Smith said: “We are the ground leaseholder and own the land that the building is on. Lear Group is the head leaseholder. They are seeking new tenants for the building and when they have found their new tenants they will be contacting us for approval.”
Tring Town Council will meet with Dacorum Borough Council next week.

Policing to be cut by a third

TRING and Berkhamsted will have lost a third of its police force by the end of this month.
Two police officers covering the towns have recently left Herts Police and another is due to retire later this month. The changes will slash ward constables covering Tring and Berkhamsted from nine to six officers.
Herts Police will not be replacing the officers to be in line with police establishment figures for Dacorum.
Police inspector Barbra Campbell said: “There is an establishment figure of 18 ward constables to cover Dacorum. For many years there has been one ward constable allocated to each ward in Tring and Berkhamsted and the Dacorum team was running over strength.
“Although not every ward will have a dedicated officer, each will have a named point of contact, in line with the chief constable’s commitment.”
The move comes as Tring and Berkhamsted Town Councils are being given the opportunity to fund extra police community support officers in their areas. At the moment Tring and Berkhamsted have four PCSOs supporting neighbourhood policing.
Last week Chief Inspector Paul Newell spoke to Tring councillors about the benefits of PCSOs, who have powers of detention and issuing penalty notices for minor offences.
Mr Newell said: “If you buy one PCSO what the Home Office will do is match fund that.”
The option of funding an extra PCSO will be considered by Tring Town Council when considering its budget for the next financial year.
Berkhamsted Town Council has written to Hertfordshire Constabulary to ask for more information about funding PCSOs.

Designers plan to donate money from every dress sold to charity Angels waiting in wings

A NEWLY-launched children’s clothing company is donating money from sales to needy youngsters.
UJU London - based in Tring - plans to donate £1 for every kimono dress it sells to new charity Global Angels, founded by Molly Beddingfield, mum of pop stars Daniel and Natasha.
The company was launched in October by mums Sally Davidson, from Old Hatfield and Huynjoo Elliott, from Richmond, after the success of a trial run in 2003.
Despite being launched just two months ago and at the most fragile stage for any new business, the two businesswomen are dedicated to expanding the charity arm of their enterprise.
The couple are friends with Molly Beddingfield and said it was a natural choice to pick Global Angels, which responds to the needs of under-privileged children across the globe.
Sally Davidson said she and partner Huynjoo didn’t just want to gain profit from a profession they loved, but also felt a desire to help unfortunate children through the business as well.
“It was part of what we wanted to do,” she explained.
“I wanted to build orphanages and Huynjoo was able to focus the idea into a clear vision.
“Through the business, we also sponsor eight children through World Vision and hope to increase that to 100 within the next three years.”
The company sells high-quality clothes for children aged from one to 10 by mail order, the internet and parties in people's homes.
For the autumn/winter season there are 300 to 400 kimono dresses available at £30 each, which means, if they are all sold UJU London will give up to £400 to Global Angels at the end of the season.
“It doesn't sound like much, but I think it's important to give what you can, even if you have very little to give and at the moment we have no profits,” explained Sally, who is predicting the firm’s collection of classic quirky clothes for cool kids will attract Christmas shoppers, especially as there is a 30 per cent online and telephone order discount.
The women are confident sales will be good as they already have a following of local mums who love the clothes and business ethos.
In 2003 they tested the market with a collection of 700 pieces and sold out in just four months by holding clothing parties.
They were then able to win the support of three private investors, to raise the £140,000 needed to cover business start-up costs.
Both from design backgrounds, Sally and Huynjoo design the clothes themselves and have them manufactured at their factory in Korea, where they also source the fabrics.
Clothes prices range from £10 to £30 and for more information about UJU London or to book a clothing party, visit the website at www.ujulondon.com or contact the Tring warehouse on 01442 822212.

Exercise in pulling power

A PILATES studio, which opened in Tring six years ago, is holding a special open evening next week.
Staff from Tring Pilates Studio, in Christchurch Road will be meeting with visitors to talk about the benefits of pilates and show them around the studio.
The studio’s four staff, including a physiotherapist, teach many clients who have been referred to them by other physiotherapists and osteopaths. The team has helped people who have suffered strokes, sports injuries or been involved in car accidents. Pilates exercises are also good for relaxation, improving posture, strength and flexibility.
The open evening will be held on Wednesday, December 14 from 6.30pm to 9pm.

Rose and Crown gets go-ahead

CONTROVERSIAL plans to alter the Rose and Crown Hotel in Tring and build two blocks of flats behind it have been given the green light.
Dacorum Borough Council's development control committee gave the go-ahead despite concerns there are too many flats in the scheme.
The proposals involve restoring the three-star High Street hotel to its original layout by removing a conservatory and opening up access to the courtyard.
Land at the rear will be used to build two blocks totalling 28 flats with space for 45 cars.
Tring Town Council has objected to the blocks of flats along with English Heritage on the grounds they are 'inappropriate'.

Third incident in less than six months
Mystery of dead fish in the canal

TESTS are still being carried out to discover what caused thousands of young fish to die in the Grand Union Canal near Tring last week.
A total of 10,000 fish were discovered dead over a 50 metre stretch of the canal at Startops End on Tuesday, November 29. The Environment Agency is investigating the cause of the problem.
Spokesman for the Environment Agency, Chris Mitchell said: “By the time our people got there they found dead fish, but they couldn’t find any cause and there was nothing apparent in the water.”
All of the fish killed were bream and come from this year’s spawning. Mr Mitchell said: “We don’t expect there to be a long term effect on fish stocks. We expect the canal and the reservoirs to recover in good time.”
Other types of fish living in the canal, such as pike, roach, perch, carp and tench were unaffected.
This is the third time in less than six months that fish have been found dead in the Grand Union Canal. In August this year hundreds of fish were found floating on the surface of the canal near Berkhamsted, after a mystery substance polluted the water. Boaters who were alarmed by the large number of dead fish said they had noticed a chemical smell and scum in the water.
During the same month an estimated 700 fish were found dead at Tring and environment staff had to use special machinery to pump oxygen back into the canal after fish were seen gasping for air.
Mr Mitchell said that tests are still ongoing into what caused these fish deaths. He said: “It can take quite a lot of time to get to the bottom of any pollution incident. It is a process of elimination.”
The Environment Agency has taken samples of the water at Startops and is hoping to have the results by the end of the week. Staff are also carrying out surveys to find out how many fish are living in the affected stretch of canal. Mr Mitchell said: “We haven’t found any links with any previous incidents, but that is all being investigated. We are keeping an open mind as to the cause.”
Anyone who sees signs of fish in distress in the canal should call the Environment Agency immediately on 0800 80 70 60.

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