Bypass claims may top £12m

Hundreds of householders demand compensation

HIGHWAYS bosses look set to shell out millions of pounds in compensation to people in the Tring area who claim their homes have lost  value since the construction of the Aston Clinton bypass.
Around a million pounds has already been handed out  and the final government bill could top £12 million - almost half the cost of building the road.
More than 400 compensation claims have been filed with the Highways Agency since the £25 million bypass was opened in 2003.
So far, 43 claims have been dealt with in the Tring, Tring Hill, Aylesbury and Buckland areas with 42 claimants being given cash.
Most of the settlements
are between £20,000 and £30,000, but £64,000 has been paid out to one resident and the lowest amount given so far is £9,000.
Based on the average settlement of £30,000, the government could end up forking out more than £12 million in compensation to the 433 claimants.
Spokesman for the Highways Agency Christine Bryant said: “To get £64,000 is exceptional. It is not what people should expect. There were particular circumstances relating to that case.”
More than two years after the road was opened some residents worst affected are still fighting for their share of compensation, while their nearby neighbours received cash settlements months ago.
Homes near the road were bombarded with letters from surveyor firms offering
to take on compensation cases when building work began.
One resident in Tring Hill, who is still chasing his claim, said: “The worst effect is the noise, which comes directly from the back. We have less noise from the front, but we have got more noise in the garden, when the traffic is zooming past especially with the trucks. You can hear it even at night. It is more like a driving circuit than anything else. People don’t take any notice of the speed limit.”
The man, who has lived with his family in Tring Hill for about 23 years, said it was atrocious when builders were working on the bypass. He said: “The noise and dust was awful.”
The four mile road, an extension of the A41 from the M25, was built to reduce traffic passing through the village of Aston Clinton. It was officially opened by transport minister of the time Tony McNulty in October 2003 and hailed as a much-needed improvement by road chiefs.
Another Tring Hill resident, still waiting to hear about his claim, said: “In the garden the noise depends
on which way the wind is blowing.
“We have probably got about 10 foot of garden and then it drops down to the bypass.”
He praised the Highways Agency for its help while the bypass was being built.
Under the Land Compensation Act, compensation is payable to residents if the value of their property has declined because of the development.
The drop in value can only be considered if it is due to noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, artificial lighting and the discharge onto land of any solid or liquid substance.
Mrs Bryant said: “These physical factors must arise from on or in the new altered road. You cannot claim if disturbances are not caused
directly from the altered highway. You can claim on the depreciation of the
market value of your home on the valuation date, which is
12 months after the development comes into use.” Summer start for A41 safety work measures to make the A41 bypass safer will be installed by Hertfordshire Highways this summer.
The move follows a three-year investigation by road engineers into the stretch from Hemel Hempstead to Tring.
High-friction surfaces on slip roads, extra warning signs and repositioning road signs which are covered by trees form part of the work.
Since the stretch of road opened in 1993 it has claimed 12 lives. During the bypass investigation, which ran from April 2000 to March 2003, 98 accidents were recorded, of which 29 were serious or fatal.
County and district councillors at a meeting of Dacorum Highways Joint Members Panel last July agreed that the work should go ahead to make the road safer.
However, strategy development manager for safety engineering, Paul
Selley admitted these were only short term measures, which would not solve all the problems on the road.
Longer term improvements are still being investigated, however, including buying land to make slip roads longer and the possibility of speed cameras to force drivers to slow down.

Fiesta is thrown a lifeline

TRING’S threatened Victorian Fiesta has been salvaged and will once again kick-start Christmas in the town.
The chamber of commerce has teamed up with Tring Together to ensure the event does not die out.
Town traders Martin Cheshire, Carol Lawrence and Ben Cartwright said in January they would not be organising the fiesta this year and called for new blood to help with the event.
But now, it appears, help is at hand.
Chairman of Tring and District Chamber of Commerce Mel Matthews has paid tribute to the organisers, who have been responsible for making the annual celebration a hit for the last 14 years.
Mrs Matthews said: “It has been a very small team for the last 14 years which has done an amazing job organising such a large event.
“It is a thank you from the whole town really.”
The street celebration, which sees shops open late with Christmas and charity stalls set up in the High Street, attracts thousands of visitors to the town.
Jane Randrup, the project manager for Tring Together - the group dedicated to improving the town - said: “We hope to keep all the elements that make it so successful, but also welcome any comments and feedback from the local community.”
A working group of five people will manage this year’s fiesta with the help of expertise passed on by former organisers.
The Tring and District Chamber of Commerce
and Tring Together are inviting residents to give their views on how the Victorian Fiesta could be made even better.
Send your comments to Tring and District Chamber of Commerce, 29 High Street, Tring, HP23 5AA
or Tring Together, 10 High Street, Tring.
Alternatively you can email tringtogether@hotmail.co.uk

Bird flu watch at reservoir

WILSTONE Reservoir has been flagged up as a potential flashpoint for bird flu because it is a 'watering hole' for migrating birds.
The beauty spot, which plays host to thousands of ducks and other large birds, is run by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust which says it is intent on keeping tabs on the wellbeing of birds there.
“The Wildlife Trust and its extensive volunteer network will be making every effort to follow DEFRA's health and safety advice in all our work with wild birds, and will be assisting with surveillance operations by monitoring bird populations for signs of infection,” said a wildlife trust spokesman.
Visitors to Wilstone Reservoir are being asked to get in touch with the trust if they spot anything suspicious.
Meanwhile Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning has called for clear guidelines from Government to ensure people know the facts about bird flu.
He says he fears a 'second foot and mouth' situation where people panic because of a lack of information.
“The government should be getting on the front foot and promoting guidelines.
“You can't catch it from eating chicken, but I don't think many people know that,” he added.

Positive partnership plans Groups will continue to facilitate improvements

ACTION groups in Berkhamsted and Tring, dedicated to improving the towns, are celebrating their first year of action with money secured for further projects this year.
The community partnerships, set up last February thanks to a £40,000 grant from The Countryside Agency, have been successful in raising funds for projects and consulting with local residents about what needs to be done.
Maria Bavetta, the Dacorum Borough Council representative for the partnerships said: “Our aim is to improve the towns for the residents and visitors. In the first year our aim has mainly been to raise the profile of the partnerships within the community.”
One of the biggest successes in Berkhamsted is work with the local police to secure £8,000 towards a youth facility in the town.
Maria added: “People have been so positive about what we have achieved and have let us know what they’d like to see in the town.”
Both partnerships involve representatives from the town, parish and borough councils, local voluntary and community organisations, young people, the police, local businesses and schools.
Tony Statham, chairman of the Berkhamsted Community Partnership, said: “We have been into schools and are successfully working with the youth town council to look at their issues.”
A photo competition, in association with CARAB this summer, also proved a huge hit and helped people to identify what they liked and disliked about the town.
The BCP is confident it will secure the funding for project officer Rachel Edmonds, for another year and has recently attracted an additional £13,500 funding from the East of England Development Agency and Action for Market Towns to raise the profile of the town’s heritage.
Mr Statham said: “We want to make sure people are aware of the castle as it’s a piece of Berkhamsted that people don’t think about and seem to forget it’s 1,000 years old!”
Other schemes in the pipeline for Berkhamsted include the possibility of setting up a green gym by the canal in conjunction with British Waterways and a small grants scheme to aid community-based projects in the town.
For Tring more community events and special market days at the refurbished Brook Street site are being planned by the Tring partnership - entitled Tring Together.
News that Tring project manager, Jane Randrup, is expected to stay in the town, as talks to secure funding for her post goes ahead, means the group can look to the future.
Improvements to Tring, through work with local groups can be seen all around the town. A grants scheme has been set up to support local groups, with cash already going to Aldbury Pre-School and a local artists’ group. Flowers have been planted to spruce up the High Street and litter picking events have been organised with schools in the town.
Tring Together teamed up with Tring Town Council last year to make sure the re-opening of the market site was a hit and special events are being planned for this year, including an apple festival, a spring event, harvest festival and Christmas market.
Mrs Randrup said: “It is looking very likely that I will continue for the next year. I’m very excited about the prospect because I think it would have been a shame if, after a year of building up contacts and people getting to know Tring Together, the position had not continued.
“It is very encouraging and we are very pleased.”
Now the group is looking to help support the set up of a museum in Tring, working with Tring School, to offer adult and children’s  classes at their new learning centre and foster economic activity.
Mrs Randrup said: “I have enjoyed the lovely thing of working as part of the community with people who live and enjoy the town they live and work in.”

Engineers move

AN ENGINEERING firm has relocated to Pitstone because of damage done to its old building in Maylands following the Buncefield blast.
Colbree Precision Limited, which has been based in Boundary Way since 1986, decided to buy a new building because of the damage caused in the explosion. The firm was due to move in to the new premises today (Wednesday).
Gary Sutton, operations director, said: “Everyone has been enormously understanding and, although the fire was a disaster which we could not possibly have foreseen, the positive outcome is that our recovery plan has enabled us to find larger premises and install new machinery throughout in record time.”

Villagers chip in for share of policeman

PITSTONE is hoping to crackdown on mindless vandalism by paying towards having their own bobby patrolling the village.
The parish council has teamed up with two nearby villages to stump up enough cash to pay for a police community support officer under a new scheme.
Chairman of Pitstone Parish Council, Ron Treacher, said: “We felt that there was a need in our village, as a result of the history of damage to the village hall and parish council equipment, for a greater police presence.”
Over the years he said that
doors, windows and fences have been damaged by vandals in the
village.
Mr Treacher said: “There is a feeling that we ought to see more police presence in the village and while we feel that we are already paying for a police force we can’t see that we would get anymore without paying towards them.
“We are not the only ones doing this.
“By paying towards it we can have more of a say about how they conduct their business.”
Pitstone Parish Council has put £7,000 towards the cost of a PCSO, with Ivinghoe and Edlesborough putting in the rest of the cash to bump the total up to £15,000.
The annual cost for one PCSO is about £30,000 and the rest of the funding will come from Thames Valley Police under a Home Office grant.
Spokesman for Thames Valley Police, James Clements, said: “If somebody comes up with half the funding we will fund the other half of the money and a PCSO will be allocated to them provided it is an acceptable use of our time and money.”
These officers are specially recruited and trained to target antisocial behaviour and quality of life issues.
Mr Clements said: “Their role is designed for tackling low level crime and quality of life issues for residents. All the evidence shows that they do make a huge difference.
“A PCSO will also work to solve problems long term like being involved with youth groups and not just being involved in the symptoms but also the cause.”

Taking the lead in walks

A PUPPY trainer in Aldbury is launching monthly dog walks this summer to encourage owners to walk their dogs.
Laura Savill, who set up the Aldbury Puppy School last year, is setting up the dog walks to make sure
owners continue to let their puppies meet with other dogs as they grow up.
She said: “It is very important that the puppies continue with their socialising as they grow up and for all dogs to meet and mix in a controlled but friendly manner.”
The walks will be once a month on a Sunday for about an hour ending at either a tea shop or local pub.
For more information call Laura on 01442 890729 or 07769 962842.

New look for village-owned pub

Villagers at The Swan

Water bosses chorus let it rain, let it rain

Wet weather welcomed to top up reservoir levels for summer

WATERWAYS bosses are keeping a close eye on Tring’s four reservoirs to make sure water levels do not plummet to critical levels.
Workers from British Waterways are constantly monitoring water levels to ensure there is enough in reserve to keep the Grand Union Canal properly watered throughout the summer.
Operations manager for British Waterways South East, Matthew Routledge said: “Water levels at Tring Reservoirs are currently around the same level as they were this time last year, despite groundwater levels being low at the moment.
“The low groundwater levels are not unexpected given last year was very dry.
“However, we would welcome some rain between now and the summer to replenish groundwater and top up the reservoirs further.”
Special systems are being used to help monitor and save water at the four reservoirs - Wilstone, Marsworth, Startops and Tringford - including electronic and manual water level monitoring, improved back-pump systems and weekly water budget meetings to co-ordinate water usage across the canal network, from Hertfordshire to Birmingham.
The Met Office announced an average of only 25mm of rainfall during January in the South East, which is 68 per cent below what is usually expected for the month.
If canal water levels get too low boats can become stranded and unable to
move until the reservoirs, which feed the Grand Union canal, refill.
Boaters are being asked to help conserve precious water by sharing wide locks, ensuring that lock paddles are
fully closed after usage and using less water at standpipes.
Every time a boat uses a lock on average 150,000 litres of water are used.
Mr Routledge said: “We are confident that we will effectively manage the water supply this summer, as British Waterways’ drought modelling system is set up to enable us to manage our canal network through two years of drought.
Last summer we didn’t need to place any restrictions on our customers due to drought conditions.”

Roaring good celebration

TRING Lions presented a cheque for £1,500 to the
Hospice of St Francis during a special meeting on Saturday, February 11.
One hundred guests turned out for the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of Tring Lions at Mentmore Golf Club.
This year the club chose to support the Dig Deep Appeal launched by The Gazette to help the Hospice of St Francis raise the cash needed for its new centre.
Lions club president John Wilson presented Liz Richards from the hospice with the cheque.

Grand meal

A ROMANTIC dinner and theatre evening held in Marsworth last month has raised £1,000 for the village church funds.
The Marsworth Millennium Hall was decked out in style for the fundraising event on Saturday, February 18.
Diners were entertained with performances from young up-and-coming stars.
The evening included a three course meal cooked by event organisers Margaret McKee and Jenny Sheils which also featured an impressive array of desserts.

More cash to revamp theatre

TRING company Grass Roots plans to plough thousands of pounds into improving the town’s popular Pendley Court Theatre.
Better changing facilities, showers and a private room for well-known stars performing at the theatre in Station Road will be added to the building if plans get the go ahead.
Grass Roots has put forward  proposals to Dacorum Borough Council to add a single rear extension at Penny Royal Court costing £70,000. At the moment the popular theatre has just one backstage room where all performers have to get changed together.
Founder of Grass Roots David Evans said: “We would have proper changing facilities, proper shower facilities and if there is a famous actor or actress we could give them a private room.
“We will do it as soon as we can possibly get a builder in but we can’t do it until we get the nod from the council.
“At the moment it is like a shared common room, which is great if you’re a group of kids doing a performance of Annie, but not as good if you are a famous jazz singer.”
Grass Roots has owned Pendley Court Theatre since 1984 and over the past two years has spent £200,000 improving the theatre and making sure it complies with EU legislation.
Mr Evans is well-known for giving back to the community since making a success of his incentives business founded in 1980. The company regularly gives cash to local schools, voluntary groups and sports groups. Village people fear economic effects of shutting

YHA hostel Group to fight closure

VILLAGERS in Ivinghoe and Pitstone have hit back at cost cutting plans to shut down their local hostel.
A public meeting was called last Thursday (February 23) where residents, councillors and local groups launched a campaign to fight the closure.
The Youth Hostel Association announced last month that it is to close 32 of its least popular sites to save thousand of pounds in upgrading costs.
Closures could begin as early as October and will be spread across three years.
Last week villagers slammed claims by YHA spokesman, Paul Fearn, which were published in The Gazette, that the hostel is only used by walkers exploring local attractions.
They say it is popular with school groups visiting the Chilterns Study Centre, families on breaks and even people from overseas, with a visitor from South Africa staying at the hostel just last week.
Julie Lloyd-Evans, who runs the Chilterns Study Centre in Ivinghoe, said: “95 per cent of our groups stay at the youth hostel. At the moment I cannot see how we could continue on just day groups. That could have a knock-on effect to places like the watermill, which I take so many children to. I imagine their bookings will halve.”
The study centre, which is just across the road from the hostel, covers school subjects through work at local attractions, such as Ford End Watermill, Pitstone Windmill, nature reserve College Lake and Pitstone Farm Museum.
During the year the hostel gets about 6,000 overnight stays and Mr Fearn said that on average more than two thirds of the beds are left empty.
Mrs Lloyd-Evans said: “I think there is so much they haven’t considered that at the moment I’m feeling quite optimistic. I think the campaign will show the enormous amount of support and also the weaknesses and short-sightedness of the decision that has been made.”
St Mary’s Church in Ivinghoe also has strong ties with the hostel, with school children on trips often visiting the church to find out about its history.
Vicar Tracey Doyle said: “A good percentage of walkers and cyclists that come to the village also come to our Sunday service. It is going to have a bad knock-on effect in our village.”
Buckinghamshire County Councillor and district councillor Avril Davies headed the village meeting. She has stayed at the hostel several times and helped the group come up with an action plan to challenge the closure.
The YHA says it would need to invest about £250,000 into the one star hostel to upgrade it to three star status with private rooms and bathrooms.
The hostel close to Ivinghoe Beacon has 50 beds spread across seven large dormitories, with prices starting at £12.50 a night for adults and £9 a night for under 18s.
The action group has decided to send individual letters of objection to the YHA. Letters should be sent to Chris Boulton, chair of board of trustees, Trevelyan House, Dimple Road, Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 3XB.

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