TRING Drivers failing to belt up

MORE than 15 per cent of drivers in Tring do not wear seatbelts, according to a survey carried out last week.
Of 3,445 vehicles clocked in the town centre survey on Friday, April 21, 530 were being driven by people not wearing seatbelts and a further 236 passengers were counted similarly risking life and limb.
Drivers without seatbelts were also seen using mobile phones at the wheel and one driver was spotted without her belt and with a dog sat on her lap.
The survey was carried out by the Tring Safety Group with support from Herts County Council. TSG chairman Peter Coney, said he was very surprised by the high number of people that did not wear seatbelts.
He said: “I was totally stunned by the results. What really surprised me was the high percentage of passengers, around a third, that were children not wearing seat belts.”
“If you get occupants in a car not wearing seatbelts and there’s an accident their bodies will be flying around that car. We have seen the adverts, wearing a seatbelt can stop that.”
Police statistics suggest around 90 per cent of people wear a seatbelt in the front of a vehicle, but the survey puts Tring below this mark.
Mr Corey said it was worrying that adults had such little regard for their own safety. “When we saw the lady without her belt on with the dog in her lap, we couldn’t believe it. We looked at each other and said ‘did you see that?’ It was just an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
“Now we know what is happening, there are two things we can do. One is to raise awareness and the other is to provide information. People are putting themselves and other occupants at risk and are also breaking the law.”
Herts County Council Road Safety Officer Simon Hoggett added: “The survey is really to highlight the problem to the local community.”
Of the 530 drivers not wearing their seatbelts, 395 were men and 135 female.
Mr Hoggett added: “It does seem to be particularly male drivers. In other surveys done in Herts of people not wearing a seatbelt it’s normally about 75 per cent males with a large proportion of these driving light commercial vehicles like vans.”
The survey’s findings have been handed on to the police.
Police traffic management officer for Dacorum, Crawford Simpkins said: “The survey results have caused us great concern and we intend to reinforce the message that seatbelts do save lives.”
Herts County Council is already running a No Excuses campaign to remind people to belt up and from May 1 the police will be clamping down on non-seatbelt wearing motorists and passengers.
Patrols across the county will be stepped up for two weeks and anyone caught without a seatbelt will face a fixed penalty fine of £30.

Gallery’s life drawings show

A NEW exhibition of life drawings by women is being launched in Tring next month.
A total of 16 talented female artists have teamed up to put on the display at The Tring Gallery in Church Yard.
The gallery was opened in the historic Long Room by John Bly and son Julian last December. It has been transformed into an impressive art space.
Julian decided to convert the barn into a gallery to maintain the tradition of fine art and furniture established by his great grandfather John Bly, when he originally acquired the property in 1891.
Successive generations of the Bly family have traded from the premises ever since.
Organiser of the exhibition and artist Christine Hillier said: “We are working at a time when interest in drawing is growing and needs stimulation. The diverse backgrounds, experiences, talents and skills of this group of women are combining for this exhibition.”
The Women Draw Life exhibition will run from Saturday, May 6, kicking off with an open day and preview from 10.30am to 4.30pm and closes on Saturday, May 27.
The gallery is open from 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday and Sundays from 10.30am to 2.30pm.
To find out more call 01442 828091.

Roger gets special award

Tring Town Council presented its annual Community Award to Roger Ayres for his work with charities and the local community.
He has strong links with local charities and organisations and arranges shopping trips for elderly people as well as providing transport to take people for hospital appointments. Mr Ayres was presented with the award during the annual town meeting on Monday, April 10.
Tring Mayor Mike James said: “This is the town’s recognition of someone in the community who has contributed over many years to the success of the town.”
Tring Town Council will give £300 to a charity or split the cash between several charities of Mr Ayres’ choice.

Hostel has been under threat for over 10 years

IVINGHOE’S historic hostel has been facing the axe for more than ten years, hostel bosses have revealed.
During a meeting at Ivinghoe Town Hall last week the Youth Hostel Association director for the south-east Caroline Sier said the hostel had been considered for closure several times.
She said: “It has not been a snap decision, the board of trustees has been considering the position of Ivinghoe for more than 10 years and it has been on closure lists or potential closure lists during that time.”
If plans to close the hostel go ahead then Ivinghoe hostel will shut down in October 2007.
The move has faced fierce opposition from local villagers, who fear the closure will have a massive impact on local attractions.
Julie Lloyd-Evans, who runs the Chilterns Study Centre, said: “Hundreds of children come here and it would be a tragedy if that stops.”
During the meeting Mrs Sier said occupancy levels at the hostel stand at about 32 per cent. She said: “It has been bubbling around that 30 per cent mark for quite sometime. It has to be more than 40 per cent to sustain itself and maintain itself.”
Costs to upgrade the one star hostel, which has 50 bedrooms, to three star status has been estimated at about 250,000.
At the meeting, Hertfordshire county councillor and Tring councillor Nick Hollinghurst said: “There is a shortage of accommodation in this area. I’m very disappointed by what you have said.”
He said the YHA board of trustees failed to consult the local authorities or the local community before deciding to shut down the hostel.
Operations director Mark Farmer said: “We cannot afford to be everywhere. We have taken the view that it is the western end of the Chilterns which is most relevant to our target market.”
The average YHA hostel occupancy rate across the country is about 42 per cent and the lowest is eight per cent.
Ivinghoe residents accused the YHA of not marketing the youth hostel properly.
Mr Farmer said: “We spend a lot of money marketing, but in the same way we haven’t got enough money to bring everything up to standard we haven’t got enough money to do lots of marketing.”
Buckinghamshire County Councillor and district councillor Avril Davies presented Mrs Sier and Mr Farmer with all the letters written to the YHA objecting to the closure of the hostel and urged the YHA’s board of trustees to reconsider.
Ivinghoe Youth Hostel has been listed among 32 youth hostels, which will be closed to save thousands of pounds, money which will be ploughed into updating other YHA hostels around the country.

Passenger increase brings in extra parking

RAIL chiefs have succeeded in their bid for more parking spaces at Tring station after getting the green light to keep a temporary car park open so work can get underway.
Silverlink says it needs the extra parking because passenger numbers have soared in recent years.
It claims the car park gets so full commuters often fail to find a space and end up travelling to Hemel Hempstead or Berkhamsted stations.
In order to get more spaces it wants to build a decked level on top of the current permanent car park but says this is impossible unless it is allowed to keep using the temporary car park to minimise passenger disruption.
The temporary car park was created back in 2003 so the existing car park could be used to store machinery during rail works to improve the West Coast Mainline.
Councillors at a meeting of Dacorum Borough Council's development control committee last Thursday (April 20) gave Silverlink the go-ahead to use the temporary car park so work could get underway.
Work is expected to take around two years.

Dressing for the great outdoors

A CLOTHES store dedicated to countryside pursuits has set up base in Tring.
Lochen Outdoors opened in Tring last December and can cater for all outdoor needs.
Although the hunting and shooting season ended in January, clay pigeon shooting continues throughout the summer and the store offers a range of shooting equipment as well as summer clothing.
Owner Allister Barker said: “We set up in Tring because we are near to the Ashridge estate, there are a lot of activities in the area with regards to walking and lakes for bird watchers. There are a lot of affluent people in the area who enjoy going out on shoots. We opened here to cater for the needs of the local people.”
Allister started the business from his home in Pitstone, where he began by selling handmade goods, including gun slings, cartridge belts, pouches and boxes.
As the business grew he decided to open a shop and branch out into outdoor clothes, including smart and casual outdoor wear and a range of boots.
Shelves at the Brook Street store are stocked with well-known brands like RM Williams, The Really Wild Clothing Company, Seeland and Musto.
The shop is open six days a week, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 3pm. Late night appointments can be arranged if requested.
For details visit www.lochenoutdoors.co.uk or call 01442 828871.

Slimy treat on offer at May Day
village fair

VISITORS to the Aldbury May Fair this Bank Holiday weekend will get another chance to test their luck in the popular maggot races!
Parents, staff and children from Aldbury Primary School have joined forces with village groups to put on the slimy treat as part of the traditional May Fair on Monday, May 1.
As well as maggot racing, entertainment on offer will include maypole dancing, a fancy-dress parade, a mini fairground, an art exhibition featuring work by local artists, archery, animal corner, face-painting and much more.
There will also be a barbecue and refreshments on offer. All money raised from the event will go to Aldbury Primary School and other local organisations.
The fair will run from noon until 5pm.

A41 rubbish clampdown - but culprits won’t stop dumping Stop messing about 

RUBBISH is already building up on sections of the A41 just days after being cleared by council workers.
The first stage of clearing the stretch of carriageway from Tring down to Kings Langley by Dacorum Borough Council, has now been completed, but still motorists are dumping their rubbish.
The clean-up has cost thousands of pounds and took 10 days - twice as long as expected.
Work to clear grass verges on the northbound side of the carriageway heading back towards Tring started on Tuesday, April 18.
As well as fly-tipping and rubbish being thrown out of the windows of vehicles, lorries and cars carrying unsecure loads are also to blame for the litter piling up.
During a full meeting of Dacorum Borough Council on April 5 Councillor Bert Chapman, portfolio holder for environment services, pointed out that rubbish had already appeared on places that had just been cleared.
He said: “It is extremely disappointing and we have to think of ways to get the message across to the public.”
He suggested that Dacorum Borough Council could look at getting special scouts with enforcement powers to take down the number-plates of drivers dumping litter, so the information could be passed on to the DVLA and fines issued.
Using hidden cameras to catch fly-tippers at hotspots along the A41 has also been suggested by Cupid Green Depot operations manager Craig Thorpe, as a way to combat the problem.
Dacorum Borough Council spokeswoman Helen Lawrence said: “Dacorum Borough Council does have a range of covert cameras operating at a number of locations, where fly- tipping has occurred.
“Evidence collected will be useful for assisting prosecutions for fly-tipping.”
At the moment the council was not planning to use the cameras to target fly-tippers on the A41, but it could be something that is investigated in the future, she added.
“It is a very big operation because you have to catch people in the act,” she said.
Dacorum Borough Council has teamed up with the road traffic police and the Environment Agency to carry out commercial vehicle checks in May.
Commercial vehicles, which are thought to be unlicensed or are carrying waste unsafely, will be stopped.
Drivers will be asked to produce their documents and be advised on the proper ways to secure and carry loads.

Brewery visit

FIND out all there is to know about beer with a special visit to Tring Brewery.
The Tring and District Local History and Museum Society is organising the visit on April 26, which will be topped off with a fish and chip supper.
Richard Shardlow from Tring Brewery will be giving an introduction into the art of beer making and guests will be able to try some of the beer.
Tim Amsden from the history and museum society will also give a talk on Tring breweries of the past.
The visit will start from 8pm and costs £12.50 per person. Book places on 01442 827453/823344.

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