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Dear Sir,


Jeff Streeter
LEST WE FORGET!
With the correspondence you have been publishing in the last couple of weeks regarding the closure of the A&E department at the former Hemel Hempstead Hospital, I thought it would be worth reminding people of the Labour Rose pamphlet issued in October/November 2007.

In this publication Ayfer Orhan, our Prospective Labour Candidate for the next General Election quoted from her speech at the Labour Party Conference that Hemel Hempstead Hospital was not earmarked for closure. The main part of what she said referred to what were then the premature claims on the closure of A&E describing such claims as 'scaremongering'. Indeed she went further and quoted Health Secretary Alan Johnson, who told her that 'there are no plans to close Hemel hospital.

Perhaps she had one eye on another expected event, that being a General Election to be announced within a few weeks and felt the need to reassure her prospective constituents. What a pity you can't trust Gordon to do the right thing. Since then the non-plans have moved on without any further comment that I can recall from Mrs Orhan either in defence of 'The master plan' or in support of those opposed to its content.

As we are all now aware, these claims were as spurious as Gordon's 'I have abolished boom and bust in the economy'. It should be noted however that the headline content of the pamphlet states that the 'Hospital will continue to provide 24 hour urgent care. Note the words 'Urgent Care' that is in fact what we now have; an Urgent Care Centre with limits on facilities, NOT a hospital.

Worse still, the plans which according to Alan Johnson did not exist are moving on without Watford Hospital being in a fit condition to adopt an increasing client base. With cash being tight and private investment disappearing, the provision of health care in the surrounding areas appears to be in a state of decline.


Simon Pilling
I haven't had one train in 2009 travelling to Euston arrive on time! and thinking about it, possibly not at all since I joined this route in July 08.
Surely that says it all. I apreciate there are mishaps and occasional delays but come on!

When delays occur information is often non existent and when you think you have the answer on what is happenning or how to get to work/home, it's often wrong. The times that the guardsman don't know the stations his train will stop at or station staff that haven't been updated of any situation is alarmingly often (usually on the routes away from London). I use the customer comments forms and the delay repay scheme for reimbursement for delays of over 30 minutes, but what about all the trains that are delayed between 10 and 29 minutes - is that really acceptable? I don't get reimbursed for those journeys or the taxis i use to get home when the trains suddenly terminate at Watford.
One major improvement which doesn't cost anything - Keep your passengers informed with clear concise correct information (obviously that means your staff need to know what's going on).
All this for £3060 a year - which i understand is going up by £200.
I'm trying all I can to voice the opinions of the delayed, squashed cattle class commuters between Kings Langley (and surrounding stations) & Euston should you be running an article in the next coming weeks or months.


Anon, Hemel Hempstead
This is absolutely pathetic. How can so called grown-up people make decisions qualify spending that amount of money decide what we want - How about asking us, the resident - ask me and my neighbours, the whole street, the area and town what they want, not want they want or decided. The council cannot give DBC tennants what they want and want to transfer their housing stock to a housing association (no money to do what the residents want? - I'm happy - where are all my questionaires I should have received?). I say "NO" to more houses as too many have recently and are in the process of being built. It seems logical that unless the facilities increase in Hemel that we already have they will have to stretch further and we will have to go to another town to get them straining on their resorces. We would require more police, a bigger fire service, ambulance service and the hospital remains (it already had) and that every one is going to let go (what for redevelopement of more houses). It doesn't need a medical centre of any sort unless it an aditional one to the hospital because Hemel has incresed its population. I think all councellors with in The Dacorum Borough Council SHOULD BE SACKED! Elect ordinary people within Hemel.

Marion Ford
Tring Resident
In reply to Derek Townsend's letter (Hemel Today dated 25th March) regarding the green belt land opposite Tesco in Tring, I would comment as follows:
We are all opposed to building on green belt land, but if Mr Townsend thinks for one moment that because he is a member of the borough council for Tring, that will stop any building on this prime site, he is looking inward not forward. I believe the Tring sports forum plan will keep this small corner of Tring green, proposing, as it does, one School compared to 600 houses, and a small industrial park located where there are already buildings. I wonder what Tesco plans are for this site - a larger store, a petrol station?


MRS DEBORAH SMITHWith regard to the 12 proposed traveller sites in the Dacorum area. I would like the council to define exactly 'who' they deem to be a traveller, as by the very definition of the word 'a person who changes location' contradicts the need for a 'traveller' site! Therefore are the council saying it is a site for not travellers but people who plan to take up permanent residence in the Dacorum area albeit in a mobile home/caravan rather than a house/flat? If that is the case then what will be the criteria for people to be awarded a pitch on these sites. For instance will people currently on the housing list who have been waiting to be housed in this area for many years now be able to apply for a pitch if they are able to acquire a mobile home/caravan? Where exactly are the travellers from who will be allocated these pitches and what will be the criteria. If like the site already in Hemel Hempstead it is only for travllers from Ireland sureley that could only be deemed as racist?? I am planning to contact the Dacorum Council to enquire if I am able to purchase a mobile home/caravan for my daughter and her partner and child who were all born in Hemel Hempstead and are currently waiting to be housed by the Council, can they then apply for a pitch? If not then why not? Why would they give priorty to people who do not live within the Borough and who call themselves 'travellers' when in fact they are not. The families currently living on the Three Cherry Site are 90% static proved by the fact that they have places in the local schools. I will be very interested in the Councills response.........


Nick Garner, Bovingdon
Hi just responding to you question, if you treat the magic roundabout as several seperate roundabouts you will be fine my dear friend. Nick G x

C Barnaby, Hemel Hempstead
The condition of Adeyfield Road is absolutely disgusting. There are potholes all the way down from Lower Adeyfield Road to marlowes. Surely someone has already reported it, but it has been like this for weeks. When is it being sorted?

Georgina britton
hemel hempstead
why do we have to have more traveller sites in hemel hempstead.Many people living in hemel hempstead have siblings that are currently struggling to afford and find accomodation so why is no one coming up with a rescue remedy for them.lt will end up with people not wanting to move to hemel hempstead in the end as we will be over run with traveller sites.l have made the decision to move way from hemel hempstead where l was born and where l have lived with my family for 22 years. lt is a shame that we have been put in this position in the first place.l hope all the people living near these traveller sites stick together to appose these sites but l fear that the decision has already been made.


Jacqueline stafford
Chalkdell Hill Hemel
I would like to put a challenge to the people of Hemel: Find a road in Hemel, more than 2 years old, in Hemel that has not got a pot hole in it. I am sure it can be done, but it is not going to be easy! Good Luck, Jacky Stafford

Anon
Berkhamsted
Will Dacorum Council cut rent rises by 50%? "To help people struggling during the downturn Housing Minister Margaret Beckett has announced new support to help councils cut their planned rent increases this year. The average guideline rent increase for 2009/10 will be halved from 6.2 per cent to 3.1 per cent for local authority tenants." This is on the DirectGov website, so I wonder if DBC will cut the rents following their inflation busting increases this year. Or will they find some excuse to ignore this order from the government.

B Williams, Hemel Hempstead
Many comments have been placed regarding problems in Hemel from traffic to the Hospital and I agree with many of them but I am sure people realise that these are not the responsibility of Dacorum Council The closure of the A&E and its transfer to watford have always been opposed by them but the Health trust continue to insist that this is the way forward althouhg almost everyone who know the area disagree.

Hugh Morgan-Jones, Tyldesley, Greater Manchester
During a visit to my Daughter's home in Tring last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the Tring Rotary Club. This Club is doing good work in the Community and needs more Members to further the interests it persues. In recognition of my visit, being of Welsh descent, the Grace at the Social dinner was given in my Mother tongue, by a Member of the Club. This departure from the normal practice was warmly welcomed by all present. I place on record, my thanks for the warm reception on this my first visit and propose to make numerous visits in the future. Perhaps your readers might enquire about Membership?

JANE LAVAL, TENZING ROAD, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
I READ THAT YOU WANTED OUR VEIWS ON FLY TIPPING! AS A HORSE RIDER I SEE REGULAR PILES OF FREASH TIPPINGS AND IT MAKES ME REALLY CROSS... SO WHATS THE PROBLEM IN GIVING THESE TIPPERS SOMEWHERE TO TIP THATS OK. SOMEWHERE THEY CAN GO FREELY.....IF ITS COSTS £102,000,000 TO CLEAR IT UP... IT WONT STOP TILL POEPLE CAN GO AND DUMP THERE RUBBISH SOMEWHERE THATS ALLOWED....

Natalie Hall
Does anybody know about life in Hemel's Victorian time. In particular Swan Yard, Saffron Lane (Queens Street) - (Which I now know is Queensway)
I've discovered that I had family that once lived there & am interested in finding out more about how they lived at this time.
email: nhall@strategic-consultants.co.uk

jacqui bond
The George Belswains Lane Nash Mills Hemel Hempstead
Hi I am interested in the history of the George pub and to find out if there are any old photos or pictures of the pub. Can you help? Many thanks Jacqui Bond

Mark Twigg, Quartermass Close, Warners End, Hemel Hempstead
Shocked and stunned by the news that our dear friend Martin is dead. Martin will be sadly missed by our family, for his kindness, companionship, and his genuine life of the party attitude towards life in general. God rest his soul.

Deborah Chalmers, Gubblecote, Tring
Regarding airplane noise at night, we are often woken at nights by planes flying directly over our house (at 3000 according to a letter I have from Luton airport). It is more prevalent when the wind is from the East as the flight path changes to go over the villages of Long Marston and Wilstone and Gubblecote. It seems as if they start flying over us at about 11 o'clock at night - whether this is because we are in the countryside and they think it will impact fewer people, I don't know. The problem is that the countryside is quiet at night and therefore the noise impact is heightened considerably. I have sometimes lain in bed counting the planes flying over at 3 o'clock in the morning and they have come over at intervals of 5 or 10 minutes for over an hour. There should definitely be a limit imposed on night flying.

Alan Wilson, Woodhall Farm, Hemel Hempstead
Hi, i want to appeal to anyone who has lost two white rabbits since Christmas. A mother and baby ( even though its growing up fast) have been hppping around our street in and out of all the gardens since early January. They are both pets because you can tell by their nature. I am extremelly worried about their saafety and hope someone will come foward and re-claim them. Yours faithfully, Alan

Michael Nidd, Secretary, LLATVCC The Old Bakery 152 Piccotts End Hemel Hempstead
Do night flights keep us awake? Yes, even when the double-glazing is firmly closed for the winter, several times each week: whether it's by the regular quota of delayed last arrivals between 00.00 and 01.30 or the equally-regular cargo flights between 03.00 - 04.00. "Night", as defined by the Cvil Aviation Authority (CAA), extends from 23.00 to 07.00; the skies are alive, around Luton Airport, shortly after 06.00. In the summer things are worse - and, unlike Heathrow or Stansted, where the Department of Transport control the number and noisiness of aircraft movements, the only limit on Luton's noise pollution is contained in the planning consent granted by Luton Borough Council (conveniently, also the owner of the airport) in 1996. This "limit", referred to by Ian Reay, would permit an expansion of night-time movements up to about 70% of the number currently occurring in the 16-hour DAY period - about ten times what's currently occurring. There is another issue: that of where the planes are flying. When the wind is from the south-west, which it is for about 70% of the time, we get clobbered by departures which are aiming themselves at Belgium and points east, and their flight-paths as drawn by the CAA should pass about a mile north of the Woodhall Farm housing development: but most of them come much closer to northern Hemel Hempstead than that. When the wind is from the east we get departures heading for France, Spain etc. and they, too, are closer to northern Hemel Hempstead than they should be. The proposed changes to airspace detailed in the failed NATS consultation would have made this, in particular, far worse, with a wide permitted flight path which covered the northern half of Hemel Hempstead altogether. Things are almost as bad "further down the line", in Berkhamsted and Tring, where the departures heading for sunny Spain may be just that bit higher, but the northern edge of Tring also catches the arrivals. We await the re-consultation with bated breath - which we're not holding, because NATS have announced that it won't be before July 2009.

Anon, Bennetts End
Just listened out for the Buncefield Alarm...........Didn't hear a dicky-bird!!!!!!!!

Carole Shorthouse, Boundary Way, Hemel Hempstead
Our rebuilt office is in Boundary Way, we have a clear view across to the Buncefied site, we have our windows open and were listening for the 2.30 siren, we heard nothing. That gives great confidence for the future, especially when the site is gradually being rebuilt.

mrs S Biggs
The Flags Adeyfield Hemel Hempstead
Dear Sir I waited for the alarm at tbe buncefield depot to go off and when it did we could not here it and we went outside and it still was not very loud and my neighbours agreed with best wishes Mrs s BIggs

Ian Weed
Why oh why do we have the same flytipping hotspots around our town, Green Lane and Westick Row continue to be periodic hotspots in Leverstock Green where I live. Flytipping blights our town and village, does the council use discreet surveillance cameras in their efforts to catch these offenders in these key spots as I have read other council in the UK do. I read recently in the HeraldExpress that in 08 we spent over a £100,000 and still have a town that looks like a dump. It would be great to see a big effort to clamp down on those that dump fridges, tyres, building rubbish in lay byes and see people highlighted in our local magistrates.

Jennifer Percival
Kingfisher Drive
Hemel Hempstead
Parliament is considering important new proposals to control tobacco industry marketing to children by restricting cigarette vending machines and removing cigarette displays so that tobacco products are put out of sight and reach of children.

In advance of No Smoking Day on 11 March, I ask Mike Penning, our MP for Hemel Hempstead to think again and to vote for measures which would help to stop tobacco companies from recruiting our children and future generations into the addiction and deadly habit of smoking.

There has been very heavy lobbying in Parliament against the restrictions on cigarette displays by a "Save our Shop" Campaign, run by a grouping called the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, which claims to represent the interests of small shopkeepers.

This Alliance is, in fact, funded by the Tobacco Manufacturers Association, a coalition of three of the world's biggest tobacco companies? Other MPs have admitted to being misled by this campaign and maybe our MP has been too.

I urge Mr Penning, who is meant to speak for the Conservatives on Health, to vote to put the health of our children before the interests of those who make and sell tobacco.

Reasons to get rid of cigarette vending machines:

Research shows that around one in six 11-15 year old smokers say that vending machines are their USUAL source of cigarettes, though very few adult smokers use the machines.

It is now against the law to sell cigarettes to under 18 year olds, but vending machines are an easy way for young people to get round the law.

In a recent study of "test purchases" from vending machines in the East of England region, four out of 5 attempts by 15 year olds were successful.

No other age-restricted products are sold through vending machines so our MP should vote to end the sale of tobacco through vending machines.

Reasons to get rid of Retail Displays of Cigarettes:

It is no coincidence that since advertising of tobacco products was outlawed by Parliament in 2002, shop displays of tobacco have become much larger, more prominent – and in supermarkets we have seen huge cigarette=2 0"power walls" erected to promote tobacco brands.

With half the smokers who don't give up, dying from smoking related diseases and with more people in this country quitting smoking, the tobacco industry obviously seeks to recruit new customers. Packs and displays are, therefore, designed to have maximum appeal to young people – as children and teenagers are more aware of and more susceptible to brand marketing than adults.
Unfortunately, however, the younger you start smoking, the harder it is to give up and the greater the long term risks to your health.

This is why I urge Mr Penning to vote to close the loophole which has allowed the tobacco industry to continue to market to young people through shop displays and supermarket cigarette "power walls".

What's more, supermarkets will have 2 years and small shop keepers will have 4 years to get ready for the change.

Keith Todd
It seems significant that Councillor Martin Tett is quoted as saying "The new Household Waste Recycling Centre at Aston Clinton is going to be a fantastic facility for the people of Buckinghamshire" and adds weight to the rumour that access to the Aston Clinton site will be by permit and may not be available to the people of Tring. If this interpretation is correct, closure of the Tring site on the grounds that there will be a new site nearby must therefore be questionable.

R PRICE
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
Has anyone else noticed the large amount of rubbish including fridge / freezers that has been flytipped at the junction of Boundary way and Green lane on the industrial estate. Its been there for over a week now and still has'nt been cleared. When will this Council ever get a grip on this problem and start to track down these offenders and bring them to book?
Would you want to bring your buisness to Hemel Hempstead and put up with issues like litter and pot Holes (Herts County Council) around the industrial estate. I think not.

Anon
Via text
When I first saw Skins advertised on the television I knew it would encourage antisocial imitative behaviour among teenagers. When i read the article in this weeks Herald Express about police being called to a party in an empty house I immediately could see connections between the incident and thenature of Skins. Should broadcasters really sacrifice social harmony and a good example in favour of ratings? I myself am 18 from Tring School and feelsuch programming insults teenagers.

Nick Larman
The household waste sites need to be improved. A larger split level site that was open for longer would help. People are put off going to the household waste sites because there is often a large queue to get in and they are not open 24 hours per day. A larger split level site would allow the lorries to take away skips on the lower level without impeding public access on the upper level; the queues are often caused by lorries moving skips around. With the public accessing the site on an upper level then the need to carry waste up steps would be eliminated (good for the elderly, disabled or lazy). If the household waste sites were less fussy about the kinds of waste that they take then I believe people would be less inclined to fly tip (for example I was recently turned away because I had a few bricks – I had to pay to dump these at Bishops). I agree fly tipping is terrible thing to have to see, it is not good for the environment and it's self perpetuating. You said that it costs us £102,000 per year in Dacorum, I suspect it's a lot more. How much would it cost to redesign the sites and employ someone to keep the household waste sites open longer? Less in the long run I suspect, improving the environment for everyone in the meantime.