New town or parish councils could be created in and around Hemel after backing from residents

Currently, town and parish councils – the lowest tier of local government – cover most of Dacorum, but Hemel Hempstead and parts of Nash Mills, Bourne End and Felden do not have one.

Residents of the unparished areas were consulted earlier this year by Dacorum Borough Council on whether they want that to change, with the Liberal Democrat minority administration fearing that the Government’s upcoming shake-up of local authorities, which will abolish both the borough council and the county council and replace them with a unitary authority, could lead to a lack of representation for Hemel Hempstead residents.

More than 300 residents responded to the consultation, with 62.1% saying their area would “benefit from more local representation”.

But respondents were divided on whether there should be a single town council or multiple parish councils, with 29.3% preferring the former and 43% preferring the latter. The remaining 27.8% want their area to remain unparished.

Options could include a single town council for Hemel Hempstead or dividing the unparished area into multiple parish councils.

According to a council report, residents made “repeated reference to Hemel Hempstead as a whole”, but residents in areas such as Boxmoor and Leverstock Green said they would prefer their own parish council. Elsewhere, in Bourne End, some residents suggested that they could join Berkhamsted Town Council.

The responses will be considered by Dacorum Borough Council’s Electoral Review Committee at a meeting tomorrow (Friday, May 15), with draft recommendations then drawn up on which councils should be created, whether they should be divided into wards, how many councillors they should have, and when elections will take place.

Any draft recommendations will need to go out for a second public consultation this summer, with the aim of final recommendations being submitted to the council for approval in November.

Town and parish councils can take responsibility for amenities including parks, allotments, car parks, street lighting and public toilets, and can also offer funding for projects in the area.

They are funded through a parish precept, which is added to the council tax bill for residents, with the average precept for band D properties across England working out to around £92 a year.

More than half of the respondents to the consultation in Dacorum said they would be willing to pay a parish precept.