Grovehill Conservatives website
Welcome to Grovehill Conservatives
A few weeks, this turned up on Acycliffe Drive. We decided to leave it for a few days, just in case someone had 'misplaced' it. After a week or so, it became apparent that it had just been dumped.
A big THANK YOU to DBC for acting so quickly when we reported it and sorting it out.
All households in the borough should have received our Dacorum In Touch for Summer 2022. Full of information about what Dacorum Conservatives have been up to, if you haven’t received a copy, then we need to know. There are some copies which are available at the Grovehill Community Centre, so don’t hesitate to drop in and pick one up. You can also download a copy from here.
We've been talking about it for years. Why? Well, it's kind of had its day. Prior to when we were all given recycling bins at home, the recycling facility at Henry Wells Square, were really useful.
In recent years however, all that's happened is that despite the signage, many people think that they can just dump stuff there!
Not only is it DBC's responsibility to collect recycling from these sites but DBC also keeps them clean. The latter often requires collecting what some people have dumped. Perhaps you'd like your council tax spent on something a little more useful.
People who work in Henry Wells Square as well as those who visit, have complained about the fly-tipping for a long time and periodically the matter of whether or not we should keep the bring site, comes up for debate. Adeyfield got rid of theirs a couple of years ago and now Goverdhan, Alex and Julie are thinking along the same lines.... again.
Today Alex and Julie met up with the Cllr. Graham Barrett, portfolio holder for environmental services.
"We met up with Cllr. Barrett at the recycling site and rubbish had been dumped there since it was cleared earlier this morning." explains Julie.
"Together with many residents, we're fighting hard to keep Grovehill clean and tidy and quite honesty, the fly-tipping at the recycling facility at Henry Wells Square just brings the whole area down. You can't help but notice it, when you drive into Grovehill, along Aycliffe Drive. While we were there with Graham, we turned around and looked at the square. The contrast with the bring site was very apparent."
Alex explains that unwanted clothes can be donated to charity. We even have a charity shop up at Henry Wells Square. Plastics and bottles can of course go into our recycling bins at home and many feel that recycling at Henry Wells Square just isn't needed anymore, especially when it attracts those who just want to get rid of rubbish.
What is the matter with people?!?!?! Dacorum Borough Council has recently issued twelve fixed penalty notices for this kind of stuff, here on Henry Wells Square. I believe eight, we for this alone! There is now talk about doing away with the recycling site, all together, as the cost of maintenance, questions its viability.
Yesterday lunchtime and Alex is on my way to the post office. Driving up St. Agnells, past Washington near Astley Cooper, He had the pleasure of bumping into local street champion, Colin Greenaway, who despite being very busy picking litter, came across as super cool and chilled. What a lovely fella and thanks, Colin!
The Conservative controlled Borough Council is suspending planning decisions on residential proposals in Dacorum, as a Government report has revealed the amount of damage that has been done to our Chiltern Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation.
The pandemic demonstrated the importance of outdoor recreation, but one only has to look, for example at a very little of the Ashridge Estate, to see the damage.
Landowners such as the National Trust are setting up a mitigation strategy to repair and prevent the damage, and the Council will be able to require developers, both to contribute to the repair, and to provide more natural greenspace in new housing proposals.
Councillor Alan Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Planning at the Council, said “This is vindication for the decision taken by Conservative councillors last year to pause the process for the creation of the new Local Plan, which will guide the development of the Borough to 2038.
This was just one of the many studies commissioned before we felt we could continue any further with the Local Plan process, and will be useful evidence to obtain more greenspace, and to argue we could not meet the housebuilding targets we’ve been set hitherto.
The Liberal Democrats were strongly opposed to the previous stage in the Local Plan process, and if we hadn’t completed that consultation, we wouldn’t have been able to obtain this latest evidence, in addition to the consultation responses, to fight Dacorum’s corner.
The Council will continue to receive and process planning applications, but decisions on new housing schemes including conversions are suspended until the mitigation strategy is in place.
UPDATE - 31st March 2022
It would seem that any planning application that's not been granted planning permission is now on hold. That includes LA-1 and the speculative application along the Leighton Buzzard Road, near Piccotts End.
Goverdhan was out litter picking yesterday and Alex couldn't be outdone, so set off to do Aycliffe Drive at 7:00 this morning (Sunday 20th March 2022).
About a bag and half was collected, the vast majority of which was confectionary wrappers from 'kiddie' chocolate bars and sweets and cans and bottles of fizzy drink, from the hedge which boundaries Aycliffe Drive Primary School.
With hardly any litter here during periods of (relatively) recent lockdowns, when schools were closed, one could easily conclude that it's the children who drop the litter as they're taken to or from school.
The awful amount of litter along this hedge and surrounding areas, can be seen as a reflection of the school and respective parents, both of which are disappointing. There was a time when Aycliffe Drive pupils went out regularly picking litter. It would seem that this exercise which can potentially teach young children the benefits of being tidy, is no longer practised.
Parents of Grovehill kids and all Grovehill schools please take note. It literally doesn't look good!
UPDATE = 28th March 2022
Alex had to pop out this morning. Drive up Aycliffe Drive was upsetting and disappointing. He only litter picked here, a few days ago.
"After I cleaned up the mess, I thought I'd pop into the school and mention what I do on a regular basis. There was a sign on the gate asking visitors to wear a mask. I'd left mine in the car, duh. On the way back to car, I actually thought that what with rising COVID infections, perhaps the last place I want to be is in a school, so I decided to skip on that idea."
While out litter picking St. Agnells Lane yesterday afternoon, Alex came across a fridge freezer and some clothes at the entrance to Medway Road. He reported this immediately.
Carefully tucked away behind a telecoms box. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?
Recently reported by Goverdhan, we're a little surprised at how quickly this has been attended to but drivers who regularly visit Henry Wells Square, were delighted, never-the-less.
Some might find it interesting to note, that Hertfordshire County Council (Herts Highways) is responsible for anything up to 6 meters into the car park and Dacorum Borough Council, is responsible for anything past that.
Many of you requested a pedestrian crossing close to the Waveney / Washington Avenue junction to help create a safer crossing point for children and their parents while getting to school in the mornings and afternoons.
Extensive work has been carried out to see if this was possible but due to the high number of private access driveways on one side of Washington Avenue it is not possible to install a crossing near the junction. Further work will be carried out soon to investigate an alternative solution which will see a narrowing of Washington Avenue close to the Waveney so that drivers coming out of Waveney have a clearer view of oncoming traffic and it will shorten the distance for children crossing the road at this point. Work is also ongoing regarding the possibility of an advisory 20mph close to the junction. We will update you as further information is available.