Anyone wanting to have a stall at the show please contact me for information. Any help on or around the day of the show is very welcome. There is a lot to do setting up, dismantling and putting away on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If you would like to help out please contact me. David Severs home 01296 661 021, mobile 07742 262 116 email davidsevers@aol.com

June 2010

At a recent meeting of the village hall committee, particular attention was drawn to the roof and we are now trying to take action, subject to planning approval. This will involve replacing the roof tiles and renewing the insulation layer underneath which should stop the leaks in the serving area. It is then proposed to work on modernising the interior.

The problem now is how to raise the money to pay for this. It is the committee’s intention to put a ‘fundraising’ thermometer on the outside of the building and hold a series of fundraising events. The first of these will be a quiz night hosted by a village quiz favourite, Toby Davidson, on Friday 11th June. This as always will be a fun quiz for all ages and all will be made most welcome. We also have a bingo night planned as well as the annual fireworks display in November.

We could however as a committee do with some other fundraising ideas to help raise the money needed and we need the help of the public. Anyone who is willing to help in this venture should contact either Margaret Kaye (01296 662975) or Toby Davidson (07970 636168)

June 2010

Cllr Mike Tomlinson said that the police would be repeating the exercise, unannounced, at intervals.

June 2010

The grant was approved at the May meeting of the Parish Council. Editor Phil Buchi said: “Although 80% of the cost of producing the magazine is covered by advertising revenue, we depend on sponsorship and grants from local organisations to make up the rest. It is great to have this tangible support from the Parish Council, who also paid for our digital camera which has been in use for the last four years.”

June 2010

She was sworn in at the May meeting of the Council and signed the register accepting her duties. Mrs Wheeler-Cornell was one of several people who expressed an interest in filling the vacancy. As no request to hold an election was received by the Parish Council (electors have to make a formal request to trigger a ballot) the process is that candidates are interviewed by a panel of Councillors who then make the appointment. Mrs Wheeler-Cornell has lived in the area for five years, previously at Bulbourne, before moving to Long Marston recently. She told Village News that she had come forward because she was interested in local government and wanted to make a contribution to the community. At the AGM of the Parish Council, Cllr Mike Tomlinson was re-elected chairman. Cllr Chris Griffiths continues as vice-chairman and Cllr Abby Fermont is chairman of planning.

June 2010

The extra parking spaces were to have been paid for by the developer, Aldwyck Housing Group, who abandoned the site in March after walking away from their contract with Dacorum Borough Council. In a letter to the Parish Council, James Doe, Head of Housing at Dacorum, said that DBC did not have any control over the decision of the chosen developer. They had now offered the contract to two other developers of affordable housing who had until the end of May to respond. In the meantime the site had been properly fenced, and arrangements would be made for its maintenance. Ownership of the land had reverted to Dacorum. The reason given by Aldwyck for walking away – the high water table and the cost of storm water disposal – still does not ring true with those connected with this project, which was after all, five years in the planning.

June 2010

Councillors agreed that these were all much better than the official notices and awarded each child a book token as a prize. The posters will be reproduced and used around the parish in the hope of encouraging some careless dog owners to be more responsible and bag it up. The Council has also bought two poo-bag dispensers, and will supply free bags for a trial period. One of the dispensers is already in use at Wilstone village hall (on the front wall) and the second will be fitted at Long Marston village hall.

June 2010

Cllr Abby Fermont had been to see the experimental station at Kings Langley, and reported that there is likely to be a planning application to construct eight wind turbines in the Vale if the test data proved the case. Each turbine can produce electricity to power 1,000 homes, and will be fed to the national grid. There is an open day at the experimental station at Beaufort Court, Kings Langley (by the M25 viaduct) on Saturday 19th June if anyone wants to go and see these things up close. Open from 11am to 4pm.

June 2010

Cllr. Jill Finlan, a governor at the school, told Councillors that Mrs Winter cited personal and family reasons for her resignation. She was appointed in 2009 to succeed Mr Peter Dickenson, who had held the post for 20 years.

May 2010

Though the Parish Council had asked for action to deal with this problem, credit must also go to a local resident who made many phone calls to Dacorum officials and made sure they turned up and fixed it. Just shows that villagers can get things done themselves. Nothing’s ever that simple though, as it turns out that Dacorum are only responsible for the first 20 yards of the culvert. That bit has been cleared out, and the engineers think that should have fixed the problem. After that, the culvert crosses under the road and that bit is the responsibility of Hertfordshire Highways. (By the way, when the stream water gets to the Wilstone Brook on the other side of the road it gets promoted, and becomes entitled to supervision by the Environment Agency on its long passage to the North Sea via the River Thame.) It has been unseasonably dry since the work was carried out so villagers won’t find out if it works until it rains.

May 2010