Richard Struck

Welcome to the latest edition of Rickmansworth This Week e-news.If you would like to receive this by email, please contact me at rwstruck@gmail.com to get your own regular delivery. Feedback on this newsletter is always welcomed.

Planning decisions from the Development Control meeting on December 13th

18-20 Ebury Road http://snipr.com/trdc2016
Proposal for demolition of existing buildings and erection of 6 semi detached houses and 2 detached houses and parking and conversion of workshop to self-contained flat. Permission granted in principle, with retention of archway over footpath. Cllr Ann Shaw is researching old maps to suggest a name for the footpath.

Applegarth, Parrotts Close, Croxley Green http://snipr.com/trdc1897
Proposal for demolition of existing building and erection of 3 two storey detached houses and garages. Permission refused on the grounds of being contrary to policies which seek to protect character & residential amenity from inappropriate backland or infill development, overdevelopment, detrimental impact upon the street scene and failure to preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the Croxley Green Conservation Area.

Churleswood Service Station, Shire Lane, Chorleywood http://snipr.com/trdc2257
Proposal for demolition of existing commercial buildings and erection of five 2-bed and one 1-bed flats with associated access and parking. Permission granted subject to conditions, including that the 2nd floor roof areas to the SW of the building shall not be used as a terrace or amenity area at any time.

Planning Statistics
Three Rivers planning department continues to perform well in efficiency tables published by the Government. TRDC maintained its position in the top 3 out of 14 neighbouring councils compared to when the tables were last published (for the year ending 30th June 2007) and exceeded both national targets and the national average for each type of planning application. Achieved within the 8-week target were 88% of major decisions, 86% of minor decisions, and 95% of other householder decisions. The national averages were 71%, 77% and 88% respectively.

Frozen garden waste bins
Due to the heavy frosts recently, many of the garden waste bins have frozen material in them, which in turn is frozen to the sides of the bins. The crews are making every effort to empty as much of the contents of each bin as possible, by ensuring that the bins are shaken when on top of the bin lift. Too heavy shaking however will damage the bin and there are therefore some bins that still have material left in them. In this case the crews have marked down the property and will return the records to the council office.
Unfortunately it will not be possible to go back and empty the frozen bins as a missed collection because the high numbers will affect the next day’s work schedule. Although it may be an inconvenience to householders it is only a relatively small amount of waste left in the bins and in this weather there is unlikely to be an odour problem.
If you have any queries regarding this, please call Alison Page on 01923 727030.

Christmas Break
I wish all my readers a merry Christmas and happy new year. Thank you for your support and encouragement. The next issue of this newsletter will be some time after Christmas.