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.

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.

Reducing Packaging
Thank you for the feedback on last week’s item - most of you were very supportive of this idea. I should have mentioned that the Council meeting is open to the public (of course), and that you may register to speak in the debate, either “for” or “against” the proposition. All speakers (including councillors) will be limited to 3 minutes. The debate is on the agenda near the beginning of the meeting, which starts at 7.30pm tomorrow (Tues 11th Dec) in Three Rivers House.
Meanwhile, Three Rivers continues to score well in the recycling league tables compiled by Defra. Thanks to the effort of local residents, Three Rivers is 19th amongst collecting authorities for the percentage of waste that is recycled - and top amongst those councils that still carry out weekly collections.

William Penn Swimming Pool
Significant progress has been made in recent weeks. The pool is due to be “test filled” before Christmas, to test for any signs of leakage.

Aquadrome Grant
Three Rivers Council has been awarded a grant of £70,000 under the “Aggregates Levy”, which is administered by Defra. The money comes as the result of a bid to carry out improvements at the Aquadrome.
Staff Sickness
Three Rivers has one of the best performances in Herts for the level of staff sickness. An average of 7 days was lost per employee at TRDC in 2006/07, compared with 11 in neighbouring Watford and Dacorum.

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.

Recycling Tip: Reopening Delayed
Refurbishment of the tip in Riverside Drive has been delayed and the new and improved site is now due to reopen at the end of January. The site is owned and managed by Hertfordshire County Council.
The work has been put back by approximately six weeks because more asbestos has been found on the site than originally anticipated, and the current high groundwater levels have further delayed works.
Once the work is complete, the site will have more parking space so more people can use the site at one time and waiting times should be significantly reduced.
For details on alternative site locations please visit the WasteAware website, www.wasteaware.org.uk or call the WasteAware help line on 08457 425000.
Residents should also check Three Rivers District Council’s collection calendar for details of refuse collection arrangements over the Christmas period.

Reducing Packaging
The Three Rivers Full Council meeting next Tuesday (Dec 11th) will consider a proposal by the Liberal Democrats to join the growing list of towns where there have been successful campaigns to reduce the amount of plastic bags used. There is an urgent need to reduce unnecessary packaging

Applegarth, Parrotts Close, Croxley Green
http://snipr.com/trdc1897
Demolition of existing building and erection of 3 two storey detached houses and garages.

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 (amendment to 07/1141/FUL, which was for a four storey building of four 2-bed and one 3-bed flats and was approved in principle last July).