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.

Decisions at Development Control Committee, 20th March

Diversion of Public Footpath between 165/167 High Street and 18/20 Ebury Road
This is the footpath (to be called Farr’s Alley) which was re-opened last year. The committee agreed that this should go out to formal public consultation, with official notices in the local press. If there are no objections, the diversion will be confirmed. The application is by the developer of the scheme at 18/20 Ebury Road, for a diversion to bring it into line with the approved plans - these plans are still on the council’s website http://snipr.com/trdc2209

2 Moneyhill Parade - Hambling’s Butchers shop http://snipr.com/trdc0109
Change of use from A1 (retail) to A5 (hot food take-away) for a pizza operation. The planning officers recommended approval. The agenda for the meeting listed 4 objections and 7 in support. A further 17 letters were subsequently submitted, also in support. The committee approved the proposed change.

Digging for Heat in the Rose Gardens
Residents may wonder what is going behind the hoardings at the Rose Gardens opposite Three Rivers House. The answer is the installation of ground source heat pumps. These are a simple and practical way of extracting heat from the ground to heat the council offices in the winter and cool them down in summer. The system will make a practical long term difference in reducing C02 emissions, heating costs and, ultimately, Council Tax bills. The system costs about the same amount as a conventional replacement, which was needed anyway. It will pay for itself in six years and reduce carbon emissions from day one.
Water pipes are being buried three metres below ground. At this depth, the soil stays at a relatively constant 11 - 12 deg.C, compared to the much wider variations in the air of between minus 10 and plus 30 or more deg.C depending on the season. Because the ground is warmer than the air in winter and cooler than the air in summer, the single pumping system can help provide both heating and cooling at different times of the year.
There’s more about how these systems work on www.energysavingtrust.org.uk - follow the link for “Generate your own energy”.

Easter Alleluia
For early risers next Sunday, the traditional short ecumenical Easter service takes place at a new venue this year - the Berry Lane open space at the top of Field Way, not Ropes Island. It starts at 7.00am. There’s usually coffee and hot-cross buns afterwards.

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.

Scores on the Doors

Ever wondered how clean your local pub or café’s kitchen is? I have been pushing for 6 or 7 years for the Council’s environmental health reports to be made publicly accessible on the website - and at last it has been done. (There were legal obstacles, apparently.) According to the Food Standards Agency, up to 5.5 million people in the UK are affected by food poisoning each year.

Pubs, restaurants and cafés range from excellent standards of hygiene (five stars) to poor (no stars). The new Scores on the Doors initiative provides a snapshot of how clean premises were at their last inspection by environmental health officers. We hope people will find it helpful when choosing where to eat out.

The ratings for sheltered housing, school and business canteens, supermarkets and other food shops are also available on-line.

The scores will protect the public and put added pressure on unhygienic venues to clean up their act. The Council has already taken court action against two food outlets this year. One local pub was fined £6,500 by the Court, reduced to reflect the early guilty pleas. The Council also recovered £3,700 in costs.

Development Control Committee - Thursday 20th March, 7.30pm Three Rivers House. Members of public welcome to attend.

Items of particular interest locally:

Diversion of Public Footpath between 165/167 High Street and 18/20 Ebury Road

This is the footpath (to be called Farr’s Alley) which was re-opened last year. The developer of the scheme at 18/20 Ebury Road is applying for a diversion to bring it into line with the approved plans - these plans are still on the council’s website http://snipr.com/trdc2209

2 Moneyhill Parade - Hambling’s Butchers shop http://snipr.com/trdc0109

Change of use from A1 (retail) to A5 (hot food take-away) for a pizza operation. The planning officers recommend approval. The agenda for the meeting lists 4 objections and 7 in support.

Old seats put to good use

Watersmeet has been fitted out with comfortable new seats. All the seats have folding arms and seats which flip up when people stand up creating more leg room and easy access to walk through the rows. The seats all have good sight lines and the auditorium now has an increased capacity of 515.

The old seats have been put to good use and are now being used by congregations at St. Mary’s Church and The Baptist Church, Rickmansworth.

Watersmeet Film Society

Wednesday 26 March at 2:00pm and 7:30pm The Last King of Scotland (15) 121 mins. Based on the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s regime as seen through the eyes of his personal physician.

Anyone know “Brain” or Brane”?

Crimestoppers, in conjunction with Three Rivers District Council, are offering a £100 reward to anyone who rings in with the name or names of who is responsible for the graffiti tag ‘Brain/Brane’ leading to their arrest and conviction. This graffiti has appeared over recent weeks in Rickmansworth and Croxley Green.

If the offender is a friend of yours, help prevent them getting into more serious trouble as the Council will attempt to recover the costs of removing this criminal damage from the perpetrator. The cost of removing similar damage recently caused by one individual came to more than £250,000!

If anyone knows the person or persons responsible for this unlawful damage, they can ring 0800 555 111 to claim the reward.

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.

Footpath gets named
The historic footpath between Ebury Road and the High Street that was re-opened at the end of last year after a seven year campaign is to be called Farr’s Alley after the old clock and watch man who had a tiny shop in the alley for many years.

Gypsy & Traveller consultation
Following the East of England Regional Assembly meeting (EERA) in Norwich which increased Three Rivers’ allocation of pitches from two to 15, there is now a public consultation on the issue running until May 16th. If you wish to comment please see www.goeast.gov.uk/goeast/planning/regional_planning

Easter holiday activities
The Easter Activities programme for 5-16 year olds is now available from Three Rivers DC, with lots of activities all round the district.

Works at the Aquadrome
The work under way in the Aquadrome is the result of a £75,000 award to Three Rivers from the Aggregates Levy Fund – the Aquadrome qualified because the lakes are the result of gravel extraction in the 1920s.

The programme includes:

• Tree Works – mostly long overdue pollarding. The trees look stark now but they will soon shoot again
• Reed Bed Creation in this recently declared Local Nature Reserve
• Wet Meadow Creation with wildflower seeds and bulbs to be planted
• Interpretation/Welcome Boards – six new boards are being designed
• Furniture – new litter bins, dog bins and benches
  

In addition to the works funded by the Aggregates Levy Fund, the temporary scaffolding bridge in the Glade is being replaced by a more accessible bridge. The work should be finished in early April.
The sluice in Bury Lake will be replaced. The building of the new Café and toilet block will start in May after the Festival.
During the year the existing main car park will be renewed. The network of footpaths will be improved and made more accessible. The vehicle barriers within the Aquadrome will be replaced which will improve security and safety. Finally, there will be bank stabilisation in some places to reduce erosion, create extra habitats, increase wildlife value and help reduce the blue-green algae problems.