This quarter we donated to the Rickmansworth Gateway Club located in The Shepherds Centre on Middleton Road. Phil Cox runs this busy social club for adults with a learning disabilities and autism – a great place for fun social interaction and activities!
Join them every Wednesday 7-9pm at The Shepherd Centre, Middleton Road, Rickmansworth WD3 8JF.
Phil Cox is presented with a cheque by RDRA Chairman Ash
The London Metropolitan Green Belt (LMGB) as a planning policy has been hugely successful in containing the capital and preventing urban sprawl. In 1940 London and Los Angeles were of a similar area and if London had been allowed to sprawl to the extent that Los Angeles has grown, it would stretch from Brighton to Cambridge.
The LMGB has many economic, social and environmental benefits, apart from its role to restrict urban sprawl and encourage urban regeneration. It protects the capital from flooding and provides opportunities for carbon sequestration, nature regeneration and biodiversity. It provides important physical and mental health and welfare benefits for the city’s inhabitants, and opportunities for recreation and sport as well as food security and rural activities.
The introduction of grey belt has already resulted in the loss of open countryside, often of high quality, as can be seen in the photographs in this paper. It is leading to speculative and piecemeal development with ten out of the twelve planning appeals in 2025 being allowed for proposed development in the London Green Belt where the sites were identified as grey belt.
These sites are not previously developed land, such as redundant petrol stations or car parks, as originally intended. The present definition of grey belt enables the revoking of protection of Green Belt, as is recognised by developers and their legal representatives.
The Government’s grey belt policy is leading to the destruction of the Green Belt whose benefits will not be enjoyed in future. If this policy is not reversed, future generations will live to regret it.
Richard Knox-Johnston Chair The London Green Belt Council
Victims of investment fraud lost an average of £1,675 every minute last year, new figures from the City of London Police, the National Lead Force for Fraud, have revealed.
Criminals stole £879.8 million through investment fraud last year – an average of £2.4 million a day.
In 2025, 34,673 people reported investment fraud to Report Fraud, the national service that replaced Action Fraud in December 2025. This marks a 31 per cent rise on the previous year. The rise in reporting is not only linked to an increase in investment fraud, but also due to the point at which victims realise what has happened. Reports began climbing steadily from March and spiked in July and September when many people review their investments, move money into new products or check their returns ahead of the new financial year.
As part of wider fraud‑prevention work, we are urging the public to take simple steps to protect themselves.
Before making any investment, use the FCA’s firm checker tool, to confirm whether a firm or individual is authorised. The tool can be accessed via the FCA website and is one of the most effective ways to avoid cloned firms and bogus advisers.
We encourage anyone considering an investment to be cautious of unsolicited messages, adverts promising unusually high returns, or requests to keep the offer “confidential”.
You can also contact the Financial Conduct Authority’s consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768 or report suspicious businesses or individuals by using the reporting form on their website.
Any suspicious activity should be reported to Report Fraud as soon as possible at www.reportfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, victims of fraud and cybercrime should report to Police Scotland on 101.
At the March Sunday Market, we met up with first prize winner Natasha Thakkar and third prize winner Helen Nolan and later met second prize winner Sheila Green. Congratulations to our winners for this quarter!
Natasha Thakkar & AshSheila Green & BobAsh & Helen Nolan
The letter is regarding the future of the Green Belt. CVRP would be grateful if everyone can continue to mention the Colne Valley Regional Park to Councillors in your conversations about the Green Belt, biodiversity, paths, farming, rivers and the landscape.
Over recent weeks, local residents have grouped together to press the Three Rivers Council for speedier action in reopening Ebury Play Area by the Aquadrome. A WhatsApp group supported by RDRA co-ordinated strong turnout at council forums and on social media to signal that residents wanted no further delay and that continued excuses were unacceptable.
Work is now underway at Ebury Play area with a target reopening date of 8th July. Furthermore, TRDC are now providing regular updates to residents on the progress of the work – something that hadn’t started to happen until residents came together.
This shows the power of collective action in our community: by coming together from all different backgrounds and having a unified voice, we can effect a change in behaviour from those elected to deliver for our community.
Our work has just begun to make Ricky a much better place to live in and hold our elected representatives accountable.
I wanted to ask whether the RDRA plans to make any comment regarding the recent statement in the Lib Dem Focus leaflet about the removal of knotweed from the Ebury Way play area.
While the leaflet suggests that progress is now being made, it seems to gloss over the considerable delays and the role that local pressure, including the RDRA’s planned protest march, played in prompting action. Many residents will be aware that this issue has taken a long time to reach this stage, with repeated references to legal and contractual complications.
Given the RDRA’s involvement and advocacy on this matter, I think it would be helpful for residents if there were some acknowledgement of the full context, including how progress was ultimately achieved.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on whether the association intends to address this publicly.
RDRA response:
Thank you for your email and for sharing your thoughts regarding the Lib Dem Focus leaflet and the ongoing situation at the Ebury Way play area. At present, the RDRA does not have any plans to make a public comment about the leaflet or the progress reported. However, we will continue to monitor developments closely and remain engaged with the issue to ensure that residents’ concerns are properly addressed.
We appreciate your interest in the matter and will keep the residents updated should there be any significant changes or further actions required.
Cllr. Mike Sims, RDRA Committee Member & Independent TRDC Councillor, and Paul Harding, local resident who recently gave an excellent speech to the council, are pictured visiting the Woodland Path which has been closed since March 2024.
Mike has been instrumental in getting the path noticed, re-assessed & we hope it opens soon!
