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Due to the vast number of responses to the second Regulation 18 consultation, the District Council have four members of staff working on a third revision which will be published in the Autumn.

It is not clear if this will be a third Regulation 18 consultation or a Regulation 19 – this is the last list which is produced before a Public Enquiry.

This will put off the finalisation of the Local Plan for a few years with two possible adverse implications for the residents of the District.

The first of these is that the Government may impose a Local Plan on the area, the second is that, without a Local Plan to refer to, developers could develop sites without District Council Planning approval.
The next document could well call back in sites which were taken out of the first list in 2018 many of which we objected to due to them being on Green Belt land or on a flood plain (in some cases both!).

By Michael Stimpson, ago

An inoculation of musical cheer

David Halls is director of music at Salisbury Cathedral, one of the most imposing church buildings in the country. But on Wednesday, March 9 he will be performing in Rickmansworth’s rather more modest Baptist church.

Early last year, when the 800-year-old cathedral was transformed into a giant vaccination centre, David and a colleague soothed the nerves of people queuing for their jabs by playing organ music by Bach and Handel – and even a little Rodgers and Hammerstein. Their much-appreciated performances attracted international media attention as it was one of the few cheerful news stories at that stage of the pandemic.

One year on, David is coming to Rickmansworth to take part in the latest in a series of concerts that Three Rivers Music Society is staging to tempt classical music lovers back to live events.

David, an accomplished pianist, will be performing with his cellist brother, Steven, and violinist Daphne Moody. Steven Halls, who was the long-time chair of the national Elgar Society, also happens to be the retired chief executive of Three Rivers District Council. Daphne Moody is a sought-after orchestral leader and chamber music player who has played with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the London Festival and Halle orchestras.

The trio will be performing music by Antonio Vivaldi, Antonin Dvořák and Frank Bridge, who was Benjamin Britten’s teacher.

The concert will be held in the Baptist Church, High Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1EH. It will begin at 3pm (pre-concert talk from 2.45pm). Tickets £16 at the door. Reduced price for members. Free entry for under-25s.

By Michael Stimpson, ago