Three Rivers

Local Area Forum minutes #2: Ebury Play Area, Aquadrome & Woodland Path

This meeting was attended by multiple local residents. The next Local Area Forum is 13th November.

2. Ebury Play Area

As we are all aware, during the construction of the bridge and renovation of the play area, Japanese Knotweed was brought in to the area with the top soil. A 16-week Remediation Plan is still being negotiated with the contractor in charge of renovating the Play Area. There are 7 different ways that Knotweed can be treated: chemical methods or manual digging methods. In order for the Remediation Plan to start, the most appropriate method needs to be agreed and vetted by the Environment Agency. Certainly the chemical methods are deemed problematic in a place where children will play and next to the River Colne.

One resident said that the Aquadrome was the jewel in the crown of Rickmansworth, that all residents loved it and to see it in rack and ruin – a jungle – is devastating. Another resident requested that the council sue whoever was responsible for the situation.

Ebury Play Area is a jungle

One resident suggested the Aquadrome was “littered with Knotweed and because it’s not a poisonous plant”, the Play Area should be strimmed and opened up for use. This can’t happen because the contractor is still in possession of the site. And the council confirmed that the Aquadrome is not littered with Japanese Knotweed but there are certain areas where treatment is needed every year. Paula Hiscocks suggested that this yearly treatment is all that is needed in this instance for the play area. The council said that they wanted a permanent solution for this area.

One resident asked why all communications about this issue are not in the public domain. But the council said some things that aren’t yet negotiated cannot be in the public domain yet.

So, although this is the same thing the council said 4 months ago, we suspect they can’t tell us anymore because they might be in some sort of legal situation but we hope that they’re getting a good deal, on our behalf!

3. Aquadrome

One resident reported that people had set up tents in the Aquadrome with tent pegs, i.e. flouting the no-dig rule. The council said that the restrictions placed upon the Aquadrome, due to asbestos being found, can be overcome by using vehicles instead of tents and that whoever needs to can always talk with officers of the council.

The council said the annual Boat Rally would like to expand into areas of the Aquadrome and these areas are being investigated.

4. Woodland Path

This path is still closed because a report denounced it as “structurally unsound”. They are awaiting on a FRAPP but this in turn is waiting on new Environment Agency modelling to determine future flooding. The council meet with the Environment Agency weekly to discuss this issue but this new model is always late – the next launch date is set for 29th September but we’re not holding our breath! Once the FRAPP and modelling are in place then the following items need to be agreed for a durable and long-standing path, that will probably cost 6 figures:

  • The route the new path will take
  • The materials used
  • The construction method used.

Let’s all hope the Ebury Play Area contractors aren’t used!

As the meeting drew to a close, there was a consensus among residents that there wasn’t enough time to hear all the questions and queries from locals about the Ebury Play Area/Aquadrome/Woodland path. The council said they hold regular meetings in Penn Chamber, Three Rivers House, Northway – here are the next ones from the TRDC website:

  • Connecting Three Rivers (formerly Local Strategic Partnership and Community Safety Board) meeting on 25th September, 10am
  • Audit Committee meeting on 25th September, 7.30pm
  • Local Plan Sub-Committee meeting on 8th October, 7pm
  • General Public Services and Community Engagement Committee meeting on 14th October, 7.30pm – future agenda.
  • Climate Change and Leisure Committee meeting on 15th October, 7.30pm
  • **Local Area Forum** meeting on 13th November, 7.30pm – future agenda.
  • Full Council meeting on 21st October, 7.30pm – future agenda.

Agendas are usually set after the preceeding meeting. Anyone can attend any meeting to observe only. Questions from members of the public must be submitted in writing beforehand. However, we can freely get involved during Local Area Forum meetings. To suggest topics for any meeting agenda, submit questions for discussion or to request to speak/present, please email: committeeteam@threerivers.gov.uk.

Click here for part 1 of the meeting: Local Government Reorganisation.

By RDRA, ago

Local Area Forum minutes #1: Local Government Reorganisation

This meeting was attended by multiple local residents. The next Local Area Forum is 13th November.

1. Local Government Reorganisation.

Slides on this topic were presented by the Leader of Three Rivers District Council Cllr. Stephen Giles-Medhurst and can be found on the TRDC’s website: www.threerivers.gov.uk or download them here.

As per our previous post from Jon Bishop, there are three options for unitary authorities (areas) which will merge Hertfordshire’s current 11 areas (Three Rivers being one of those areas) into 2, 3 or 4 Unitary Authorities. Note, the option with 4 Unitary Authorities splits Kings Langley over 2 Authorities – is this a good option?!

Unitary Authority options

Multiple local residents asked why we needed this change at all, as Hertfordshire seems to be working rather well. Stephen agreed saying we have the lowest Council tax. But we were told that Central Government issued this demand so we all must engage in this current survey (closes 30th September, cannot be extended) and a secondary consultation by Central government which begins in Jan/Feb until May 2026. The 2nd consultation will have more detail/data like costs and savings for each of the three options, so we can make informed decisions. Please engage with both surveys and voice concerns. If we say what’s important to us in the surveys then we’re more likely to get what we need. They recommended that you tell your MP what you think during the 2nd consultation stage. They also recommended that each person completes each survey, not just one per household.

A few residents asked why 1 unitary authority wasn’t considered but we were told it was considered but rejected by all 11 Hertfordshire areas, across all political spectrums. This is because a Mayor can’t oversee just 1 unitary authority and it’s silly to combine us with Bucks/Essex/Sussex – it’s just too big an area. Central goverment have dictated that all areas in England need an elected Mayor – this is devolution / shifting power from Central government to Local government. Furthermore, Central government have asked our councils to make savings of £50m.

A report created by Consultants Pricewaterhouse purported savings were made when councils merged and pooled their resources and varied services together.

Council tax is the councils’ revenue and currently, 78% of the council tax we pay goes to our County Council and 10% goes to our District Council. 50% of our County Council’s budget is taken up by Adult Care and Children’s services so combining revenue and sharing costs/resources would be beneficial. They called this combining ‘equalisation’ which took into consideration areas that are wealthy vs deprived.

Slide shows services provided by the current councils

Three Rivers currently saves money on our in-house services, like waste collection and certain bus routes. Hopefully we will be merged with councils who have similar in-house services however, most councils have out-sourced these services. We would hate for our services to become so very costly under outsourced contracts so we should all mention this in the survey. An outsourced contract is only as good as the person who negotatiates a good deal for the council, on behalf of us, its residents. Negotiated services, costs and savings must be transparent.

Our RDRA Chairman asked about the current CIL money (Community Infrastructural Levy totalling £2m) earmarked for improvements to our local area but, after Unitary Authorities are set up, could be diverted to non-local areas. They mentioned setting up a Neighbour Area Committee to deal with this but we’re unclear of the details.

Those who face redundancy from this local government change would likely be TUPE’d to alternative but similar companies.

Current contracts would automatically transfer to the Unitary Authorities.

One resident asked whether the Northway building would be kept. They were hopeful, because it’s modern and useful, but there’s no way of knowing really.

Currently, there are 517 councillors in total in Hertfordshire, Three Rivers has 78 County Councillors and 39 District Councillors. Under each new Unitary Authority, the number of councillors is suggested to be between 30-100 and they would need to serve on multiple committees. They’re hoping to introduce evening meetings so that it’s more inclusive, i.e. more people can volunteer to become councillors. If you agree with this inclusive suggestion, please mention it in the survey.

One resident expressed a wish not to be paired with Watford because they’re “always putting up tower blocks” but this cannot be, simply because we’re located near to each other!

A Strategic Authority will also be created to look after Infrastructure projects, which will take over from the PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner). A Mayor will preside over both Unitary and Strategic Authorities. Parish or Town Councils will be an added layer underneath.

One resident questioned whether the Mayor could interfere with the Unitary Authorities work, in a politically motivated way, but we were told that the Mayor cannot “frustrate proceedings”. The Mayor would only really be in charge of transport.

One resident asked why our buses, which are supposed to have a life span of 8 years, are still running on our roads after 16 years. We were told the Council only funds a few bus services.

One resident kept on asking “what happened with Bucks” – this is what we found out:

  • Bucks council tax increased by 5% after they introduced Unitary Authorities.
  • Bucks chose Unitary Authorities whilst it is mandatory for Herts – dictated to by Central government.
  • Bucks didn’t ringfence their SIL money so it was distributed widely.

They also mentioned Surrey had consultations on their change to Unitary Authorities.

By 1st April 2028 the Unitary Authorities will be up and running. In May 2028, there will be elections for the Mayor.

Please spread the word about this consultation – it closes on 30th September!

Local Government Reorganisation Survey: https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/

This portion of the meeting was minuted so we expect those minutes to appear in the agenda for the next meeting, found here: https://moderngov.threerivers.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=1149

If you need more information about this topic please contact: hertfordshire@connectpa.co.uk.

Click here for part 2 of the meeting: Ebury Play Area, Aquadrome, Woodland Path.

By RDRA, ago

Planning and Local Plan

Following conversations with residents at the last Sunday Market, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for planning developments in your local area. To do this simply go to the Three Rivers website and search planning or click link below: 

https://www.threerivers.gov.uk/services/planning/search-comment-planning-application

Local Plan

The Government target of 11k houses to be built in Three Rivers was reduced down to 4k houses and now called New Local Plan.

Sites earmarked for development in Rickmansworth are on pages 44-48 of this document:
https://cdn.threerivers.gov.uk/files/2023/10/98854f00-74b5-11ee-b56c-7b53d1ba03b1-_Regulation%2018%20Part%20Four%20Consultation%20Document.pdf#page=44

Earmarked developments are marked as green on this map below (red=rejected):
https://cdn.threerivers.gov.uk/files/2023/10/eec2fc90-74b6-11ee-b56c-7b53d1ba03b1-Appendix%203%20-%20South%20West%20Area%20Map.pdf

Futher information on New Local Plan can be found here.

This New Local Plan will be formerly published in Sept/Oct 2024, then submitted to Secretary of State in Feb/March 2025, then adopted in March 2026.

By RDRA, ago

TRDC Local Plan consultation

Three Rivers District Council have issued the Local Plan for the District where they are being required by Government to provide thousands of new dwellings in the District over the next ten years.

Every Council in England is facing the same problem so it is not Three Rivers who are being “picked on” but Residents’ Associations across the country are, of course, up in arms regarding some of the plans.

Your Committee have looked at the proposals and are happy to see that, since the initial list issued in 2018, many of the sites we objected to at the time have been removed from the list.

There are some sites we still object to and some where we are suggesting alternative plans.

We have to accept that the District Council are being forced into the position to provide additional housing but there is one point where, whilst accepting the numbers, we want to insist on: most, if not all, of these new dwellings should be low-cost one and two-bedroom properties as we need somewhere for our children to live and, in most cases, they have to move away when they fly the nest as the homes in Batchworth, Rickmansworth and Mill End are too expensive to stay close to Mum and Dad.

We also need to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support the large number of new dwellings.

We have to accept, I am afraid, that we will lose some of our Green Belt but, happily, the loss will not be as great as feared under the 2018 list. The Association will try to keep this to a minimum.

We will await the planning proposals for each individual site and respond in each case. We will put our initial comments on our website and we will review each proposal as it is published.

In the meantime, you will find full details on the TRDC website and have two chances to comment: TRDC will be sending out details of the overall plan to each household in the near future and there will be a public consultation following that.

Please make sure you read the information sent to you and respond to the consultation.

By RDRA, ago