Author Archives: John Roper

WPAG Welcomes the Wilshere Residents Association

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On Thursday 25th October 2018, following an approach to the WPAG, the Leader of the newly formed Wilshere Park Residents Association, Mr Dan Ramasamy, was invited to introduce himself to the WPAG Committee.

He explained that the WPRA already have some 100 households signed-up to their Association, who are collectively facing a number of unresolved issues with the developers Linden Homes; issues that include un-adopted Highways, Footpaths and Rights of Way, and other services.

 

The Chair of WPAG, and Committee members spent time explaining the value of our connections within the community built up over the past 50 years, and particularly our role as co-opted members of the Welwyn Parish Council (WPC) Planning & Licensing Committee. It is in that capacity that three members of the WPAG Committee have already been earmarked for inclusion in the Neighbourhood Plan Working Party which it is hoped the WPC will soon agree to progress.

 

It was strongly recommended that the WPRA should aim to be included in the NP process once it starts,and the WPAG Chair therefore invited Dan Ramasamy to join the WPAG Committee, as WPRA’s representative, to ensure that that does indeed happen.

 

Dan Ramasamy was asked to submit an Introductory Statement to the WPAG Editor for publication on the WPAG website, following which the WPAG would be able to help raise awareness of WPRA activities within the Welwyn community by offering a link to the WPAG website www.wpag.org.uk

 

All members of the WPRA are encouraged to sign up to receive occasional WPAG Newsletters.

New WPAG Appointments

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On 11th July 2018 the WPAG held an AGM, which had been postponed from its normal scheduled date due to the loss of service of two more key Committee Members for personal reasons, adding to the sad loss of Ron Oxley and Dr John Reay earlier in 2018

The date of the AGM coincided with the quarter finals of the World Cup which will have kept some members away, and as a result we had a low turnout. But, we are very happy to announce that four members volunteered to join the Committee in various capacities, and the new structure can be found in the Contacts section.

There remains one further Committee Vacancy for Lead Member dealing with Planning Applications.

Over the course of the next few months we will hope to include items to introduce the new members to you, who will then have the opportunity to talk about ‘how they see their role’ on the WPAG Committee.

North Herts Concrete Plant – the latest bad news

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We have learned, too late for action at his stage, that a Planning Application 18/01726/FP has been placed with North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) for a Concrete Plant to be constructed on the B656 at Langley, North of Codicote.

The Welwyn Parish Council Planning & Licensing Committee, of which WPAG is a co-opted member, were given no time to consult and respond by the 2nd August deadline, and so Full Council formulated a quick response at their meeting on 30th July.

This Application has huge potential for further worsening the local road infrastructure, in particular the overloaded B656 Welwyn/Codicote Road and the Welwyn Link Road to the A1(M) Roundabout at Clock House Gardens, and we therefore give the earliest opportunity we can to brief you on the position.

Please follow the following link to read a Public Notice and the Planning Application NHDC consultation re concrete plant.

WPAG will now continue to monitor this development closely through our association with the Welwyn Parish Council Planning & Licensing Committee.

 

London Luton Airport – Expansion Consultation

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Luton Airport is planning a major expansion.

A Consultation Paper did not reach the Welwyn Parish Council (WPC) until 25th June 2018 with responses required by 31st August, leaving precious little time to study the associated papers and to respond.

As WPAG are co-opted members of the WPC Planning Committee we have been invited to contribute to their response.

However, the dates of scheduled WPC meetings puts pressure on the time left to respond, and the WPAG Committee will therefore prepare a separate WPAG group response.

The Consultation Documents

To read the Main Consultation Paper go to Consultation Paper and for a Summary go to Consultation Summary. Other associated documents include the Feedback Form

These are weighty papers and the WPC Briefing Paper (copied below), is recommended reading for its comparative brevity.

Individual WPAG members who would like to add thoughts and comments, are encouraged to respond directly to the Consultation.

Briefing Paper for the Welwyn Parish Council Planning Committee

The following Briefing Paper has been prepared by Cllr Bill Morris, Chair of WPC and is reproduced here as it provides a very helpful guide which will be of help to WPAG members.

Background

WPC first became aware of this consultation at their 25th June meeting.  Luton Borough Council (whose company – London Luton Airport Limited – own the airport) are consulting with those whose opinions they seek and who may be affected, about their proposals to expand the airport further and a series of public meetings has been drawn up.  The consultation runs until 31 August, with a series of 17 consultation events taking place in and around Luton between 9 July and 4 August. At these events everyone will have the opportunity to view the plans, speak to members of the expert project team, and provide feedback.  The meeting for our locality was to be held on 10 July at Oaklands College WGC from 1400 to 2000.  Given the lack of open advertisement or direct contact and our late discovery of the event, no WPC representative could attend.  Other venues and times are given on their website and members may wish to attend a more remote event.

The website contains a lot of information including proposals, consultation format and a response booklet:  https:/www.luton.gov.uk/news/Pages/Consultation-gets-under-way-on-potential-expansion-of-London-Luton-Airport.aspx

Given that much of the village, Digswell and Oaklands are under the flight paths, many residents (assuming they were aware) may have concerns.  In addition to the obvious air and noise pollution issues, there are also infrastructure questions concerning travelling both to and from the airport and the airport layout itself, when such an expansion is being considered.The Planning & Licensing Committee is invited to consider the issue and this outline reply, with regard to submission to WPC at their July meeting.  The consultation ends on 31 August, with a further round in 2019.

Proposals

Luton Airport is growing faster than predicted and is now the fifth busiest airport in the UK. At its current rate of growth, Luton is forecast to reach its existing permitted capacity of 18 million passengers per annum (mppa) in 2021.  The Council believe it may be possible to handle up to 36-38 mppa (i.e. doubling the throughput.  The major reasons for doing this, as given by the Council are:

  • There is an opportunity for Luton to play a substantially greater role in the UK aviation market, notwithstanding the proposal for a third runway at Heathrow and the proposed expansion at Stansted. (“Why not us”?)
  • Initial estimates are than there could be an increase of up to 800 new jobs for each additional million passengers per year travelling through Luton and an annual boost to the regional economy of £76m. (“Let’s see the calculations and if Herts and a village such as ours really benefits”)
  • The contribution of an expanded Luton to Beds, Bucks and Herts could reach up to £2.6bn and support up to 42,000 jobs. (as per previous statement).

Essentially this all boils down to developing the site to be able to handle a doubling in passenger numbers and presumably in aircraft numbers (large jets are the most significant, the extensive and lucrative private jet market is important but insignificant in these terms.)  This in turn means expansion or re-arranging of: runway(s), terminal building(s), aircraft hangers (servicing/repairs etc.), inter-communication within the airport and passenger transport infrastructure outside the airport and beyond.

[1] Prepared by Bill Morris, Chair WPC, following a request from Colin Hukin, Chair P&L Committee.  The author has lived in Welwyn (near QVM Hospital) for over 32 years, has flown in and out of Luton Airport on business and pleasure all of that time and still continues to do so for pleasure, twice a year.  His home is also under the westbound landing flight path.

Van Gogh Statue – Reception and Unveiling

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The WPAG Reception

The sculptor Anthony Padgett attended a WPAG Reception at the Chairman’s home on Friday evening 29th June 2018, attended by invited members of the WPAG Committee, Welwyn Parish Council, and other local organisations and dignitaries who had shown a close interest and support for the project to install the Van Gogh Statue in the village.

He was welcomed by Carl Storer, WPAG Chairman, who  proudly explained the vital role played by the WPAG which had led to the successful formal acceptance by the Welwyn Parish Council..

Anthony acknowledged the involvement of the WPAG Project Manager, Sandra Kyriakides in making this happen and, as a show of his thanks, he presented her with a signed copy of his book ‘A Year with Vincent Van Gogh‘.

 

The Official Unveiling

On Saturday morning, 30th June 2018, Mrs Marion Brown MBE JP, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire joined a gathering of villagers and local Borough and Parish Councillors to officially unveil the Van Gogh sculpture outside Welwyn’s Bridge Cottage Surgery in the High Street.

She was accorded a formal welcome by Councillor Bill Morris, Chairman of Welwyn Parish Council. On behalf of Welwyn residents, Cllr Morris acknowledged the great good fortune offered to the village by Anthony Padgett’s most generous donation of the Van Gogh sculpture, which is in fact the first of his busts to be displayed in England.

Anthony reminded us that Vincent Van Gogh had walked 100 miles to visit his sister, Anna, who was a teacher at Miss Applegarth’s School in Forge Lane, and pondered the thought that Vincent might have bathed his tired feet in the Mimram at the very spot where we have now erected his statue.

 

Committee Vacancies – WPAG Secretary

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The Chairman published an appeal for new Committee members in January 2018, and we are delighted that several names have been submitted for consideration at the forthcoming AGM on 11th July 2018 **

But please note that of all the positions that we have to fill, the post of Secretary is probably the most critical at the present time.

If you feel you might help us by filling this role, please contact the Chairman, Carl Storer on to discuss what this job entails.

** Details of the AGM have been published in our June 2018 Newsletter.. If you have not subscribed to receive occasional online Newsletters please do so by following the Newsletters tab on the website.

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Committee Vacancies – Appeal for help from the Chairman

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WPAG COMMITTEE – NOTICE TO MEMBERS: 

WE HAVE COMMITTEE VACANCIES AND WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Since the 1960’s, the Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group Committee members have worked on behalf of the community to ensure that issues connected with Planning, Community Safety, Heritage and Environment in the Welwyn Parish are fully researched and acted upon.

The Committee has ensured that the WPAG Membership is kept fully informed on matters of importance.

The WPAG website keeps members updated with newsletters and bulletins, together with links to other Welwyn-based organisations and local events.

The Committee has remained constant for several years.   The work is enjoyable and is not onerous.  We meet only a few times a year. Up to two WPAG Committee members are co-opted onto each meeting of the WPC Planning and Licensing Committee, which meets once every 3 weeks and, as only two are needed at a time, we rotate our attendance according to convenience. Shared among a full committee, the duties are minimal.

Very sadly, over the past 12 months we have lost several committee members through ill-health and death.  We are therefore urgently seeking four new Committee Members.

If you feel you could spare a little time to join the committee of what is a very worthwhile group, we would love to talk to you.

You would be doing something very worthwhile for your community whilst having the opportunity to get involved in helping to maintain the status quo of our beautiful village.

Please contact:

Herts. Police & Crime Commissioner – WPAG Response to the Proposed Policing Precept 2018 Increase

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Precept Consultation
Police and Crime Commissioner

Further to your Open Letter, the Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group would like to make the following comments:

Welwyn Parish is primarily a rural community, which centres round the village high street and amenities.

There are a large number of elderly residents and properties on the outer boundaries are somewhat remote from transport links.  The roads are very dark at night and, with the exception of the village centre, quiet.

Over the past two or three years there has been a marked increase in petty crime and anti-social behaviour, attributable in many instances to local youths and, on occasion, to travelling community children.

For local businesses, there have been issues of shoplifting, nuisance, vandalism and harassment.

For residents, there have been issues of nuisance, vandalism (especially to vehicles), harassment, dangerous “wheelie” cycling on footpaths and against traffic, speeding at night on roads, general disturbance.  For the elderly this is very frightening.

There have also been the usual burglaries and thefts from vehicles.  Another issue that concerns residents is the very frequent illegal parking on the zigzags, and on the zebra crossing, outside Tesco in Welwyn Village.  This takes place mostly in the evenings between 5:30 and 7:30 pm.

Residents appreciate that, in the great order of issues within the Welwyn Hatfield Borough, the above are of lesser importance to the gang, drug, knife and violent crimes that take place in other parts.  They also understand that the police must give priority to these above the minor issues.

However, two years ago, you promised to increase community policing.  Policing in Welwyn Village is minimal.  The local PCSO has a vast area to cover; we rarely see him.  Policing is, by nature of the limited resources and cuts, reactive as opposed to proactive.

Residents still reminisce to the “good old days” 3 years ago, when a local PC was regularly seen in Welwyn and was known by almost everyone.  Old fashioned policing it may have been – but it worked.  He knew the local youths and communicated with them.  We had no noticeable anti-social behaviour, nor any of the issues that have ensued since the “Bobby was taken off the Beat”.

It is unlikely that residents would object to an increase in local taxation to cover more PCs and PCSOs, providing there was some evidence of better police support for local communities.

Carl Storer

Chairman, Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group

Sandra Kyriakides

Project Manager, Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group

Website problem resolved

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Some might have noticed that for the past week we have had a security issue with the website. The result was that anybody accessing it would have received a warning about the wisdom of proceeding because the problem might have been caused by an external malicious site. .

I wish to let you know that we knew about the problem right from the start, It was linked to moving across to a new Security Certificate (SSL) registration.

For those who might be interested, if you look at our URL (website name at the top of this page) you will see a green padlock and the word ‘Secure’ which signifies that this site is secure, as it always has been. You will notice that the usual HTTP:// also has an S added to it – HTTPS://  – S stands for security.

All websites you visit should have this Green Padlock and an HTTPS web address – look for it always as I believe you should be wary if you access any site that doesn’t have it.

The SSL for our site has to be renewed on an annual basis. Last week, as we moved over the certificate, our website host removed some code which caused the problems accessing the site.

We now have the issue ironed out and our new Security Licence is up and running for the coming year.

We do apologise for the alarm we might have caused our members, and we thank those who helpfully wrote to the chairman to point out that we had a problem.