It is with great sadness that we record the death of our colleague John Reay, a member of the Committee continuously from 1978 – 2017.

Over those years John held many positions, and early Minute Books record the many positions he held:

1975 – 1984 auditor

1978 – 1982 Treasurer

1982 – 1984 Chairman

1993 – 2002 Chairman

2001 – 2010 Secretary

During his terms of Office as Chairman, with his trade-mark extensive knowledge, wide experience and sound judgement, John undoubtedly helped to shape the community that we all enjoy today. He always led from the front with tenacity and energy.

A notable example arose in 1982, when as a resident of Danesbury, and in his first term of office as Chairman of the WPAG, he played a major part in forming the Danesbury Residents Association with the initial prime purpose of raising sufficient funds to employ Counsel to fight the Appeal by Rialto Homes to build 650 homes on Danesbury Park. Working with the Parish Council and the then District Council, and representing both the Danesbury Residents Association and the Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group, John addressed the Inspector at the Appeal.

The appeal was successfully fought and it pays us all to stop and consider for just one moment what a significant difference it would have made to the village today, had the Rialto development of 650 houses succeeded.

And then, in 1992, before commencing his second term of office as Chairman, John gave a clue to those subjects dearest to his heart when he gave the Annual WPAG AGM Presentation on the subject of ‘The Environment and Us’. He focused his talk on three topics which he pursued vigorously throughout his time here in Welwyn:

• The A1(M)  motorway
• The Mimram River
• The situation regarding waste disposal and litter.

They were just a few of the ‘big issues’ that John was involved with in his 9 years second term of Office as Chairman of the WPAG.

Apart from the Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group, a fuller research would uncover many other Committees and organisations in Welwyn that felt John’s influence over the years.

What is beyond doubt is that the Community will miss John’s influence and his wise counsel. We all owe him a huge debt of thanks for his kindness and wisdom and for the help and encouragement he gave to others who had the temerity to try to follow in his footsteps.

Other Organisations that John was involved with are as follows:

Welwyn Parish Council

(To be researched)

Welwyn & District Road Safety Committee

John was an active member of the Welwyn & District Road Safety Committee for many years.

Danesbury Residents Association

Since 1982 when John as Chairman of the WPAG was instrumental in setting up the Danesbury Residents Association to fight the Rialto Housing development on Danesbury Park, he has remained a Member of the DRA Committee without interruption from 1982-2017, a total of 35 years. During all that time the Committee has enjoyed the benefit of his counsel, advice and extensive knowledge developed over all the years he has been an active and leading member of this community of ours in Welwyn.

The following report is extracted from an email from Parish Councillor Peter Neville

Govia (the local rail operator) have opened a consultation into the weekday timetables to be introduced in December 2018 (i.e. in about 18 months’ time). Weekend timetables will be shared later in the year.

Go to Welwyn North Draft Time Table for details of the draft time-table.

Details of other routes (e.g. Moorgate-WGC) are available at https://www.transformingrail.com/download-timetables

In summary the draft timetable provides  for half-hourly trains from Welwyn North calling at WGC, Hatfield, Potters Bar, Finsbury Park, St Pancras and thence via Farringdon, the City and Blackfriars to destinations in Kent (sadly not Gatwick or Brighton as originally hoped – we would have to change at Finsbury Park or St Pancras for those).

In the rush hour, additional trains run Welwyn North NONSTOP twice-hourly to KingsX in the morning. And correspondingly in the reverse direction, with similar fast trains northbound in the evening rush hour.

The consultation runs until 5pm on Thursday 27 July 2017.

Comments on the proposed timetable can be sent by email to <>.

To assist the consultation from a personal perspective, the railway company recommend a visit to their journey checking tool on www.transformingrail.com/

But the tool excludes journeys in the Peterborough direction, which will lose its through service from WGC/WN!

To All Supporters of the Welwyn Planning & Amenity Group

Annual Subscriptions are now due.

Membership is due on 31st March each year and we now seek your 2017/2018 Annual Subscription of £4 per individual, or £6 for family membership.

We are aware that with the loss of our long-running Treasurer we have been negligent in recent years in collecting Subscriptions from all our members. If you are not a fully paid-up member we have decided that we will impose a moratorium on all overdue subscriptions and start again for the current year and, with your help, try to do a better job in future years.

For those of you who enjoy the website, and who receive our occasional Newsletters for free, we ask you to consider joining as paid-up WPAG members. We are a Registered Charity, (No. 272277), and we have no other source of income other than from subscriptions.

Our organisation is non-profit making and is run by an elected committee of volunteers for the community.  Membership subscriptions are intentionally very low and cover our basic administrative costs for website, stationery, printing etc., although the website costs are likely to climb.

So, for a very small outlay, please help us keep it going, as we think it is worth it and we have a renewed mission within the community of Welwyn.

How to pay your Subscription? – Go to the Membership Page

We are trying to move away from the need for you to write a cheque, mail it to the Treasurer, and get a receipt in the post. This takes time and money and for most of us is no longer necessary.

So from 2017, you have a Four choices of payment method.

Choice 1   Paypal  – One off payment

Choice 2   Paypal  –  Recurring payment

Choice 3   BACS payment direct to the WPAG account and make it annually               recurring.

Choice 4   Contact the Treasurer and arrange to send a cheque.

Why your support is worth it.

1. Continued Community Involvement.

We have recently undergone some major administrative changes.  We now have two ex-Borough Councillors serving on our committee, bringing with them years of local knowledge and experience, together with specific knowledge of planning and licensing requirements.  They are: Carl Storer (now WPAG Chairman) and Sandra Kyriakides (WPAG Project Manager).

Formed in the 1960’s, the Group works closely with Welwyn Parish Council and has two members co-opted onto the WPC Planning and Licensing Committee.  We monitor all proposed Planning Applications for their potential impact on the character of Welwyn and the amenities enjoyed by its residents, and we work to maintain the continuing protection of the Welwyn Conservation Area.  We are proud of this good relationship and our ability to work together for the benefit of the local community.

2. WPAG website – what we offer

Our website has also undergone radical change.  WPAG takes an active interest in all aspects of life in and around Welwyn including community services, and recreational facilities. Through the website we encourage and support the activities of local Clubs and Societies and offer local groups the opportunity to use us to advertise their activities and forthcoming events, thereby putting local information at your fingertips through our web pages.

Our Project Manager will post regular updates on matters of concern, local issues and interesting developments.

Visit us at the Welwyn Festival Fun Day 

For the first time this year, we will have a table at the Welwyn Festival Fun Day on Singlers Marsh.  This will be inside the Welwyn Parish Council Tent and we hope you will take the opportunity to come and talk to us and to sign up for membership on the day, if you have not already done so.

One final reminder. We are a Registered Charity and a non-profit making organisation run by an elected committee of local Welwyn volunteers for the benefit of the community. Membership subscriptions are very low and cover our basic administrative costs for website, stationery, printing etc.

Please continue your support, and become a fully paid-up WPAG member.