South West Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats

Carers in Hertfordshire is the leading charity in Herts for unpaid carers looking after a loved one, friend, neighbour or relative due to their illness, frailty mental health needs, disability or substance misuse.

Carers in Hertfordshire offers support to all careers, children or adults. whom either live or work in Hertfordshire.Carers do not have to live with the person they are looking after to be eligible to receive help and advice.

At this time of year, the Ashridge Estate on the edge of the Chiltern Hills is a beautiful place to visit. It is under the care of the National Trust and access is free.

It's a great place to walk your dog. There are extensive woodlands and open spaces well away from public roads. But please be considerate regarding other visitors and wildlife. The National Trust asks that you keep your dog close by you or on a lead and that you don't let it go out of sight.

Don't forget Ashridge is a special place for wildlife. Not only that but the law says that during the bird nesting season (1st March to 31st July) dogs should be kep on the lead.

There are wild animals on the estate (though nor "wild" as in "fierce"!) such as deer and muntjac. Please don't let your dog chase them as it can lead to road accidents.

In addition there are sheep and cattle grazing in the park and on the chalk grasslands as well as on nearby land managed by tenant farmers. Please take care your dog does not chase these either as this can lead to stress and injury of the animals - especially if these are pregnant females.

In Ashridge, please could dog owners...

L ib Dems were disappointed, but not surprised, when Hertfordshire Tories effectively voted to increase property developer profits by reducing the amount they have to pay to provide school places.

Counties can fix the amount of contribution developers must pay for new schools from within a range set by the Government. The Tory change in contribution, from the upper end of the range allowed in the regulations to the bottom end, was proposed by officers because it was 'too difficult to argue' after neighbouring authorities and the Government's own agency, the Education & Skills Funding Authority (ESFA), allowed developers to contribute the lowest possible amount for building schools to the lower specification.

Lib Dems were disappointed, but not surprised, when Hertfordshire Tories voted to enhance property developer profits by reducing the amount they have to pay to provide school places.

The change in policy, from the upper end of the range allowed in the regulations to the bottom end, was proposed by officers because it was 'too difficult to argue' after neighbouring authorities and the Government's own agency, the ESFA, allowed developers to contribute the lowest possible amount or are building schools to the lower specification.

At the HCC Council Meeting of 27th March, Lara Pringle, the new DBC councillor for Northchurch presented a petition from the local Road Safety Pressure Group, "Go 20 Northchurch".
Local residents have been calling for some time for a 20 mph speed limit to be imposed on the centre of the village.

Police & Crime Commissioner's proposal would strip assets and close fire stations

Hertfordshire County Council today renewed objections to a bid by Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd to take over the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service. The Council's Cabinet voted to continue to oppose the hostile takeover and to refute the PCC's latest claims.

Cllr Nick Hollinghurst, Liberal Democrat Town and County Councillor for Tring, said "DBC has consistantly negllected our shared use sports facilities. These were originally built and provided at public expense for shared use both by the public and the school. Over the years, access by the public to these facilities has become more and more restricted.

Welwyn Hatfield & Hertfordshire Campaigns Co-ordinator

The Campaign Co-ordinator will play a pivotal role in delivering the campaign strategy and plan in Welwyn Hatfield and across a number of development areas in Hertfordshire.

Job Title: Campaigns Co-ordinator

Responsible to: Chair of Herts County Co-ordinating Committee and Chair of Welwyn Hatfield

The DBC Development Control Committee, which newly elected Lib Dem Councillor Lara Pringle addressed last night as Ward Councillor, unanimously voted to refuse planning permission for a development at Dudswell that involved a long, narrow access road onto an already complex and cluttered junction on the busy A4251.

Thameslink passengers are now experiencing one of the first self-drive train journeys on a UK mainline - although they may not realise it! In combination with Network Rail's new digital signalling system, trains are being run every 2 - 3 minutes St Pancras and Blackfriars.

The use of Siemens self-drive technologyis expected to boost capacity by 60,000 passengers across 80 stations on 12 different routes during 2019. The routes will pass as far north as Peterborough and Cambridge, and south down to Brighton and Maidstone.