About Us
Representing the Residents of Kingsmead
We are passionate about representing you and improving Kingsmead as a place to live, work and enjoy life. Nestled on the east of Hertford Kingsmead is rich in natural resources, from the wildlife rich meads to the 'bat cave' in the chalk escarpment adjacent to Pinehurst to the biodiverse Foxholes Woodland. But in services, infrastructure and activities there's a way to go and we are looking to proactively improve Kingsmead to reflect the new normal.
Our Story
Early in 2017, shocked local residents noticed that vehicles were overflowing from Liberty Rise, a newly built, dense housing estate in Ware Road and causing highway safety issues, due to road narrowing, blocked pavements and obstructed vision, both in Ware Road and surrounding roads. This situation was made even more worrying in that both a primary school and nursery were situated next to the estate.
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A concerned local resident began an online petition to Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) which led to a meeting with, the then, County Councillor. At this meeting local residents decided to set up an Action Group to campaign for the parking situation to be resolved by the District and County councils.
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The ‘Kingsmead Residents Action Group’ (KRAG) was born, and, over the next few months a campaign was waged to highlight road safety problems resulting from overdevelopment, which included challenging any new development proposals which did not provide sufficient parking provision. All this took place while residents awaited the outcome of a promised review of Liberty Rise, carried out by Councillors and the Head of Planning. A review which incidentally, never materialised.
By the end of 2018, KRAG decided to reform itself as a residents’ association and by April the following year, the Kingsmead Residents’ Association (KRA) was launched at a well attended public meeting which included presentations given by the County Councillor and local Police.
Following its start and under the new Chair, Mike Viitmaa, KRA tackled a number of local issues such as the ongoing Rush Green roundabout highway safety problems. In November 2019 a peaceful protest was held outside McDonald’s to highlight the problem and bring pressure to bear on those responsible for remedying the problem.
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KRA also continued to campaign on the problems resulting from the Liberty Rise estate parking issue. When the Covid pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, KRA continued meeting virtually and although there were some limitations, existing actions were pursued. The Kingsmead Neighbourhood Plan (KNP) was born in late 2019 following KRA Chair Mike Viitmaa’s consultation with local ward councillors; an independent KNP Steering Group was formed in June 2021 chaired by Vicky Glover-Ward. The Kingsmead Neighbourhood Plan has been a major achievement for KRA; representing significant hard work by four Working Groups formed by a number of local resident volunteers and including consultation with local residents on the direction, content and issues to be tackled.
KRA continue to campaign on issues of importance to local residents but with the receipt of the KNP Action Plan are also focussing on being proactive and implementing the many improvements identified by local residents for local residents.
