It's been a busy few months since our last update as things have been moving on apace and we have been very busy bunnies beavering away (I do love a mixed metaphor). So, a quick few high (and low) lights.
Litter Picking
Organising a litter picking event has been high on the KRA agenda for some time and long serving committee member (former secretary) Karen Johns took on the mantel and volunteered to organise a monthly event.
The first litter pick was held on the 3rd July and have been very successful
Durkan not only offered to supply KRA with litter picking kits but they also went the extra mile as we asked if it were possible to have ones made by Waterhaul who make them from recycled fishing nets picked up off UK beaches and they obliged. They also sent along several volunteers for our first event
We are now doing a monthly (first Sunday of the month, one hour from 1400) litter picking blitz so if you want to join us just look out for the details from our mailing list or on our social media.
Dangerous Tank in Foxholes Woods
In spring 2021 KRA noticed that a cover was missing off what appeared to be an attenuation tank (basically a tank to hold storm water when there is a high flow and release it slowly to stop there being flooding as a result of too much water hitting the drains at one time) near the path to Caxton Hill from Foxholes Woodlands and just below Foxholes Business Park. Cllr Crystall (Herts County Council) reported it to East Herts District Council and Cllr Bolton (East Herts County Council) has been chasing it for the year or so since being passed between it being the responsibility of Herts County Council or Thames Water or Foxholes Business Park.
At the start of the second week of Oct KRA were informed that children were using the tank to play in, daring each other to go down and then the others putting the temporary cover over and standing on it. Obviously this needed to be addressed urgently.
We started off by writing to the owner of Foxholes Business Park who investigated, made a temporary repair and then confirmed it was not their responsibility. KRA then reviewed the title deeds for the land and it appeared that the access hatches were the responsibility of the landlord, Tarmac. We wrote to them formally, emailed their PR people and tweeted them and to be fair, received a quick response, stating that the hatches were the responsibility of Thames Water
After a short pause for a long sigh and girding of the loins we entered the fray again, pointed out that the tank was on their land, takes water from properties occupied by their tenants and Thames Water had formally confirmed that they normally were never responsible for these types of tanks and they had checked their asset registers and maps and this one was most definitely, 100% not their responsibility.
Tarmac then fitted yet another temporary cover within a few hours and a full and permanent repair to the cover within a few days. So, the immediate hazard has been resolved. We are chasing to find out when the tank will be cleared of the detritus within it as this may affect operation and this then may present a flood risk to properties in Kingsmead. Watch this space.....
Cinema at the Castle
As part of the various community actions we have taken with Durkan KRA did receive a large number of tickets for the Hertford Castle Open Air Cinema. Cake and drinks were also provided and, judging by the thank you email, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the films.
Big thank you to Durkan from KRA for a brilliant event
Hedgelaying - Cromwell Road Allotments
Bit of a tortuous one this: in Feb Hertford Town Council (HTC) undertook a bit of over zealous hedge cutting to the entire boundary of Cromwell Road Allotments earlier this year (see previous posts) but one good thing that did come out of it was that a KRA member plus allotmenteer mentioned that he knew how to hedge lay and was interested in teaching people how to do it if KRA organised the volunteers. It all snowballed a bit and we received an offer from Durkan to provide a couple of extra hedge laying coaches plus a bit of food. All we needed was the landowners permission so we approached Hertford Town Council via our local town councillor to ask for the permission.....
Which is where it all went a bit Pete Tong; Council Officers didn't manage to discuss our proposal with KRA before presenting it to the relevant HTC committee, by which point it had morphed into HTC organising a hedge laying day to teach their council officers how to hedge lay all paid for by Durkan. HTC then went away to get a price for doing this and at the recent October meeting discussed a proposal for a community hedge laying at the cost of £1,200. We did send in our alternative proposal (at least three, possibly more, experienced hedgelayers and a set of volunteers learning to hedge lay with food providing a skill share community event) but HTC prefer to organise their own hedge laying event in the next four months (needs to be done before the end of Feb). We'll let you know any details if they get in touch.
Kingsmead Neighbourhood Plan Gets to 'Regulation 16' consultation.
KNP has managed to get to the next stage of consultation which is a brilliant result in the just over two years since we had our first meeting. Full details at:
If you want to comment then:
The consultation will run for a 6 week period between the 22nd September and 4th November 2022. A full set of consultation documents can be viewed on East Herts District Council website, alongside an online comment form at www.eastherts.gov.uk/kingsmeadnp. Paper copies of the plan can be viewed at East Herts Council, Hertford Town Council and Hertford Library.
Rush Green - the traffic jam that keeps growing
We have been working on the situation at Rush Green but it is slow, slow and more slow. We have made the Mercury along with long term campaigner Nigel Bowen. Our preference is for a camera to enforce the urban clearway, with or without a box junction. Please send us your videos to show how dangerous the situation is particularly if you have a near miss! But don't take any risks if you're driving: dashcam and passenger footage only please!
The Railway..... Hmmmmm
Residents in Ware Road, Tamworth Road and various other areas in the vicinity had 24/7 working with drills, saws and heavy machinery for several weeks in August with the last straw being the diesel locomotive that sat at the level crossing near Rowley's Road and cycled up and down constantly for several days.
KRA did lead on complaining to Network Rail (not them), Greater Anglia and local councillors but were told that because East Herts Council had granted Greater Anglia permission to undertake the works nothing could be done to make it any more bearable.
KRA did complain about the lack of any consultation with local residents and also the fact that Kingsmead residents did not receive any letters warning of the works as Greater Anglia only delivered them between Hertford East and Talbot Street.
While KRA were not consulted we have been told by local councillors that extensive consultation was undertaken with local residents before the plans were approved..........
Quick Notes:
The works have destroyed what used to be a valuable wildlife corridor between the meads and gardens along the north of Tamworth Road. Local residents have reported that their frequent sightings of grass snakes, muntjac, foxes and other wildlife have dwindled since all the trees were cut down.
The land was designated by the Hertfordshire Eco Map as 'green' meaning that it was valuable habitat; the Herts and Middx Wildlife Trust did say that they expected the land to regenerate after the works. Unfortunately the land has been sown with many stones as well as compacted so it may be a long time before any regeneration happens.
It may also mean a change to the KNP as the plan has this area as a local green space due to the wildlife potential.
Our final swift box installation day (in partnership with Hertford Swift Group ) this year was in July. We're discussing the next steps with them over the winter and hope to have new areas for swift box colonisation ready for next year.
Lisa and Liz are working away on both of our next two biodiversity projects (both of which are being funded by a grant from Ben, our Herts County Councillor):
A leaflet of practical tips on how to increase food and habitat for insects in your gardens. While overlooked these little creatures provide the start of the food chain for birds and mammals and they are reducing in numbers. We know we have had the invasion of the white fly recently but our wildlife needs more of them (and other insects)
Our trial hedgehog highway along Foxholes Avenue and Woodlands Road.
So it's all been a bit full on over the past few months. We have lots of exciting stuff coming up in the next few months including (we hope) an unveiling of the sign at the bowl barrow at Pinehurst along with a donation of the water colour illustration to the Hertford Museum. The watercolour illustrates the relationship between the barrow at Pinehurst and the remains of Bronze Age dwellings found under Foxholes Business Park.
As ever: watch this space!
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