The editors have done it to me again. Moved the deadline so it comes just before important Town Council meetings and it becomes difficult to make comments on meetings that have not yet taken place. This time, the first Monday in December has the Finance & Policy Committee discussing the 1998/9 Budget and the second Monday in the Month is full Council to ratify all the decisions made in the cycle. This means you will just have to wait until the next issue to read all about it.
Never mind, the Borough Council still has things going on that rarely get reported in the local newspaper for some reason, so on with the usual mix of news and views from over there about over here.
Salt bins. The very words to get you all wondering what the fuss are all about. It appears that everyone thinks they know where they are and who looks after them. At Borough Works committee on 21st October it was reported that there were 72 bins and it would cost the Borough Council around £4000 to take them over. The Town Council asked the Borough how many of that total was in Berkhamsted and the number and locations were provided. It seems we have 20 odd and after getting alternate quotations, could cost us between £1000 and £2000, depending on the weather and how much goes on residents drives! At the full council at the Borough on the 19th November, it was clear that the Borough control quite a lot of the 72 mentioned, and could easily be as many as 63, leaving just 6 that County pays for. Cllr Coxage, the Chairman of Works promised to get a definitive answer and guess when the next meeting is? Correct – the second Monday in December so once again you will have to wait for the correct figure. I presume, the Town Council will make its’ final decision once this is sorted out, as if there are only 6 bins that County pay to look after, what are we doing considering 20 odd?

Still at the Borough Council, recent applications for major(ish) developments in Berkhamsted that you may have missed include the 8 houses proposed for the old Sunnyside Social Club site in George Street and 6 flats in Bedford Street. Hang on, both these are off of the unmade part of George Street and I’m not sure it is such a good idea to add another 14 dwellings which will need to use the local very crowded narrow roads to gain access. Both developments will have to use the unmade private roads and the Borough missed the opportunity to obtain some form of development gain prior to approval. You may remember that Waitrose were required to make some improvements included in the planning conditions. Sainsburys and Tesco in Hemel Hempstead as were the housing developments at Fields End and Belswains Lane also had this type of condition attached, but when it comes to part of the conservation area in Berkhamsted, not a dickey bird. I realise that perhaps the residents do not want their roads resurfaced, new fangled street lighting and road drainage installed, but to be asked would be nice.

The Town Council Environment Committee met on the 27th October and in the allotments part of the meeting, it was decided to recommend to Council that the management of the Sunnyside allotments should remain with the Town Council for the time being. It was also resolved that parking spaces should be created on two allotment plots and no doubt, planning applications will be made in the fullness of time for this change of use. The routine matter of low/nil water flow in the Bulboune was also dealt with and I trust it will be brought up at the next Environment Forum held at the Civic Centre at Hemel Hempstead in the new year. I mean, if the problem of the Gade can be discussed, then why not the Bulbourne? You have already read in the local press that the Canal & Riverside Partnership (C.A.R.P.) scheme for Berkhamsted could easily cost over half a million pounds and with the Berkhamsted Urban Design Study (B.U.D.S.) also looking for funds, we can all look forward to an exciting year or three ahead.
The Community Action Committee met on the 17th November and concern was expressed that we may have to put our hands in our pockets to replace the trees in the High Street that had been damaged largely due to the intended protection not being installed. It appears that County has done all this work in the High Street and walked away as quickly as possible. Tring have found this out to their cost when some of the street furniture was damaged and County informed them it was tough that the special furniture was just that, special. The Borough tree officer has suggested that bigger trees should be used for replacements and that the Town Council applies for a grant towards this work. It really is cloud cookoo land this local government lark.
You may also be interested to know that the Berkhamsted Town Centre Advisory Form had its meeting on 1st October and as many as six members of the public attended. This was an initiative of the new Borough Council and is an ideal place to ask all those questions about the relationship between Berkhamsted and the Borough. At the October meeting, the conservation officer gave a detailed report on the activities within the conservation area, town maps, parking charges, town guide, the ex Waitrose site, CCTV and recycling were all subjects discussed. If you wish to get answers to those questions that the Borough are best placed to answer, the make a note in your new 1998 diary that the Sessions Hall at the rear of the Town Hall (old building next to Halifax building society) on Wednesday 7th January at 7:30pm.
To finish on a light hearted note, at the Borough Council meeting on 19th November the leader of the Council, Cllr Julia Coleman, defended the proposed grant of  £1000 as a contribution towards an Eastern Region Brussels Office as a cheap price to pay in return for the monies that Europe had already provided in grants to the Borough. I suppose we can all expect an announcement that the Borough Council will be buying lottery tickets on our behalf due to the various lotteries funded grants that have been awarded.