Highfield Cllrs Brenda Link and Lloyd Harris will hold an advice surgery on Sat 21st June at Highfield Community Centre, Bellgate, Fletcher Way from 10am-noon.

Tonight I attended a committee of the council and spoke out against the closure of Post Offices across Dacorum including the Heights in Highfield.
My fellow Councillor Brenda Link has an article on her site on the campaign to save the Heights. http://brendalink.mycouncillor.org.uk/
The whole committee agreed to get Dacorum Council to write in objection to the closure of all the five threatened Post Offices.

Last Night at Full Council I took the opportunity to condemn the Council’s plan to drastically cut bedding plants and hanging baskets. All hanging baskets will be removed from neighbourhood shopping centres including those in Highfield next year.

4/00978/08/FUL TWO DWELLINGS GARAGE COURT ADJ. 7, MALVERN WAY, HP2 5RB for HIGHTOWN PRAETORIAN & CHURCHES HOUSING ASSOCIATION LTD (comments by 10th JUNE)
http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=1497&ID=4/00978/08/FUL 

4/00794/08/FUL CONVERSION OF DWELLING TO FORM THREE RESIDENTIAL UNITS, 9 SATURN WAY, HP2 5NY (comments now closed)
http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=1497&ID=4/00794/08/FUL
4/00797/08/FUL CONVERSION OF DWELLING TO FORM THREE RESIDENTIAL UNITS, 21 SATURN WAY, HP2 5NY (comments now closed)
http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=1497&ID=4/00797/08/FUL

As borough councillors for Highfield between them Cllrs Lloyd Harris & Brenda Link get £4000 a year to spend for the benefit of Highfield ward during a council year (1st April to 31st March).

As a special one off unspent money form the last council year has been rolled over to this year (beginning on 1st April 2008) so between them they have £8000 to spend on good causes.

At a public meeting on 15th March, representatives from St Paul’s Church, Knee High Club, Indoor Bowls Club, Community Centre, SOCA (Carnival Club) and Thumpers Residents Assoc were received. Money is still available for other causes, so if you have any suggestions to how this money should be allocated, please email the councillors direct.

On 27th February, the Dacorum Council members debated the budget.   I voted for a 3.8% Council Tax increase but the Conservatives used their majority to impose a 4.5% increase.
  Read the rest of this entry »

At the full council meeting the Conservative Administration denied that the budget process for the coming year was delayed but admitted that the first chance opposition members would have to see it will be in February.
Cllr Denise Rance, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Official Opposition, questioned the Leader of the Council who could not bring himself to admit that scrutiny of the budget had been removed from all committee meetings in the autumn, and often with little notice.
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 At  full council meeting on 16th Jan Conservative councillors had to admit that the auditors had expressed several concerns about the Council’s financial arrangements.  A list of 86 corrections that had to be made to the accounts was circulated including one adjustment of over 13 million pounds.  Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday evening (6th Dec) I accompanied PC Aubrey patrolling Highfield in order to check out how the Police serve the area. It  was raining so we spent a lot of time in the car. I was impressed with her dedication to the job and her down to earth attitude. PC Aubrey’s patch includes Adeyfield and St Pauls as well as Highfield. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night I sat on Dacorum Council’s planning committee (Development Control) at which six planning applications from BP and British Pipeline Agency (BPA)  were put before us. I and many other councillors spoke against the storage of petrol on the site especially because we are still waiting for official reports on why the Buncefield explosion happened & the lessons to be learned. 

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At the Dacorum Council meeting today I asked the Tory run council to earmark a proportion of car park revenue to support public transport. They refused. My colleague Cllr Nick Hollinghurst asked if the Council would pay its full share of bus subsidy for late night and rural buses. They refused and resorted to insults against my colleagues.
This goes to show that Tory run Dacorum is more interested in raking money in from the car parks then its commitment to provide alternatives to the car. It also shows that they are willing to put bus services at risk even when for some people it is the only way they can get around town.

On the evening of Tuesday 30^th October Liberal Democrat Cllrs Lloyd Harris and Nick Hollinghurst spoke at the Dacorum Borough Council Cabinet Meeting against plans to remove the first hour free from the Tring and Boxmoor car parks. They also opposed charging in the Borough’s car parks on Sundays and Bank Holidays and proposals to offer parking season tickets in a trial in Tring without any discount. After lengthy discussion the Cabinet agreed to a blanket 20% increase on car parking across the Borough, to retain the first free hour in Tring and Cowper Road, Boxmoor, not to introduce Sunday and Bank Holiday charging and to offer a discount in the season ticket trial in Tring, which the Liberal Democrats hope to be at least 10%.

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Cllr Lloyd Harris and fellow Lib Dem Councillors attended a special meeting to ask the Council to think again and not privatise the council house repairs service.

The Tory majority voted through the decision to go ahead with the privatisation despite concerns raised such as the cost to council tax payers will be greater than using the council’s own team.

 The Liberal Democrats refused to support the Council’s annual accounts because they found out the figures are likely to be challenged by the auditors. Despite potential problems with the figures Labour and the Tories voted the accounts through.

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Elections for Dacorum Borough Council 3rd May 2007

Brenda Link (Lib Dem) 739 ELECTED
Lloyd Harris (Lib Dem) 604 ELECTED

Elio Gomez (Labour) 522
Bert Bannister (Labour) 488
Kevin Minier (Con) 293
Miriam Wiedman-Smith (Con) 237