Arts Council funding set to transform Hoddesdon Library with Creator Space

from Axis magazine April 2023

The times they are a-changing

Hoddesdon Library is one of two in Hertfordshire set for a makeover after a bid to Arts Council England by Hertfordshire’s Library Service secured £260,000 of funding. The money from the Libraries Improvement Fund, announced in March, will be used to undertake improvement works at both Hoddesdon and Watford Central libraries, with sections of both set to be transformed into bright, contemporary and welcoming spaces. Hoddesdon will also become the latest library in the county to have a dedicated Creator Space offering access to a wide range of equipment and software to enable visitors to get creative. Already operational at six other libraries, Creator Spaces offer equipment and software such as iMacs, PCs, Chromebooks and tablets, 3D printers and rendering software, digital cutters, digital sewing and embroidery machines, and green screens to enable visitors to learn or practise a variety of creative skills which can be used for either work or fun.

First box junction cameras are on the way following public consultation

Hertfordshire County Council has applied for the legal powers to use camera enforcement at the yellow box junction where Adderley Road meets The Causeway close to Jackson Square shopping centre in Bishop’s Stortford. However, following public consultation at the end of last year, it has dropped plans to use camera enforcement at a second yellow box junction at the exit from the shopping centre car park where motorists join Adderley Road. The Government expects local authorities to keep the traffic moving within their boundaries, helping to ease congestion as well as pollution, and for the first time is inviting councils outside London to apply for the power to enforce moving traffic violations using cameras and number plate recognition technology.

Applications need to be based on one specific site but powers granted can then be used at other locations. Hertfordshire was proposing a scheme that included cameras at the two nearby locations but says that during a six-week consulta-

Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall could host more activities if plan approved

tion that ended in November last year, residents raised concerns that enforcement of the box junction at the car park exit could result in long delays for motorists looking to leave the car park.

The council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Phil Bibby, said: “We’re grateful to all the people who responded to the consultation and we’ve listened to what they had to say. It’s clear that residents had real and reasonable concerns about introducing cameras at the Jackson Square car park exit, and as a result we’re not going to go ahead with that.

“However, there was much more support for camera enforcement at the main junction, and we now intend to move ahead with this and deliver a safer and less congested junction.” l Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall is also the organiser of the town’s annual May Fayre which this year takes place on Fair Green on Sunday 30th April between 12noon and 4pm. Attractions include a funfair, live music, arts and crafts, donkey rides, a car show and food and drink.

Detailed design works are now set to be carried out with the aim of the cameras being installed later this year.

To find out more and view the response to the consultation visit Hertfordshire.gov.uk/cameraenforcement.

Plans for the extension of Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall that trustees say would enable the popular venue to meet growing demand for its facilities have been submitted to East Herts Council. The hall, which is next to the town’s library in The Forebury, is open from 9am to 9pm daily and offers a wide range of facilities to the local community. There’s a daily programme of classes and activities on offer –everything from table tennis sessions to keep fit classes, yoga, Tai Chi and short mat bowls – organised by the Friends of Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall Trust on a not-for-profit basis. With a large main hall with its own stage, small hall, kitchen facilities and bar, facilities are also regularly hired by local clubs and, at weekends, for parties and weddings.

Sawbo Cinema, set up by SMHT, shows two films a month, usually on a Sunday evening.

Trustees say that the hall is at more than 95% occupancy with management having to turn away new business on a weekly basis. The town also continues to grow, adding to demand for its facilities. The trustees propose the erection of a first floor side and rear extension and a ground floor rear infill extension to the building which would provide three new rooms enabling the hall to host more activities.

Sawbridgeworth Memorial Hall is a not for profit charity so any increased profits would be reinvested for the benefit of the community.

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