Meet Danielle Barker

Danielle has now opened up her own brand new clinic in the centre of Hertford, Hertford Hearing. If you or your loved ones would like to see Danielle for any ear-related concerns, please contact her using the details below.

Hall building in Pegs Lane is to be retained as a “democratic and civic hub” hosting formal democratic meetings and able to be used, as now, for weddings. Officers will explore options for the future of the remainder of the site – with advice already received suggesting it could either generate income or capital receipts if sold.

After staff move to Stevenage there is likely to be a period when, other than the frontage, the buildings are unoccupied although security, facilities repairs and maintenance and grounds maintenance will continue.

Short term let opportunities, for example, for filming purposes, will also be explored.

By now I’m sure Axis readers will be aware of the changes that have occurred at East Herts District Council (EHDC) and at Hertford, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford Town Councils since the local elections on 4th May.

Much to the surprise of many, including ourselves to be honest, East Herts Green Party was one of the most successful in the country, winning 19 district councillors and now running EHDC as a joint administration in partnership with the 10-councillor-strong Lib Dem group, with whom we have much in common.

The majority of our councillors are new to their roles which brings unique challenges including the need to get them all up to speed. We owe a huge debt of thanks to council officers who have worked hard to brief us on roles and responsibilities and on the fine details of council operations. Though we face a steep learning curve, the team are smart, committed people who are full of enthusiasm and fresh ideas and I have no doubt that they will rise to these challenges.

A new approach

So what does the change in political leadership mean for residents?

To be honest I hope you don’t notice any change at first – our council services will keep running just as they have always done. And some of the changes that we hope to bring will be hidden away under the bonnet.

Rather than being dominated by a single party as previously, the new council consists of four roughly equal-sized political groups. This change alone will help make council decision-making more democratic and I’m determined to see less politics and more of a collegiate approach in the council chamber. Previous administrations also concentrated decision-making power in a small Executive of councillors. In the longer term we would like to alter this by switching to a more democratic committee-based system which we feel gives more councillors a say in decisions.

I believe these changes are important as EHDC faces significant challenges in coming years. Steady reductions in government funding, along with increased costs due to Covid, Brexit, labour shortages plus changes to wages and inflation mean that EHDC must make significant savings over the next few years if it isn’t to go the way of councils like Thurrock, Croydon and Woking which have basically gone broke. Along with council officers we are developing plans to tackle this, and you’ll hear more details in the autumn.

Major projects

Meanwhile there is also good news: some of EHDC’s largest projects are finished or not far off completion: Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford Theatre and Hartham Leisure Centre, which reopens in September. The council has also won funding to submit a lottery bid to redevelop the park around Hertford Castle. However we do plan to take a careful look at other projects including the proposed Arts Centre at Old River Lane (ORL) in Bishop’s Stortford. It’s fair to say that ORL has come in for some criticism and the new joint administration wants to pause the arts centre component to make doubly sure that it delivers what a majority of people in the town need and want.

A shift in focus towards increased sustainability is another priority and we plan to achieve this through measures including the scheduled refresh of the East Herts District Plan which dictates how future development will occur. This will take a number of years to complete and there will be public consultations on the way.

We will bring a new, more critical eye to ongoing developments like Harlow and Gilston Garden Town. Obviously we need to provide people with affordable homes and the infrastructure that comes with them. We know some residents would like to see such large housing projects abandoned altogether but these are part of the current District Plan and with government-mandated housing targets, simply pulling the plug is not possible without the risk of opening up the district to uncontrolled development. The truth is we have to work within the rules of the planning system to achieve the best results we can for you all.

A listening council

Finally we know that over the last few years it has sometimes felt like councils and local politicians have stopped listening. Now we are in control we want to take a fresh approach to consultation and resident engagement. Our first step has been to create a new councillor role on the Executive to specifically explore better ways to engage with and listen to the community. We know that working alongside residents over the next four years –through open, honest conversation – is our key responsibility and we are determined to do it as well as we can.

About Ben Crystall

Ben Crystall is leader of East Herts District Council, a county councillor and a Bengeo North town councillor. Ben has lived in Bengeo for 20 years. He has a science background and spent six years at Imperial College London, in research. He switched careers in 1996, working as a writer and editor at New Scientist magazine for over 15 years. Since then, he has been a primary school governor, helped set up and run local eco-group Transition Hertford and was one of the founders of Hertford Energy Now, a notfor-profit community-owned renewable energy co-operative.