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Inside this issue

Community

Right: The Mayor of Hertsmere, Cllr Anne Swerling with a sample of some of the entries.

It was a bumper year for our seasonal card competition, with primary schools in the borough submitting nearly four times as many entries as last year, but with the quality as high as ever. Five talented children were chosen to receive prizes and attend a virtual presentation with the Mayor of Hertsmere, Councillor Anne Swerling. Two 10-year-old entrants, Sophie Gillingham, and Dominika Orwat, both from Cowley Hill Primary School, have been named overall winners of this year's contest. Sophie's sophisticated design of Father

Christmas in the snow surrounded by Christmas trees has been selected as our corporate e-card, while Dominika's intricate 'Merry Christmas' wording alongside Christmas-themed ﬁgures has been named as the Mayor of Hertsmere's card. Three runners-up were also announced. Maddox Davis, aged six, from Bushey and Oxhey Infant School; Ayva Navsaria, aged

three, from The Wroxham School and Holly Enright, aged 10, from Woodlands Primary School. They received a certiﬁcate, gift voucher, and a pack of their own cards to give to friends and family. All the entries will be available to view on the front window of our Civic Ofﬁces to spread seasonal cheer.

Keep in touch There are lots of ways that you can stay in touch with us, keep yourself posted on our news, raise questions and give us your views. Here’s a rundown: • Follow us on Twitter for tweets, photos and links to our press releases – @HertsmereBC

• Watch our short videos to ﬁnd out about our services and events across the borough – www.YouTube.com/HertsmereBC

• Like us on Facebook for updates, links to our press releases and photos – www.facebook.com/hertsmere

• Check our website regularly. The homepage is updated frequently and all our press releases can be found under ‘Latest news’ – www.hertsmere.gov.uk

• Follow us on Instagram, where we showcase the best Hertsmere has to offer @hertsmerebc

• Connect with us on LinkedIn for business and professional updates – Hertsmere Borough Council

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• Subscribe to our FREE News for You e-alerts for the latest news straight to your inbox. Click on the purple button on our website. • Watch our planning, executive and full council meetings online – www.hertsmere.public-i.tv • Contact your local councillor – www.hertsmere.gov.uk/ﬁndmycllr or call 020 8207 7558

In this issue

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Contents

Welcome Welcome to the winter edition of Hertsmere News in which we reflect on a very busy and productive period both at the council and across the borough. The Hertsmere Community Lottery, featured on our front page and page 4, has recently launched and is a great way for us all to support local causes in the area. If you know of a great local cause, please make sure they know about the opportunities the lottery offers them – and why not buy yourself a ticket or two and be in with the chance of scooping the £25,000 weekly jackpot? I’m looking forward to seeing the lottery flourish over the coming months. There’s been much opportunity to assess how our much-loved borough could take shape in the coming years with the publication of our draft Local Plan in the autumn. As we went to press, a very large number of comments had already been submitted about the plan showing a high level of engagement among our residents on the future of our borough. We’ll now be working through all the comments and taking them into consideration as we work on the next step of the Local Plan process. See page 4 for more information. Sky Studios Elstree continues to take shape and I was delighted to join colleagues and partners at the official ‘topping out’ ceremony recently as the final piece of steel was secured on the roof of a 60,000 sq ft stage. We’re all looking forward to the opening of Sky Studios Elstree, which will comprise 13 stages

and create 2,000 jobs locally, over the course of next year. Find out more on page 8. Similarly, we are seeing great progress with the construction of two new stages at our very own Elstree Studios and recently ran a competition to find a suitable name for them – see more on page 5. I was delighted to be part of the judging panel which comprised the Board of Directors of Elstree Studios and the Mayor of Hertsmere, and well done to Matt Payne for his winning submission of ‘Platinum Stages’ which we all thought was very apt. Elsewhere you will find lots of updates about our various services, ways to keep yourself safe as well as looking after your health and wellbeing this winter and an interview with Sarika, our Climate Change and Sustainability Officer. I hope you find this edition an enjoyable and informative read and I send you season’s greetings and warm wishes for the new year which is fast approaching.

4 5 6 8 11 12 13

Community Lottery Covid response Green Flag parks Sky Studios Elstree Sarika Jain Q&A Safer streets funding Keep safe at Christmas

Contact us www.hertsmere.gov.uk customer.services@hertsmere.gov.uk @HertsmereBC www.facebook.com/hertsmere 020 8207 2277 hertsmerebc

This magazine is produced by Hertsmere Borough Council three times a year. Each edition costs around 29p per copy to design, print and deliver. On the cover: Celebrating some of the good causes that will be supported by Hertsmere Community Lottery.

Opening Hours Reception is open for pre-booked appointments* between 9am to 5.15pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 5pm on Friday. Call 020 8207 2277 to make an appointment * Please wear a face covering for your visit

www.hertsmere.gov.uk/contactus

Councillor Morris Bright MBE Leader of Hertsmere Borough Council leader@hertsmere.gov.uk

If you would like this magazine in a different format please call

020 8207 7445. www.hertsmere.gov.uk | Hertsmere News | Winter 2021 | 3

News Updates

Support your local good cause and be in with a chance to

WIN £25K! The Hertsmere Community Lottery allows you to choose which local good causes to support when you buy a ticket. Tickets cost just £1 per week with 60p from every ticket sold going to support charities and community groups across Hertsmere. Supporters of the good causes that have registered for the lottery can buy their tickets from the official website www.hertsmerecommunitylottery.co.uk and find out how giving just got more fun. We’re also encouraging local good causes to join the lottery and raise much-needed funds. Are you part of a club or association that is looking for a reliable fundraising solution? Do you volunteer with a charity that is in need of financial support? Do you have children in a school or club that could use this? If so, please, tell them about the Hertsmere Community Lottery and and ask them to visit www.hertsmerecommunitylottery.co.uk to find out more. What are you waiting for, help spread the word!

UPDATE

Large public response to draft Local Plan More than 3,500 comments and views have been submitted on Hertsmere’s Local Plan showing a high level of engagement on the future of the borough. As Hertsmere News went to press, comments were still coming in from residents, businesses and other interested parties as part of the latest round of public engagement on our draft plan. Members of the public had until

4 | Winter 2021 | Hertsmere News | www.hertsmere.gov.uk

Monday 6 December to submit their comments. The draft plan sets out how the borough could grow over the next 15 years and beyond, by providing homes for the next generation as well as the infrastructure and jobs needed to support this growth. It is available to view, along with a raft of other information, at www.hertsmerelocalplan.com. We will now be working through all the comments submitted and taking them

into consideration in the next step of the Local Plan process. A further round of public engagement, which will last for around six weeks, is planned for next year, before the draft plan is submitted to a governmentappointed inspector for examination. We will publish more details nearer the time. Once examined, it will then be considered for adoption by council members, which means it would determine how planning applications are considered moving forward.

News

COVID COMMUNITY RESPONSE We’re continuing to support a communityfocused response to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic by helping with the vaccination rollout across the borough. Our team is working to identify areas and communities with a low vaccination uptake and helping to provide targeted support to increase take-up. Increased communications about existing and emerging opportunities and organised vaccination pop-up clinics in the heart of our communities have formed part of that response. In the coming months, they aim to become more focused on helping our communities to recover from Covid-19’s impact rather than the vaccine roll-out itself.

Projects across the borough supported by community grants Foodbanks, football clubs and festive lights were among the good causes to beneﬁt from a funding boost for their work helping Hertsmere communities affected by the pandemic.

Making a name for itself A name for Elstree Studios' landmark new soundstages has been chosen after more than 400 suggestions were submitted by residents and ﬁlm and television fans nationwide.

Entries inspired by icons of the silver screen and leading lights in the TV and film industry, as well as local heroes and filmic references to cinema and TV classics such as Star Wars, Big Brother and Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey, all produced on-site, were submitted during a two-week public competition run by us, in partnership with Elstree Studios. The winning entry, Platinum Stages was submitted by Matt Payne, aged 43, from London and chosen by the Board of Directors of Elstree Studios and the Mayor of Hertsmere, Councillor Anne Swerling. Matt will receive two VIP passes to the launch of the new soundstages next spring, a tour of the studios and lunch at the on-site Rushes restaurant. He will also receive an Elstree Studios hoodie and goodie bag. Work to build two new soundstages and ancillary workshops began earlier this year and is set to finish in spring next year.

The state-of-the-art facility will sit next to The George Lucas stages on the site of the former Big Brother house, which 50 years before that also served as the site for an outdoor effects tank for the ﬁlm, Moby Dick. Once operational, the facility will create at least 800 new jobs, plus apprenticeship and other learning opportunities for local school leavers and the unemployed. The £15.6 million project has been partfunded by us and the government's Getting Building Fund via the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership. As part of the deal, £100,000 per year from the rental income we receive will be invested locally into creative industries including local media, enterprises and initiatives.

Our councillors allocated just over £37,000 worth of community grants to groups and organisations that are actively supporting our communities during the Covid-19 crisis. Among the top recipients were the Red Trust Bushey, Herts Independent Living Service, Christmas in Potters Bar and Potters Bar Crusaders Girls FC (pictured). The ﬁrst strand of funding focused on supporting community organisations who were helping residents with issues made worse by the pandemic, such as mental health, social isolation, physical activity, substance abuse and homelessness. The second strand aimed to support organisations to reopen safely or to make changes to how they deliver their services due to the pandemic. To ﬁnd out more about our grants please visit: www.hertsmere.gov.uk/ grantsandfunding

www.hertsmere.gov.uk | Hertsmere News | Winter 2021 | 5

Green Spaces

Shout-out for great projects Projects in Potters Bar and Bushey that aim to reduce social isolation, improve health and wellbeing or support the vulnerable can bid for funding via our Crowdfunder scheme.

One of the paths at Reveley Lodge Trust in Bushey recently repaired thanks to CIL funding. Photo by Lesley Powell.

Applications are being invited for our Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Fund on our Crowdfunder page until May next year. Non-proﬁt organisations which deliver services that beneﬁt the local community can apply for a cash injection of up to £5,000 through the scheme, managed by Hertfordshire Community Foundation on our behalf. Crowdfunding is an alternative to traditional funding routes, such as grants or bank loans, in which organisations appeal directly to their community for support. Reveley Lodge Trust in Bushey was awarded £1,700 through the scheme earlier this year to repair and improve paths affected by the increase of visitors during the pandemic at their

free-to-visit gardens. The trust has already raised more than £1,500 through public donations made via Crowdfunder. Hertsmere's CIL fund is made up of fees paid by developers of all kinds of properties in the borough which are then used to fund infrastructure projects in the local area. For more information go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ funds/hertsmere Bids for our Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy Fund are open until 7 January. For more information visit www.hertsmere.gov.uk/StrategicCIL Fund

Celebrating our awardwinning parks and open spaces Seven parks in Hertsmere are among the best in the UK – and that’s ofﬁcial! A Green Flag ﬂying overhead is a sign to visitors that a park or green space has the highest possible environmental standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent visitor facilities. King George Recreation Ground, Bushey Rose Garden and Mary Forsdyke Garden and Warren Lake in Bushey; Oakmere 6 | Winter 2021 | Hertsmere News | www.hertsmere.gov.uk

Park and Parkﬁelds in Potters Bar; and Aberford Park in Borehamwood have maintained their Green Flag status. Fishers Field Nature Reserve in Bushey kept its special Green Flag Community Award in recognition of work carried out by local volunteers and Bushey Rose Garden achieved the much-coveted

Green Heritage Site Accreditation, supported by Historic England, for the management of its historic features. To ﬁnd out more about Hertsmere’s parks visit www.hertsmere.gov.uk/parks

Health & Fitness

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UPDATE

Latest park news Meadow Park The exciting improvements to Borehamwood’s Meadow Park continue, as the resurfacing work on the tennis courts, basketball court and Multi Use Games Area nears completion. The improvements at Meadow Park focus on sports, ﬁtness and fun to encourage all ages to get outside and get active. We will keep you updated!

Let’s beat the Winter Blues Just in time for the cold winter months, indoor initiatives are up and running following the easing of Coronavirus restrictions, with plenty of options available to help you stay active and boost morale. Keep an eye on the websites for updates and information about new activities:

Healthy Hubs Healthy Hubs open for face-to-face, phone and online health and wellbeing advice and support, with the addition of two new hubs in Bushey and Radlett. The hubs provide free lifestyle support covering mental health, physical activity, weight management, smoking cessation, health MOTs and nutritional advice. To ﬁnd out more, including information about opening hours, visit www.hertsmere.gov.uk/ healthyhubs

InspireAll

The Queen’s Green Canopy The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which invites people from across the United Kingdom to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. We will be planting a number of trees across the borough as part of the scheme – look out for more details in the New Year.

All three leisure centres in the borough will be open over the Christmas period and have a great range of activities available including gym, swimming, classes, indoor and outdoor sports and lots of children’s activities. Make sure to visit the centre websites and The Venue’s, Bushey Grove’s and Furzeﬁeld’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

We Move, She Moves (WMSM) Current sessions include Stroller Strength, Golden Dance Fit, Aqua Zumba, Pilates and Yoga, all brought to you by our award-winning activity programme for women and girls aged 16+ in the borough. Visit www.wemoveshemoves.me.uk and www.facebook.com/wemoveshemoves for more information and updates of the expanding list of sessions available. www.hertsmere.gov.uk | Hertsmere News | Winter 2021 | 7

Business

REACHING FOR THE SKY The ﬁnal steelwork has been installed on the highest structure at Sky Studios Elstree, the borough’s major new TV and ﬁlm studios, marking a major milestone for Sky and Hertsmere.

Reaching a height of 16m, the final piece of steel was secured on the roof of a 60,000 sq ft soundstage last month, using a specially made green bolt, representing Sky Studios Elstree’s ambition to become the world’s most sustainable film and TV studio. The project, developed by Legal & General, constructed by BAM and made with the backing of Sky’s owner Comcast, and sister company NBCUniversal, was first announced in late 2019 with planning permission granted in summer 2020. Representatives from all organisations were joined by Hertsmere MP Oliver Dowden last month for a topping out ceremony where the final bolt was used to secure the steelwork at the site. Set to become operational in early 2022 and fully open with 13 sound stages later in the year, Sky Studios Elstree will create 2,000 jobs locally and become home to new film and TV projects from Sky and NBCUniversal, attracting £3bn of new production investment over the first five years alone. A recuitment drive at Sky Studios Elstree kicked off in October. The first operational roles included Operations Manager and Production Reps. Over the coming months, dozens of more roles are set to go live. Visit the website sky.com/careers for further information.

New website for South West Herts A new website has been launched to support the long term aspirations for South West Hertfordshire. The emerging South West Herts Joint Strategic Plan (SW Herts JSP) will look at the future of the area to 2050 addressing strategic issues which cross council boundaries, such as infrastructure. The JSP will need to take account of our Local Plan and the others being developed by the individual councils for their areas. The website www.swhertsplan.com has been set up to help people ﬁnd out more and get involved in the process. 8 | Winter 2021 | Hertsmere News | www.hertsmere.gov.uk

A long-term vision for the area, comprising key issues which need to be addressed, is being developed. It will build on views being submitted as part a current round of engagement, due to close this month, and the more than 14,900 comments submitted as part of an earlier engagement in 2020. There will be a further opportunity to inﬂuence the vision when it is formally issued for comment in 2022.

Community

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Preventing rough sleeping in Hertsmere A pioneering scheme has already helped 18 vulnerable people who have been sleeping rough or are at risk of doing so, take the ﬁrst steps towards getting back on their feet.

In partnership with charity One YMCA, Clarion Housing Group and Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) we’ve opened a 24-room accommodation and complex needs support service to help rough-sleepers at a former under-used hostel at Shenwood Court, Borehamwood. The scheme builds on our proactive approach to rough sleeping, which we launched with our No Second and No First Night Out

schemes, aimed at ensuring no-one spends a night on the streets. Each resident not only gets a roof over their heads, but they are allocated a dedicated support worker and provided with a support plan that is centred around their needs. Funding for the project was secured from the county council and a bid to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Rough Sleeping Initiative.

New business directory launches A new online business directory to help customers and local retailers to connect has been launched. Hertsmere Works is the go-to site for anyone looking for a product or service in the borough. So, whether it’s beauty or haircare you’re after, somewhere to have dinner or if you’re looking for a local tradesperson, head to www.hertsmereworks.co.uk. The directory is free to use for consumers and free for businesses to register. There are also details of how businesses can access free advice and support from our economic development team on the website. To ﬁnd out more or register your business email economic.development@ hertsmere.gov.uk or call 020 8207 2277 ext 5440. www.hertsmere.gov.uk www.hertsmere.gov.uk | Hertsmere News | Winter Spring 2021 | 9

Recycling

Brown bin recycling Your brown mixed-recycling bin helps you to recycle a large variety of everyday materials. Soft plastics such as bread bags, cereal packets, cat/baby food pouches, crisp packets – can often be recycled at your local supermarket. Visit their website to ﬁnd out what they accept.

Everything from glass, plastic and cartons, cans, cardboard and paper can be put in. Here are some reminders of how to recycle the items we can’t accept. Large electrical items: should be taken to your local recycling centre.

Reﬁll stores help you avoid unnecessary packaging, by reusing containers to buy everyday goods.

Small electrical items: can be taken to one of our electrical recycling banks: hertsmere.gov.uk/recyclingbanks

• Reﬁllabell, 4 Haydon Road, Watford, WD19 4DD – www.reﬁllabell.co.uk

Batteries: your local supermarket or electrical recycling bank

• Vimi’s Eco Store, 283 Watling Street, Radlett, WD7 7LA – www.vimi.london • A Little Less – a mobile van refill shop based in Borehamwood – www.alittleless.co.uk You can also reduce single use plastic and water wastage by refilling your water bottle when out in the borough. Find your local refill station at: www.refill.org.uk.

Collection calendar 2022 M

January 2022 T W TH F

S W1 1 W2 3 4 5 6 7 8 W1 10 11 12 13 14 15 W2 17 18 19 20 21 22 W1 24 25 26 27 28 29 W2 31 February 2022 M T W TH F S W2 1 2 3 4 5 W1 7 8 9 10 11 12 W2 14 15 16 17 18 19 W1 21 22 23 24 25 26 W2 28 March 2022 M T W TH F S W2 1 2 3 4 5 W1 7 8 9 10 11 12 W2 14 15 16 17 18 19 W1 21 22 23 24 25 26 W2 28 29 31 31

SU 2 9 16 23 30

SU 6 13 20 27

SU 6 13 10 27

April 2022 W TH F S SU W2 1 2 3 W1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 W2 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 W1 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 W2 25 26 27 28 29 30 May 2022 M T W TH F S SU W2 1 W1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 W2 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 W1 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 W2 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 W1 30 31 June 2022 M T W TH F S SU W1 1 2 3 4 5 W2 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 W1 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 W2 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 W1 27 28 29 30

Week 1 (W1) Black bin: Anything that cannot be recycled.

Week 2 (W2) Green bin: Food and garden waste. Brown bin: Glass, cartons, plastics, cans, cardboard and paper.

Public holidays All collections in a week following a public holiday will take place a day later. For example, a Monday collection will take place on Tuesday and a Friday collection will take place on Saturday, unless you are notiﬁed otherwise. Collection calendars are also available on our website at www.hertsmere.gov.uk/ collectioncalendar 10 | Winter 2021 | Hertsmere News | www.hertsmere.gov.uk

Just about everything can be recycled at home but other items, such as clothes, electrical items and batteries, can be recycled at local recycling banks or your local Recycling Centre. For more information and details of opening times please visit www.wasteaware.org.uk

www.hertsmere.gov.uk/recycling

Your January to June Waste and Recycling Calendar Your kerbside waste and recycling collections for the ﬁrst half of 2022 are shown here for you on this handy cut out and keep calendar. Alternatively you can view the calendar on our webpage: www.hertsmere.gov.uk/ collectioncalendar A full A-Z of recycling is available at: www.hertsmere.gov.uk/ recycling

Interview

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SARIKA JAIN

Q&A

With climate change currently being recognised as one of the most important global challenges faced by all, Hertsmere's Climate Change and Sustainability Ofﬁcer, Sarika Jain, has been leading local efforts to ensure Hertsmere is playing its part.

Q A

Tell us a bit about your role as Climate Change and Sustainability Ofﬁcer. Climate change and sustainability is at the forefront of the country’s and the council’s agenda and affects everything we do. This makes my role really urgent, exciting and wide ranging. I look at everything from renewable energy, energy efﬁciency, sustainable transport, planning policies, resident engagement and technical calculations.

Q A

Tell us about some of the initiatives you are involved in at the moment. We are working on the Green Homes Grant bringing energy efﬁciency measures to low income households living in poorly- insulated homes. We are also working to bring a public cycle hire scheme to Borehamwood and surrounding areas. We are working on climate change policies for the Local Plan to ensure low carbon and sustainable development in the borough.

What advice would you give to residents who want to ﬁnd out more about being greener in Hertsmere?

I would encourage residents to visit our website for more information, and sign up to our newly-launched Greener Hertsmere Newsletter at hertsmere.gov.uk/climatechange

Q A

What are you hoping to achieve over the next six months? We would like to bring more projects to fruition and increase our engagement with town and parish councils, residents and businesses and ﬁnd out how we can support them.

Q A

What are your aims for climate change and sustainability in Hertsmere? We want Hertsmere to play its part in the ﬁght against climate change. Our aim is net zero carbon emissions and sustainable development in the borough. It may seem like a daunting task, but we ‘think global, act local’. No action is too small. Every resident, business, organisation, department has a part to play to complete the jigsaw puzzle.

Tell us something about yourself that people might not know.

Q A

What has been the biggest challenge at Hertsmere so far? Inﬂuencing and inspiring is essential to climate action. Due to Covid, this has been restricted to a great extent and bringing meaningful change within these constraints has been challenging. I think we have done well though by developing the strategy and action plan, planning policies along with some big ticket projects.

Q A

What have you enjoyed about your role? We have started our journey of reducing emissions and developing sustainably. We are also working on improving residents’ lives by helping them keep warm and hopefully seeing them getting active and healthier. I have also enjoyed the range and scale of projects from technical details of an energy efﬁciency project to developing a website and newsletters for residents, initiatives for employees, as well as both borough and countywide. The support and camaraderie has been phenomenal.

I make the best vegetable biryani on this side of Indus.

www.hertsmere.gov.uk | Hertsmere News | Winter 2021 | 11

Community Safety Partnership

Hertsmere Community Safety Partnership (CSP) brings a range of organisations together to ensure a joined-up and strategic approach to tackling crime and disorder issues in the borough.

Safer streets funding We’ve been allocated £124,000 to help make the borough’s streets safer through projects to crack down on neighbourhood crimes like burglary, vehicle theft and robbery. This is following a speciﬁc bid relating to the Leeming Road and Aycliffe Road area of Borehamwood. The money, from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund, will go towards measures proven to cut crime, including simple changes to the design of streets such as environmental enhancements, improved CCTV and community engagement. Hertsmere’s Community Safety Partnership have met with key partners to develop Above: New windows and doors installed in the temporary accommodation above the shops in Leeming Road.

an action plan including replacing all the doors and windows in the temporary accommodation above the shops in Leeming Road, new CCTV kit, community events, targeted sessions for young people, as well as carrying out an audit of the local area alongside a community survey. We’ll keep you updated.

Visit www.hertsmere.gov.uk/csp Visit www.owl.co.uk to sign-up to your local Neighbourhood Watch

NEW CREMATORIUM UNDER WAY Work has started on a new crematorium based in Hemel Hempstead that will serve the needs of residents in Hertsmere and other parts of West Hertfordshire. The single-storey crematorium, which will be a sister site to the current crematorium in Garston, will feature a remembrance chapel and gardens that sit within extensive landscaped grounds on land adjacent to the new Poppy Fields cemetery at Bedmond Road by Bunkers Park. The crematorium is being developed to provide additional capacity in the West Hertfordshire region. It is being funded by us alongside Watford, Three Rivers, Dacorum and St Albans councils. Construction works are expected to be completed by December 2022.

12 | Winter 2021 | Hertsmere News | www.hertsmere.gov.uk

Below: A computer-generated image of the new crematorium, due to open next year.

Christmas safety

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Seasonal advice 01

Check festive lights are safe and CE marked. Don’t leave lit candles unattended and place tea lights in a holder.

Park in a well-lit area or an attended car park. The nights are longer, giving criminals an easier environment to commit crime.

Test your ﬁre alarm once a week.

Keep Christmas presents out of sight. Visible gifts under the tree are tempting to thieves.

With presents under the tree and Christmas shopping loaded in car boots, the festive period can be a prevalent time for thieves. Read our advice to avoid the Grinch!

The risk of accidents, especially in the kitchen, increases when alcohol has been consumed. Don’t drink and cook!

Keep all doors locked when you’re out or go to bed.

Never leave spare keys near your home, for example under a plant pot or mat – it’s the ﬁrst place a burglar will look!

Avoid walking home alone at night. Ask somebody to accompany you or use a registered taxi.

Never leave your car unattended with the keys in the ignition, even when defrosting car windows. Opportunist thieves can strike at any time.

Make it look like someone is at home when you go out for the evening. Leave timer lights on and close curtains. If you have a burglar alarm, set it.

Never drink and drive. Ring a taxi or arrange a lift before your Christmas celebrations begin.

Never leave your house or car keys near your front or back door, keep them out of sight. If you are in danger or an emergency situation call 999. For non-emergencies or to report a non-urgent crime please call 101.

For more crime prevention advice visit www.herts.police.uk/protectyourhome and www.hertscitizensacademy.org www.hertsmere.gov.uk | Hertsmere News | Winter 2021 | 13

Communities

Helping people stay connected In a digital world, Communities 1st knows just how important it is to remain connected. They have an army of volunteer Digital Champions on hand to help those who are digitally excluded to build their conﬁdence using technology, at no cost. Digital Champions host weekly ‘Computers and a Cuppa’ sessions in Borehamwood, Radlett and Potters Bar, which are free drop-in sessions offering the chance to learn new technology skills in a relaxed, friendly environment. They also offer a ﬂexible online IT course, ‘Learn My Way’, structured so that participants can learn at times convenient to them and can also assist with donated and new devices.

To learn more or sign up for any of the services offered, email: Help@communities1st.org.uk or call: 020 8207 5115.