Local News and Events

Free community event in Borehamwood

FREE community event at Brook Meadow Park in Borehamwood

A free community event is taking place in Borehamwood on Saturday 2 April – and you’re invited!

The Hertsmere Community Safety Partnership is inviting local residents to join them between 11am and 3pm at Brook Meadow Park to find out what the partnership does to support the local community, but also have fun.

At the event there will be free food, drink and entertainment, including face painting, games and sports – why not come along to meet friends, family and neighbours?

As well as free food, drink and fun activities, there will also be a wide range of partners on hand to offer help, advice and support.

Local officers and Police Community Support Officers will be on hand to offer crime prevention tips and seek residents’ views on police related issues in the area. The local volunteer Police Cadets will also be attending, so any young people with aspirations to join the force can hear more about becoming a cadet. At the event, there will be representatives from Herts Police, Hertsmere Borough Council, Clarion Housing, Herts Mind Network, OneYMCA, Leecliffe Big Local and many more.

Older Person’s Safety Information Event

Older Person’s Safety Information Event Come along to this FREE safety information, help and advice event being run by Hertsmere’s Community Safety Partnership for people aged 60+.

The event takes place Thursday 31 March, 9:30am-1:30pm at The Wyllyotts Theatre, Potters Bar, EN6 2HN. The day will include safety talks and information, a hot lunch and refreshments provided by Herts Independent Living Service. See further details of the event in the flyer, pictured below.

Spaces are limited so please secure your place by calling 0208 207 7801 or email linda.hammond@hertsmere.gov.uk.  
OPALS

Making Hertsmere homes comfortable, healthy and greener

Man holding a warm kettle
We have secured £2.2 million in Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery funding to assist Hertsmere residents in making their homes warm, comfortable and energy efficient.

Under the scheme, householders can apply to receive a wide range of insulation measures and renewable heating technologies, which are designed to support homes to reduce their impact on the environment.

The Green Homes Grant scheme is open to homeowners, private tenants and people in social rented accommodation, where the home has a low energy rating and a low annual income. 

If you’re a Hertsmere homeowner with a household income below £30,000, you may be eligible for up to £10,000 of work to make energy efficient improvements to your home.

Funding is also available for private landlords, local authority-owned properties and social housing, however a 33 per cent contribution from the landlord is required and the maximum funding per property is £5,000.

More than 70 homeowners have already taken advantage of the Green Homes Grant scheme.

Register your interest at https://surveys.est.org.uk /s/GreenHomesGrantSchemeLAD/Register your interest at 
or call 0808 196 8255. To learn more about the Green Homes Grant scheme, please visit our website.

‘Worrying about Money?’ leaflet supports financial uncertainty in Hertsmere

A new initiative aimed at helping people facing increasing financial uncertainty find the right support has been launched this week.

Hertsmere Food Poverty Alliance launched its ‘Worrying about Money?’ leaflet for residents of Hertsmere experiencing financial insecurity, and anyone supporting them, at a virtual event yesterday (Tuesday 8 March). The leaflet, which has been designed to help people easily identify and access local advice providers and ways to access existing entitlements and maximise income, will be landing on doorsteps, along with council tax bills, from the end of this month.

The leaflet has been developed based on findings from the Hertsmere Food Poverty Alliance and was co-produced by ourselves and the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN). At the launch, representatives of organisations who have come together to develop the leaflet, shared their thoughts and experiences and discussed how access to money advice and support can help reduce the need for charitable food aid.

The Hertsmere Food Poverty Alliance is a borough-wide organisation aimed at tackling food poverty in response to the rising reliance on foodbanks, and was launched at the end of last year by us. Members are from a wide range of charitable and public sector organisations, including Citizens Advice, Borehamwood Food Bank, Potters Bar Foodbank and The Red Trust Bushey Foodbank.  

Find out more about Hertsmere Food Poverty Alliance at www.hertsmere.gov.uk/moneyworries and the initiative at Cash First Leaflets – Independent Food Aid Network UK.

Radlett Petrol Station — Watling Street

As you are probably aware the petrol station on Watling Street has now closed and the building is being demolished. Starting this week a plywood hoarding will be installed along the front boundary to replace the temporary Heras fencing. There will be various surveys being carried out within the building, utilities will be cut off and they will start to strip out the interior. If there are any questions or comments regarding teh works please do not hesitate to contact the council and we will pass this on to the developer.

Green Homes Grants could save you money on your energy bills

Green Homes Grants

With Ofgem’s announcement of a rise in the energy price cap from April 2022, residents in Hertsmere are being encouraged to check if they are eligible to receive help under a new scheme that has been recently launched which could help to help local householders to offset the impact of any increases in their energy bills, be warmer in their homes and lower their carbon emissions.

Under the Green Homes Grant Local Authority Delivery scheme, delivered by Warmworks on behalf of Hertsmere Borough Council and through funding from the UK Government, householders can apply to receive improvements to increase the comfort and warmth in their home.

The scheme offers a wide range of insulation measures and renewable heating technologies which are designed to support homes to reduce their impact on the environment, including air source, ground source, and hybrid heat pumps.

The Green Homes Grant scheme is open to homeowners, private tenants and people in social rented accommodation, where the home has a low energy rating and a low annual income.

Warmworks will arrange a survey in the homes of eligible householders to agree the work that will be carried out. An accredited and registered sub-contractor team then completes the installation of the agreed heating and energy-efficiency measures, before an independent inspection assesses the completed work against rigorous quality standards. Where required, Warmworks will also then arrange for a full annual service to be completed 12 months later.

You can find out if you are eligible for the scheme by completing the short application form at http://surveys.est.org.uk/s/GreenHomesGrantSchemeLAD or by calling 0808 196 8255. Read the full press release.

The Platt Subsidary Foundation

Platt Awards 2022

Are you under 25?

Do you live in Radlett, Aldenham or Shenley?

Are you planning an expedition or project in Summer 2022?

The Platt Subsidary Foundation offers one or more Awards, which may be competed for each year and are intended to support young people embarking on challenging and enterprising activities away from home, in this country or abroad.

Applicants must show that they have sufficient drive and initiative to be planning an expedition or project in which they will face a variety of physical or intellectual challenges. Projects, which include helping people in other communities, will be more favourably considered. The Award winner may be part of a team or working on their own, but the Award will always be granted in support of an aindividual and not as a contribution to general funds.

In 2021, no Awards were made due to the pandemic, school closures and severe restrictions on overseas travel. It is hoped that these restrictions will be lifted and will allow applications. Any young person wishing to compete for an Award should apply in writing to:

The Secretary

The Platt Subsidary Foundation

57A Loom Lane

Radlett

Herts

WD7 8NX

Completed Application Forms, countersigned by a parent or guardian, if under 18, should reach the Secretary by 31 March 2022. If circumstances allow, interviews wiil be conducted in April and the Governors’ decisions will be announced in early May 2022.

Hertsmere Borough Council’s budget for 2022/23 agreed

Budget agreed at full council meeting

The council’s elected representatives have backed a budget which acknowledges and responds to the on-going financial impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, while aiming to achieve a vision for Hertsmere that prioritises strong identity, enterprise and climate action with delivery of essential services at its core.  

Hertsmere Borough Council’s revenue budget for the next financial year (2022/2023), which sets out the anticipated outgoing costs of delivering services and how they will be met by funding resources, was approved at a recent Full Council meeting (Wednesday 23 February). Despite ongoing cost pressures and loss of income caused by the pandemic, a balanced budget was presented to the meeting and an average increase of £5 per household for Hertsmere Borough Council’s share of council tax bills was agreed, the same rise as last year.

A household in a Band D property will pay an average of £192 in council tax to Hertsmere Borough Council for its services for the year 2022/23- which equates to around 53p per day. That money is used to fund services including waste and recycling; planning; housing; parks and open spaces; street cleaning and environmental health; benefits administration and contributions towards Police Community Support Officers and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

As a billing authority, Hertsmere Borough Council collects the council tax every year, but the money residents pay does not all go to the borough council. On average, Hertsmere gets 10 per cent, or 10p in every £1 residents pay, Hertfordshire County Council gets 77 per cent, Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner gets 11 per cent and, if residents live in an area with a parish or town council, (Aldenham Parish Council, Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council, Shenley Parish Council and South Mimms Parish Council), those councils receive two per cent.

Please see our full news article for further information and comments on the budget from the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Councillor Abhishek Sachdev.