Town Council Meeting September 16
Posted: Tue 17 Sep 2019 12:42 pm
Hi All
Here's some notes from the Town Council meeting held last night. The most interesting piece is the last item on possible changes to traffic flow in Station Road.
Correspondence with banks about empty premises – There are a number of empty premises now with banks having closed. The Town Clerk has written to the banks about their plans and received good wishes, but no serious ideas of how to move forward with filling the empty buildings. The old HSBC building is owned by the Ware Charities who are very keen to rent it out and exploring different options, but have no takers at the moment.
Town Twinning – A delegation from Cormeilles led by their Mayor will visit Ware on the weekend of 25/26 October. Information on events from the Ware Town Twinning Association (https://waretta.co.uk/)
Several Councillors, led by Victoria Shaw, raised the question of East Herts lack of development spending in Ware. This at a time when £57m in spending is planned by EHDC for Hertford and Bishop's Stortford, but nothing for Ware. One example of a drain of money from Southern Maltings to EHDC is a good example where they take rent, accept upgrades done at great cost in time and money, but don't invest themselves. The lack of investment on Fanshawe Pool was also raised. We'll return to this later in the year and draw up some proposals for EHDC.
The Liberal Democrats were recognised as the official “minority party” on the Council.
Potential One Way Scheme – Station Road
Residents in station road have complained about the amount of traffic. A feasibility study was done a few years ago into making the road one way, and a traffic survey carried out. At the time the scheme had no real support in Ware. This is now being considered again.
Options are – either fully one way; Amwell end entrance be no entry for cars but allow cycles; third option is to reconfigure road, with a roundabout before the station, with only buses and pedestrians allowed to use the stretch of road in front of the station.
for action to be taken by Herts highways in the next financial year, we need to make a representation by the end of the year. This should be in the context of the masterplan and the neighbourhood plan.
The Council decided to request East Herts and Herts Highways to do a feasibility study and come back with a number of options for discussion. There will be significant consultation before any action is taken.
Here's some notes from the Town Council meeting held last night. The most interesting piece is the last item on possible changes to traffic flow in Station Road.
Correspondence with banks about empty premises – There are a number of empty premises now with banks having closed. The Town Clerk has written to the banks about their plans and received good wishes, but no serious ideas of how to move forward with filling the empty buildings. The old HSBC building is owned by the Ware Charities who are very keen to rent it out and exploring different options, but have no takers at the moment.
Town Twinning – A delegation from Cormeilles led by their Mayor will visit Ware on the weekend of 25/26 October. Information on events from the Ware Town Twinning Association (https://waretta.co.uk/)
Several Councillors, led by Victoria Shaw, raised the question of East Herts lack of development spending in Ware. This at a time when £57m in spending is planned by EHDC for Hertford and Bishop's Stortford, but nothing for Ware. One example of a drain of money from Southern Maltings to EHDC is a good example where they take rent, accept upgrades done at great cost in time and money, but don't invest themselves. The lack of investment on Fanshawe Pool was also raised. We'll return to this later in the year and draw up some proposals for EHDC.
The Liberal Democrats were recognised as the official “minority party” on the Council.
Potential One Way Scheme – Station Road
Residents in station road have complained about the amount of traffic. A feasibility study was done a few years ago into making the road one way, and a traffic survey carried out. At the time the scheme had no real support in Ware. This is now being considered again.
Options are – either fully one way; Amwell end entrance be no entry for cars but allow cycles; third option is to reconfigure road, with a roundabout before the station, with only buses and pedestrians allowed to use the stretch of road in front of the station.
for action to be taken by Herts highways in the next financial year, we need to make a representation by the end of the year. This should be in the context of the masterplan and the neighbourhood plan.
The Council decided to request East Herts and Herts Highways to do a feasibility study and come back with a number of options for discussion. There will be significant consultation before any action is taken.