OVER 70 ATTEND FIRST CAMPAIGN MEETING - ACTION GROUPS SET UP

At a packed meeting last night over 70 people agreed to set up an ACTION FOR HODDESDON campaign group as an independent community group of residents and business people who are concerned about the current state of our historic market town and its communities, and wish to ensure that the views of local people are taken into account when decisions are made which affect the growth and development of Hoddesdon in the future.

Action for Hoddesdon's vision for the future:

Hoddesdon will be a safe, attractive and well designed town, enhanced by the quality of its built and natural environments, acting as the focal point for the whole community.

The heritage of the town will be respected and all future developments will be sympathetic to its character and setting.

The town will need to be economically viable – improving the profitability and allowing for the growth of its businesses as well as increasing local employment opportunities.

Sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions will be developed and encouraged alongside new measures to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

The whole community will be encouraged to contribute to the town’s future through debate, discussion and consultation on development policies and proposals.

Objectives:

Over the last 40 years our rural market town has seen an explosion of new housing development and rapid population growth. That expansion is likely to continue and we therefore want to ensure a sustainable and economically viable future for town, whilst improving the quality of life for newcomers and long-established residents. At the same time we need to protect the town's unique heritage, attractive rural character and local distinctiveness for both its citizens and casual visitors.

Aims:

1) To lobby Broxbourne Council to address the major issues which are currently affecting the town, as outlined in the Charter for Hoddesdon:

Create a Parking Strategy for Hoddesdon Town Centre - the first priority being to open up the northern end of the High Street to create as many free short term parking spaces within the existing parking bays as possible. Long-term parking facilities must be introduced for town centre workers.

Initiate an urgent meeting with the owners of The Tower Centre and Fawkon Walk plus other major landlords with property holdings in the town to discuss tactics which can be adopted to attract new chain and independent retailers to move into the large number of empty retail units.

To fund the immediate launch of a Shop Local Campaign.

Provide proper funding for an annual programme of four Town Centre events each year which includes an money to help expand the Christmas Carnival of Light.

Install new signage at all main approaches to the town which welcomes people to Hoddesdon and directs them into the High Street.

Provide grant funding for the maintenance and expansion of the existing Hoddesdononline website to promote the town to visitors and businesses, and provide a resource for the local community.

To adopt a policy to actively encourage leisure facilities back into the Town Centre and specifically to provide financial support to fund the expansion of leisure activity programmes run by Mayhem Theatre Arts and other youth organisations aimed at children and young adults.

Introduce free parking in all the Borough’s car parks on each Saturday in December to counteract the same policies which have being adopted by both Epping Forest and East Herts Councils in the nearby towns of Waltham Abbey, Hertford and Ware.

2) To set up a working group to produce a Town Design Statement for Hoddesdon which will provide support for local planning guidance by protecting and enhancing local distinctiveness and ensuring that all future development is appropriate to the scale, character and ambience of the town. This will contain concrete proposals for the type of development which should replace the town’s failed shopping precinct – The Tower Centre.

3) To set up a working group to monitor Broxbourne Council’s plans for the expansion of Brookfield Farm and to ensure significant public input into their future progress to ensure that any developments there do not adversely affect the viability and vitality of Hoddesdon.

The group will consult and collaborate with relevant pressure groups as well as officers and elected representatives at Borough, County, regional and national levels to identify planning and policy areas that are open to consultation and that might have an impact on the town and its surrounding area. The group may cooperate with, or work in formal partnership with other voluntary and statutory organisations, political groupings and commercial companies as well as using a range of approaches including surveys and public meetings to engage with local people.

Organisation and Structure:

A Steering Group was formed to include three key officers: chair, secretary and treasurer. Steering Group members will serve for periods of up to two years after which they must stand for re-election. The Steering Group will review terms of reference and receive reports from working groups, determine when general meetings should take place, set the agenda, produce newsletters and other publicity including meeting notices in the local press, invite external speakers, and manage the process of meetings. The Steering Group will meet as necessary to carry out this role.

Three Action Groups were also set up - one to deal with Publicity and Communication; a second to consider Leisure and Events including closure of the Outdoor Swimming Pool; and a third to look at Planning issues, starting with developing concrete proposals for the proposed Hoddesdon Town Centre Strategy which is supposed to be produced by Broxbourne Council this summer.

All three groups will be holding their first meetings next week - Publicity at Mayhem Theatre Arts in Brewery Road at 6.45pm on Monday 27th Apr; Leisure at The Hunt Room at Hoddesdon Parish Church at 6.45pm on Thurs 30th April, and Planning on Weds 29th Apr 7.30pm at Riversmead (e mail fredaldwinckle@yahoo.co.uk for address) We look forward to seeing as many people as possible who would like to come along and can spare some time and effort to contribute to all or any of these Action Groups.

We are also distributing a petition for people to sign to indicate their support for Broxbourne Council's proposals to re-open the north end of Hoddesdon High Street for free short term parking, as outlined in their draft consultation document. We need as many residents as possible to sign this document - so please come to Cannon Travel or Books @ Hoddesdon and sign yourself as well as encouraging your friends, neighbours and work colleagues to do likewise. If you are a member of a club, organisation or society then please e mail action4hoddesdon@googlemail.com and we will send you a copy of the petition so you can take it along to get fellow members to sign too. Please return the petition to books @ Hoddesdon at 79, High Street by Thursday 7th May.