21st September 2017

Dear Grove Fields Residents Association (GFRA) member.

The Committee met last night (20th September) for the fifth time and we would like to share the following with you. 

  1. Dacorum's public consultation proposing to build 1,000 houses in between Station Road and Bulbourne Road has been delayed by one month
  2. We need to secure professional planning advice to respond to the consultation document
  3. We need to raise funds to pay for the professional advice - donations and an event
  4. We need to grow the membership so raising funds becomes easier
  5. Our use of social media - website, facebook and twitter

 More detail behind each of the headlines is contained within the email below.

 

  1. Dacorum's Public Consultation – slight delay

We now have until approximately the end of December to respond to the consultation questions. Dacorum has delayed the consultation by one month as it has received new guidance from Central Government to recalculate the number of new houses required. Current assumption is that 18,000 new houses will be built in Dacorum; to put this in to context, this equates to building a whole 'new town' more than three times the size of Tring. The current proposal is that these new houses will be shared between Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring, increasing the population of each town by about 30%!  Graham Bright, from the Committee is liaising with David Gauke MP, the Leader of Dacorum Council, our County Councillor, Dacorum and Town Councillors to ensure we remain fully engaged in this process.

      2.  Securing professional planning advice 

The public consultation paperwork runs to thousands of pages when you take in to account all the supporting technical documents. The next 3 months represent our best opportunity to influence the solution for house building in Tring for the next 20 years. Bob Winter, from the Committee is leading on the procurement of the right consultant to work with our association.

      3.  Raising funds to pay for the professional advice we need

It is free to register as a member of the GFRA, this has not changed. However, we will be asking all members to make a voluntary donation to enable the GFRA to commission the professional advice it needs. Keiron Wybrow, our Treasurer, is leading on this and will be sending a separate update regarding this matter.

We will be setting up an event for the wider membership in December. This will provide an opportunity for everyone to discuss the proposed housing development and what we are doing to influence the shape of this development. However, the evening will also include a Quiz and Auction of prizes donated by members. Bob Winter, from the Committee is leading on this and will be sending out more detail shortly.

      4.  Growing the membership

We have 250 members. To reach our target membership of 1,000 members we need YOUR help. Please share the grovefields@virginmedia.com email address with your neighbours and friends in Tring. All they need to do is email this address to register! There will be a coordinated campaign of door-knocking, leafleting and signs in Tring to continue to grow the membership. Dimitri Patrikios and Tony Johnson from the Committee are leading on this and will be asking for wider membership help shortly.

     5.  Keeping people informed and engaging with Dacorum using social media

We have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1422643161152802/), a website (http://www.grovefieldsresidents.com/) and we are in the process of establishing a Twitter account. The point of our social media activity is to keep you all updated and to make Dacorum aware we have serious concerns about what they are proposing. We will raise these concerns with them online as well as through formal channels. Belinda Goss-Lambourne, from the Committee is leading on all things online for us.

 

Thank you for caring

The GFRA Committee.

21st September, 2017.

 

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