Cold, windy and wet, 12^th December 2019 saw no break in the grim weather we’ve been having over recent weeks, yesterday being one of a handful of exceptions. Despite the miserable weather however, residents came out in force, to cast their votes in one of the most important elections we’ve seen in decades.

Here are the 2019 general election results for the constituency of Hemel Hempstead:

PARTY	VOTES	PERCENTAGE
Conservative	28968	56.50
Labour	14405	28.10
Lib Dem	06317	12.32
Green	01581	03.08
TOTAL	51271

Percentage turnout: 69.53%

CONGRATULATIONS TO SIR MIKE PENNING

Comparing these results with the results of the general election of 2017, it's quite clear that while the Conservative vote did increase slightly, Labour lost many votes this time around to the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party with the former more than doubling their share. The overall turnout was about the same.

PARTY	VOTES	PERCENTAGE
Conservative	28735	54.96
Labour	19290	36.90
Lib Dem	03233	06.18
Green	01024	01.96
TOTAL	52282

Percentage turnout: 70.47%

One afternoon in November, Alex came home only to be confronted by a really upset neighbour. Joe Scibetta told Alex that another person had slipped and fallen on the path that connects Wootton Drive to the playing fields.

There are actually two paths from Wootton Drive that go down to the playing fields. The one in question here, is roughly in the middle of Wootton Drive and is only half tarmac covered, the rest is basically mud. The second path is nearer the top of Wootton Drive, past Putters Croft.

Anyway, Alex explained that the dodgy path had come up before but that he couldn't remember why it wasn't done.

To cut a long story short, the path comes under both Dacorum Borough Counciland Hertfordshire County Council jurisdictions. This makes things potentially quite complicated.

Anyway, Alex said that he'd look into the matter again and really try this time, to get it fixed. In the meantime, Joe decided to organise a petition asking Wootton Drive residents to come together and provide evidence that a solid path is what people wanted.

It took a couple of weeks but Alex was eventually reassured by DBC officers that the path would be made safe. By this time, Joe's petition had gained over two-hundred signatures!

Well today is 12th December 2019 and we're delighted to report that the section of the path that leaves the original tarmac has now been black shingled all the way to the field. We're hoping that this will provide considerably more sure-footing than the previous mud-slide.

In September we reported that residents in Crawley Drive had approached local councillors asking if it was possible to leave the hedge row that separates Crawley Drive and Link Road, to grow. Apart from hiding the traffic, it was thought that the environment would allow wildlife to flourish.

Alex and Julie in particular thought that this was a great idea and that it would be relatively easy to get Dacorum Borough Council to leave the hedge row to do its own thing.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case. Alex and residents were shocked on 12th November when they saw a tractor driving up Link Road, cutting the hedge right back. Alex approached DBC for an explanation and to discuss a way forward.

On 9th December, Alex met council officers at the site. Some issues were highlighted such as traffic visibility of road signs and the fact that the hedge could not be allowed to grow into the road.

After some discussion, it was agreed that DBC would indeed allow the hedge to grow so as to at least obscure the traffic along Link Road. There would have to be some thinning so that the Green Safe and Clean team could access the hedge up to the actual fence, allowing maintenance from the Crawley Drive side of the hedge.

It was also agreed that the grass close to the hedge would be allowed to grow and that wild flowers would be encouraged to take.

Residents had also asked if it was possible to plant trees on the green. The land however, doesn't actually belong to DBC and comes under Hertfordshire County Council. This makes management and decision making a little more complicated. Dacorum Borough Council however, is committed to tree planting, something that again, Julie and Alex very much support.

"This is a great space and with resident support, it would be quite foolish not to take advantage of the opportunity here." Says Alex.

Julie is looking into Section 106 money; funds given to the community by developers. Residents themselves have even offered to help contribute financially.

"I'm sure we're going to get trees here. We just need to work out how we're actually going to do it. Maintenance and light need to be considered but at £350 each, I think it's quite doable." Continues Alex.

 

Some households in Grovehill, specifically those that'll be directly affected by the proposed LA-1 development at the top of Marchmont Fields, will have or will shortly be receiving  a letter from Dacorum Borough Council requesting comments and opinions.

If you do have something to say, please don't be subjective. There's no point for example, expressing concern about the view from your house or the potential devaluation of your property.

Alex, Julie and Goverdhan are very concerned about access and the effect that any access will have on the flow of traffic on the Link Road, for example. If traffic is slowed down, will Grovehill become another pollution hot-spot in the town?

Between three hundred and fifty and four hundred homes will be a considerable addition to Grovehill. We want to see proper infrastructure and careful consideration given to utilities, education and health facilities as well as transport, car parking. Unfortunately the latter is no longer grounds to object, despite the fact that car parking is a major issue in towns and villages across the country.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

It's absolutely vital that any comments be returned to
Dacorum Borough Council by 17th December 2019.

Wish you all a very Happy Diwali 

Diwali is one of Hindu's biggest festivals. The word Diwali means rows of lighted lamps. It's a festival of lights and Hindus celebrate it with joy. During this festival, people light up their houses and shops with Diyas (Small cup-shaped oil lamp made of baked clay).

The festival is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains for a variety of reasons, although the main theme which runs throughout is the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

Well, not quite but the resurfacing work of the square started today.

Last year we told residents that the 2019 budget included funds to resurface Henry Wells Square and that the work would commence later this year. Well. here you are!

Many people won't know that while most roads come under the jurisdiction of Hertfordshire County Council, Henry Wells Square falls firmly with Dacorum Borough Council's remit. DBC's responsibility begins 5 meters into the square. That's why Alex, Julie and Goverdhan have to contact Herts Highways when it comes to pot holes at the egress of the square. Very confusing and unbelievably bureaucratic but there you go.

The plan to do the work has tried to accommodate residents visiting the square and is being done in two parts, thereby allowing cars to park up on the side that isn't full of tar ripping up and laying vehicles.

Many will already know about young Harvey who is determined to keep Grovehill clean and tidy. Pictured above (third in from left in front row), Harvey has inspired many from all over Hemel Hempstead, to join him on his litter-picking ventures across the ward.

With the first litter blitz on 21^st September 2019, the group now meets regularly at the Grovehill Youth Centre. Indeed, the second blitz on Saturday 28^th September, saw even more followers than the first!

Pictured below is the litter that the team collected on it's first litter picking blitz on 21st September 2019.

Goverdhan, Julie and Alex are particularly delighted to see so many young people from all over, joining Harvey to help keep Grovehill clean and tidy.

The project however, does cost and the group is constantly looking for sponsorship and donations. In fact, Alex will be approaching Dacorum Borough Council with a view to muster some financial support.

If you’d like to get involved, the group meets every Saturday morning at 9:30 at the Grovehill Youth Centre. Alternatively, you could follow Harvey on Facebook, here or just search for 'The Boy - Keeping Grovehill Tidy'

 

On the evening of Wednesday 25^th September 2019, local Grovehill resident, Derek Baulch was awarded the Overall Winner, BBC Three Counties Peoples Award for his relentless work at the Dens Food Bank on the Paradise Park in Hemel Hempstead.

Pictured above with some of his co-volunteers, Derek says that the award really goes to the whole team. Such humility is obviously one of the reasons he was nominated in the first place!

Derek pays tribute to the other fifty or so people who were nominated with him and was pleased to know that so many people are doing good things in the area, for no reward.

Well done, Derek.

THE LATEST ON HOSPITAL PROVISION
IN WEST HERTFORDSHIRE

Local health bosses are pushing for most investment in decrepit and crumbling Watford Hospital, a decision that will affect you, your children and your children’s children. They’ll do very little at St. Albans City Hospital and Hemel Hempstead will just become a medical centre.

RESIDENTS HAVE HAD ENOUGH

Over the years, the West Herts Hospitals Trust (WHHT) and Herts Valleys Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG), have consistently ignored the voices of thousands of
residents demanding robust and future-proof hospital provision across West Hertfordshire. In fact, there’s been no public consultation about this for many years.

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

The New Hospital Campaign is mounting a legal challenge to get them to put a
new A+E hospital on a clear site, that is easy to reach for everyone, back on the agenda.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Legal action will need to be paid for. We need to raise about £20,000.
Since this affects all residents of West Hertfordshire, we’re asking everyone who lives in
the area to consider donating to this cause. At the moment, we have two methods by which you can donate; please either visit our crowd funding page here:

crowdfunder.co.uk/new-hospital-campaign

Or transfer directly to our bank account which has been specifically set up for this:

NAME:	DHAG-New Hospital Campaign
SORT CODE:	30-80-49
ACCOUNT NUMBER:	34945668

In the Spring, Alex, Julie and Goverdhan received several enquiries from residents commenting on the long grass around Grovehill and questioning why grass cutting hadn't started. The truth is that Dacorum Borough Council is trying to save a little money in these challenging times.

It's now September and the tables have turned. Your councillors are now hearing from residents who are quite pleased with the way the area has been maintained this year.

A few weeks ago however, Alex received a request from a resident in Welwyn Court asking if the hedgerow between the Welwyn Court green and the Link Road could be left uncut, thereby providing some more 'green' and potentially reducing the noise from the road. Soon after, Julie also received a similar request froma  resident in Crawley drive.

Julie and Alex immediately followed up these residents' requests and have received a statement back from Dacorum Borough Council.

It transpires that the council maintain the hedge from the Welwyn Court side as the cost of installing traffic management to cut the hedge from the road side is prohibitive. DBC is saying that the hedge will grow between 3 ft and 5 ft per year and while the residents' request seems initially attractive, it may prove a little impractical.

Alex has now requested exact figures on just how long it would take to cut the hedge from the road side and hence, how much it would cost.

Alex has also put forward residents' proposal to look into sponsoring tree planting in the area. If the hedge has to be cut regularly, then perhaps more trees would suffice.

We've received comments from residents of Stevenage Rise and users of the Grovehill Youth Centre who are quite perplexed at the appearance  of a shipping container in the Grovehill Youth Centre car park.

Cllr. Julie Banks has been dealing with DBC to find out more and to try to get the container removed. The latest is that the 'owner' has been found and has been given notice.

We've heard rumours that this person is also using the car park as his own 'garage' and is apparently fixing cars! Seriously?!?!?!?

LATEST - 21st SEPTEMBER 2019

At last! Not encountering this kind of issue too often, Dacorum Borough Council officers encouraged the person behind the organisation of the shipping container to  well, sort it out and it wasn't too long before the container was gone.

Mid afternoon 30th May, Alex receives a call from a concerned resident as, what looked like garden waste , had been strewn across the garage block at the top of Craigavon Road. With complete and utter disregard to residents, specifically garage owners, several garages weren’t even accessible, forcing residents to clear up a lot of the rubbish themselves.

Many thanks to residents who reported the incident, took details of the perpetrators and who helped clear the area, to DBC enforcement officer, ‘Chris’ for attending the scene so quickly and to the occupier of the garage in question for supplying details of the couple of guys he’d paid to clear his garage and who not only created the mess but also stole some of his tools and equipment.

Above is a snap taken as the fly-tippers as they make their exit. The number plate of the truck is LR53 YCB.

The perpetrators are described as two young white males with English accents, of slim build, medium height and with short cut hair.

Two young women apparently joined them arriving in a Vauxhall (Omega size) car.

PLEASE DO NOT PAY ANYONE TO CLEAR YOUR RUBBISH
WITHOUT CHECKING THEIR CREDENTIALS FIRST

ELECTION 2019 RESULTS FOR GROVEHILL

PARTY	VOTES	PERCENTAGE
Conservative	2421	53.6
Labour	0920	20.3
Lib Dem	0433	09.6
UKIP	0504	11.2
Green	0241	05.3
TOTAL	4519

Turnout = 29%.

Winning an election is a humbling experience at the best of times. People voting for you to represent their community is a very unique thing. With the current political climate and so many people feeling fed up and quite despondent at what’s going on nationally, it’s incredibly reassuring that the same people put their community first and thought carefully about voting in the recent local elections, here in Grovehill.

Alex says "I enter my fourth term with an overwhelming sense of humility and hope that Julie, Goverdhan and I have the strength to carry on delivering for Grovehill.

In 2015, we had a national election at the same time as local elections. The percentage Conservative vote in Grovehill then was 53.8%. The turn out was just over 60% compared to about 29% this time around. To retain such a close percentage share of the vote at a time when anything to do with politics makes most of us cringe, is truly remarkable and we sincerely thank residents for their support.”

Julie says “We consistently heard the same comments of frustration and annoyance while we canvassed during the weeks leading up to the election and this time around we can only be particularly grateful to Grovehill residents for their continued support and for focusing locally rather than being distracted by the national picture.”

Goverdhan says "We're delighted that yet again, we have the confidence of our community and we can't wait to get stuck back into things.”

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had some amazing feedback from residents. With many expressing satisfaction with what we’re doing in Grovehill, we also have a long list of ward issues to pick up on and some excellent ideas. Many thanks to one resident of Marlborough Rise for example, for suggesting the erection of an acoustic wall between the Marlborough Rise estate and the Link Road. This one’s quite ambitious but we’ll certainly be following it up."

A final word from Alex... "Westminster and the press need to stop reinforcing the lines that divide us as a nation. In fact we all need to stop referring to each other as remainers and leavers, left-wing, right-wing and so on. It's old hat and people have had enough. While canvassing, we met residents of various political persuasions but there's one thing we all have in common and that's a desire to bring the nation together again. 

With both main parties taking such a hammering, with the message being quite clear, let's hope that Mrs. May and Mr. Corbyn have the wisdom to act on the frustration of the nation."

The table below shows results of the local election for Grovehill in 2015.

PARTY	VOTES	PERCENTAGE
Conservative	4102	53.8
Labour	1642	21.6
Lib Dem	0461	06.0
UKIP	0996	13.1
Green	0417	05.5
TOTAL	7617

Turnout = 60.39%. Joint national and local elections may be responsible for higher turnout.

IMPORTANT: The figure in the tables above showing the total number of votes is NOT the number of people who voted.

Remember that Grovehill is a 3-councillor ward which means that in a local election, each voter can vote for up to three candidates. Most voters did indeed vote for three candidates but some voted for only one or two.

For election results on the rest of Dacorum, please click here.

Hemel Hempstead has had a nice, new, shiny council home (The Forum), for well over two years, now. So why on earth do residents of Hemel Hempstead have to put up with having to look at something that resembles a scene from some post-apocalyptic horror film, as they drive past the old Civic Centre site along the Leighton Buzzard Road?

Well, things didn't go quite according to plan. At the bottom of the building are two sub stations; one electrical and one for water and at a cost of some £300,000 just to decommission them, Dacorum Borough Council is treading carefully.

The sub-stations were supposed to be decommissioned in June 2019 but we have recently learnt that the schedule has been moved back to the end of the year.

We're in the process of getting details so please do check in again soon.

LATEST - AUGUST 2019

Yay!!!! Residents will have noticed that half of the remains of the old Civic Centre have now disappeared. This still leaves the other half and I'm afraid that we haven't got any more to report as yet other than we're still looking towards the end of the year before the whole lot's gone.

Residents in Grovehill are still being plagued by selfish, inconsiderate idiot bike riders who have about as much regard for the law and other people as a potato.

Above is a snap of one guy who was caught on camera at 15:56 on Easter Monday in Grovehill Playing Fields. Someone must know this bloke. That someone probably doesn't know what he's up to and the danger he's imposing not just on himself but other people and children who are enjoying the park. Either way, if you know this numpty, please either let us know or let the police know via 101.

Hemel Hempstead drivers (and their passengers, I guess) who had to use the Leighton Buzzard Road over the Easter weekend were baffled by the traffic control opposite Gadebridge Park. Was it just us or can anyone else notice the severe lack of road works, hedge trimming, tree felling or any other activity?

"If Herts Highways was responsible for this, I'd love to hear the reasons behind it. They know I'm not their biggest fan!" Says Alex.

Thursday 11th April; Alex, Julie and Goverdhan were out meeting with residents. Julie received a call from a resident in Marlborough Rise concerned about a fly-tip in that road. Alex and Goverdhan attended within a few minutes and couldn’t believe what they saw.

This was blatantly an office clear-out with filing cabinets, server cabinets, mains distribution and networking cables not just on the pavement but in the road.

The incident was immediately reported and a massive THANK YOU to the police for clearing the road and Craig Thorpe and his team at the Cupid Green depot of Dacorum Borough Council for getting this cleared up so quickly.

In fact it wasn’t just your councillors who called this in but another resident called the police after noting the registration number of the white box van that was parked up in the area and which is believed to have been carrying all this stuff before it was dumped. So while no evidence was found in amongst the dumped items, the police and DBC do have a lead.

In the meantime... If anyone recognises this stuff or has any information regarding the origin of it or even the perpetrators who dumped it, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, then we’ll respect that.

If you’re not sure about a vehicle parked up near you, then just report it to the police on 101. Of course it would be helpful if you could provide a description and a registration number.

“We’ve dealt with a few fly-tips over the years but I’ve never seen anything like this. We understand that it happened between 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon which is particularly concerning as the people who did obviously aren’t too concerned about being noticed. The fact that no evidence pertaining to the origins of the items was found, suggests that the perpetrators are quite aware that DBC does go through a fly-tip looking for clues as to its origin.

We’d ask that all residents report any suspicious vehicles or activity, immediately.” Says Alex.

It’s such a shame that there are people out there that demonstrate such complete and utter disregard for the environment and other residents. Together however, we can beat them.

At 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday 9th April 2019, our dear friend and colleague,  Alf Davison, longtime caretaker of the Grovehill Community Centre, passed away at Watford General Hospital, following a severe stroke.

Our hearts go out and we offer our deepest condolences to his wife, Maggs and their family.

Alf was born in Durham on 4th March 1951 and had worked as the caretaker at the Grovehill Community Centre since 22nd August 2003.

Alf was one of that rare breed of dependable and friendly people who make places like the Grovehill Community Centre not just functional but very welcoming at the same time. A hard worker with a great sense of humour that brightened everyone's day, Alf is going to be sorely missed by staff and visitors alike.

R.I.P. Alf Davison.

Many regular Internet surfers will be familiar with the 'Not Secure' message that pops up when visiting a hhtp website. So on 29th March 2019, Alex decided to install SSL certificates on the Grovehill website, thereby converting it from http to https. This would give visitors to the site a little more confidence in its authenticity and would be required when the on-line shop goes live.

Aaaanway... after doing the necessary, not only did the website disappear but Alex also lost access to the back-end and wasn't able to access the site for administrative purposes.

After contacting support and being told that there was an incompatibility issue with the website's theme (template design), he decided to move it to another host, one that he's familiar with and which hosts a lot of other sites that he has charge over.

Well, the transfer was supposed to take between twenty-four and forty eight hours suffice to say that the whole process took just under eleven days.

"I'm so not impressed by the service I received by JustHost and decided to move a couple of other sites I had with them over to 1&1 Ionos. Luckily I was able back up grovehill.org.uk and make a temporary redirection to a sub domain I made at woodhallfarm.org.uk. Things weren't right but while the transfer was in progress, residents were still able to access the site and even contact us and make bookings.

My sincere apologies to residents for any inconvenience. If I'd had known..." says Alex

Polling stations will be open between 7:00 a.m. and 10: p.m. on Thursday 2nd May 2019.

Let's face it, politically, things are really broken, here in the UK at the moment. While the main parties deal with their respective internal battles and no common ground being found over Brexit, people are becoming increasingly despondent and quite fed up with our 'leaders' and the entire political regime, as other important matters are being pushed aside. As a result, many are wondering whether their vote is actually worth anything. Indeed the whole Brexit thing has forced serious questions over the very foundations of our democracy, whatever way you voted back in 2016.

The only thing we all agree on is that the nation is divided. Any impetus to unit the British people however, must now come from the top, from our leaders. Perhaps they should start by working with the media and refraining from grouping the nation into leavers and remainers.

Well, local councillors can't really do much about the big picture and it's upsetting that the parties they belong to, are indeed so broken and the system is in such disarray. Having said that, voters should consider that a non-vote with the intention to protest against what's going on, is potentially going to lead to the compromise of management of local issues. Dare it be said but let's not cut our noses off to spite our faces!

So, if you're still up for it, here's how it all works...

Politics isn’t a compulsory subject at school but at least now with the Internet, it’s a bit easier to suss out how it all works and what it’s about. I think if it was compulsory, it might be one of those lessons during which we’d all choose to dream about what we’re going to be doing at the weekend! Yeah, it can be a bit boring… until it affects us directly, that is and then we tend to moan about certain decisions (and the people who make those decisions) that can have such an impact on our day-to-day lives.

Okay, so here’s a quick run-down: Fundamentally, there are three levels of government; national, county and district. Some districts are boroughs or cities. If you live in a village, you might have a fourth level, the parish council.

Members of each level can be elected every four years although it’s rarely the same four years, if you know what I mean. This year for example, in some areas in the UK, it’s the turn of residents to elect representatives for their district and borough councils but not for county or national government. 2021 for example, will be election year for county.

Each district or borough is divided into wards, like Grovehill and there are a fixed number of representatives based on population, per ward. With over 8,000 people in the ward, Grovehill is a 3-seat ward (three councillors at borough level).

You may have heard of boundaries being moved on occasion and some are under the impression that this is done to favour a particular party, perhaps the majority party at the time . In fact, boundaries are controlled by the Boundary Commission for (in our case) England and has nothing to do with any one political party.

Candidates are usually members of a single political party although that doesn’t have to be the case. Anyone can stand as an independent candidate. The advantage of being a member of a political party however, is that as a candidate, you get support. The advantages of being a member of the leading political party, the party with the greatest number of seats, are that you have more of say in local affairs and again, you get a lot more support to get things done in your patch, be it a ward, a village or a constituency.

So, on 2nd May, residents across the Borough of Dacorum have the opportunity to vote for whom they’d like to represent them at council. As mentioned, Grovehill is a 3-councillor ward which means that residents in Grovehill can vote for up to three candidates. It makes sense to vote for candidates who perhaps you know have worked closely together and who have a track record of resolving issues in the area and dealing with residents’ individual matters.

After many years and after a big push from manager Julie Banks, the Grovehill Neighbourhood Association unanimously agreed that it was about time the community centre be fitted with a new alarm system replacing the very antiquated system that actually had not worked for several years!

Many thanks to Brent Maritz and Alex Whitby from local company, Security Solutions UK, for their hard work over the past few days.

Dacorum Borough Council has received an application to build on the land known as LA-1 which is situated at the top of Marchmont Fields.

Reference:	4/00045/19/MOA
Application Received:	Wed 09 Jan 2019
Address:	Land at Marchmont Farm (adj. Link Road), Piccotts End Lane, Hemel Hempstead.
Proposal:	Outline planning application to include up to 350 dwellings (C3), land for five gypsy and traveller pitches, vehicular access from the A4147, public open space including extension to Margaret Lloyd Park and associated landscaping, infrastructure and drainage. Details approval is sought for access arrangement from the A4147 only, with all other matters reserved.

Alex says: “The first Core Strategy document I saw back in 2008 quoted 290 dwellings for LA-1. This application is for 350 dwellings, more than 20% of the original figure. While I appreciate the need for more housing in the area, I’m concerned that figures keep on changing and only seem to go in one direction.

In over a decade, I feel that the social environment has changed considerably and with it, the requirement for the gypsy and traveller pitches should now perhaps be questioned. On top of that and despite numerous requests, no one has been able to offer me information pertaining to an example anywhere else in the country, where this type of development has proved successful. As such, I and my co-councillors, Julie and Goverdhan, will not be supporting the inclusion of gypsy and traveller pitches on the LA-1 site.”

Alex, Julie and Goverdhan are also insistent that the Grovehill Future Neighbourhood Plan be integral to any review process. On-line, we notice that the application includes two and three-story properties Yet the neighbourhood plan
mentions that no dwellings should exceed two-stories.

Dacorum Borough Council has an excellent track record of using so called brown-field sites (sites that have been previously built on) for future developments. Demands are such however, that local authorities are being forced to
consider all options. Unfortunately some of those options may compromise the beautiful open space that we’re all used to.

!!! IMPORTANT !!! - We urge all residents to voice their comments via the DBC website. Please don’t be complacent about this. Oh and one more thing; try to be objective and more pragmatic with your comments. With the criteria for what will be seriously considered, seemingly changing all the time, I’m not sure if subjective comments will be duly noted.

The planning application summary on DBC's website can be found here.

Many years ago, the area behind Tesco Express up on Henry Wells Square was not just a constant eyesore but a fire hazard and a source of litter, especially during periods of high winds.

Despite numerous attempts to resolve the matter amicably with Tesco Express, Alex took advice from Mike Penning and reluctantly requested that Dacorum Borough council begin proceedings against Tesco Express.

Miraculously, the matter was sorted out the day before the hearing and subsequently the courtyard outside the community centre had a long period of being clean and tidy.

Over the past couple of years though, things have slipped back to the bad old days. Alex has had several meetings with the management of our Tesco Express and is getting quite fed up with listening to excuses like “clear things with head office” and “no room to manoeuvre and store rubbish inside the building”.

The situation is getting worse with complaints coming in from residents and even other shop keepers on the square.

“Our Tesco Express is a much appreciated convenience right in the middle of Grovehill but why can’t they operate with a little more consideration for the environment and the community?” Asks Alex.

“I really don’t want to go down the same road as I did a couple of years ago. It’s insane to consider the resources that are involved on both side but it looks like Tesco Express might leave me no choice.”