Hitchin Town Council

See our Current Campaigns!

Catch up with the latest news regarding Hitchin Town Hall

	Current Campaigns: Keeping Hitchin Town Hall as a Community Facility - Posted September 2009 Protecting Benslow Field - Updated 16th December 2009 Hitchin Urban Transport Plan (HUTP) - Posted February 2009


		Keeping Hitchin Town Hall as a Community Facility: The history, and why Hitchin Forum and other groups are campaigning for it - September 2009 1. General background: in September 2007 a meeting was held at the request of representatives of Hitchin community groups - The Hitchin Society (HS), Hitchin Historical Society (HHS), Keep Hitchin Special (KHS) and Hitchin Forum (HF) - with Cabinet members including the then CEO, at which serious disquiet was expressed about the lack of community involvement and representation in NHDC’s decisions which concerned the town. The aim of the meeting had been to offer assistance rather than to criticise. It is perhaps symptomatic of the problems we now experience that the Chair of Hitchin Area Committee was only allowed to attend the meeting on sufferance, and was not allowed to speak. 2. Separately, the Arts, Museum and Heritage Forum (AMHF) had been discussing the options for local museums since at least 2004, during which time various ideas had been put forward for relocation/refurbishment of Hitchin museum. At their meeting in February this year, the proposal to relocate the museum to Hitchin Town Hall was put on the table by NHDC as the only solution to a large hole in the budget, leaving very little opportunity for comment from community groups and with no prior warning at all. 3. In May this year HF convened an informal meeting between community group representatives and the relevant councillors and officers to discuss the Museum/Town Hall plans, hoping that a friendly approach might work better than a confrontational stance. We were listened to and assured that there would be plenty of opportunity to put forward our views at the Facilities Working Group (FWG) meetings. 4. At subsequent Scrutiny and Area Committee meetings, recommendations were made to Cabinet to consider other options for Hitchin museum, and that serious discussion should be held with Letchworth Heritage Foundation and Hertfordshire County Council. As far as we can tell, these recommendations have been totally disregarded. 5. There have been several alternative ideas put forward for the museum, both during the AMHF meetings and in recent weeks, including outline plans to extend on the museum and library site. 6. It has been made abundantly clear from all the FWG meetings that “consultation” really means “you WILL agree with our one idea”. Any other comments, questions or alternative proposals are rebuffed. The result is that it has become crystal clear that NHDC has no intention of really listening to and considering the views of Hitchin people on a what is a very significant issue for the town and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we strongly suspect that any investigations that led up to this proposal were cursory to say the least. 7. Keith Hoskins has renewed Hitchin Town Centre Initiative’s (HTCI) offer to discuss asset transfer and Tricia Gibbs has said at meetings that such discussion would be welcomed. It is unclear whether there has been any positive response to HTCI’s offer. 8. The community groups met again on 12 August 2009. The majority concluded that a campaign should be mounted to preserve the Town Hall as a large-scale community venue. The HHS explained that it could not support such a campaign. Its first priority had to be the survival of an effective museum and local history study centre in Hitchin: at present, because of the way the district council had limited discussion throughout, the Town Hall conversion was the only option on offer. It was also felt that a campaign with two objectives would only confuse people. 9. By campaigning for retention of the Town Hall as a community facility we are not losing sight of the museum. We understand that there are financial constraints. We feel strongly, however, that our input to resolve the problems is not wanted and our elected representatives are disregarded. 10. We want the Council to accept that there should be other options considered for the museum – after all, there is £3.5million somewhere to do it! We want the Council to realise the strength of feeling regarding the Town Hall and take the decision to revisit asset transfer. We want the Council to take the lead in launching an appeal to refurbish the Town Hall so that it can be transferred in the knowledge that they will have the full support of business and community groups. TOP ------------------- Protecting Benslow Field - December 2009 An application for registration as a Town Green was submitted in September, supported by around 100 submissions from Hitchin residents, and has been acknowledged. We now await further developments, but it is likely that the application will be challenged by Hertfordshire County Council and will go to appeal, at which point the number and quality of representations from Hitchin people will really count. Protecting Benslow Field - July 2009 (The text below is an extract of a letter sent to members of Hitchin Forum and residents of the Benslow area.) Dear Resident Help us protect Benslow Field Hitchin Forum is working with Derrick Ashley, our County Councillor, and our District Councillors to try to ensure that Benslow Field is preserved from development by getting it registered as a “town green” under section 15 of the Commons Act 2006. In order to register the land as a green, we need to provide evidence that it has been used by local people for recreation ‘as of right’ (i.e. without permission, force or secrecy) for at least 20 years. Such recreation might include organised or ad-hoc games, picnics, fetes and similar activities. If you or your family have used the field within the last 20 or more years for a purpose that would qualify as recreational, we would be most grateful for your help in providing a written statement explaining how and when the field has been so used. For example: “I lived in Chiltern Road from 1978 until 1984 and during that time I used to: let my children play games/walk my dog/ go jogging … etc. on the field”. The more detail you can give, the better! Please sign and date the statement, and give your full name and address. You should be aware that any statement collected for this purpose will be made public when the application is submitted. Please send your statement to Derrick Ashley, 12 Nuns Close, Hitchin SG5 1EP, or email derrick.ashley@hertscc.gov.uk as soon as possible. Thank you very much for your assistance. Yours sincerely Rosemary Read -Secretary, Hitchin Forum **P.S. The Field is now on NHDC’s July 2009 list of suggested new building sites. This makes the need for Town Green status even more important.*** *”Local Development Framework—Land Allocations additional Suggested Sites”, which can be viewed in the Library and on NHDC’s website. TOP ------------------- Hitchin Urban Transport Plan - February 2009 HCC and NHDC are formulating a new Hitchin Urban Transport Plan (HUTP) to replace the Hitchin Transport Plan dating from 1998. Representatives from local organisations such as Hitchin Forum have been invited to take part. These plans need to be updated regularly, but there are additional considerations this time. Most notably our councils are obliged to consider the impact of growth planned for the neighbouring towns of Stevenage and Luton. The main manifestation of this is that a Hitchin southern bypass is again being considered. The HUTP process is being run by Hertfordshire Highways, who have engaged consultants Faber Maunsell to carry out study work and to run the public consultation. Part of their work will be to model traffic flows to assess the effect of a bypass on Hitchin and the surrounding area. Bypass aside, there are many other things to be considered: pedestrians, cycling, rail, buses and so on. A complete draft of the plan is not expected to be ready until early 2010. Our councils are good at producing documents full of worthy ideas but not following up on them. The 1998 plan is a good example: the promised cycling improvements have not materialised and much of the traffic calming has not appeared. It would be nice to think that this time there will be a little more action to follow the paperwork. The issues in the 2008 plan are complex. The following are the issues which will need to be considered by all concerned: Will a bypass reduce congestion (as in Shefford) or encourage more traffic, as with Newbury or Baldock? How would a bypass be funded? In the past developers have suggested funding one if they are allowed to build houses south of Hitchin. Will a bypass encourage more growth in Stevenage and Luton and hence even more traffic? What would be the route of a bypass? The environmental problems south of Hitchin are likely to be severe. Is there a danger of an "outer M25" appearing by stealth? What traffic reduction measures are being considered as an alternative to road-building? Why has there been no action on the Hitchin Cycle Network? Can work now finally start? Can the ideas in the Hitchin Transport Vision, which had much local input, be incorporated? Traffic calming and 20 mph residential zones, enforcement of speed limits? Can a link road be built into the industrial area, and can it be prevented from becoming a "rat-run" for drivers trying to avoid the congested A505? Can rail sidings be built in the industrial area to reduce heavy lorry movements, particularly for scrap metal? Can the unpleasant A505 underbridge at the station be improved, particularly for pedestrians? Is enough attention being paid to the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users? Can the Paynes Park racetrack be eliminated with/without a bypass? What kind of transport system do we need to cope with the expected decline in availability of conventional oil-based fuels in coming decades? We would also like to know your opinions as to how NHDC and HCC are managing the consultation process for the people of Hitchin. Visit our Discussion Forum now to have your say and see what others are saying. TOP

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