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“April Fool’s Day Protest: Hands off Hitchin!”

INTRODUCTION: Campaigners in Hitchin wanting to stop the sell-off of public buildings gave their protests a humorous twist on 1st April 2007.  Banners were erected around the town, with a common message directed at North Herts District Council, who protesters said were working against the town’s interests.

Hitchin Town Hall: NHDC has invited outside tenders to manage it and says it may be sold.  It is a valuable and unique community facility and irreplaceable; for NHDC to dispose of it without any community input is outrageous.

Hitchin Museum: threatened with closure by NHDC.  Both the building and the original collection were donated to the people of Hitchin; the beautiful Physic Garden was created by voluntary effort and funded by donations.  It is arrogant and high-handed of the Council to even consider closing this down.

Hitchin Market: has been neglected by NHDC for many years and its future remains uncertain because the Council says investment can only be funded as part of a big redevelopment scheme at Churchgate.  In other words - ‘Hitchin Market is in the hands of a developer’.

NHDC is closing down half of Hitchin’s public conveniences, including those at Bancroft Rec where there is a well-used toddlers’ playground.

Campaigners are incensed that the Council seems ready to tear up the planning brief for Churchgate Shopping Centre, agreed after 2 years of public consultation, and allow for a much larger redevelopment.

Hitchin Councillors recently capitulated to pressure from planning officers and granted permission for this Victorian villa to be bulldozed for redevelopment, despite huge public pressure for it to be kept and sympathetically refurbished.  Are any of Hitchin’s Victorian neighbourhoods now safe from redevelopment?