Several residents have contacted me to find out why the cycle racks outside TJ Hughes have been removed.  I have asked the question, and am told that during a review of cycle parking provision, it came out that these racks were more prone to bike theft, as they were close to the underpass and out of the view of CCTV. 

As a result of the review 55 additional cycle racks were added throughout the town centre.  Nine were removed (seven of which were outside TJ Hughes).   This created a net increase of 92 spaces as each rack can be take two cycles.   New racks were installed close by outside Rymans and Halifax.

Today’s papers talk about how almost 1,300 playground projects are being axed as part of the government’s spending cuts.   Let’s be clear about this – councils not government pay for playground improvements!   

We did receive a small amount of money from the (previous) government’s Playbuilder scheme, which went towards the cost of improving Callowland Rec and Leavesden Green playgrounds  (one wonders why this money wasn’t put to better use - lowering the national deficit for example…).  The problem was that the money came with strings attached – we had to build ‘open’ playgrounds exactly the way the government wanted us to.   

And what happened?  We got endless complaints (remember the Watford Observer articles) as neither parents nor children liked them.  In turn, we have had to spend more money to make further improvements to them, such as putting in fences. 

So it’s no great loss that this money will not be available for Woodside playground as had been expected.  We will fund the difference ourselves and build a playground that we know our residents will like. 

We have upgraded our street cleaning fleet with seven new sweeper machines so we can get the streets of Watford even cleaner.    

The new vehicles are specifically designed for pavement, shopping precinct and subway sweeping.  They’ve got rear-view mirrors so that the drivers get a better view of pedestrian traffic, and are able to manoeuvre more safely.  They’ve also got an extendable hose to reach into tight spots and under obstacles. 

I’m proud to say we’ve got a really good team down at the depot who are dedicated to their jobs. Believe it or not, they cleaned over 1,600 tonnes of litter from our streets last year!   

It still amazes me how some people will happily just drop their litter on the ground.  And don’t get me started about cigarette butts…

I’m going to be a judge for the forthcoming fundraising event for the Peace Hospice ‘Strictly Come Hospice’.  As an ex-dancer myself (when I was young) this is right up my street! 

As you might guess, it’ll be based on the popular television show –Strictly Come Dancing, and will feature local couples competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. They’re looking for 20 men and 20 women with a sense of fun and a desire to dance like the stars.  Entry is open to complete beginners through to those just wanting to brush up on their style.  You can enter either as a couple, or come along on your own as everyone will be matched with a partner.   

The 8 weeks of evening rehearsals will begin week commencing 13th September culminating in the showcase final of Strictly Come Hospice on Friday 5th November 2010 at the Palace Theatre.  The event will include performances from professional dancers as well as the competitors dancing in front of a judging panel and an audience.  

The hospice needs to raise over £3 million this year in charitable income so that they can continue to provide a high quality of care to their patients.  For this reason, they’re asking participants to raise sponsorship of £120 per person and to sell a minimum of 10 tickets each for the evening - £15 Adults, Under 16’s- £10.  

For more information please contact Nicky Maxwell-Braithwaite on 01923 335365 or email her on nmbraithwaite@peacehospice.org.uk

Last night I was invited down to East London to be the guest speaker at a Tower Hamlets Liberal Democrat social event at the Pride of Asia restaurant in Stepney Green.

Three months ago, the voters of Tower Hamlets voted ‘yes’ in a referendum about whether to have a directly elected Mayor in the borough.   The first Tower Hamlets mayoral election has been scheduled for 21 October and the Lib Dem selection process is currently underway. 

I gave them advice about how to run the local campaign, and the sort of person who might be suitable for the job.    

I’ll be following their progress closely and wish them the best of luck!

Cheslyn House gardens, Woodside Playing Fields and Cassiobury Park have all retained their Green Flag status, which is fantastic news and a testament to the hard work and effort put in by all those involved in the upkeep.  I’m not just talking about the council-employed gardeners and park staff – who do an amazing job - but also the community groups like our ‘Friends Ofs’ , the sports clubs, the local councillors and the police.  All of whom take pride in our parks, and like me get so frustrated when they see others show such blatant disregard, dropping litter and the like.   

I think we need to have a big community push on litter and re-educate those that think it’s acceptable to just leave a mess behind them that it really isn’t!!

The coalition government today announced it is overhauling national licensing policy  because the benefits of 24 hour drinking laws had failed to materialise and there’d been an increase in the incidences of drink fuelled crime and disorder.  It’s particularly timely for us as we’re in the process of toughening up our own local licensing policy (scroll down to earlier blog on that!) – which we can still only do within the confinements of the national policy. 

Overall, I welcome any changes that will give local authorities greater flexibility over licensing matters; especially the extra help with funding the costs of policing, taxi marshalling and street cleaning.  Watford council taxpayers unfairly bear the brunt of the clear-up costs when we know it’s not just Watford people that cause the mess.

 I understand the proposed changes would also allow local authorities to do more to tackle discount sales of alcohol in supermarkets and cornershops.  This sounds like a step in the right direction as we know most of the people that are excessively drunk on a night out have got themselves tanked up on cheap booze before they leave home.   So in principle this review gets a thumbs up from me, but of course there would need to be checks and balances built into any proposal.

Watford For You has just launched it’s new website: www.watfordforyou.org aimed at promoting the town to residents, businesses and visitors.  It’ll also play a key role in attracting new businesses to invest in the town – something we need in order to keep employment levels up. If you’ve not heard of Watford For You it’s the marketing arm of our Local Strategic Partnership ‘One Watford’. 

We also launched the Watford Commuter travel plan to help reduce congestion on our busy streets.  Part of this is a business bike loan scheme, and we presented the first loan bikes Watford Community Housing Trust and Clydesdale Bank. 

Hard times or not, we want to signal that we are a town open for business and keen to be green!

Most people have heard of the Samaritans, but not everyone will know exactly what they and their volunteers do.   They’re all about confidential non-judgemental emotional support, 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide. To raise their profile further they’ve recently embarked on a national publicity campaign – the 2010 Samaritans Smart Car tour – in which each of the 199 branches in the country connect with each other.  A driver from each branch has been driving the car from their branch to a neighbouring branch, where he or she hands over the keys to the next volunteer and so on until all branches have been visited.  I was invited along to welcome the Smart Car to the Watford Samaritans branch visit, at 45 St John’s Road, before it departed for Amersham.

Over the five years since the latest Licensing Act came into force, we’ve gained a good understanding of where we can and can’t influence licensing decisions.  And following several successful challenges to the court of appeals, we feel confident we can toughen up our existing policy.   

By doing so, we hope we can attract the types of venues we want to see in the town centre – those that cater for a wider range of groups across a wider spectrum of hours; that offer entertainment; are food rather than alcohol led etc.  And we hope that we’ll be able to say ‘NO’ to new bars and pubs that only sell alcohol. 

We also want to be able to impose stricter conditions on those venues for which we do grant licenses,  eg waiter service after 9, joining Pubwatch, installing CCTV. 

By doing all of this, we hope that we’ll change the dynamic of the town centre, and get rid of this image that the town centre is a ‘no-go’ area for people over the age of 25! Our changes won’t affect those that already have licences, but we hope that if the town centre does change, they too may diversify away from just being venues for people to stand around and drink. 

We are already involved in a new initiative, which sees the police, CCTV operators, Taxi drivers, Taxi marshals, door staff and the council all working together to tackle drunks in the town.  Someone noted as being drunk will have any alcohol they have on them confiscated, be refused entry to bars and clubs, and if necessary, issued a section 27 notice requiring them to leave the town centre.  This should make a big difference. 

We’d welcome your views, and are running an online consultation. You can fill in the survey found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9R39ZH