Parish councils were first established towards the end of Queen Victoria's reign. Their purpose is to look after the needs of village communities. Today this often means representing the village before larger bodies. Your Parish Council has nine councillors, and they stand for re-election every four years. In London Colney there are many green areas for recreation, plus childrens' playgrounds and a paddling pool in Whitehorse Lane. In the past, the Council has seen it as essential that these areas should be kept open and unbuilt on for the good of the community. As usual, we opened the paddling pool during the May bank holiday. It has proved very popular during the very hot weather in July and will remain open till the end of the summer holiday.
Parish Councils are not allowed to run profit-making events, but your Parish Council encourages local organisations to run events for the common good. The village Events Committee organised the Christmas Ball, and there was a raffle there. Money from the raffle, and carol singing organised by a councillor raised a fair sum, which was distributed amongst the local schools: we want them to be happy places! In July, we had the Larks in the Park event. The events committee and several local groups were involved. The council ground staff prepared the Morris Playing Field, and the event was probably the best ever. What was pleasing was to see so many teenagers come along. Most teenagers are too young to vote - which is a pity, as they are most affected by the quality of life in the village Several years ago, at the urging of some teenagers, we built a BMX track on the Cotlandswick Field. By the time we'd raised the money to build it, these teenagers were young adults, and no longer interested in riding their BMX bikes. They've got cars now!
The Parish Council meets the first Friday of each month, and most meetings, we ask the police to report what's happening. For a village of its size, London Colney is remarkably crime free. Most crime occurs at the Colney Fields trading site, and when crime occurs in the village, it is usually the same people. We now get regular patrols from PCSOs and traffic wardens, so it is much easier now to park your car by a village shop, do your shopping and be on your way.
Some residents of the Napsbury Park Estate have been here over a year. We look forward to shops being established on the estate, and a bus route being set up to run through the estate. Your Parish Council has initiated discussions with the authorities to create a new council ward for the estate, with extra councillors allocated to represent the residents: but these things take a long time to happen. A problem worrying the councillors is the idiots who insist on driving their cars through the ford by the Green Dragon pub. This destroys the river bank and has safety implications. The Parish Council is considering erecting a barrier to prevent this nonsense. However, some local residents do not want a barrier, and the councillors are divided on this - so watch this space! London Colney Parish Council is rightly regarded as a leader amongst parish councils, and believes in seeing that staff get the best training possible. Our clerk, Mrs Gibling recently attended a course on management, and our ground staff, Messrs Copley and Melchior went on a course on ground spraying. Three of our councillors successfully completed courses on effective parish councils. A report like this usually reports action taken, and successful outcomes. We often spend time discussing things that lead nowhere. For example, we have been asked to give our opinion on the development of the airfield site on the far side of the railway. A group of councillors attended a meeting with the developers in Radlett during July at which many of our questions were answered with the result that we now feel that, if the developers can resolve the problems caused by increased traffic flow, the scheme has a lot to commend it. However it is not always as easy to obtain the information we need in order to comment sensibly. Again, the council was asked to give a considered opinion on paying for children to travel to denominational schools. The council was so divided on this, that we felt we could not give an opinion which represented all the councillors. This article hopefully gives a flavour of some of the issues considered by your Parish Council. I hope you all had a lovely summer.
Robin Cooper
(Chair: London Colney Parish Council)