In September 2023 we publicly launched our ‘Protecting Our Roots’ project and held our first public engagement event, to share our future vision for the Estate and bring to life the urgent need for change. As part of the project we have been reviewing all recreational activity across Ashridge Estate and the varying impacts these have on the special landscape in our care. We know that horse riding is a popular activity at Ashridge and we want to continue welcoming horse riders, however we also need to make some changes to protect the estate and prevent further harm.

The information sharing session is on Wednesday 3 April 2024with slots at either 5.30pm-6.30pmor 7.00pm-8.00pm. We are also holding another session the week before but this has already sold out.

The session will consist of a short presentation about the changes being made to the permit scheme and some adjustments to our network of permissive bridleways, and include materials to read and a chance to ask questions

Please register via https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-riding-event to book your place as spaces are limited. All materials will be available on the ‘Protecting Our Roots’ website (nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-protecting-our-roots) after the event.

Do you want to make a positive difference in our village? 

Would you like to influence decisions that affect your community?

You need to be willing to give up some of your time. How much depends on you and your commitment to work for your community without being paid.

Parish Council meets once a month on the first Monday of the month.

Meetings normally last around 2 hours.

You must be 18 or over, an elector and have been a resident or worked within 3 miles of the Parish for the last year.

If you would like to be considered, please contact Gosia the Parish Clerk by email. Closing date for registering interest: 31.03.2024

ENTHUSIASM AND COMMITMENT ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EXPERIENCE

Dear Aldbury/Tring Station Residents

Re: Aldbury Pond restoration 2023

As you may know already the Parish Council has given the go-ahead to much needed plans to restore the village pond – and make it easier to keep it that way. Work will take place in three stages; the clearing, reprofiling and then relining of the pond. The project is relatively complex and the final phase requires a respite from the rain, which means the timetable has to maintain a degree of flexibility.

PHASE 1

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR WEED CLEARING. Phase 1 will be commencing with immediate effect and will see the pond cleared of all the vegetation, including the roots. We need the site completely cleared of vegetation by 16th August and we are looking for volunteers for help. You will be welcome to come at any time that suits, and for as long or short a time as you can afford. Please bring your own spade or fork and pile up the vegetation you dig out on the grass on the bus stop side of the pond. From there it will be collected for disposal. Please ensure there are no stones/flints amongst the roots that may damage the shredder the plants will be fed through.

PHASE 2

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED AS TRAFFIC MARSHALS. The second phase will commence on 18 August with the erection of temporary fencing around the pond. This is to prepare for the arrival of a mechanical digger that will be used to excavate the accumulated silt and underlying substrate to create a re-modelled pond bed that is somewhat deeper than it is today. The work will be carried out by an experienced volunteer from the Wendover Canal Trust from Saturday 19 August until Monday 21 August. The spoil will be piled up on the grass verges to the pond from where it will be collected by grab lorries. This will take place between Monday 21 August and Wednesday 23 August, with Thursday as a potential overrun day. The route the lorries will take will be via Station Road and Cow lane.

There will inevitably be a degree of noise and disturbance during this phase of the project, but the excavation work will be confined to between 9am and 6pm to minimise disturbance to those households adjacent to the pond. The grab lorries transporting the spoil will need to make an earlier start because of the opening hours at the disposal depot. They may start to arrive from 7am or thereabouts, rather like the refuse collection service. Because of the route of the lorries, both Aldbury and Tring Station residents will be impacted by the heavy vehicle traffic.

PHASE 3

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR A WIDE RANGE OF TASKS. This is the stage at which the pond will be relined. We anticipate undertaking this phase between Saturday 26 August and Wednesday 30 August. We might even wish to make an earlier start with installing the liner (e.g. on 25 August) if the weather forecast indicates a dry spell we wish to take advantage of and there are sufficient volunteers with availability.

A puncture proof fabric will be laid down across the pond, followed by the geotextile liner itself. This in turn will be covered with concrete that will have to be spread and compacted down. Concrete block baffles will be built in the areas immediately beneath the pond’s two inlet pipes to help trap incoming

silt into areas where it can more readily be removed in the future. There will be heavy lorries coming and going with cement towards the latter part of this phase (most likely, 29 and 30 August).

For this work we will need lots of volunteers to: 

•  lay down the puncture-proof fabric and geotextile liner.

• spread and compact the concrete overlay

• build the concrete block baffles

• marshal traffic

• assist the project manager with coordination of volunteers

• be available as a first-aider

• keep a record of who is on-site (for health and safety purposes).

Clearly, this is a stage at which we need the most volunteers willing to take on one or other of the various tasks involved. So please come forward to assist. You can do so by emailing aldburypond@aldburyparish.org.uk.

SPECIAL REQUEST TO HOUSEHOLDS AND BUSINESSES (SHOP & PUB) IN THE VICINITY THE POND

We hope you will bear with us thorough the noise and disruption of the works. We will try to keep this to a minimum.

Please avoid parking around or in the vicinity of the pond between 9am and 6pm on the following dates: 19-23 August; 26- 30 August. During this time we will be grateful if you, or your customers, will use the recreation ground car park.

If you have any queries either now or during the works, please contact Ted Bianco by text (preferred) or voice to 07860 779058. Kindly do not leave voicemail messages.

Aldbury Pond Restoration Group.

Dear Resident 

Take a moment to read through the plan for the pond restoration and ongoing maintenance. We hope you will find lots of useful information on how the Council is planning to manage this project. 

Please note, all results from the borough council, town and parish councils can be found on our website below.

https://www.dacorum.gov.uk/home/council-democracy/elections-and-voting/elections-2023

Dear Parishioner

The Parish Council and the Pond Working Group would like to update you on the plans for the village pond so please read the separate document below. We are hoping to be able to fulfil our objectives in the next 12 months so please bear with us while we are working on this project.

Dear Residents of Aldbury and Tring Station

Please see a written representation  sent on behalf of the Parish Council to the Planning Inspectorate.

Cllr Elections 4 May 2023

Parish Councillor elections take place on Thursday, 4th May 2023, the same day as Borough Councillor elections.

Aldbury Parish Council has 8 seats. Parishioners and the Parish Council need you to take a moment to think about becoming a Councillor.

Eligibility, nomination papers and further background papers are available from the Electoral Commission website here. Anyone who wishes to stand for election or re-election must complete and submit a valid nomination paper to The Forum at The Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, at the latest by 4pm on Tuesday, 4th April. Please visit Dacorum Borough Council website for more information here.

Implications of the Elections Act 2022

The notable changes that will come into effect for the May 2023 elections relate to electors needing to show an approved form of photo ID at a polling station before voting. This will include such ID as a passport, driving licence and national bus pass. If this ID has expired, it will still be applicable to use provided the photo is still a good likeness. For those voters without a suitable form of ID they can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) via the Gov.uk website. This service goes live on the 16th of January 2023.

Further information can be found here.

PLEASE NOTE

It is the responsibility of each candidate to ensure the accuracy of, and to submit, the necessary paperwork.

All candidates need to be proposed and seconded by someone registered to vote in the parish.

Confirmation of nominations will be published by 4pm on Wednesday, 5th April.

In a contested election the vote count for Parish Councillors takes place on Friday 5th May.

Dear Resident, HCC would like to consult you on proposed parking restrictions in Aldbury. Please take a short survey by clicking here or alternatively Email Peter Write @ cschighways@hertfordshire.gov.uk or write to Highways, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, Hertfordshire, SG13 8DN giving reference Aldbury, Tring. Please note that the consultation will run between 21^st November 2022  until 12^th December 2022.

The Play Area working group is looking for volunteers who could spare some time and help with making the Logworld surface a better place to play. Please contact Beth Cole dr.ejcole@gmail.com

Renewal of the Aldbury playground stage 1. The July APC meeting endorsed getting on with the repairs to the Logworld (the big climbing frame) and the replacement of the safety surface underneath with a new matt surface that allows grass to grow through it. A volunteer working party will clear away the old black shredded rubber and lay fresh turf in the last weekend of September. If you are interested in joining the working party please contact David Demmery (aviddemme@gmail .com) or Beth Cole (dr.ejcole@gmail.com).

Dear Resident,

 We would appreciate if you could spare some time to fill out the survey to help us determine whether there is a need for a community bus. Hard copies of the survey can be found in the village shop. 

Dear Resident please note that Stocks Road will have restricted / no access from 9-20 May (Openreach) and 12-14 June (road surfacing). Should you have further questions or comments please click here to get in touch with Hertfordshire County Council's Highway department.  

Dear Resident of Aldbury and Tring Station, we are pleased to share the latest survey results. We hope you will find the information and feedback helpful. The Parish Council would like to thank all volunteers involved in the Parish Plan 2021  and  all parishioners that took time to answer the questionnaire.

Here you can find the results of the latest Traffic and Parking survey. Thank you to those who participated and shared their views.

The Parish Council is currently looking for a person who would like to represent the electors in Aldbury and Tring Station. This is a casual vacancy and no previous experience is needed just your enthusiasm and ideas. We are meeting  on a first working Monday of the month at the Memorial Hall to discuss matters important to residents and the village. Please contact the parish clerk parishclerk@aldburyparish.org.uk for more information about the post, how to apply and the interview.

On behalf of the entire cast and crew of Lord of Misrule, I wanted to thank the village and people of Aldbury for the warm welcome you extended us, and for your hospitality, patience and good humour as we’ve toiled away among you over the past six weeks.

It has been an enormous privilege for us to shoot our movie in such a beautiful, characterful setting and I think we’ll all take a little piece of Hertfordshire away in our hearts as we leave.

I am particularly grateful to the Parish Council for permitting us to film here and for helping us to do so respectfully and responsibly, and to all the householders, landowners and local businesses who have worked with us along the way. Not to mention our local Supporting Artists! A big thanks also to the Warden and Archdeacon of St John the Baptist church; without their support and assistance, our movie would have been much the poorer.

With filming complete, we’re now embarking on the long journey of post-production, during which the film will be edited, the score and soundtrack composed, the picture colour-graded and the visual effects created and layered in. We hope to be finished in time to release the film next autumn or the following spring. We will of course be in touch with any news as it becomes public.

Until then, a fond farewell from us all, and thanks again,

Riverstone Pictures

Congratulations to the following organisations: The Memorial Hall, Tring Station Residents Association, Aldbury Peace Memorial, Aldbury and Tring Station Baby and Toddler Group and Friends of Aldbury School, who were successful in securing grants from the Parish Council under the section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972. 

The Parish Council welcomed Kate Holton. We wish her all the best in her role as a Parish Councillor. 

Ashridge National Trust has provided the following response to questions put to them by the Parish Council on behalf of parishioners. The Council would like to express its gratitude to Ashridge NT and in particular to Emily Smith, Countryside Manager of the Estate, for her time and effort in putting this response together. Please see part 1 and part 2 of the articles attached.