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Poling Notice
Opening hours of toilets at the Nigel Poulton Community Hall
Currently the toilets at the Nigel Poulton Community Hall are open from approximately 7am to 5pm Monday to Sunday.
Unfortunately the toilets are frequently vandalised which is costly and very unpleasant to deal with.
Should you find the toilets locked during the stated opening hours, it is usually because they have been damaged.
If you witness any suspicious activity at the Community Hall, or elsewhere in the village, please call 101 to report it. Although the police may not be able to attend on every occasion, it is vital that these incidents are recorded so that the police can build up a picture of what is happening in the village.
New Express Bus Service – Watton to Ware
Watton-at-Stone Parish Council has asked Hertfordshire County Council to improve the bus service for children living in Watton-at-Stone who use the Ware schools and Hertfordshire Regional College.
Last year, residents told us that the 390 bus service was unreliable, overcrowded and was taking up to an hour from leaving Watton-at-Stone to reaching Ware schools. At one point, the service was being cancelled at least once a week. More children now have to rely on this service since Reg’s service finished last year.
After raising the problems with the service with HCC, we are pleased to announce that HCC has now arranged for a new express service, the 907, to stop in Watton-at-Stone, between 7.52 and 7.55 am. It will then go directly to Ware, arriving at Ware at 8.10 am.
Three buses will go from Ware to Watton-at-Stone in the evening, arriving at The Bull at 16.08, 17.15 and 18.15. Anyone can use these services, they are not just for school children, though they are term time only.
The timetable for the 907 is available at https://bustimes.org/services/907-stevenage-brookfield-centre.
Following our feedback, HCC has also been working with CentreBus to improve the 390 service, which will continue to run to Ware via Hertford. Although the bus can arrive 5 or 10 minutes late into Watton, it usually reaches the Ware schools on time now. CentreBus is also using a larger size bus, to improve capacity on the route. Previously some children were not able to get on the bus in Ware due to overcrowding.
We hope this will make travelling to school in Ware easier and more comfortable for our young people. Watton-at-Stone Parish Council is interested to hear how these services perform. Please let us know your experiences by emailing any feedback to clerk@watton-pc.org.uk..
Resignation of a Parish Councillor
After almost 32 years of service as a Parish Councillor, David Stock has resigned from the Parish Council and will not be seeking re-election in May this year.
I know that Parish Councillors past and present would join in saying a huge thank you to David on behalf of the community for all his years of public service. He has been a very hard working and committed councillor and will be very much missed.
Thank you David.
Emma Waltham, Chairperson, Watton at Stone PC
King Charles III Coronation celebrations
King Charles III
As in the past with significant royal events, some of our residents may already have thought about how they will celebrate the Coronation. However, if there are any individuals who are considering getting together to organise a larger-scale celebration/event (such as that we did for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year), then do get in touch with the Parish Council to see how we may be able to help, e.g., making the Sportsfield and Community Hall available.
Watton-at-Stone Parish Council
clerk@watton-pc.org.uk
01920 830330
Voter ID
The UK government has introduced a requirement for voters to show photo ID when voting at a polling station at elections. This new requirement will apply for the first time in England at the local elections on Thursday 4 May 2023.
Which forms of ID can I use to vote?
You may already have a form of photo ID that is acceptable. You can use any of the following:
• Passport
• Driving licence (including provisional licence)
• Blue Badge
• Certain concessionary travel cards
• Identity card with PASS mark (Proof of Age Standards Scheme)
• Biometric immigration document
• Defence identity card
• Certain national identity cards
Please note: If you have a form of accepted ID that is out of date, you can still use it to vote at a polling station if it still looks like you.
If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID
If you don’t already have an accepted form of photo ID, or you’re not sure whether your photo ID still looks like you, you can apply for a free voter ID document, known as a Voter Authority Certificate. You can apply for this at www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate or call their helpline on 0800 328 0280.
Application forms will be available online to download and print, or you can request a paper application form to be sent to you by the Electoral Services team at East Herts Council on 01279 655261.
The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate for use at the elections in May 2023 is 5pm on Tuesday 25 April 2023.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more, go to www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/voter-id or call their helpline on 0800 328 0280.
Hertfordshire County Council’s budget
We want to hear your views on how we can make the fairest decisions possible as we develop our budget plans.
Like all organisations across the country the ongoing impact of increasing inflation has added significantly to the pressures on Hertfordshire County Council’s budget. Having set a balanced budget for the next two years as recently as February 2022, we have since seen this position changing at pace with inflationary pressures having an impact on the day-to-day costs of our services.
In short, it’s costing a lot more to simply provide our services at current levels. For example, the bill to keep streetlights on has increased by 60%, that’s an extra £2.3 million a year just to keep the lights on after dark. Despite this, thanks to close control and financial forecasting it has been possible to manage the in-year potential over-spend of £23.5million.
The Leader of our council has lobbied for the county via the Local Government Association, County Council’s Network, working with MPs and directly to Government to make it plain that an enhanced financial settlement is essential in order to keep the vital services running for the people of Hertfordshire.
Last week, the government announced that it will provide us with flexibility to set our levels of council tax. However, before any decisions, we want to hear from you.
Your feedback via this consultation will inform the discussions that our county councillors will have throughout January at public panel meetings and help decide the budget that is set for the council in the February 2023 Full Council.
The budget survey is open to all residents, town and parish councils, parish meetings and organisations in Hertfordshire and can be found here www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/budgetsurvey
New Watton-at-Stone Parish Councillors
During a recent meeting of the Parish Council, Nicola White and Annabel Kirk were co-opted to fill the vacancies arising from the resignations of Cllr. Michael Smith and Cllr. Kay Jancey.
The Parish Council thanks the outgoing Councillors for their past endeavours and welcomes the two new.
