July 07 Edition
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BUDGENS OVERCHARGING CUSTOMER’S |
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
 Convenience Store’s Pricing Not ConvenientAn Abbots Langley High Street store has come under fire from a number of local residents after they complained of being overcharged for products. My Abbots has been notified by local shoppers that Budgens convenience store on Abbots High Street has been charging them the wrong price for certain products. The price that customers are being charged at the till is not the price that is labeled on the shelf by the product. Items are often in the wrong place and it appears that it is the same products which are being priced incorrectly. The Editor of My Abbots has bought the same bottle of wine twice from the store and has been overcharged both times, despite making staff aware of their error first time round. Other items which have been found to be priced wrongly are Gillette Fusion Shaving Foam, along with Toothpaste and Toothbrushes.
Hertfordshire County Council’s Trading Standard Office told My Abbots: “We would need to look at the pricing policy of the store in question if this is a regular occurrence. The worst case scenario if they are found to be guilty of overcharging is criminal prosecution, which would inevitably result in a fine.” My Abbots feels it has to raise this problem due to the fact that we noticed the overcharging because we were only buying a few items. What about those who do a big shop at the store? They may not look at the prices of items so closely, and may be unaware of overcharging. A spokesperson from Budgens Head Office told My Abbots that the issue would be looked into. She said: “There are processes in place to make sure products are priced correctly and are lined up with the relevant tags. The store will be carrying out a check and would like to thank the customers for making us aware of this situation.”
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CARNIVAL IS GREAT SUCCESS |
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
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The 25th Annual Abbots Langley Carnival was held last month and was one of the best attended in its history. The event is arguably the biggest in Abbots Langley’s calendar, and attracts people from all over South West Hertfordshire. Parish Council Chairman Owen Rose officially opened the Carnival, telling the crowd: “On behalf of Abbots Langley parish Council a warm welcome to our village, as King Henry 8th used to say to his wives, ‘I won’t keep you long‘.” He proceeded to declare the carnival open, which then allowed the fun to begin. Stalls, rides and various other activities were put on to accommodate all members of the family. The main event for most however, is the floats that are entered into a competition, with winners falling into different categories. In the pub and club category, the best float was won by the Abbots Langley and District Men’s Club. The float had a very colourful summer theme to it and was accompanied by a retired London double decker bus. The best float that came from a local school was won by Abbots Langley School, while the mini floats was won by the Churches Together. There were also other awards handed out, with Evergreen Football Club handed the prize for best float from a Youth Organisation, while best float from a Community Service Organisation went to M K Ginder. Congratulations to all the winners. The event as a whole was a great success, and even the weather managed to shed some sunshine on the proceedings. Carnival Chairman Allen Harvey was quick to thank all those who were involved and those who attended, giving a special mention to My Abbots for its promotion of the event. He told us: “Thanks again very much for the centre spread in the May Edition of My Abbots and for distributing the programmes for us. This was a great help and I am sure that it was no coincidence that we had one of our best ever attendances. We were pleased with the way the carnival went and we have had
good feed back from those attending.” So that’s it for another year. The dust has settled over Abbots, and no doubt the organisers are already starting to plan how they can better this years efforts in 2008.
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ST PAUL’S SCHOOL WIN GOLD AWARD FOR RECYCLYING |
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
 Schoolchildren across Three Rivers have been busy recycling old Yellow Pages directories this year, with two Abbots schools winning hundreds of pounds and raising enough money to plant and care for 70 native trees across England, one of the least wooded countries in Europe. Twenty two schools recently took on the Yellow Woods Challenge - the simple, educational and fun environmental campaign for schools run by Yellow Pages, the Woodland Trust and Three Rivers District Council. Local schools had great fun competing against each other, recycling a total of 1,750 old Yellow Pages directories. St Paul's Church of England Primary School, Langleybury, beat off all competition to take the 'Gold Oak' title and win £300, while Tanners Wood JMI School was rewarded with £100 and the 'Bronze Beech' title. A mention must also go to Divine Saviour School, who also did well in coming fifth Headmistress at St Paul’s Church of England, Sue Rayment, was naturally delighted by the results, and praised the efforts of her pupils: “She told My Abbots: “The children are delighted and very proud. The competition was led by our eco committee, and recycling is a big part of our curriculum. The children are currently voting on what to do with the money, with a friendship bench and new books for the library just some of the ideas.”
Councillor Phil Brading, Portfolio Holder for Public Services and Health at Three Rivers District Council, said: "This has been a fantastic competition, with 1,750 old directories being recycled across the district. I congratulate all of our schools for their achievements locally and wish them all the best of luck in the national competition." Richard Duggleby, Head of External Relations at Yell, added: "For every pound we award to schools for recycling old Yellow Pages directories, we give a matching pound to the Woodland Trust. Thanks to the recycling efforts of residents and schools in Three Rivers, that's another £700 raised for the Trust." The Woodland Trust will use the money to support its 'Tree For All' campaign - the most ambitious children's tree-planting project ever launched in the UK. The local competition has now closed, but the schools have several more chances to win thousands of pounds in the national competition for their recycling, environmental education, community involvement and sculpture building efforts.
For more information about the local and national Yellow Woods Challenge competition, please visit www.yellow-woods.co.uk
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RESIDENTS ’TO BE CONSULTED’ OVER 4,000 NEW HOMES |
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
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Residents of Abbots Langley and surrounding areas are to be consulted further over the location of 4,000 new houses which have been proposed to be built in Three Rivers. The target was outlined by the government In its draft of the East of England Plan which was produced in December last year. The aim is to reach this target by the year 2021, but it faces strong opposition from Three Rivers District Council. The area has been recognised by the campaign to Protect Rural England as one of the best districts in the whole country for building on previously developed land, the council is determined that its reputation is kept in tact. The council now needs to find extra land to accommodate the new houses and will consult locals over the best way to approach this. As well as suitable previously developed areas and locations that already have planning permission, some additional space is expected to be needed. Ideas that are being considered include further development within urban areas on previously developed green belt land, and on green belt land at the edge of urban areas. It would take around 14 years for this development when brown field land and existing land with planning permission have been used. The expected space that will be required in addition to the brown field land and land with planning permission already, is somewhere between 18 and 31 hectares. Martin Trevett, Environmental Portfolio Holder for Three Rivers, has major concerns about the East of England Plan, as three quarters of the district is made up of greenbelt land. He told My Abbots: “No decision has been made yet as it is still in the consultation stage. We feel we have to be proactive in making suggestions, otherwise decisions will be made from above. Our concern is that with all the people that would be moving into the area, there is no provision for infrastructure. No plans made for schooling, transport links or health services have been made, which could do a lot of harm. I’d like to see the pressure eased on the South East of England and the population more scattered. It is nearly impossible to find the amount of land required because of the amount of greenbelt in the district.” Three Rivers consists of a total of 8,883 hectares, of which 6,873 hectares is green belt land (approximately 77% of the total). The Secretary of State has already sent new proposals based on the consolations that have taken place already, and research is ongoing. As well as Abbots Langley, the areas likely to be affected would be South Oxhey, Croxley Green, Maple Cross and Carpenders Park.
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ABBOTS HAS PCSO OF THE YEAR ! |
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Friday, 13 July 2007 |
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 Abbots Langley residents will be pleased to hear that patrolling their streets is the Watford PCSO of the Year. John Diaz, 31, was recognised by the Hertfordshire Police Authority’s Local Safer Neighbourhoods Awards last month. A member of Abbots Neighbourhood Team, John has produced a number of interesting initiatives to raise awareness of the team and police. No doubt many locals will have seen John around the area, as he spends much time visiting local residents, including those who have been a victim of crime. He has also approached local businesses to raise money for ‘robocam‘, which aims to clamp down on anti-social behaviour. On winning the award, John told My Abbots: “I’m really happy to have won this, but could not have done it without the help of my colleagues. This award is not just for me, its for the whole team.” Keeping Watford and Three Rivers safe is high on the agenda for the winners of the awards, with three members of the public, two police officers and two Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) picking up accolades. The panel of judges, made up of the borough/district Chief Inspectors, Police Authority Lead members and the local Community Safety Managers, also recognised the work of locals Garry Barnett, Malcolm Adcock, and Inspector George Holland. Garry and Mark were named the two people to receive the Community Safety Award. Garry works as an active volunteer at Abbots Langley neighbourhood police station, driving forward volunteer involvement and developing training manuals and procedures for new volunteers. His friendly and approachable style and enormous ability has provided reassurance and help to the local community. Malcolm is also a familiar face around the Abbots Police Station, and is part of the Three Rivers Police Community Support Group. He gives up much of his own time and is involved with many initiatives to the benefit of the community. George was presented with Neighbourhood Officer of the Year, after his hard work to make Three Rivers one of the safest places to live in the County. He has introduced new and innovative ways of working, including using volunteer staff at Abbots Langley police station enquiry desk. George’s work was recognised at the annual Problem Orientated Policing conference in November 2006..
The winners of each category were due to go onto the county finals, due to take place at the end of last month. Heat winners from all categories were presented with certificates at the special awards ceremony in June. The county winners will be chosen from heat winners and will each receive a trophy. The Community Award county winner will also receive a cheque for £1,000 to spend on community safety projects in their local community.
Three Rivers Chief Inspector, Dave Moore, said: “Three Rivers continues to be one of the safest districts in the country – this is not by accident but down to the commitment and dedication of members of the public, police officers and police community support officers working effectively together and we will continue to do so to ensure people in Three Rivers feel even safer.”
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