Youth Council – Waytemore Room – 29thJanuary 2008

Notes of Feedback Session

Q. What do you like about East Herts?

  • Green open space
  • Good maintenance of historical sites
  • Transport links to other towns
  • New developments in Hertford being in keeping with environment
  • Specific youth facilities like a skate park and youth club
  • Wildlife in Ware
  • Cycle paths and underpasses on busier roads
  • Good disabled access in Hertford
  • Restoration and re-use of older buildings in Hertford
  • Relatively low crime rate in Hertford although some pockets of high crime rates
  • Good schools (many cited)
  • Good accessibility to travel to London for leisure and future job opportunities
  • Cinema in Bishops Stortford
  • Choice of restaurants in Bishops Stortford
  • Bus network in Buntingford but can be unreliable
  • Good PCSO presence

Q. What do you dislike about East Herts?

  • Expect to have to leave district to find jobs and houses when older
  • Poor access by public transport to leisure facilities
  • Have to rely on parents for transport to get out and about
  • Lack of public transport links between main towns in district – it takes a lot longer than by car and can be very expensive
  • Buntingford feels more isolated with limited facilities and unreliable public transport
  • Pockets of high drug use some in Hertford
  • Swimming pool is owned by a school and is not open on weekends and has limited time during the week so go elsewhere for such activities
  • A lot of effort, time and cost to get a skate park built
  • Lack of things for younger people to do
  • Too many traffic wardens, particularly in Bishops Stortford
  • Traffic lights in Gascoyne Way, Hertford causing congestion and noise and seem unnecessary during the day
  • Younger people are targeted and victimised by PCSOs
  • Feel prejudiced against like they get a bad press all the time
  • Congregation of younger people outside the Ware Priory
  • Lack of a variety of shops as they are mostly service type shops so they travel to Stevenage or Harlow.
  • It is easier to travel by public transport to these towns rather than other towns in the district as Bishops Stortford is hard to get to by public transport
  • Poor quality road surfaces
  • Needs to be cleaner
  • Not enough recycling

Q. What do you think are the Issues & Opportunities facing East Herts?

  • Need to provide more facilities and activities for teenagers
  • Need more affordable housing with local residents being placed on housing register above immigrants and those from outside the district
  • Perceived favourable treatment of immigrants rather than locals
  • Need more sense of community
  • Need to control urban sprawl and retain the open character of the district and towns
  • Need to retain green spaces within towns and not build all over them
  • Objections to more overcrowding, questioning why we need more houses in the first place
  • Feel there is a contradiction of the governments and councils priorities to protect the green belt with providing thousands of new houses
  • Protecting green belt should be a priority
  • People can’t afford housing forcing younger people to leave the district
  • There is a declining high street in Sawbridgeworth that should be prevented and more enhancement is needed
  • Felt there is a conflict of interest between providing for new local jobs and new houses and don’t feel confident that it can all be achieved
  • Worries over long term economic security in the country generally and what this would mean for the development of the district in relation to housing targets. Concerns over a potential recession were raised.