Limited Benefits from Four Unitary Authorities
The Harpenden Society has been closely monitoring the development of local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire.
Alongside St Albans City and District Council, we supported the proposal for two unitary authorities: one serving East Hertfordshire from Stevenage, and the other serving the west of the county, including Harpenden, based in Watford. It was therefore a surprise when the Government announced its preferred option of four unitary authorities. Under these proposals, Harpenden would join St Albans and Hemel Hempstead within a new North West Hertfordshire Council.
In our view, and given the Government's emphasis on devolution, it is disappointing that the opportunity was not taken to create larger authorities that, through economies of scale, could potentially have delivered services more efficiently and effectively.
Unless further details demonstrate otherwise, it is difficult to see how significant savings will be achieved. Key services such as highways, social care and education, currently provided by Hertfordshire County Council, will be transferred to the four new authorities. This raises concerns about the potential duplication of expertise, resources and administrative functions.
That said, there are some potential advantages to the Government's proposal:
Chair's Comment
Jeff Phillips, Chair of The Harpenden Society, said:
"As always, the devil will be in the detail. Decisions made over the coming months could have a significant impact on residents. We need to understand how the Government expects savings at district level to be achieved without being offset by the costs of taking on services previously delivered by Hertfordshire County Council.
There are also important questions about the transfer of assets. As St Albans City and District Council distributes its assets, some will pass to the new unitary authority while others may transfer to Harpenden Town Council. Residents will rightly expect this process to be transparent and fair.
The Harpenden Society will continue to monitor developments closely and will do everything it can to represent the interests of Harpenden's residents throughout this process."
Mobile lung cancer screening coming to Harpenden in 2028
A mobile NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme will begin visiting West Hertfordshire this summer, with the full rollout taking place over the next 18 months.
The free screening is available to people aged 55 to 74 who are current or former smokers and aims to detect lung cancer at an early stage, when treatment is more effective.
More than 700 people across the east of England have already had lung cancer diagnosed earlier through the programme. In the West Herts catchment area, around 1,500 people were diagnosed with lung cancer between 2021 and 2025. Of these, 41% were aged between 55 and 74, and 34% were diagnosed at stage 1 or stage 2, when symptoms are often not yet present.
How does the screening program work?
Getting an Invitation
The Lung Health Check Chat
The CT Scan
Ian Barrison, trustee of the Harpenden Society, welcomed the initiative by saying:
"This is great news for Harpenden residents. Lung cancer is the UK's biggest cancer killer, and having a mobile screening unit closer to home will make it much easier for people to attend. For some, travelling to specialist cancer services can be difficult, so bringing screening into the community is a very positive step."
For more information please visit Life-saving screening trucks roll into town this summer :: West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Harpenden Society's Ron Taylor with Sue Hobley
Harpenden Society's Ron Taylor with Mike Hodge
Artichoke owner Seda (right) pictured with Aysegul (left) and Harpenden Society's Awards secretary Ron Taylor.
Harpenden Society Awards 2025
July 27th 2026.
Presentations to worthy winners of the Harpenden Society 2025 Awards commenced last week with :
Letter Of Commendation to Harpenden resident Sue Hobley,
In recognition of, more than 40 years' volunteer working for Harpenden & District Macmillan Cancer Support, as an active member of the charity's committee, for most of that time as its chairman.
You were one of the original trustees for the Runcie Day Care Hospice, now known as the Rennie Grove Peace Hospice, helping raise funds for the hospice's Macmillan Building.
You have combined charity work with enthusiastic interest in gardening, having run the Grove House garden volunteer teams for 25 years. It should be added that, appropriately, in a horticultural connection, you ran a wedding flower business from home for some 50 years. Other charities in which you has been involved, in the 54 years since you and your husband Jim moved to Harpenden, include the Children's Society, the Natural Childbirth Trust and the Open Door mental health charity.
Also presented with a Letter Of Commendation was Harpenden resident Mike Hodge.
In recognition of more than two decades of outstanding fundraising and service to the local community. Through golf events, musical performances, busking, leadership roles and voluntary work, you have raised in excess of £300,000 for a wide range of charities, always with a smile on your face and a kind word for others.
Having established your successful business in Harpenden in 1992, you ran it for 25 years, providing employment for many local residents. Throughout that time, you combined your professional achievements with a selfless commitment to supporting your community, giving generously of both your time and energy.
The scale of the funds you have raised, together with the countless hours you have devoted to so many worthy causes with the unfailing support of your wife Sarah, is truly remarkable. The positive impact you have made on the lives of local residents and their families will be felt for many years to come. Please keep bringing us sunshine!
And a presentation of a Certificate of Merit to Harpenden based ARTICHOKE BAKE & MORE
In recognition of how your business has transformed the previous Schoolwear shop into a full service retail bakery with a coffee bar. Not just a regular bakery, but one that makes breads to their own recipes and bakes them daily on the premises. Plus a range of their own pastries, cakes and desserts that are unique in flavour and freshness. Perfect for your home or to enjoy inside and out with a coffee made by their own barista or a chilled drink. ARTICHOKE BAKE AND MORE have made a positive impact to the retail trade in Leyton road.
New facilities opening at St Albans Hospital
The Society was delighted to learn of some exciting new facilities that have, or are soon to be operational at St Albans City Hospital
1) The Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) is now open and patients are already attending for tests and scans.
2) The new Surgical Centre has been “handed over” to the NHS Trust for commissioning, the training staff and completing safety checks to prepare the theatres for patients.
3) Work on the new Endoscopy Unit continues to go well with demolition complete and construction underway
You may also like to attend an open evening at the Community Diagnostics Centre between 6.00 and 7:30pm on Wednesday 3 June 2026.
Harpenden Society Trustee, Ian Barrison, was “delighted to see that progress has been made and is confident that these new facilities will be both state of the art, and more convenient for residents of Harpenden than the alternatives in Watford and Stevenage”
If you would like to know more about the future of St Albans Hospital https://www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk/our-hospitals/investing-in-our-hospitals/st-albans
A new breed of street collector
Members may well have seen, or been approached by, a growing number of street collectors congregating around the entrances of supermarkets, particularly Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, fundraising for their good cause – perhaps for the homeless or war veterans. We are not referring to the fantastic national charities such as The Royal British Legion and Crisis, or our wonderful local charities such as Action for Homeless or Centre 33, but to a new breed of organisation known as a Community Interest Companies.
A quick investigation shows that Community Interest Companies are not charities and do not have the same responsibilities and controls. They are also permitted to have shareholders who can profit from the company.
St Albans City and District Council is responsible for licensing charity street collections and provides details on its website. However, the Society has written to the council to express concern about this new type of organisation and the possibility that local residents may be donating money without fully understanding the situation.
Armed with precise details and photographs, the Harpenden Society has been in contact with the council providing details of two organisations operating outside two of Harpenden’s supermarkets showing when, where and how money was being collected. The council has confirmed that these organisations were not licensed and has promised to undertake further investigations of its own.
We will now be asking the council to revise its policy on street collections to ensure that they can only be undertaken by registered charities.
Until we receive a response, we reiterate the council’s advice:
If you have reason to believe that a collection has not been licensed by the council, contact the Charitable Collections Team at St Albans City and District Council by emailing charitablecollections@stalbans.gov.uk or calling 01727 866100, providing as much information and evidence as possible.
We will continue to work with the council to protect residents and will update members when we have more information.
Transport Infrastructure Under Growing Strain
Road and rail infrastructure in and around Harpenden is struggling. Traffic congestion has become a daily occurrence, and the rail network feels less reliable than ever.
While there is understandable concern about the proposed developments in North East Harpenden (738 homes) and North West Harpenden (580 homes), and the additional pressure these will place on already stretched transport infrastructure, there are also significant developments planned just beyond our immediate area which are likely to have an even greater impact:
Whilst acknowledging that new homes are needed, and inward investment will be good for jobs, the Society needs to know that the growth will be managed, and that the infrastructure will be put in place, to protect the current residents quality of life.
Engagement with Decision-Makers
The Harpenden Society is actively engaging with the District Council, which approves new developments; the County Council, which manages the road network; and our MP, who can help influence Network Rail, Thameslink, and the Secretary of State for Transport, who has approved the expansion of Luton Airport.
District Council Position
In June 2025, we attended the District Council’s pre-planning meeting for the proposed North East Harpenden development. We asked that approval be delayed until supporting infrastructure is in place—specifically to minimise the need for car travel into the town, and to address the clearly inadequate road junctions at Station Road and Westfield Road when driving is unavoidable. While our concerns were noted, it was made clear that road infrastructure is considered a County Council responsibility, and that they deem the current arrangements to be adequate.
County Council Position
Our next step was engagement with the County Council. In January, we held a public meeting attended by Paul Zukowskyj, a Hertfordshire County Councillor and cabinet member responsible for transport. We urged the Council to recognise that the piecemeal approval of developments is a dangerous approach, and that a holistic review of all proposed developments and their cumulative transport impacts is essential.
Paul acknowledged that the County Council holds responsibility for road infrastructure. However, under current government guidance, anything short of complete “gridlock” is not considered sufficient grounds for objection to a new development.
Rail and Air Travel Concerns
We also raised concerns with our local MP, Victoria Collins, focusing on air and rail capacity and reliability. Victoria acknowledged our concerns about recent rail performance and the increased pressure from local development. She also relayed a response from the Department for Transport to her written parliamentary question which accepted that performance had been poor, but suggesting there had been some overall improvement. More recent data shows that this improvement was short lived.
A subsequent meeting between Ms Collins, Thameslink, and Network Rail identified two main causes of recent disruption:
What Happens Next
The Society will not let this issue drop. It is clear that the fragmented responsibility for transport infrastructure is working against residents. While the proposed move to a unitary authority, the forthcoming Railway Bill, and the potential creation of Great British Railways may eventually bring greater accountability, these changes will take years to implement—and longer still to deliver tangible benefits.
In the meantime, Jeff Phillips, Chairman of the Harpenden Society, committed to press for commercial and residential developments to be considered holistically, with transport infrastructure planned, funded, and ideally delivered, before construction begins, not as an afterthought.
If you share our concerns then please consider joining the Society, and get involved, click here to join.
Make parking simpler
As you will be aware, the Harpenden Society continues to raise a number of concerns about parking charges in Harpenden and to press for:
On the second point, we were pleased to learn about the National Parking Platform (NPP) (www.npp.org.uk). Rather than requiring drivers to download yet another app, the platform integrates with apps you may already be familiar, making parking simpler and more consistent.
The Society believes that being able to use a familiar app would be welcomed by visitors to Harpenden, particularly those who are less comfortable with technology. It would also benefit Harpenden residents travelling to other areas.
We have written to the District Council and received a detailed response. This demonstrates that they are aware of the initiative and appreciate its potential benefits but, as with many things, the issue ultimately comes down to cost. The Council is in contact with the administrators of the scheme to determine a fair charging system.
The Society will monitor progress, offer support to the Council and keep members advised.
Public Consultation Opens on New Cancer Centres
Plans to secure the future of specialist cancer services for more than two million people across the East of England have moved forward, following agreement on capital funding for a new cancer centre. A public consultation will take place from 19 January to 29 March 2026 on proposals to relocate Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (currently 24 miles from Harpenden) to a new, purpose-built facility next to Watford General Hospital (18 miles from Harpenden).
The proposed relocation would create a centre of excellence alongside the planned new Watford General Hospital, providing cancer patients with direct access to essential on-site services such as Accident and Emergency and critical care. It would also offer modern facilities to support research, training and innovation. The new cancer centre would continue to serve patients across Hertfordshire, north west London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and east Berkshire.
The proposals include expanding chemotherapy, diagnostics and follow-up care in local hospitals, increasing chemotherapy delivered at home, and reducing the need for patients to travel long distances for routine appointments.
Early site works at Watford General Hospital are already underway. Incorporating the cancer centre into the wider hospital redevelopment could reduce overall costs through shared construction and infrastructure. Final decisions and delivery timelines will be confirmed following the consultation.
Ian Barrison of the Harpenden Society welcomed the progress and encouraged residents to take part in the consultation.
“This is a definite step in the right direction, and we strongly encourage our members and local residents to respond to the consultation,” he said.
“While the new facility will only be slightly closer for people in Harpenden, it will be significantly more convenient and will offer state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. The possible siting of stand alone radiotherapy services at the Lister Hospital Stevenage, or at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, would also benefit Harpenden residents. That is why this proposal deserves support".
Residents are encouraged to respond to the consultation (closes 29th March 2026) and show support for this important initiative Cancer Centre - proposal questionnaire
CAA Consultation on Overhaul of UK Airspace Design Process
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has opened a public consultation on sweeping reforms to the way aircraft flight paths are designed and amended across the UK. The consultation, which runs until 18 December, proposes a redesigned system intended to “make it easier to make changes to modernise the use of airspace, efficiently and effectively.”
Under the plans, a new body — the UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) — would be created to take over responsibility for managing all airspace-change proposals.
The proposals relate solely to the approval process for new or amended flight paths. They do not concern any specific route and apply nationwide, not just to Luton Airport.
The 85-page consultation document outlines a streamlined framework based on:
The CAA argues that the reforms will simplify and modernise an increasingly complex system. However, some observers warn that the changes could make it easier for government and airport operators to advance airspace alterations with fewer opportunities for public scrutiny or challenge.
Potential Local Impact
The proposals could become particularly significant for Luton Airport, where previous attempts to modify departure routes have been constrained by the current process.
On the downside a revised process could mean new routes for Luton and that, in turn, improve the likelihood of the airport archiving growth ambitions.
On the upside, Harpenden lies beneath the main westerly departure route used by around 70% of Luton’s outbound flights due to prevailing winds so if airport capacity increases and flight paths remain unchanged, residents would see a corresponding rise in flights overhead.
Luton Airport’s owners have long examined the option of creating an additional west/north departure route — a concept previously ruled out because of airspace conflicts with RAF Northolt and Heathrow. A revised framework could, in theory, enable reconsideration of such a route, potentially reducing noise over Harpenden. Any benefits, however, would depend entirely on the eventual design and approval of specific proposals.
Concerns Over Public Engagement
A central concern for the Harpenden Society is the fear that residents may have less opportunity to influence future airspace decisions, including those affecting towns and villages around the airport.
LADACAN, which represents communities across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, has published its position and additional context on its website in response to the consultation.
The Society will be responding and we encourage members to review the proposals and submit feedback before the deadline.
To read LADACAN's detailed analysis of the consultation, and some thoughts from them on how to respond, visit CAA airspace change consultation 2025 – Say NO to Luton Airport Expansion
Consultation page: https://consultations.caa.co.uk/safety-and-airspace-regulation-group/airspace-change-process-2025/
Town council commissions independent research into parking charges in Harpenden
Harpenden Town Council has commissioned an independent research study to gather the views of residents and town centre businesses on access to, and use of, Harpenden’s town centre. The research will specifically explore opinions on the limited-waiting parking bay changes introduced in February. The fieldwork taking place during November and December 2025.
A residents’ survey will be delivered to every household in Harpenden to ensure the widest possible participation.
Town centre businesses will also be asked for their views through telephone or face-to-face interviews. The findings will help the Town Council better understand recent changes in the local area and any impacts on the town centre.
Martyn Reed, Trustee and Transport Representative of The Harpenden Society, said:
“From what we have heard so far, views appear somewhat polarised. Many residents oppose any form of parking charge, while others—particularly those who can walk easily into town or use it for convenience shopping—are more accepting.
This is why The Harpenden Society welcomes this research.
Its independent nature will help ensure that the results can be reviewed by the St Albans District Council, who set parking fees, impartially and as part of their review following the first year of implementation. We hope the findings will guide actions that reflect residents’ views.
We strongly encourage residents and local businesses to take part and make their voices heard.”
For more detail please visit www.harpenden.gov.uk/news-and-initiatives/press-releases
Image owned by the Lawes Agricultural Trust
Up to 5,000 homes proposed for outskirts of Redbourn
Residents of Harpenden may wish to learn more about two proposals that, in combination, could result in the building of 5,000 new homes that will directly affect our neighbours in Redbourn and Hemel Hempstead.
Firstly the Crown Estate is preparing a planning application for 4,000 homes on a 975-acre site, which lies between Redbourn Road and Hemel Hempstead Road to the east of Hemel Hempstead.
Secondly Lawes Agricultural Trust, the a charitable trust, owns the estates at Rothamsted, is proposing a development of a further 1,000 homes in adjacent to Harpenden Lane, Redbourn.
There are a number of engagement sessions planned for each development, the most local of which are in Redbourn Village Hall;
Jeff Phillips, Chairman of the Harpenden society commented.
“The Society appreciates that new homes are needed and have empathy with our neighbours who will be significantly affected by these proposals. Whilst the residents of Harpenden are geographically remote our concern is the additional pressure that such homes will put on local infrastructure, particularly roads and trains, compounding the problems that will be caused by the developments in Harpenden and the expansion of Luton Airport. The Society is urging the planning authorities to take a holistic approach to these developments to ensure that problems are averted before they occur”
Question Time with Our MP Victoria Collins
In front to a lively audience at the Katherine Warington School, Victoria outlined her activities over her first year in the House of Commons.
In summary, she stated she is one of the 20 most active members in the House, and in just over a year, she and her small team have been involved in over 10,000 personal and political issues with residents and others. She has attended over 600 debates, questions and speeches in the House, and asked 4 questions of the Prime Minister, and held over 300 advice surgeries, meetings and other local visits
One small anecdote from her early days in the House was that she walked into a cupboard thinking it was the door to the ladies toilet!
The key subjects she focussed on include social care (especially dementia and mental health), special education needs, the cost of living and holding the Environmental Protection Agency/Water Companies to account for the appalling levels of raw sewage discharge into our river systems and streams.
As leader for the LibDems on Science, Innovation and Technology, she is a highly vocal campaigner for online safety, and is promoting ethical AI innovation, not least pushing for a standard for age for data consent, which is supported by Bernardo’s and Mumsnet.
In answering questions for the audience, she was asked what influence, as the third party in the House, the LibDems had on the Government. No hesitation in her reply – plenty – soft influence through collaboration with all parties, and hard influence through membership of select committees, parliamentary questions and through national media.
She was then asked where the LibDems are re Europe, and her answer was an unequivocal yes to entering a customs union with the EU, given the economic disaster that Brexit had always been expected to deliver.
Moving on to the question of ID cards, she was generally supportive, but they should not be mandatory, and when asked about the move to unitary local authorities, she was concerned that the efficiencies might be difficult to achieve, and that we may lose the local connection between residents and the decision makers.
On more local issues, she was asked why the Local Plan for St Albans was taking so long? In reply, when the LibDems came into power in 2022, there was no plan, as the previous Conservative prepared Plan had been rejected by the Planning Inspectors, with no attempt to revisit it. The new LibDem group had to start from scratch, and given the complexity of the issues of the plan, it was always going to be a lengthy process.
The concern now is that the Plan has been prepared in accordance with the former Government’s targets, and there is now the likelihood that the Labour Government will specify a higher level of housebuilding.
In thanking Victoria for her address and her answers to questions, Jeff Phillips, the chair of the Society, quoted from a Hansard booklet of advice to new MPs – ‘you’ll never get any thanks…..’ – a quote that Victoria recalled reading!