Flooding

December and January have seen extremely heavy rain falling, seemingly without respite. The consequences are that the gullies around the village have struggled to take the flow, and we have come perilously close to the flooding that was experienced in Orchard Way/Broom Grove a couple of years ago. Unfortunately a number of the graves in the NHDC Cemetery in Wadnall Way have been temporarily submerged. NHDC is aware of the problem and have taken steps to inspect the site with, as yet, no solution proposed.

Council Tax

The NHDC financial team are busy preparing a final budget for 2016-17. There are a number of uncertainties around the amount of money available from central taxation: the so called ‘Revenue Support Grant’. A number of decisions around this are scheduled to be made at Cabinet this month. It is likely that more efficiency savings will be made.

Syrian Refugees

The NHDC Cabinet decided in December that Syrian refugees Hertfordshire will be welcomed under the terms of a resettlement scheme recommended by the Home Office if they decide to come to North Herts. Full council voted, in November, to indicate to the Home Office that the District would be interested in helping fifty refugees to resettle here, in family groups, over the next five years, a total of ten individuals per year, possibly three or four families. The national scheme includes financial assistance to local authorities prepared to welcome refugees, who will be transported to the UK directly from camps in Syria or immediately neighbouring countries.