Every County Councillor has discretion over the spending of £90,000 per year out of the (multi-million) Hertfordshire Highways Budget.
In addition to using some of this money for improved drainage at Osborne Way, the Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Tring & the Villages, Nick Hollinghurst, also made some funding available to construct some “grasscrete” off-road parking in The Twist, Wigginton.
This is close to the cross-roads in the centre of the village and will be of benefit to people visiting St Bartholomews Parish Church.
The spaces in the “grasscrete” have been seeded with grass – and if it rains before the birds eat all the seed, then the “grasscrete” should live up to its name.
Just behind Nick’s shoulder are the new fibre-optic cabinets installed by BT to bring superfast broadband to the village centre.
Unfortunately this service will not reach the area where Nick and Rosemarie (the DBC Councillor for Aldbury & Wigginton) live. However, Nick has asked for a survey to see if new copper cables could be routed along the Chesham Road to provide a far better service for houses around Champneys than they get at the moment. It may not end up being “superfast” but it could be a great advance on the current 1.8 Mbyte speeds than many of us still have to put up with.