Agenda item

·       Cllr Helena Lovett (vice-chairman)

·       Cllr. Alan Cantwell

·       Roy Falder (Clerk)

Councillors Lovett and Cantwell and Roy Falder, the clerk gave their representations to the group as follows:

·       At its Annual meeting in 2024, the parish council discussed and held vote on the creation of new community council for Hazel Park. 90 out of 91 residents voted in favour of this. East Herts Council (EHC) then announced its intention to undertake a Community Governance Review (CGR), and Aston Parish Council asked to be included.

·       Consultation launched, a number of residents, the village society and the parish council commented. There was a great strength of feeling on matter and there was concern about the draft recommendation to wait until the development was completed in 2030. There felt this was too long to wait as the next local election was in 2027, and there could be as many voters from Hazel Park as there were in Aston. The consensus view was that the opportune time to create a new council was when the development was at 50% occupancy.

·       Residents of two parts of parish, different outlooks for four reasons:  

1)   Lack of community cohesion – Aston was a rural community with a farming heritage with some Some families going back generations and a significant number of residents had lived there over 30 yrs. There was a strong community identity with a number of clubs and facilities all funded by villagers and supported by the parish council. Hazel Park was an urban development on the Stevenage ring road. No residents are currently from parish or East Herts and look to Stevenage for their facilities. The two communities have different identities, and little if any community cohesion.  

2)   Physical separation – no road links between them. To reach Aston from Hazel Park, it is a 2 mile trip mostly on Stevenage ring road. The residents look to Stevenage for their amenities and the development will eventually have their own facilities meaning residents of Hazel Park don’t need to interact with parish at all.

3)   Democratic inequality – Aston currently has 693 voters, and Hazel Park has 8 making 701 total. The number of voters has been constant over the years with a slight decline in recent years. When the development is complete with 618 dwellings and a care home, there could be around 1,400 voters. With the current completion date of 2030, Aston could have 2,100 voters of which 65% are from Hazel Park, meaning that Hazel Park residents could have a clear majority and could take over the Parish Council. At 50% occupancy, each community would be roughly equal and the current build out plan suggests 50% occupancy would be reached at some point in 2027.  

4)   Financial disadvantage – Hazel Park are in effect paid twice for services. Residents pay Aston Parish Council a precept of £66 on a band D property. On top of this, they would be paying annual maintenance charge of £200. At 50% occupancy, £66 x 309 properties equals £20k. Residents spending on own community rather than subsidising Aston Parish Council.

·       Hazel Park seen as extension of Stevenage in all but law. The marketing website for the development places it in Stevenage and although external boundary changes are outside the scope of the review, they therefore asked the working group to reconsider the draft recommendation and create a new council when 50% occupied to ensure democratic and financial parity for two disparate communities.