Pictures show the first work beginning at Hitchin s £20million John Barker Place regeneration.
- Credit: Kevin Lines
Construction work has begun on the first phase of the £20 million John Barker Place regeneration project in Hitchin, almost one year on from planning permission being granted by NHDC.
Planning permission for the highly anticipated Westmill project was granted on January 24, 2020 - marking the end of a saga that spanned more than a decade.
On January 18, settle’s development partner, Jarvis Contracting, began preparing the site of the old playground for building work to start on Phase 1 of the redevelopment - after a new playground had already been installed in Swinburne Playing Fields last summer.
He added: This has come at a particularly difficult time in the run up to Christmas and we are truly saddened for our residents and those businesses which now have to close. We know many people were already choosing to make tough decisions about whether to meet up with an extended bubble over Christmas, but unfortunately this will not now be possible due to the Tier 4 rules, although support bubbles are still allowed.
NHDC s Cllr Martin Stears-Handscomb has issued a warning as coronavirus cases continue to rise. Picture: NHDC
- Credit: Archant While our cases in North Hertfordshire have not been as high as in the south of the county, they are rising rapidly - as much as 61 per cent in one week - and it is now clear that the new variant of the virus is causing a dramatic rise in those catching the virus and becoming seriously ill across the whole of the South East.
Anthony Browne - South Cambs MP. Picture: Stephen Frost
- Credit: Archant
With Royston and surrounding villages straddling two tiers, South Cambridgeshire MP Anthony Browne has reassured residents in Tier 2 that they are allowed to travel to Tier 4 to go to the supermarket.
Following the introduction of stricter Tier 4 measures across Hertfordshire on Saturday, Royston residents are now required to stay at home and not mix with other households over Christmas, while non-essential businesses have been forced to close.
However South Cambs, including Meldreth, Melbourn and Great Chishill, remains in Tier 2, where shops can remain open and households will still be allowed to mix in small bubbles on Christmas Day.
North East Hertfordshire MP Sir Oliver Heald has opposed the Tier 4 restrictions.
- Credit: Archant
North East Hertfordshire MP Sir Oliver Heald has opposed the placing of his constituency under Tier 4 restrictions.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that parts of London, the South East and East of England, including Hertfordshire, would move from Tier 3 into the new Tier 4 - meaning that all non-essential businesses have to close and households will no longer be able to meet over Christmas, with the exception of support bubbles.
Commenting on the decision, Sir Oliver said: “I have been arguing strongly to Matt Hancock that the tier designation should reflect the level of infection in our area.