Since it was announced that Chase Homes intended to buy Bircherley Green the newspapers, message boards and pubs have been full of hopes, plans and wish lists. Unfortunately the planning process does not work that way. I have lived in Hertford since 1980 but was born and grew up in Camden Town. On Saturday morning …
The best thing about going on holiday with the grandchildren is that you forget about the cares of home and become a child yourself again. The downside is that when you come home you realise that nothing has changed and you are an adult again. So I didn’t expect much to have happened in Hertford …
So, the powers of conservatism in Hertford have finally won. The developers have pulled out of the second phase of the Bircherley Green redevelopment scheme. This is a Pyrrhic victory at best. We are left with a shopping centre with empty and boarded up shops and grass growing through every crack like a town in …
Son take a good look around This is your home town. Bruce Springsteen I am tired of everybody telling me that Hertford is the county town. Maybe it is; but on what grounds? Look at this. This is the situation facing anyone walking through Maidenhead Street towards Salisbury Square. You have to turn left and …
I have been giving some thought in the last few weeks to the idea of river shopping. To be more precise, a regular ferry connecting Hertford East Rail Station, Bircherley Green Bus Station and Sainsbury’s. The infrastructure is already in place. Why this sudden flash of inspiration? Since the service road was blocked by concrete …
As I wrote last year there has not been much to write about in Hertford. Then as if by magic new proposals have been submitted regarding the redevelopment of Bircherley Green Shopping Centre. The full application along with drawings can be read or downloaded from here: https://publicaccess.eastherts.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=PGACFWGLG9S00 The deadline to lodge comments whether in favour …
You may have noticed that not much has happened on these pages since 1 November 2017. Not much has happened in Hertford either! I suffered a very strange virus infection from the beginning of January this year. This is not the place to describe the symptoms; suffice it to say you wouldn’t raise the problems …
Now that the dust has settled on the planning application for Bircherley Green Shopping Centre it is time to think ahead. There are still a few permissions and details to be finalised but for many the die has already been cast. The owners of the site have given everybody notice to quit. This was not …
So, the final act as been played out and the Hertford Waitrose is no more. Some might say this is a sad day for the town but more of that later. I am reminded of Marc Antony in Julius Caesar Act 3 Scene 2 The evil that men do lives after them; The good is …
During my time as Town Centre Manager it was easy to promote Hertford, a different but amazing kind of town full of independent traders; a town where you could still find a haberdashery (since closed), ironmongers and diving school (closed since December 2016 and premises still unoccupied). That wide retail offer continues to decline since …