Leader's Monthly Update - March 2025

Welcome to my monthly Leader’s update. This will be my last update as I formally step down as Leader of the Council on 2 April. I am immensely proud of the achievements of the Council over the last year, and hand over the reins with strong foundations in place. I will remain as a Dacorum Councillor.

Ambitious plans and projects are in the pipeline, such as the commitment to the development of a health campus in Hemel Hempstead, an Investment Partnership to regenerate our place assets, and the new strategies for Active Wellbeing and Arts and Culture in Dacorum.

Please read to the end, so as not to miss all that's going on. I’m aware this is a long update!

We have recently passed our budget for 2025-2026, protecting frontline services to support our residents and businesses.

Annual Council Tax bills have also gone out, which set out how your money is spent, and how the tax is split between Hertfordshire County Council (77.9 per cent), Hertfordshire Police (11.7 per cent) and the smallest portion - Dacorum Borough Council (10.4 per cent).

Visit What your Council Tax pays for to find out more about the important services each organisation provides, remembering that Council Tax accounts for only one quarter of all Council income, with the bulk coming from commercial income and strategic investments to cover essential Council services.

The average Band D Council Tax household pays around just £5 a week for a wide range of services such as bin collections, maintaining our 62 playgrounds and six Green Flag parks, street cleaning, processing housing benefits and so much more.

Local Plan to 2041

Last week we submitted our Local Plan to the Government for examination. The plan identifies land for future housing and commercial development along with the necessary infrastructure and new planning policies to support this growth.

A public consultation, the final stage in the process, was held in 2024 to ensure the Local Plan meets all legal requirements and is based on sound evidence. The Government will now appoint an independent Planning Inspector to assess whether the Local Plan has been properly prepared, is effective, and aligns with national policies.

This Local Plan is a vital step forward in ensuring that Dacorum grows in a coherent, sustainable and protected way. It plans for infrastructure and provides the framework to shape our future places, and I am confident that it will stand up to scrutiny in the examination process.

Our communities deserve developments that are well integrated, supported by the right infrastructure, and considerate of the needs of both current and future residents. This plan sets out a clear vision for the borough’s future, balancing the need for homes and economic development with the protection of our environment and local character. Finally, I would like to add a big thank you to everyone who responded, and a special thanks to our staff who have worked tirelessly on this.

Local Government Reorganisation

Today (Thursday 20 March 2025) all 11 councils in Hertfordshire and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) have submitted a joint interim proposal outlining a number of initial options for the reorganisation of local government structures in the county:  Hertfordshire’s councils submit joint response to Government on local government reform.

This will be a once-in-a-generation change that affects local people and services for decades to come. It is therefore important that there is proper consideration of the options and meaningful consultation with residents, key local organisations, businesses, and our public sector partners. Our priority is to ensure that any changes genuinely benefit residents and businesses while safeguarding high-quality local services.

The Government will provide feedback on the options put forward, which will also inform the development of final proposals. These will need to be submitted to Government by 28 November 2025 for a decision by Ministers.

Dacorum Climate Action Network (DCAN)

We were delighted to welcome residents, businesses and community groups to the fourth Dacorum Climate Action Network (Dacorum CAN) event, held on Monday 10 March 2025 at The Forum, Hemel Hempstead. 

The event focused on the theme "Nature on the Brink", encouraging attendees to “think global and act local”. Nearly 100 people took part in the evening, which was designed to inspire, educate, and empower local action on climate and nature recovery, while encouraging networking among like-minded individuals and organisations. 

A range of local organisations showcased their climate action initiatives. These included the National Trust, highlighting conservation work at the Ashridge Estate, iChoosr, promoting the Solar Together scheme for solar panel installation, and Dacorum Borough Council, sharing updates on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure plan. 

Attendees also heard from a diverse panel of speakers, including representatives from Berkhamsted Town Council, Westbrook Hay School and Rothamsted Research. Their insightful presentations sparked a lively and constructive discussion, followed by a question and answer session exploring how collective action can help secure a more sustainable future for Dacorum. 

The Dacorum CAN event was streamed online to enable people to join in from home and give those who missed the event the chance to watch the recording on our YouTube channel. Photos of the event are available on our Flickr page. 

Dacorum CAN was launched in 2021 and has more than 650 individuals and 100 organisations signed up. To learn more and sign up to the free network, visit our Dacorum CAN page.

Staying in touch

Engagement with our residents and local communities is important to help shape our services and influence the work we do across the borough. We have a dedicated community engagement platform (Let's Talk Dacorum) where you can find all our consultations and engagement opportunities.

To stay up to date about all the news and information from the Council, please sign up to our weekly Dacorum Life e-newsletter and get news and information direct to your inbox.

It has been a real honour to serve as Leader of Dacorum Borough Council, and I will continue to support our residents, businesses and community stakeholders in my role as Ward Councillor for Adeyfield West.

I would like to thank my colleagues, fellow councillors, officers and the community for their support over the last year.

Councillor Adrian England
Leader of the Council