Introduction

Cllr Adrian England, Portfolio Holder for Place, Dacorum Borough Council

The Council is committed to working with its partners and communities across Hemel Hempstead to bring the buzz back to our town centre. We will be working hard to attract new investors and businesses into the town. We are keen and will also consider the Council’s role in future development opportunities to enable change and transformation. Our first step is to reinvigorate our vision, complete the Hemel Place Strategy and Delivery Plan and then set to work, delivering it in partnership.

The re-imagining of our town centre is absolutely essential to us ‘growing a fresh new future’ for Hemel Hempstead. Our vision is to transform Hemel Hempstead Town Centre into a vibrant and busy leisure and cultural quarter with a mix of uses and activities including workspaces, restaurants, bars, cultural facilities, retail, a range of quality new housing and new health facilities for our residents. All taking advantage of the high quality parks, gardens and the River Gade in close proximity. Our town centre should be the central heart of the town, connecting our important destinations, including Maylands Business Park, our existing and future neighbourhood centres, train stations, leisure and shopping areas. Our vision includes promoting ambitious and high quality development establishing the town centre as a desirable place to live, work and visit. We are also in the process of establishing a Business Board to ensure there is a strategic and coordinated approach to engagement with our business, providing a network for support and economic intelligence to help local businesses thrive and be successful in our borough.

Darren Welsh, Chief Executive, Dacorum Borough Council

Hemel Hempstead is ready for growth.  Our Local Plan has been submitted for examination and Hemel Garden Communities is moving forward with plans to deliver 11,000 new homes and thousands of new jobs. This is supported by first class sustainable active travel and green infrastructure plans.

At the heart of our vision for Hemel Hempstead, we are working hard to repurpose and reimagine our town centre and make it the destination of choice for our growing communities. We want to create a place that is accessible to all, where people want to live, work, visit and invest, both now and in the future. Our partners are aligned to this Town Centre Vision, and we are working together to deliver our shared ambitions for the town centre and attract new investment. We want to build on our new town heritage and maximise the health and wellbeing benefits of our blue and green infrastructure, making our town centre an attractive place to visit as well as live.

We have a dedicated and professional delivery team in place and welcome enquiries and conversations about investment in the Town Centre and our borough.

Bob Lane, Independent Chair, Hemel Place Board

The Hemel Place Board is a partnership of key stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors, all of which have a strong presence in Hemel Hempstead and a passion to promote and drive change to ensure the future success of the town. Importantly, it has an independent chair.

The Board provides strategic direction for the town’s growth and prosperity activities, including, Hemel Garden Communities, a programme delivering 11,000 new homes and 10,000 new jobs by 2050, Herts Innovation Quarter, the town’s Enterprise Zone and Hemel Hempstead Business Improvement District. This is about being place-based and widening place leadership. It is very different from the traditional “Council knows best” approach.