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Message from our new Mayor


I am pleased and honoured to have been chosen as Mayor of Ware for the coming civic year, and I am happy to pledge myself to serve our community during my term of office, along with my Deputy Mayor, Councillor Rishi Fernando.

Ware is a great place to live, and we want to continue to make sure that is true for everyone. We are delighted that Fletchers Lea can be used for the benefit of the town and surrounding area as a vaccination centre, alongside the excellent work being done at the Ware Drill Hall.

The last year has seen challenging times for everyone, adapting to changed circumstances, combating isolation and with both personal and community celebrations being cancelled. As we hopefully emerge from this into the “new normal”, due to the vaccination programme and everyone’s care in taking precautions and staying safe over the last year, the Council has survived in good financial shape despite the loss of income and some unexpected renewal expenses. The Lido has reopened, the Priory grounds are open and the summer concerts are going ahead, and other events are being planned although some have had to be rescheduled. I want to thank my predecessor, Alex Curtis, for all that he has done in a most unusual mayoral year, supporting individuals, groups and businesses, for example during the “Shop Local” campaign.

The facilities at the Priory and Fletchers Lea have been refurbished during lockdown and provide a fine setting for weddings, celebrations and commemorations of all kinds. The Neighbourhood Plan is making us think “outside the box” and consider possible new projects for the benefit of the town.

There are many long-standing voluntary groups who contribute greatly to Ware, while lockdown has led to new initiatives such as the Wombles of Ware-Abouts that further help to develop community spirit. The Mayor supports a local charity each year and, if you know of one that you feel would benefit, please feel free to suggest it.

To bring all this together, we have a fine and conscientious team of Council staff led by our excellent Town Clerk, Terry Philpott, and a strong and committed group of Councillors from all parties, all working together to help make Ware an even better place in the coming year and the years to come.

Best wishes, and continue to stay safe!

Cllr Ian Kemp
Mayor of Ware 2021-22




 

Councillor profile - Ian Kemp


Councillor Ian Kemp was elected Mayor of Ware for the 2021/2022 civic year on the 17th May 2021. Councillor Rishi Fernando is the Deputy Mayor.

Ian has represented St Mary’s ward on Ware Town Council and East Herts District Council since 2019.  He has served as Vice Chair of the Town Council Finance and Policy Committee and is the liaison councillor for the Ware Society. He is also an EHDC Trustee for Wodson Park and sits on the EHDC Development Management Committee and the Ware Neighbourhood Plan steering group. He is Deputy Chair of Ware Conservative Association and is on the Executive of the Hertford and Stortford Conservative Association.

Ian was born and brought up in Portsmouth where he attended the Northern Grammar School and Mayfield Comprehensive School. He read Chemical Engineering as an undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge.  He spent over 20 years working at the Harwell research centre in Oxfordshire, initially specialising in reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint of industrial processes, and the latest edition of his textbook on this subject was published in 2020. He later became a specialist in solids processing, with particular emphasis on industrial drying. After a project on drying titanium dioxide, the standard white pigment, he could genuinely claim that his job was as interesting as watching paint dry! In 2006 he moved to Ware and joined GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), retiring in 2019 as a Scientific Leader. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, volunteers for them and leads a working group to help young engineers achieve chartership, and was awarded their Junior Moulton Medal in 1990 and Brennan Medal in 2007 for his energy research and publications.

In his spare time, Ian enjoys playing bridge, classical music, railways, reading, walking and running.
 

 

Ware Town Council office to reopen


We are delighted to announce that the Ware Town Council offices will reopen to the public on June 21st 2021.  Please note that this is subject to the lifting of the final restrictions in Step 4 of the Government Road Map.

Our reception will be open to the public from 10am-3pm Monday-Friday.  Individual staff members will be agile working so if you would like to meet with a particular member of staff you will first need to make an appointment.

We very much look forward to welcoming you back to The Priory.
Places selling fast!  Visit https://www.warepriorylido.co.uk/

Celebrations & business events at Ware Priory


Our Events team, Kerry & Niki have been busy with lots of queries for business events, weddings, baby showers, birthday parties and everything in between.  They are now able to conduct in person viewings of the interior of our beautiful venue.

Our team are excitedly awaiting an update for the final step of the Government Roadmap when they hopefully will be able to extend what they are able to offer you.
 
In the meantime, if you are planning a forthcoming event, Kerry and Niki can be contacted by telephone on 01920 460316 or by events@warepriory.co.uk
 

Two way traffic returning to Ware High Street

We have confirmation that the barriers will be lifted and two way traffic will return to Ware High Street from the week of June 7th.

Picture shows;  Our County Councillors, Cllr Jonathan Kaye & Cllr David Andrews.

New Skatepark for Ware

We are excited about our project for the construction of a new skatepark in the Priory Park later this year. Currently, consultation is underway with young people in Ware who are skateboarders, BMX and scooter riders.  We hope that work will begin in September 2021.

Is back in Tudor Square on Sunday July 13th ~ 11am-3pm.  We have fantastic local produce, yummy street food, music from Lip Service Brass Band and some odd goings on with the Fairly Fresh Fish Company. 

French & Day in the High Street  will be open for food tastings 10am-4pm.

If you are a local trader & would like a stall you can download a form here:  form here: https://waretowncouncil.gov.uk/about/news/ but you'll need to be quick!

Ware Museum reopens

Ware Museum has now reopened.  They are currently open afternoons only, 2pm-4pm on:  Tuesday/Wednesday/Saturday/Sunday

Pop along for a visit!

 

Broadband in rural areas

 
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports has issued a call for evidence on the subject of improving broadband for very hard to reach places.  It is important our rural areas are connected.   The deadline for responses is the 11 June.
Improving broadband for Very Hard to Reach premises - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

High Street Recovery

 
Local residents and businesses are being asked for their view on the Covid-19 safety measures that were put in place in local High Streets during the pandemic. Hertfordshire County Council would like to discover what you liked and disliked about the changes which made.

More information and the engagement form can be found here High Street Recovery webpage. The engagement form will be open until June 20th.


Tailored support is now open to applicants from businesses in specific sectors as part of East Herts Council’s Launchpad 2 scheme.  In January, East Herts appointed Deyton Bell, who has extensive experience in providing support services to businesses and councils across the East of England, to administer the Launchpad 2 scheme after the council was awarded a £1.2 million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contract from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
 
Deyton Bell are now accepting applications to provide support to businesses in the maintenance, repairs and operations sector for Stansted airport, as well as the bio science and social enterprise sectors. Support will be provided via small capital grants of up to £5k or a 12 hour package of support such as mentoring, workshops and networking opportunities.  

Chris Parkhouse DL, Chairman of the Deyton Bell Group, said: “Deyton Bell are pleased to be supporting East Herts District Council and businesses across the Council area with this important ERDF initiative.”
 
Running costs of Launchpad, which is run by the council and offers flexible working space in Bishop's Stortford and Ware, will also be covered as part of the ERDF funding.  
For more information visit the Launchpad 2 website or follow Launchpad 2 – Tailored Business Support on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
 
 
 
Copyright © Ware Town Council, 24th May 2021, All rights reserved.
details correct at time of publication

Our mailing address is:
info@waretowncouncil.gov.uk

 






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Ware Town Council · The Priory · High Street · Ware, SG12 9AL · United Kingdom