People's views wanted on what to do with £.5m

PEOPLE in South Oxhey and West Watford can give their views on major investment projects for the two areas at workshops this month.

The workshops will feature proposed schemes for the areas, which will involve thousands of pounds of Government funding.

Schemes on show will include a minibus service for South Oxhey, a finance initiative to provide credit for new small businesses and the development of a community primary school in South Oxhey that will provide training and education for all local people.

If residents approve the ideas, a bid will be made for funding from the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) for South Oxhey and West Watford. The SRB is a pool of funding from central and local government set aside for improvements.

South Oxhey and West Watford have been selected because they are considered deprived.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) allocates SRB funding. It has found:

¥ÊBoth areas have high levels of criminal damage, vehicle theft and violent crime

¥ÊMore than 30 per cent of domestic disputes and racial harassment incidents within Watford and Three Rivers occur in West Watford and South Oxhey

¥ÊAll wards in South Oxhey and West Watford fall among the county's 15 most deprived, as defined in Hertfordshire's Annual Health Report

¥ÊSouth Oxhey and West Watford have high rates of teenage pregnancy, four times the national average of single parents, and high levels of low birth-weight babies

¥ÊThey have relatively high unemployment: Central ward 6.4 per cent, Hayling ward 5 per cent, Northwick 4.3 per cent and Holywell 3.5 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent in the whole of Watford and Hertfordshire

¥ÊThey have poor educational attainment - only three per cent of adults in Northwick ward have further or higher education qualifications

¥ÊChildren in the two areas have poor literacy levels

¥ÊThey have a high number of people receiving benefits

¥ÊThey have a high number of people incapable of work because of ill health or disability

¥ÊA survey of ethnic minority residents in both wards found 25 per cent had language or literacy problems.

The EEDA has proposed projects to improve transport, education, community involvement and employment prospects in the two areas.

Watford Councillor Gez Kelly, chairman of the SRB area partnership board, which decides what projects to bid for, said: 'The bid for funding for these projects needs to be put in by June 2 and we will know if it is successful shortly after that.

'The bid is for about half a million pounds, which is not a lot of money for the whole of the SRB but it is a lot of money and should support some important schemes.'

The ideas will be on show at public workshops at Holywell Community School in Tolpits Lane, West Watford, from 2pm to 4.30pm on Tuesday, and at Warren Dell School in Gosforth Lane, South Oxhey, at 7pm to 9.30pm on Thursday, May 18.