Frequently Asked Questions
Where is all the money from the parking and other amenities at the Country Park going, isn’t that enough to keep the reservoir open?
Aldenham Country Park have several sources of revenue from car parking charges of £4.50 per car and have monetised everything else including the children’s playground. We estimate their income to be circa £400,000-500,000 per annum. Not a single penny of the income generated by the Country Park is contributed towards the upkeep of the reservoir. They have refused to even provide litter bins or have rubbish collected despite the huge number of visitors coming to the Country Park primarily for the Reservoir. They had in fact, even refused mow the lawn on the embankment. Aldenham Country Park have publicly stated that they have numerous sources of revenue and are not reliant on the reservoir but they have continued to use it in all their marketing, signage and maps misleading the public into believing they are all one entity, despite requesting this be clarified. The reservoir receives no public funds in the form of grants, subsidies, assistance or any form of revenues now that the sailing club have also gone.
How do you feel about the protest on Sunday 19th July?
We are aware that the Elstree and Borehamwood Residents Association (EBRA) are organising a protest on Sunday. I think from the outset it’s important that the public understands that the reservoir has been owned privately by us since 2015. Hertfordshire County Council had leased by the Reservoir for public use, and unfortunately they chose not to renew their lease in 2015. We would welcome a dialogue with either HCC or HBC regarding leasing the reservoir, however both have declined to date.
With respect, it seems that the leaders of EBRA are protesting the wrong party, and should be asking their local councillors why they don’t want to either lease the Reservoir for the public, or support development to return it to public use. Unfortunately, the leaders of EBRA have been entirely unsupportive of any effort we have made to reach out to them to explain this since 2015.
We have maintained public access to the Reservoir for the last 5 years at our own cost, despite neither HCC nor HBC wishing to lease the Reservoir and HBC not wishing to support any of the plans we have put forward as they do not believe or accept that we have ‘Very Special Circumstances’.
Our first planning application would have provided much-needed affordable housing on nearby land away from the Reservoir and returned the Reservoir permanently to public use with a new dam, including millions of pounds set aside in a dedicated Community Interest Trust for ongoing improvements and maintenance of the reservoir, at no cost to the Council or the taxpayer.
Our second application featuring sustainable eco-friendly glamping pods along a small section of the reservoir also included funding for a brand new state of the art facility for the sailing club as well as improvements along the entire reservoir walk, again all at no cost to the Council or the taxpayer. We were advised by the UK’s leading sustainability experts, including Land Use Consultants and renowned architects, Tate Harmer, who have notably worked with The National Trust, Eden Project, Cassiobury Park and Kew Gardens.
The Adventure Playground was removed, why was this?
The adventure playground was inherited by us and had been built by Hertfordshire County Council, maintained by them until 2015. We do not have the resources to maintain the playground safely for children to use, obtaining the necessary safety certificates and equipment. As the playground equipment got worn down over the last 5 years, rather than repairing or replacing it, Hertfordshire County Council and the Country Park removed unsafe equipment entirely, shrinking the playground in size over time.
In addition to this, anyone visiting the playground earlier in the year would have noticed its demise due to an open drain nearby, managed poorly by the Country Park. After approaching HCC and Aldenham Renaissance (lease owners of the park) explaining how the open drain has clearly left the area as an unsightly, dangerous health hazard, neither party would commit to dealing with the drain appropriately.
Not wishing to remove the playground, we reached out to Aldenham Renaissance in a final attempt to save the playground requesting a small annual licence fee to guarantee its upkeep and safety. In response to this request, we received the following response from Tim Waygood, we quote directly:
“With regards to the play area on your land. It is not something that we earn anything from, indeed it costs us considerably to keep it there and maintain, so we would be quite happy for you to take it away. It also detracts somewhat from the playground that we run and do charge for.” (Tim Waygood, Aldenham Renaissance Ltd)
With no responsibility taken to tend to the hazard and, therefore our inability to keep it safe for children to use, there was no choice but to sadly remove it. This decision pained us greatly and we were extremely saddened that the management of a high-charging country park would prefer us to remove it completely rather than maintain an open drain and the equipment for the safety of the children that visit and enjoy it. Again, we reiterate, no income from any country park amenity supports the reservoir - not even the car parking fees.
Open drain next to playground
Why have fences been erected, cutting off access to the circular walk and around the reservoir itself?
Fencing is required to denote the boundaries of private land that no longer has public access, and to ensure the health and safety of all visitors to the Reservoir. There have been well-documented issues of littering, vandalism, as well as the danger of drowning for people not observing the warning signs to not swim or sail in the Reservoir as there are no lifeguards or rescue boats. This danger and liability simply cannot be shouldered by a private company without the funds to adequately protect ourselves should the worst happen. Read the full details here
The Sailing Club has terminated its lease as it's unsafe to launch boats due to the draining of the reservoir by one metre. Why was it necessary to drain the reservoir by one metre? A Freedom of Information request by a local resident showed the dam to be in 'satisfactory condition'.
A few members of the community think this was a measure taken by us to show disregard for the care of the reservoir and its wildlife, to get what we want from the Council and force out the Sailing Club - this is absolutely not the case. We have been maintaining the dam since ownership but now it is unsustainable without significant further investment in rebuilding the dam. Reducing the water is a precautionary measure. We are not sure if local residents appreciate the risk of this dam breaking.
A report and letter were filed in 2019 by the Dam Supervisor with The Environment Agency.
Following the S10 Report dated 4th September 2019, our Dam Supervisor and Inspector has written to Liberty, dated 4th September 2019, from which I quote below:
“As you are aware, I have ‘known’ Aldenham Reservoir for nearly ten years, and it is a reservoir and dam that I continue to have worries about its future performance. Whilst my report reads that the situation is satisfactory and under control, it is of concern that movement continues to happen. Whilst all dams move, the settlement and movement profiles at Aldenham are quite different and after decades of investigations by many I personally don’t think the mechanism of the ‘failure mode’ is understood. I believe the movement patterns will continue and could accelerate with time and thus I believe it prudent to allow for significant capital investment either to rebuild or replace the embankment. You might also consider a temporary/permanent reduction in water level to reduce the load on the structure.”
Liberty Lake Leisure Ltd is required by law to conduct a Section 10(2) Report engineering survey with the Environment Agency. This is traditionally only needed every 10 years but in Aldenham’s case, due to the concerns of continuing movement of the dam, it has been requested every 5 years.
Following the latest S12 Statement prepared by our Dam Supervisor and Inspector dated 17th June 2020, which has been sent to the Environment Agency.
Following this Statement, our Dam Supervisor and Inspector has written to Liberty a letter dated 10th July 2020 which I quote below
A reduction in water level by 1.2 metres will reduce the loading on the embankment. This reduction may assist in reducing the movements being experienced;
• The water will rise and fall according to inflows but the valves and pipework seem effective in controlling the water at this reduced level for much of the time;
• Or, if you want to reduce the water level permanently this can be achieved by making modifications to the existing spillway and weir to give control of the water level at a reduced elevation.
We refer also to Notification from the Environment Authority dated 22 April 2016 on Liberty Lake Leisure Ltd, of confirmation of HIGH RISK Designation for Aldenham Reservoir.
From the Notification, we quote “The reason for the designation is that the enforcement authority thinks that human life could be endangered in the event of an uncontrolled release of water from the reservoir”.
We have been maintaining the dam since ownership but now it is unsustainable without significant further investment in rebuilding the dam. Reducing the water is a precautionary measure. We are not sure if local residents appreciate the risk of this dam breaking.
Some local residents are worried about the future of the reservoir. Do you have any future plans for the reservoir?
As a local family, we have been visiting the Reservoir for walks and picnics for the past 30 years at least. We love the reservoir and appreciate how important it has been recreationally for the local community.
In order to maintain public access to Aldenham Reservoir and meet the rising costs of maintenance, safety and security, we need a way to generate income as we no longer have the resources needed. We have tried to work with Hertsmere Borough Council since 2015 to find solutions, including inviting the Council to renew their lease to preserve public access. Each proposal has been rejected, despite overwhelming support from the public and environmental groups for our proposal in 2015.
With regards to the proposals we put together - there were two proposals prepared. We want to preserve the Reservoir and are sensitive to the specific needs of this area of natural beauty. We were therefore advised by the UK’s leading sustainability experts, including Land Use Consultants and renowned architects, Tate Harmer, who have notably worked with The National Trust, Eden Project, Cassiobury Park and Kew Gardens.
We categorically do not want to fill the reservoir and build any monstrous development on top of where the reservoir is, as we have heard some members of the community claim in various groups.
Hertsmere Borough Council have asked Liberty to resubmit revised plans at a 50% meeting discount. We have already spent over £600,000 in fees for consultants, surveyors, architects, landscapists and others, to create the best possible scenario for all parties involved including the public, woodland and wildlife.
We entirely self-funded these proposals and were informed by the Principal Planning Officer that Hertsmere Borough Council have recommended our application be refused because they do not deem the survival of the reservoir to be cause for ‘Very Special Circumstance’, so we are naturally reluctant to discuss new plans incurring huge further costs - so we are at somewhat of a gridlock.