LOW crime, good schools, constant urbanisation and increased road traffic were just some of the key points raised in a ten year review of the quality of life in Hertfordshire.

The Hertfordshire Environmental Forum's (Hef) Quality of Life Report launched on Monday considers a decade of social, economic and environmental change in the county and includes indicators showing how local circumstances have changed over that period.

County councillor Peter Wakeling, chairman of Hef said: "The report is very valuable because it lets us see how the county has changed and continues to develop.

"It highlights things that are going well that need to be safeguarded and also shows problem areas that need to be looked at.

"We wanted the report to be as comprehensive as possible, so we have made sure that the information came from a wide range of sources."

The key findings in this year's report concentrated on four areas regularly dominating local news namely, land use, transport, waste disposal and crime.

On land use the report says: "Hertfordshire is still perceived as a green and very attractive county in which to live.

"However, as land has been diverted from traditional agricultural uses much of the rural nature of the county has been lost.

"There needs to be a balance between conserving green space for people and wildlife and provide adequate housing and infrastructure for the community."

The report highlighted the massive increase in population and the substantial need for housing as major indicators for the change in land use over the ten year period.

An increase in car ownership has meant a 14 per cent increase in traffic growth across Hertfordshire.

This was spotlighted as a key contributory to air pollution, which has resulted in a rise in the number of small particulates .

These are small particles that can effect the respiratory system and therefore pose a serious health risk.

The report suggests with road traffic set to continue to grow over the next ten years, the aim will be to restrict this growth and to encourage walking, cycling and public transport.

A key section of the report highlighted the problem of waste in Hertfordshire and in particular the need for continued recycling.

Although, recycling has continued to grow year on year in the past decade, around 77 per cent of household waste produced in the county in 2001 was disposed of in landfill sites.

As these sites run out of space the study predicts these sites to be full by 2008.

The report complemented the work of the Hertfordshire Waste Aware campaign for its role in raising awareness of waste management issues.

And the report also stressed the need for an effective strategy to solve the waste problem.

Crime figures for Hertfordshire were well below that of the national average, making the area one of the safest counties in the country.

It has the fourth lowest level of recorded crime and the lowest level of recorded violent crime.

March 20, 2002 13:30