The approval of plans to build a new hospital in Watford, heavy snow, a potential scheme to save Watford Met station and a shortage of male strippers were among the stories making our headlines five and ten years ago this week.
FIVE YEARS AGO
Trust agrees plans to rebuild Watford General Hospital site
Ambitious plans to spend £641 million on a new hospital in Watford have been approved.
West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (WHHT) agreed plans to build on the Watford General Hospital site and redevelop St Albans City Hospital at a board meeting last week.
The dire state of facilities in Watford were revealed in a damning document compiled by the trust - which said the poor condition of the site has resulted in a “significant risk” to the continuity of the business.
Board members heard that the newly produced Strategic Outline Case document (SOC) rules out building a new hospital on a greenfield site on affordability and deliverability grounds.
It stated that if a new hospital could not be built, the existing site would be redeveloped.
Appeal for male strippers in Watford amid claims county is suffering from chronic shortage
A desperate plea has gone out for good-looking, confident and muscly men, to entertain women at hen dos.
Butlers with Bums are looking to recruit attractive guys aged 23 to 40 years old to meet and mingle with guests, play party games and serve drinks and canapes.
The butlers will be required to wear a signature attire, including an apron showing the bum, collar, cuffs and a bow tie.
Director of Butlers with Bums and former butler, Dan Harley, said: "We have a lot of demand for our buff butlers across the UK for hen dos, birthday parties and corporate events, but the shortage has taken a toll on specific areas.”
Met Line extension: Mayor to use 'charm offensive' to save multi-million pound scheme
The Mayor of Watford has admitted that “charm offensive” might be needed to convince Sadiq Khan to back the Met Line extension.
Following a meeting between the key stakeholders, Mayor Dorothy Thornhill admitted she needed to make the Mayor of London “love the project like we do”.
Mayor Thornhill’s personal assistant Mike Shaw denied rumours that the extension could be scrapped, but insisted they had to make Mr Khan like the project “as much as Boris Johnson” did.
He said: “I very, very much doubt that the Met Line will be scrapped. The Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling has backed it too much, and too many partners have sunk too much money into it.
“I can’t see why they would buy a train for a track that won’t be built, and most of the design work has been completed. But we can’t expect a running commentary right now – it’s just a waiting game, and it’s frustrating for everyone involved.”
TEN YEARS AGO
Ambulance crews busy as heavy snow covers region
The cold snap that brought thick snowfall across south west Hertfordshire this weekend has seen a steep rise in calls to the area’s ambulance service.
The East of England Ambulance Service, which covers Hertfordshire as well as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, took 3,700 calls between 11pm on Saturday, when snow started to hit the region, and 9am this morning (Monday). The trust said this represented a rise of 23 per cent on the first weekend in February last year and 19 per cent up on last weekend.
The number of car accidents requiring help from paramedics also shot up sharply with the trust being called out to 65 across the six counties - 48 more than last weekend.
However the number of patients needing hospital treatment was significantly fewer.
Ambitious plans to save Watford Met station
Plans are being drawn up to save the Watford Metropolitan station from closure once the Croxley Rail Link opens.
A group of councillors at Watford Borough Council is hoping to persuade London Underground chiefs to maintain a service from the station, on the Cassiobury estate, to Amersham.
The project is being spearheaded by Liberal Democrat Andy Wylie, who works for train operator First Group, as well as representatives from the area.
Councillor Wylie said retaining the service would benefit the people who used it now and that if London Underground could be convinced of its merits, it could be a realistic hope.
“What we are hoping to do is get people interested,” he said. “Then a feasibility study needs to take place.
“It would not be as frequent a service as the general Metropolitan Line, it would be somewhere in the region of every 20 minutes.”
Warner Bros advise visitors against travelling by car
Representatives from Warner Bros. are claiming traffic will not increase by Leavesden Studios, despite an expected influx of tourists when the Harry Potter attraction opens at the site next month.
Residents living close to the studios in Aerodrome Way said they feared that there would be constant stream of traffic in the area, particularly during rush hour, as a result of the new attraction.
But Warner Bros. representatives said they are hoping to allay residents’ fears by promoting the use of public transport to visitors.
Rachel Parsons, Warner Bros. spokeswoman, said: “We are encouraging visitors to use trains when they visit the Harry Potter tour at Leavesden Studios.
“We will also be supplying a bus service, which will run every 15 minutes, to and from the stations to the studios.
“Because we are advising people not to travel by car, we don’t envisage an extra surge in traffic in the area.”
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