As the weather begins to turn, my thanks go out to our wonderful estates team who are out there in all conditions tending to our grounds, preparing sport pitches and emptying over one hundred bins, located in our parks and green spaces.

We are lucky to have such a dedicated locally based team in Hatfield who work hard so that these community spaces can be enjoyed by all.

However, too many times, the team return to the depot frustrated that another act of vandalism means a park is closed for repairs, and fly tipping needs to be cleared, and as I talk to colleagues in other town and parish councils, it seems we are not alone.

Each year, parish and town councils are having to spend more and more of their budgets on trying to fix problems caused by anti-social behaviour.

This means less money to invest in new play equipment, floral displays and other improvements to our community spaces.

I am especially saddened to hear when children's play equipment has been vandalised and needs to be taken out of service.

(Image: Hatfield Town Council) So, we need your help. Firstly, when things go wrong, please do let us know so we can try and fix them straight away and stop further damage and destruction.

Secondly, please don’t take it out on council staff. It’s not their fault and they are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Believe me when I say that they are as disappointed as you when these things happen. And thirdly, work with us.

Try to discourage your friends and family from getting involved in things which damage our park equipment, join in local litter picks and do what you can to look after these precious community spaces.

In the next few months most town and parish councils will be setting their budgets for 2025/26.

This will involve difficult decisions on what to invest in and how much to put aside to deal with anti-social behaviour.

Help us think about what the best use of our resources will be. Given our relatively small budgets at this level of government, it’s impossible to do all the things we want to do or keep all the facilities we have had in the past going.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a meaningful impact in targeted areas. It’s much easier to make those investment decisions if we are confident that the money is not going to be wasted or ruined within weeks of new projects being completed.

Explore Hatfield

It was great to see banking services returning to Hatfield. Cash Access UK have set up a temporary banking hub in the Post Office in the Town Centre whilst they secure and establish a permanent home in the town.

The hub allows different high street banks to have a base in Hatfield on a set day each week. This is in addition to the counter service offered by the Post Office themselves to all major bank and building society customers.

More details can be found on their website: www.cashaccess.co.uk/hubs/hatfield-hertfordshire/.