Minutes of the meeting on 08 May 2017

SAPHRA

The residents’ association for Sopwell Lane, Albert Street, Pageant Road, Hart Road, The Ryder Seed Mews Estate, Saracens Head Yard, Pearce’s Walk and Keyfield Terrace

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Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 08 May 2017 at 8pm
at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.

 

1.    Present:  Avril Allen, Bernadette Blade, Jacqueline Briggs, Stuart Chapman, Kam Cheung, Charles Davies, Karina Gardner, Mary Green, Anthony Hyde, Jennifer Johnson, Pamela Johnson, Catherine Jones, Angela King, Roger Morton, Elaine Rainsford

 

2.    Apologies: Tim Boatswain, Cllr Alun Davies, Mary Plackett

 

3.    Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 06 March 2017 had been circulated by email and a copy was made available at this meeting. The minutes were approved.

 

4.    Matters arising: None

 

5.    Finances: Anthony Hyde confirmed the balance in the bank to be £389.22.

 

6.    Our local environment:

  • Lorry ban / speed restriction / pinch-point in Sopwell Lane:  The formal 20mph Zone consultation has taken place and the traffic order has been signed off.  Herts County Council will organise the works to be carried out. SAPHRA will now consult with Cllr Chris White on the parking and pinch point issue in Sopwell Lane. It was also suggested by residents that ‘unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles’ signs should be installed somewhere along the approach route to Sopwell Lane.

 

  • Green oasis in Sopwell Lane: Angela, Mary, Roger, and Cathy met up to view the Green Oasis site. Planning Enforcement Officers have written to the owners of the unsightly wall backing onto the Green Oasis site. It was agreed to halt all plans to tidy up the oasis until the situation with the building works is fully resolved. Roger has reported the fly tipping that has taken place.

 

  • Blocked gulley in Sopwell Lane: Roger reported the blocked gulley, which was full of earth, to the County Council. They responded stating that these works were done on a rolling basis. Roger asked Cllr Chris White to help with the blocked gulley which was then cleared in a matter of days.

 

  • No entry signs in Sopwell Lane: Cllr Chris White had been informed of the dilapidated state of the no entry signs in Sopwell Lane at the previous meeting. New no entry signs have now been installed in their place.

 

  • Void in Albert Street (in the boundary wall of Ryder Seed Mews): Anthony Hyde reported that the Ryder Seed Mews Association were not prepared to fund or pursue this issue. Roger reported the fly tipping which was later removed but fresh rubbish continues to be dumped there. At the meeting Anthony, Karina and Stuart offered to set up a working party to resolve the litter problem and to work on a solution to filling the void.

 

  • Improving access to Albert Street Car Park: Over the past 10 years various moves were made to open up this car park and now, with funds made available by the City Neighbourhoods Committee, the job has been completed. By widening the access points, at each end of the car park, all the parking spaces can be utilised. To complete the job Cllr Alun Davies is arranging for  the parking bays to be re-marked.

 

 

  • Road markings in Keyfield Terrace: On-street parking bays and double-yellow lines in Keyfield Terrace have been partially repainted. Only half the job has been completed and in a few places the re-marking of parking bays is not accurate. The contractor is due to return in a few weeks to continue the works. St Albans District Council will inspect the work once completed and then write a ‘snag’ list if necessary.

 

7.    City Neighbourhoods Committee:

  • Roger provided a summary, to new SAPHRA members, of the role of the CNC and then    discussed the various issues that were raised at the previous meeting.
  • Roger will be representing SAPHRA at the next meeting on Wednesday 28 June 2017.
  • The minutes of CNC meetings are available on the District Council website.

 

8.    Consultation on controlled parking zones M & N: We have not heard the results of the consultation.  Roger to consult with Cllr Alun Davies.

 

9.    Registering pubs as Assets of Community Value: Roger and Cathy met with Steve McConnell, joint landlord of the White Hart Tap pub, to discuss the completion of the Council’s nomination form to register the pub as an Asset of Community Value. It was agreed that the application should now be submitted.

 

10.  Family barbeque: The date of the Family Barbeque will be 03 September 2017 and Roger confirmed that the White Hart Tap pub has agreed to host it. Anthony will arrange the bouncy castle. Roger and Cathy will prepare invitations for the barbeque and the AGM for distribution in August 2017.

 

11. Any other business:

  • Anjna Measuria had written to SAPHRA about the lack of reception school places within the city centre and wandered if SAPHRA could help identify other families affected. The immediate response from members present was that by far the best way to make contact with parents of school age children in St Albans was to create a post on the Facebook group ‘St Albans Mums’.
  • Gas supply pipes are to be replaced in Sopwell Lane. SAPHRA’s involvement with this is likely to be restricted to ensuring that road and pavement reinstatement is done properly.

 

12.  Date of next meetings: Monday 03 July 2017, 04 September 2017 (AGM)

 

 

Note regarding Neighbourhood Watch: SAPHRA members are encouraged to sign up for the OWL (On-line Watch Liaison) scheme. SAPHRA can provide OWL sign-up forms to any interested party. It is also possible to sign up for OWL Messages via www.owl.co.uk. For those members who do not have email it is possible to obtain OWL Messages via a home phone (landline).