Minutes of the meeting on 02 July 2018

Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 02 July 2018 at 8pm
at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.

 

1.    Present:  Bernadette Blade, Jacqueline Briggs, Kam Cheung, Phil Fletcher, Mary Green, Pamela Johnson, Catherine Jones, Angela King, Barry Knight, Roger Morton, Mary Plackett

2.    Apologies: Tim Boatswain, Alison Burroughes, Cllr Alec Campbell, Cllr Simon Grover, Jane Harris-Matthews, Anthony Hyde, Jenny Johnson, Elaine Rainsford, Cllr Jacqui Taylor, Cllr Chris White

3.    Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 14 May 2018 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 sent an email advising that the balance in the bank remains at £299.22.

6.    Our local environment:

  • Parking changes and pinch point in Sopwell Lane:
    Cllr Jacqui Taylor and Cllr Chris White organised a joint meeting between the District Council and the County Council to encourage both parties to work together in finding a solution to the necessary parking changes in Sopwell Lane.  Both parties will reanalyse the recent responses to the public consultation and will notify us of any further progress made but it will take some time.
  • Green oasis in Sopwell Lane:
    The garden proposal, received from Michelle Howard of Affinity Water, was generally felt to be overly complicated for our purposes. A meeting was organised between the residents living nearest to the Oasis site and Affinity Water to express concerns and discuss further options. The resultant aim is to retain a generous area of lawn and to create a long, raised bed, using railway sleepers, at the foot of the rear wall. A revised plan will be submitted by Affinity Water.

It was suggested that the pavement running alongside the green oasis be widened by an extra foot to allow for the opening of car doors parked along the adjacent kerb to avoid pedestrians being forced onto the grass.

Roger has asked Cllr Jacqui Taylor to continue to chase the Planning Enforcement Officers regarding the incomplete wall at the back of the oasis.

  • Street Cleaning, weeds, and rubbish bins:
    Broken rubbish sacks remain a problem in the area with many being chewed open by foxes and cats.

One resident had observed that the weeds in the area were being sprayed but a question that remains is ‘what weed killer are they using?’

Residents were, again, encouraged to report any areas that need cleaning by either visiting the Council website: www.stalbans.gov.uk/environmentandwaste/street-care-and-cleaning/default.aspx or email to: a.cleanerdistrict@stalbans.gov.uk

  • Refuse behind Cafe Rouge: There is still no sign of the large replacement red bin, as promised by Café Rouge. Since the introduction of the regular Sunday refuse collection there have been no overflowing bins and no further sightings of rats in the vicinity.  

7.         City Neighbourhoods Committee:

  • Roger attended the CNC meeting on 27 June 2018 on behalf of SAPHRA. Cllr Chris White is now the new Chairman and Cllr Jacqui Taylor is also on the CNC representing the St Peter’s Ward.
  • Three main topics discussed were:
  • Vehicle crossings in Sandridge Road
  • Play areas work programme
  • River Ver project and it’s impact on some of the allotments
  • The minutes of the meeting are available on the District Council website.
  • The next CNC meeting will be held on 26 September 2018

8.    General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Due to the implementation of GDPR, on 25 May 2018, SAPHRA have now moved email communications over to Mail Chimp. This includes an add and unsubscribe facility.

9.    SAPHRA Summer barbeque: Will be on the afternoon of Sunday 15 July 2018 at the Hare and Hounds pub, Sopwell Lane from 2pm.

10.  Any other business:

  • An ex resident, Elizabeth Barber, continues to make a good recovery and we were pleased to see her on the front cover of the Herts Advertiser recently. Bernadette mentioned that Elizabeth is always pleased to receive visitors.
  • A question was raised about the tourist information counter in the new St Albans museum.  Will it be staffed in the future?
  • It was noted that although works by professional builders were not permitted on Saturday afternoon or all-day Sunday, the District Council Officers responsible for enforcing this do not work on Saturdays or Sundays so no enforcement action is ever taken.

11.  Date of next meetings: 03 September 2018 (AGM), 12 November 2018, 07 January 2019, 04 March 2019

 

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). 

 

Highways fault reporting (Potholes, street lamps not working etc.) can be reported to Hertfordshire County Council at: www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/highways/hhonlineservices/hfr/

 

Street cleaning issues (litter, fly-tipping, overflowing litter bins etc.) can be reported to St Albans District Council by telephone to 01727 819285 or 01727 819598 or email to a.cleanerdistrict@stalbans.gov.uk or online at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/environmentandwaste/street-care-and-cleaning/default.aspx