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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Notes of SAPHRA meeting held on Tuesday 5 September 2023 at 8pm
at the White Hart Hotel, Holywell Hill, St Albans
Present: Officials: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Minutes Secretary
Cllr J. Taylor, Cllr C. White
Plus 1 resident of Sopwell Lane, 1 resident of Albert Street, 2 residents of Pageant Road, 1 resident of Hart Road, 1 resident of Saracens Head Yard
Apologies for absence: Cllr J. Voisey, 2 residents
The main subjects discussed at the meeting were:
1. Finances and bank account:
- The balance in our account with Metro Bank currently stands at £461.28.
- Anthony Hyde having resigned as our Treasurer and Tim Boatswain having kindly volunteered to take over as our Treasurer, the meeting agreed that the following changes should be made in respect of our account with Metro Bank St Albans:
- Anthony Hyde should be removed from the list of authorised signatories
- Tim Boatswain was confirmed as Treasurer and should be added to the list of signatories
- The current Chair (Roger Morton) and Vice Chair (Angela King) should continue to be authorised signatories
- The signing arrangements for the account should be changed. In future one authorised signature will be sufficient for cheques and instructions to the bank and one authorised signatory will be sufficient to authorise online payment instructions.
- The address for correspondence & statements of account should be changed from Anthony Hyde’s address to Tim Boatswain’s address
2. SAPHRA autumn get together:
- The summer get together will be held on Sunday 1st October 2023 at 2.00pm in the garden (indoors if wet) at the White Hart Tap pub.
- Invitations will be hand-delivered to all residents of our area
3. District Council consultation on Local Plan:
- Cllr C. White gave a summary of the District Council’s recently published draft of the Local Plan for consultation and its importance in identifying land for business, infrastructure, and housing over a 17-year period.
- Cllr C. White strongly encouraged everyone to read the draft plan and give feedback. A public consultation has now started and will end on 25 September 2023. Feedback will be analysed, and the draft Local Plan modified accordingly before a second consultation, which is scheduled for summer 2024.
- You can read the Plan and supporting documents, see a video explaining it, and complete a questionnaire & survey on the District Council website at https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/new-local-plan. You don’t have to comment on everything – comments from individuals on aspects of the plan about which they feel strongly or have knowledge will be welcome.
- A copy of the Local Plan is available in St Albans Library, in The Maltings Centre, whenever the library is open.
4. Date of next meeting:
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 November 2023 at 8pm in the first-floor meeting room (Resident’s Lounge) in The White Hart Hotel, 23-25 Holywell Hill.
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5. Any Other Business
- Invitation to Solar Together
Solar Together is a District Council sponsored scheme to enable residents to purchase solar panels at reduced cost. A second tranche of applications is now available – more information can be found here: https://solartogether.co.uk/st-albans/home - Parking survey for zones M&N:
The survey closed on 8th September, and we now await the results. - London Road car park:
The London Road car park will be closed for resurfacing work on Sunday 17 September 2023 and reopen on the morning of Monday 18 September 2023. The resurfacing work will begin at 10am to reduce early noise disturbance and be completed by 4pm. - Incident in Hart Road:
Cllr J. Taylor informed the meeting of an incident where a car parking in London Road car park had mistakenly driven through a boundary fence and ended up in the back garden of a house in Hart Road. Fortunately, nobody was hurt but the residents of Hart Road have requested that some form of barrier be erected between the car park and the gardens to ensure future safety. Cllr J. Taylor proposed that a row of stout wooden posts be erected, like the ones proposed for the green oasis. - Survey 20mph zone:
The consultation period for the proposed 20mph zone continues until 9th October. For further information please visit: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/20mphstalbans2. - City Centre Road closures:
The people-friendly space at Market Place is to remain permanent. High Street will reopen to traffic 7 days a week, but the gates will remain in situ for use with any future street events. George Street will close to traffic at weekends only for the next phase of the trial. - Trees removed from green oasis:
The removal of several small trees was undertaken by SADC as they were growing too near to the rear boundary wall. - SAPHRA’s request for Rowan tree on green oasis:
Cllr J. Taylor informed the meeting that the Housing department were looking into the suitability of our request for a mature rowan tree to be planted on the oasis site. - Electric Vehicle charging in District Council car parks:
A question had been asked “If charging a vehicle at a public charging point in a District Council car park do you have to pay for parking in addition to paying to use the charging point?”
The answer is no you do not. It was suggested that it would be better to show that information by the machines to avoid any doubt. - Nuisance street lighting in Pageant Road / Rider Seed Mews:
Nuisance lighting can be reported to the District Council’s Environmental Services Team through the MyStAlbans portal.
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