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 Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 16 January 2024 at 8pm
at the White Hart Hotel, Holywell Hill, St Albans
1. Present: Officials: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Minutes Secretary
And: 3 residents of Sopwell Lane
2 residents of Pageant Road
1 resident of Hart Road
2 residents of Albert Street
2. Apologies for absence: Cllrs Jacqui Taylor, Juliet Voisey, Chris White
3. Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the annual general meeting held on Tuesday 10th January 2023 had been circulated by email and a copy was made available at this meeting. The minutes were approved.
4. Matters arising: None
5. Finances: Tim Boatswain explained that the signing arrangements for the account had been changed to enable us to make payments by bank transfer. In future one authorised signatory will be sufficient for cheques and instructions to the bank and one authorised signatory will be sufficient to authorise online payment instructions. Tim presented a detailed account of the finances for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023. Our balance with Metro Bank at the year-end was £568.83.
6. Election of officials: The Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Minutes Secretary and Webmaster were all willing to continue for the coming year. The meeting agreed, unanimously, that the key officials and holders of other roles going forward would be as follows:
Key officials
- Chair Roger Morton
- Vice Chair Angela King
- Treasurer Prof Tim Boatswain
Other roles
- Minutes secretary Cathy Jones
- Webmaster Richard Barran (Working from his home in France)
7. Representation on the City Neighbourhoods Committee of St Albans District Council:
The meeting agreed that the Chair would continue to represent the Association at meetings of the City Neighbourhoods Committee, with the Vice Chair as alternate if the Chair was unavailable.
8. Representation on the Central St Albans Combined Residents Associations:
The meeting agreed that the Chair would continue to represent the Association at meetings of the Central Combined Residents Associations, with the Vice Chair as alternate if the Chair was unavailable.
9. There being no further business the AGM was declared closed.
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 16 January 2024 at 8pm
at the White Hart Hotel, Holywell Hill, St Albans
Present: Officials: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Minutes Secretary
Plus: 3 residents of Sopwell Lane,
2 residents of Pageant Road,
1 resident of Hart Road,
2 resident of Albert Street
Apologies for absence: Cllrs Jacqui Taylor, Juliet Voisey, Chris White
The main subjects discussed at the meeting were:
- Finances and banking arrangements:
Our current balance with Metro Bank is £568.83.
The Chair paid the White Hart Tap pub the entire deposit for our Christmas meal and we owe him for the portion that was paid by transfers into our bank account. This will be claimed and reimbursed later this month. We also expect to receive a bill for £20.00 from SALPS for the printing of our 2023 Seasons Greetings cards.
Our available funds once these two outstanding bills are paid will be £383.88.
- Update on District Council consultation on Local Plan:
Due to the absence of Cllrs Jacqui Taylor and Chris White at our meeting, we were unable to get an update on this.
3. Update on parking and pinch point in Sopwell Lane:
Due to the absence of Cllrs Jacqui Taylor and Chris White at our meeting, we were unable to get an update on this.
4. Update on City Neighbourhoods Committee:
The City Neighbourhoods Committee has not met since our last meeting.
The next meeting will be 1 February 2024.
Proposed topics for discussion will be:
- Local Plan update (Planning Officers)
- CNC portion of SADC budget for decision
- Allotment fees for decision
- Tree strategy
5. Update on Central Combined Resident’s Associations:
The last meeting was 15 January 2024.
Issues discussed were:
- Work of the CCRA Travel & Movement Group
- Attempts to build on green spaces in Verulam Estate
- Topics for CNC informal meeting with Cllr Chris White on 24 January 2024
- Strategy for CNC meeting 1 February 2024
- Impact of Graduation events in Abbey orchard
6. The green oasis in Sopwell Lane:
Tulip and daffodil bulbs have been planted across the site by the working group. The water butt has been filled with collected rainwater transported to the oasis in a water carrier. We are still awaiting an update from Cllr Jacqui Taylor with regards to the installation of wooden posts along the length of the opening. Cllr Juliet Voisey has kindly offered to help with the project. If any funding is available, it was agreed that a purchase of grass seed could be sown in order to improve the lawn which is rather sparce.
7. SAPHRA’s Spring get-together:
The meeting agreed to hold the event on 21 April with a reserve date 28 April 2024. SAPHRA will attempt to make a booking at The Hare and Hounds pub. We will distribute an invitation to all households nearer the final date.
8: Next meeting:
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 27 February 2024 at 8pm in the first-floor meeting room (Resident’s Lounge) in The White Hart Hotel, 23-25 Holywell Hill.
9. Any Other Business:
- A member asked if the ‘Solar Together’ scheme was still running. St Alban’s residents were invited to sign up for a second round of the scheme at the end of last year. There is still uncertainty about the installation of solar panels in Article 4 streets. The Chair will attend a Zoom meeting on 30 January 2024 with Sarah Ashton (Development Manager SADC) and other interested parties to discuss this.
- Professor Tim Boatswain, our Treasurer, will be giving a talk on “Succubus, grotesques, gargoyles and sheela na gigs” to the St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society (SAHAAS) on January 23rd.
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