Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 08 June 2015 at 8pm at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.
- Present: Avril Allen, Ania Buckley, Rob Buckley, Charles Davies, Tony Edwards,
Anthony Hyde, Pam Johnson, Cathy Jones, Angela King, Roger Morton, Clare Norman, Darryl Stannard, Eric Thurston
- Apologies for absence: Katie Barron, Bernadette Blade, Cllr Alec Campbell, Cllr Alun Davies,
Linda Mathewman, Mary Plackett, Cllr Chris White
- Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 13 April 2015 had been circulated by e-mail and a copy was made available at this meeting.
- Matters arising: None
- Finances: Anthony confirmed that we still had £314.22 in the bank.
- Neighbourhood Watch: Roger Morton recommended that all members of SAPHRA should sign up for the OWL (On-line Watch Liaison) scheme if they wanted to receive regular updates. He also confirmed that he had passed all completed sign-up sheets to Catherine Hieatt (Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator for St Peter’s Ward).
- City Neighbourhoods Committee:
Roger informed SAPHRA members that Cllr Alec Campbell had been elected Vice Chair of City Neighbourhoods Committee as previous Vice Chair (Salih Gaygusuz) is now serving his term in Office as Mayor of St Albans.
- Our local environment:
- Lorry ban / speed restriction / pinch-point in Sopwell Lane. Cllr Chris White has exchanged numerous e-mails with Hertfordshire County Council and is still awaiting feedback from them. Some members voiced their concerns as to whether the 20 mph speed limit is being confused/included with the pinch-point or has dropped off the agenda altogether.
- Green oasis in Sopwell Lane. A group of Sopwell Lane SAPHRA members will post a flyer to Sopwell Lane residents with a proposal to set up a working party and suggest dates for two weekends in July 2015. Cllr Alun Davies will liaise with the Council with regards to suggestions and progress. The grass is currently being maintained by John O’Connor contractors as this is a “green space” and not a “roadside verge” – verges are now being cut (or not) by Ringway on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council.
- Condition of wall at Holywell Hill end of Sopwell Lane. Owners of the wall have been served with a Notice by the District Council to repair and make-safe the wall.
- Void in Albert Street (in the boundary wall of Ryder Seed Mews). The grant has now been received from the City Neighbourhoods Committee and the District Council will put forward a proposal. The general idea is to permanently block up the walk in entry with planters or shrubs. SAPHRA members can still submit planting ideas to Head of Community Services for consideration.
- Albert Street car park. As the City Neighbourhoods Committee funds did not stretch quite far enough to cover this work we will be submitting a fresh application for consideration next year.
- Flattening of speed cushions in Albert Street. In order to carry out the adjustments to the speed cushions Ringway will need to apply for a complete road closure for a day. This will require a 3 month notice period. Consequently the works will be completed sometime in September 2015.
- Keyfield Terrace car park. Keyfield Terrace car park charges were supposed to have been revised in the recent Car Park Order to include an optional 1 hour parking charge. Roger informed the meeting that notices displayed on lamp posts in the area did not include the new charges. This question will be raised with the relevant authorities.
- Ryder Seed Mews Estate rubbish bins. Eric reported that the state of the bins had greatly improved.
- Pearce’s Walk planter. Now that we have established that this is Council land, it was agreed that we would like to plant something in this planter. We will research suitable options.
9. Transition Streets: A representative will be invited to attend one of our meetings to introduce the idea.
10. Any other business:
- It was confirmed that our annual barbeque would be held on Sunday 06 September 2015 in the garden of the White Hart Tap pub. An order will be placed for a Bouncy Castle.
- Several concerns were raised with regards to the lack of drain cleaning in the area, especially in Pageant Road. Weeds are clearly blocking the drains and appear not to have been sprayed with herbicide for some time. Cllr Chris White is currently in contact with the complainants.
- Attention was brought to two broken bollards on the corner, by the junction of Thorpe Road and Sopwell Lane. Only the bases remain but have been left unrepaired for some time. Roger reminded SAPHRA members that any faults, broken street lamps etc. could be reported, by residents, on the Hertfordshire County Council’s website where you can access a map to pin point the site of damage.
11. Date of next meeting: Proposed for Monday 10 August 2015 (subject to a meeting room being available).
Our AGM will take place Monday 07 September 2015 (also subject to a meeting room being available).