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 Tuesday 09 July 2019 at 8:00 pm
at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.
1. Present: Avril Allen, Kam Cheung, Phil Fletcher, Anthony Hyde, Pamela Johnson, Cathy Jones, Angela King, Barry Knight, Roger Morton, Mary Plackett, Bob Shadrake, Cllr Jacqui Taylor, Cllr Chris White
2. Apologies: Tim Boatswain, Alison Burroughs, Ghislein de Cruz, Mary Green, Cllr Simon Grover, Jenny Johnson, Jane Harris-Matthews, Cllr Will Tucker
3. Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 13 May 2019 had been circulated by email (and by hand to residents who do not use email) and a copy was made available at this meeting. The minutes were approved.
4. Matters arising: None
5. Finances: Anthony Hyde advised that the bank balance is £341.28.
6. Green oasis in Sopwell Lane:
Cathy and Mary formed a working party to agree a plan for the Green Oasis site. They met with Lina Nieto of Affinity Water at the site and presented a proposed plan of action which was favourably received, although Affinity now want SAPHRA to manage the works. Lina Nieto also requested written confirmation from the Council (owner of the land) that the works are approved. Cllr Jacqui Taylor will be conferring with Joe Tavernier (Head of Community Services) to get the go-ahead.
Cllr Jacqui Taylor approached the Building Control and Planning Enforcement team with regards to the loose bricks stacked up on the unfinished wall backing onto the Green Oasis. The loose bricks have now been removed and stacked up in the garden of the Albert Street property.
Roger mentioned that he understood that he was to be invited to speak at a meeting of the Planning Enforcement Task and Finish Group on 21 August 2019.
7. Car charging points in our area:
Barry has prepared a paper outlining SAPHRA’s thoughts on car charging points which has been submitted to our local councillors.
Cllr Chris White has been talking to other districts with regards to the various approaches to the increased demand for additional car parking points. This is very much a work in progress and we await further reports on the subject.
8. Parking changes and pinch point in Sopwell Lane:
Bob has prepared a paper on behalf of SAPHRA which has now been submitted to Cllr Jacqui Taylor with suggestions for possible Resident Parking Zone improvements in an attempt to create additional resident parking bays, reduce risks to pedestrians and vehicles at Sopwell Lane ‘pinch point’ and the joining of M and N Parking Zones. We are awaiting District Council’s response.
9. Other matters affecting our area:
- The broken street name plate in Sopwell Lane has been reported. It had fallen off due to rot.
- The broken parking sign in Sopwell Lane has been reported.
- The Hare and Hounds pub has now re-opened. As the grit bin will be of no use until the winter it was agreed that we would wait a while before approaching them with regards to placing the grit bin on their site.
- The planters which had been placed in the void in the wall in Albert Street have been stolen. It was suggested that they be replaced with a single heavy planter. SAPHRA hopes we will be able to finance this. Anthony agreed to look into it.
- Hedge trimming in Albert Street CPZ car parks and around Keyfield Terrace car park: Cllr Chris White reminded the meeting that in the autumn the contract for managing the car parks will be taken back in- house by the Council. When that happens the Council will have much tighter control of the car parks. In the meantime local residents have been trimming back vegetation around car park signs.
- Conservation 50 events: Conservation 50 is a collaboration between St Albans Civic Society, Abbey Precincts Residents Association and Aboyne Residents Association. Public events were organised to celebrate the first St Albans Conservation area, to assess its value to the city and residents throughout the District. There is an exhibition at St Albans Museum till 21 July 2019.
- Pub in the Park (13 – 15 September 2019): Cllr Jacqui Taylor recently attended a ‘pub in the park’ meeting. The organisers seemed to have everything in hand and they are going to send Cllr Jacqui Taylor an indication of how many visitors from outside St Albans city postcodes are likely to arrive by public transport.
10. City Neighbourhoods Committee:
The CNC is an executive body of St Albans District Council. Its members are District Councillors drawn from the unparished wards in the City centre and co-opted residents’ associations from the same area. The last CNC meeting was held on 26 June 2019 at 7.00pm. Roger attended on behalf of SAPHRA. Cllr Jacqui Taylor is now the Chair of the CNC. The minutes of the meeting should be available on the District Council website. The next CNC meeting is 18 September 2019. Roger will be unable to attend this meeting so Angela will represent SAPHRA.
11. Summer get-together 14 July 2019:
The get-together will take place in the garden of the White Lion at 4pm. Due to the increased demand for Sunday roasts the pub was only able to provide a barbeque if we could state just how many of our members would be attending. As this was not possible we had to forego the barbeque and settle for a drop in drink. Invitations will be sent out by email and posted through every letter box. Roger will send a reminder email the day before the event.
12. Dates of next meetings: In order to ensure that more people have an opportunity to attend our meetings we will be alternating between Mondays and Tuesdays in future. Here is a list of our revised dates: Monday 16 September 2019 (AGM), Tuesday 12 November 2019, Monday 13 January 2020, Tuesday 10 March 2020.
13. Any other business:
Phil requested that cycle stands should be supplied for Malthouse Court residents. This is Housing Department land. Cllr Jacqui Taylor will speak to them. It was also suggested that some cycle stands be placed elsewhere in the SAPHRA area. It is possible that this could be funded from the CNC Ward funding.
Useful information
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, blocked drains 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 by email to a.cleanerdistrict@stalbans.gov.uk
or online at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/environmentandwaste/street-care-and-cleaning/default.aspx
Agendas and minutes for District Council meetings can be found at:
http://stalbans.moderngov.co.uk/ieDocHome.aspx?bcr=1
Details of planning applications can be found at:
https://planningapplications.stalbans.gov.uk/planning
Noise pollution:
To make a complaint about noise:
Report online through your MyStAlbans account at https://stalbans.force.com/mysadc
or email environmental@stalbans.gov.uk
or call 01727 819406 during normal office hours.
On Friday and Saturday nights St Albans District Council operate an out-of-hours noise patrol service, which deals with noise complaints. You can contact the duty team on 01727 811155 between 6pm and 3am.
The District Council also operates a Licensing Hotline to report complaints about Licensed Premises (pubs, clubs, restaurants etc.,) out of hours. The number is 07770 701720.
Herts Careline:
Community alarms for older and vulnerable people in Hertfordshire
Opening times and locations of the St Albans foodbanks run by the Trussell Trust:
Tuesdays: 1 – 3 pm Christ Church, 3 High Oaks, New Greens AL3 6 DJ
Tuesdays: 4:00– 5:30 pm Cunningham Hub, Cell Barnes Lane AL1 5PX
Wednesdays: 12:30 – 2:30 pm Christadelphian Church Hall, 4-6 Abbotts Avenue AL1 2HX
Thursdays: 12:30 – 2:30 pm Hilldyke Community Centre, 17 Hilldyke Road AL4 8TU
Fridays: 1:00 - 3:00 pm Holcroft Road, Batford AL5 5BQ
More information from: www.stalbansdistrict.foodbank.org.uk. Tel.: 01727 613 019.