Minutes of the meeting on 12 November 2019

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

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 12 November 2019 at 8:00 pm
at the Clarion Collection Hotel, Holywell Hill.

 

1.    Present:  Avril Allen, Bernadette Blade, Alison Burroughes, Kam Cheung, Ghislein de Cruz, Mary Green, Jenny Johnson, Cathy Jones, Angela King, Barry Knight, Roger Morton, Cllr Will Tucker

2.    Apologies: Tim Boatswain, Jane Harris-Matthews, Anthony Hyde, Pam Johnson, Linda Matthewman, Mary Plackett, Bob Shadrake, Cllr Jacqui Taylor, Cllr Chris White

3.    Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 16 September 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, by email, that the bank balance is £341.28.

6.    Green oasis in Sopwell Lane:

The brickwork has now been completed on the wall backing onto the Green Oasis site.

Cllr Will Tucker informed the meeting that Cllr Jacqui Taylor is still chasing St Albans District Council for their permission to let Affinity go ahead with the restoration of the Green Oasis.

7.    Car charging points in our area:

Cllr Will Tucker reported that the St Albans District Council have been working with a potential supplier of charging points but the tendering process has proven to be quite lengthy and problematic. A paper is due in January.

8.    Parking changes and pinch point in Sopwell Lane:

Cllr Will Tucker reported that, up until now, the Council Officers responsible for parking had not been following a work plan. There is now a work plan for parking and our proposals will be part of it.

9.    Other matters affecting our area:

  • The broken parking sign in Sopwell Lane: The parking sign is still lying on the Green Oasis site and the broken base, left in the ground, is still jagged and unsafe. Roger will forward the details to Cllr Will Tucker to chase up.
  • 20mph roundels on the road surface in Sopwell Lane: These are now installed in Sopwell Lane and at the entrance of Albert Street.
  • Cycle stands for Malthouse Court/elsewhere in our area: Cllr Will Tucker reported that Cllr Jacqui Taylor attended a meeting held at Malthouse Court and it is possible that a cycle stand will be funded by the Housing Department rather than the CNC.
  • Location for our second grit bin: Phil is to approach the Hare and Hounds pub to discuss the possibility of placing it on their forecourt.
  • Hedge trimming in Albert Street and Keyfield Terrace car parks: The contract for managing the car parks has now been taken back in house by the Council. Immediately before the handover NCP trimmed the hedges, cut the grass verges and filled holes in the tarmac. Since the handover, SAPHRA members had noticed a decrease in the presence of traffic wardens in the area. Cllr Will Tucker reported that there had been changes to shift patterns due to extended working hours on Fridays and Saturdays to 11.30pm. Focus was also being placed on known trouble spots within the area.
  • Painted over No-Entry signs in Albert Street: The no-entry signs at each end of Albert Street were painted over with grey paint while the road was closed due to Affinity works. The signs at Keyfied Terrace end have still not been restored even though the works finished some weeks ago. Roger has reported it and received an acknowledgement email. Cllr Chris White has been informed.

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. Angela represented SAPHRA at the last meeting held on 18 September 2019. Subjects for discussion included: the revised tree policy, Sustainable St Albans and the ownership of the Clock Tower. The minutes of the meeting should be available on the District Council website. The next CNC meeting is 27 November 2019. Roger will represent SAPHRA.

11.  SAPHRA Christmas meal:

       The date of our annual Christmas meal will be Tuesday 3 December 2019. The menus were circulated at the meeting.

12.  SAPHRA New Year get-together:

       The date of our New Year get-together will be Tuesday 21 January 2020 from 8pm at the White Lion, Sopwell Lane.

13.  Greetings card/invitation to get-together:

       Roger will make the arrangements for the card/invitation to be printed. Several people volunteered to help to deliver them.

14.  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 13 January 2020, Tuesday 10 March 2020. Monday 11 May 2020, Tuesday 14 July 2020, Monday 14 September 2020.

15.  Any other business:

  • Christmas cards were circulated and signed by members for Elizabeth Barber and Jacqueline Briggs.
  • Tim Boatswain wrote an email explaining that the Civic Society are in dialogue with St Albans District Council, regarding the Civic Centre Opportunity Site South, asking for new options to be pursued.
  • Conservation 50 are organising a study day at/in conjunction with the Cathedral about the Arts & Crafts Movement on Saturday 23 November 2019.
  • It was mentioned that a light was not working in the London Road car park. Cllr Will Tucker will report this.
  • A planning application to build between London Road and the London Road car park has been denied. Could the alley way be designated as a public right-of-way? Cllr Will Tucker will take this up.
  • Cllr Chris White had arranged for the pavement alongside the White Hart pub’s garden wall to be re-laid. Unfortunately, Ringway used tarmac instead of replacing the paving slabs. However, the pavement at that point is in keeping with the tarmac all around it and in recompense Ringway have offered to resurface another patch of ground for free.

 

 

   Useful information

 

Our website
www.saphra.org.uk

Neighbourhood Watch
SAPHRA members are encouraged to sign up for the OWL (The Hertfordshire Police Online Watch Liaison) scheme via www.owl.co.uk. SAPHRA can also provide OWL sign-up forms to any interested party on request.  For those members who do not have email it is possible to obtain OWL Messages via a home (landline) phone.

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 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

Civic Society
SAPHRA is a Residents' Association member of the St Albans Civic Society. You can view their latest newsletter at  www.stalbanscivicsociety.net

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.

Noise pollution:
To make a complaint about noise:
Report online through your MyStAlbans account at http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/mystalbansdistrictaccount
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
https://www.care-line.co.uk