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 06 January 2025 at 8pm
at the White Hart Hotel, Holywell Hill, St Albans
1. Present: Officials: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Minutes Secretary
And: 2 residents of Albert Street
3 residents of Pageant Road
3 residents of Sopwell Lane
1 resident of Hart Road
2. Apologies for absence: 2 residents
3. Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the annual general meeting held on Tuesday 16th January 2024 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 presented a detailed account of the finances for the period from 1 January 2024 to
31 December 2024. Our balance with Metro Bank at the year-end was £471.83
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.
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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 6 January 2025
following the Annual General Meeting
at the White Hart Hotel, Holywell Hill, St Albans
Present: Officials: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Minutes Secretary
Plus: 2 residents of Albert Street
3 residents of Pageant Road
3 residents of Sopwell Lane
1 resident of Hart Road
Apologies for absence:2 residents
The main subjects discussed in the meeting were:
- Finances and banking arrangements:
Our current balance with Metro Bank is £471.83.
- City Neighbourhoods Committee:
- The new Chair and Vice Chair of the CNC have set up a small working party of councillors and Residents’ Associations to review the future role of the CNC. Residents’ Associations have been promised an informal meeting with the SADC Leader soon.
- Combined Central Residents Associations:
- Some CCRA members are part of the CNC working party mentioned above.
- The CCRA Travel and Movement Group are currently working well with HCC and SADC on a travel strategy for St Albans.
- Other Local Government Matters:
- SADC has submitted the Local Plan to the Secretary of State for approval.
- Whether it is approved or not the current housing target of 15,000 by 2036 is likely to be increased in the future.
- The Green Oasis in Sopwell Lane:
There was a gardening day held on 16 November 2024. The lawn was given its final cut for the year and the four donated trees were planted. On 14 December 2024 a mature white rose and a spindle bush were also added to the site.
During the bad storm at the end of December a large canopy of mature ivy mixed with dead branches collapsed down onto the ground at the left rear corner of the site. This was reported to John O’Connor in early January and the ivy was cleared within a few days.
We will continue to chase the District Council with regards to the installation of wooden posts.
The metal frames for the two information boards have been purchased by Fonteyne Signs and we are currently completing the artwork.
- Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 25 March 2025 at 8pm in The White Hart Hotel, 23-25 Holywell Hill.
Continues overleaf…
Any Other Business:
Residents raised several matters for discussion:
a. Ryder Seed Hall – repair works appear to have been completed. Looks good.
b. One of the No-entry signs to Sopwell Lane is STILL facing away from the traffic. Roger reported this to HCC immediately after our last meeting. HCC responded three days ago stating that they will be taking no action.
c. Heavy goods vehicles continue to use Sopwell Lane, damaging parked vehicles and occasionally getting stuck (which can take hours to clear).
d. It was proposed that SAPHRA should hold a litter picking morning. Something to combine with a gardening day? (SADC have litter-pickers that can be borrowed upon request.)
e. 20mph speed limits– Do they make a difference? The general feeling was that they do.
f. Some residents have suffered from noise disturbance, particularly when local pubs hold events in their gardens. This is difficult to counter because the licencing laws specifically permit this. It is always worthwhile to keep a diary of any disturbances - the first thing asked for if a complaint of excessive noise is made.
Forthcoming events:
Professor Tim Boatswain, our Treasurer, spoke of a project he and his friend, Dr Florian Ruths, are engaged in, ‘The Nathaniel Cotton Series of Talks on Anthropology and Psychiatry: Cultural Constructs of Mental Illness’. They hope to raise funds to restore the weathered and lichen covered gravestones of Nathaniel Cotton, Anne Pembroke (his first wife) and Hannah Everett (his second wife) which lie side by side in St Peter’s Churchyard. The first talk ‘Why we get anxious’ will be held on 27 February 2025 at 7pm in the Octagon, St Peter’s Church.
Tim will also be presenting ‘Philosophy at the Lower Red Lion - ‘What Is Happiness?’ on Thursday 25 February 2025 at 7pm. All welcome. The philosophy is free but you have to buy your own drinks.
At the close of the meeting, as is our habit, several residents adjourned to the hotel bar to continue the conversation in a less formal setting.
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