Its is hard to believe . . .

. . . that it is six months since I last wrote these notes. Then I waxed lyrically about summer flowers in gardens and hedgerows, trees fully in leaf and crops growing in the fields. Now, with bonfire night already behind us, it is dark in the mornings and evenings on the way back from work, and Christmas and 2010 are just around the corner.

Development was the major theme of my last contribution to Parish Matters, and it is still high on your Parish Council’s agenda. St Albans City and District Council successfully challenged the Government’s East of England Regional Plan in the High Court last summer. This proposed to impose an additional 7,200 homes to the east and west of the City, with 1,000 of these effectively joining Colney Heath and Smallford to Welwyn Hatfield, threatening the individuality of these long established communities.

This pressure for development in this popular area of the country with its good transport links will not go away, and we must remain vigilant if we are to protect our cherished green spaces. The latest threat is the resubmission of a planning application for a rail freight terminal on the old Radlett aerodrome site. The public hearing in front of an Inspector to decide whether this should go ahead is taking place in the City Centre as I write. The St Albans District Council is opposing it, although Herts County Council is more circumspect – its Herts Highways department recently removed any objections to the application on traffic grounds.

The Parish Council believes that such a development would greatly increase the numbers of Heavy Goods Vehicles and other traffic entering and leaving the site and using the A414 at all times of the day and the night. This is already an extremely busy road, as anyone trying to exit Colney Heath Village, or access the A414 at either of the roundabouts on the Northern side well knows.

Earlier this year your Parish Council, at the second attempt, managed to purchase the open space between Drakes Drive and Hill End Lane that is known as Gloucester Park. Although our first bid was not enough to secure the deal in the first round of the auction for the former Health Service site, it appears the original winner couldn’t raise the necessary readies (one positive aspect of the credit crunch?), and so we were ultimately successful. We have always believed that it is vital to save this green space from the threat of development.

Now, we want your ideas as to what to do with the space. Our newest Parish Councillor, Chris Gowens, who lives adjacent to the Park, has prepared a questionnaire for the residents to try and gauge opinions as to its future use. It could be that it is left as it is, or part could be used for a secure playing space, or it has even been suggested that part could be used for allotments. Please take the time to respond to this survey so that we have a representative steer as to Gloucester Park’s future use.(Residents in the Highfield area will receive a questionnaire through their door from the Residents Association, but we have also included it here in the magazine so that everyone can give their views - see page 13. Ed)

While on the subject of allotments, the Council is aware that there is a growing demand for space to “grow your own”. I learnt this at first hand from Judy Kiln and her team at the successful Colney Heath Autumn Show in September. We are hopeful that the Highfield Trust is close to securing additional land behind the Highfield Estate near Hixberry Lane to extend the existing allotment area that has now been established for ten years and is now fully used. While we would like to be able to provide allotments in other areas of the Parish, it is not always straightforward to identify suitable areas of land and then find out who owns it. We would welcome any ideas and suggestions on this subject.

Residents will have noticed that work has begun on the redevelopment of the Home Farm site on Highfield Lane. I have slightly mixed feelings, having worked there when I first came to St Albans, and having seen the large injection of public money that was used in the mid 1980s to turn it into a training centre. However, the way in which it was left to deteriorate over recent years meant that demolition was the only option. The site had become dangerous and a breeding ground for vermin, so was a health hazard. Now that the site is cleared, construction works have started. Tillage Close, a small estate of around 40 houses and flats, should be complete in December 2010. As with larger developments, there will be some Section 106 money available for community improvements associated with the project. The Parish Council has asked for a Vehicle Activated Sign to slow traffic approaching the area from London Road and a zebra crossing to link Puddingstone Drive and the Highfield football pitches. This too, should help to slow the traffic on this busy road.

Other issues discussed by the Parish Council recently include the Local District Framework. Chris Brazier has been leading the District Council’s work in drawing up a core strategic plan for the future development in the St Albans area over the next couple of decades, to try and identify where land can be released to meet changing needs and those areas that should remain green at all costs. He has held a number of meetings on this over the autumn, including one in the Colney Heath Ward. We continue to negotiate with Herts Highways over traffic calming measures for the High Street and Tollgate Road. And of course there is the routine work of maintaining the parish gardens, the churchyard and the Common, the various parks, play areas and recreation grounds, as well as keeping an eye on the planning applications that affect the Ward and its residents.

Our next meeting will start the annual budget process so that we are in a position to set our precept for the 2010/2011 year. This will be difficult in the current economic circumstances, since like many organisations, our investments and reserves are contributing negligible amounts to our funds while interest rates are so low. Therefore we are likely to have to constrain plans for capital expenditure in order to ensure we can meet our day-to-day expenditures.

We welcomed Chris Gowens to the Parish Council in September. Chris is well known in the Highfield area - she helped found the Highfield Residents Association and was its first chair. Chris has also served on the Highfield Trust. I know some residents in Highfield feel that their views are not equally represented in the Parish – Chris feels that way too and is determined to be the voice of Highfield on the Council. But please don’t just leave it to Chris – we have Parish elections coming up in the spring/summer, so please consider standing for the Council wherever you live in the Ward – like any organisation we can only benefit from regular infusions of fresh blood, enthusiasm and ideas.

In the meantime, I wish everyone in the Colney Heath Ward a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year holiday, and all the best for a prosperous 2010.

Jamie Day
Chairman
Colney Heath Parish Council

PARISH MATTERS - October 2009

"Winter Drawers On!" . . .

. . . as my Mother-in-law used to say and laugh at its double meaning. She also had other humorous or not so humourous sayings, “Bless her/his Cotton Socks” was another saying she had and I never knew what it meant. Did it mean anyone wearing cotton socks would be blessed or if you were wearing woollen socks you were damned? Where did these saying come from? What is he on about I can hear you saying, just thought I would introduce this article with a little bit of nostalgia.

It is my turn to update you on the Parish of Colney Heath and the surrounding areas. It has been a busy year for the Parish, we have spent a lot of money on updating the play areas and hope the children have benefited from the improvements.

You will have seen the new signs which denote the ban on parking on the pavements or grass verges. You will have read in a previous article in this magazine the problems that people were having passing parked vehicles when walking on the footpaths. People with buggies and the disabled regularly had to walk in the road to pass vehicles parked on the pavements. This cannot be right and in order to dissuade cars from parking on the pavements this pilot scheme is being trialled in one part of Colney Heath. If it is successful it will be rolled out across the whole Parish. We know it is difficult for some people especially those who live in the High Street and Tollgate Road. Speeding cars can often damage cars parked on the road, but I think this trial will be useful. Please give us any feedback you have on its benefits or otherwise and we will pass them on to the relevant body.

The Local Development Framework (LDF) has been out for consultation and we have had a meeting in the Charles Morris Hall to discuss its effect on us. The LDF is a planning document which is designed to shape the future development of St Albans District and it is vital that we input into the Consultation. We all know the threats to this area, we purchased Gloucester Park to prevent ‘Development in the Green Belt’, we challenged the 5,000 houses planned for Smallford and won. We are currently opposing the development in Wynches Farm Drive, we opposed the houses in Beaumont School and we are committed to protecting the Green Belt. But, and it’s a big ‘BUT’, we do need housing for our children and the elderly who want to downsize. We want planned development so that we can have new housing and still manage the Green Belt land that is so precious to us. Building on disused garage sites is a way to allow housing in the Green Belt, looking at some affordable housing on a green space within the Green Belt is another way of meeting the need for housing. What type of housing do you build? In my opinion we need smaller houses, not the 5 bedroom houses developers want. We did a Parish Plan and that said clearly we want 3 – 1 bedroom housing for our residents. The Parish Council is replying to the LDF consultation and we are mentioning housing, transport, health, the need for new schools and highways. Highfield should be taken out of the Green Belt to allow for extensions that are in keeping with the residents needs. At the moment residents are restricted to what they can build because they are included in the Colney Heath Green Belt policy and I think that issue needs addressing. Highfield is a unique part of Colney Heath. It is closer to St Albans and is adjacent to Highfield Lane, Camp Road and Drakes Drive. We are committed to Highfield but we think in planning terms it should be dealt with by the same policies that apply to its surrounding area.

Some residents have asked what we do with the Precept we receive from Highfield and is it fair that they are part of Colney Heath Ward. Colney Heath Ward is divided by the A414, so we all feel in some way separated, but as a Parish Council we endeavour to be inclusive. It was not the Parish Council that included Highfield in our boundary although we welcome it. It was the Boundary Commission that gave us Highfield when the houses were built on the old hospital sites.

What do we do with the precept we collect from the area? It goes into the Parish Council funds and we spend it year on year on various projects in the Parish. In Highfield we support the Trestle Theatre, we help with the Highfield Park Trust, and we are now taking on the play areas. We are in talks with a youth organisation that want to start a Youth Club in Hill End Lane, we help with school appeals, we give planning advice and give grants to local organisations. The Parish Council is now having more meetings on both sides of the A414 to address the issue of inclusiveness. We want all parts of the Parish to know that they are included in the Parish Council’s thoughts. Smallford, Sleapsyde, Tyttenhanger, Highfield, Wynches Farm Drive, Hatfield Road and Colney Heath Village all make up the Parish and give it its’ distinctive character.

The Parish Council are working with the Police to combat fly tipping and we are now keeping a log of every fly tip incident to pass onto the police. The police caught one fly tipper recently who was prosecuted, found guilty and given a £2,000 fine, so we want more prosecutions to deter fly tipping.

The gating order for Barley Mow Lane is still progressing but is slow and we want a full public consultation before anything is concluded on the issue. I’m attending meetings both at the Barley Mow Forum and Highways Panel.

The Bus shelter outside the Grange has been a really hard job to progress; the Clerk only found out recently that the land was owned by St. Albans District Council. He had made many inquiries at the Land Registry, Highways, County and STADC. Nobody admitted to owning the land until he did his own research. He found out who the owners were and now we can progress a planning application.

You will have seen the meeting advertised for the Highways improvements in the area, the Home Farm development is going ahead and we have asked for a Zebra Crossing nearby. This will be funded by the developer as part of the development and I hope this will lead to a slowing of the traffic along Highfield Lane. There are also plans for the raising of the crossing by the Primary School and the Post Office on Colney Heath High Street. In addition there are plans for speed cushions along the High Street and Tollgate Road. This work is planned for 2010/2011. We are also campaigning for improvements to the roundabout and drainage along Oaklands Lane at the junction of the Hatfield Road.

Road Adoption is still a priority for us and the residents of Highfield and Wynches Farm Drive. We will continue to petition the Hertfordshire County Council and we have over the years been successful in getting some adopted.

My colleagues on the Parish Council continue to progress their individual projects on behalf of the Parish. Denis Horner runs the community bus along with his wife Jean,  and is always looking for new drivers. Derek Crump looks after Treasure Tots which continues to be a vital part of the Parish; Jamie Day is Chairman this year and oversees the management of the Council. We have not been caught up this year in the expenses scandal, none of us is claiming for a second home and none of us has a directorship on a bank. In fact Parish Councillors are not funded in any way, they can claim for training, expenses to conferences but for nothing else. This Parish is very lucky it has good Councillors who work in various industries and can bring that expertise to the Council. We also have two Clerks that are both efficient, affable and keep us on our toes.

I hope this article gives you some idea of what the Parish Council is doing on your behalf, but I have not mentioned in detail some of the things we do as everyday business. We maintain the Rights of Way, coppice the common, petition for school places for our children, support local sports, allocate grants, respond to planning applications, help local residents achieve their goals. The Parish Council is part of the community but if there is anything you feel the Parish Council could help you with or we should be doing more of please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Chris Brazier
Colney Heath Parish Council

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