PARISH MATTERS - June 2010

Chairman’s Address - Annual Parish Meeting - 5th April 2010

I don’t want to detain you too long from the refreshments, and no doubt you are all eager to get home to watch the live election debate on TV later this evening.  But I believe the Parish Council has had a good year, and I’d just like to report on some highlights.

Planning and Development occupies much of our time. With the high prices in the St Albans area, there is constant pressure to develop our green spaces, but we remain vigilant. We opposed an extra house being built on a vacant plot in Wynches Farm Drive which would have spoiled the amenity space used by children and families, and are monitoring the Beaumont School application to build a new access and housing on the Hatfield Road playing fields.  We continue to oppose the illegal site in Coursers Road, although the legal process, which has gone all the way to the High Court in London, is lengthy and expensive.

The Home Farm redevelopment is under way – an improvement on the eyesore that the old farmstead had become through Oaklands College’s neglect.  There have been some problems with delivery vehicles in the mornings, but we have developed a good relationship with the site managers.

Speaking of  Oaklands, the ambitious buildings redevelopment that it planned fell through after it was let down by the Learning and Skills Council, which had totally mismanaged its budget. However, we need to be aware that the College will now be looking to sweat its assets to raise additional capital, which will of course include its farmland in the Parish.

Turning to finance - your Council agreed a 3.8% rise in the precept – more than the District Council’s frozen rate, but certainly less than that levied by the Police Authority.  It is a difficult balance to achieve, but your Council believes there is a danger that a frozen rate this year would mean that a greater percentage would need to be levied next year to maintain services.  The state of the economy has also been disastrous for our investments – usually careful management by our Clerk has yielded several thousand pounds in interest, but with such low interest rates, these deals are simply not available at the moment.

One highlight of the year was our purchase of the Gloucester Park green space between Hill End Lane and Drakes Drive. This came as somewhat of a surprise, as we had previously been outbid for this important space, but we didn’t hesitate to secure this asset for the Parish when a second chance came up. We now have a working party under Councillor Chris Gowens investigating how we can make best use of the space for the surrounding community.

One suggestion is allotments, and we are also aware of demand for allotments in other areas such as Colney Heath Village. We are hopeful that the Highfield Trust will be providing more allotment space once it has agreed to manage part of the Oaklands land to the west of Hixberry Lane.

Another highlight for me was the reopening of the extended St Marks in Colney Heath.  The congregation, led by Rev James Spanner, are to be congratulated on their vision and determination in achieving the remarkable transformation of the church into a light and welcoming space in such a short time.  I recommend that you pay it a visit if you haven’t already seen the changes.

We are aware that there are those in the Highfield area who feel excluded from the Colney Heath Ward.  There are historical and cultural reasons for this – Highfield is still only a decade old, whereas Colney Heath goes back much further, and of course, the A414 is a physical barrier.  But I firmly believe that it is people who will help bridge this divide.  I am pleased that Chris Gowens, a former chair of the Highfield Residents Association is now on the Parish Council, and I hope to see more representatives coming forward from the Highfield area.  Then the Highfield residents will be fully and properly represented in our work.

These few words are insufficient to cover all the work that goes on in the Parish during the year, including the verge and grounds maintenance, our attractive Parish gardens, the recreation areas and graveyard, the Treasure Tots nursery, the football club and all the various associations, clubs and voluntary groups.  Many of our community organisations are represented here tonight, so please take the opportunity to visit their stands.

In conclusion, I should like to thank the Parish Councillors for their work and commitment during the year, and most especially our Parish office team - Clerk John Dean and Assistant Clark Kim Parker-Mead, without whom our jobs would all be a lot more difficult. But most of all, we are only the facilitators – much of the hard work is done by all the community groups, mostly volunteers, in the Parish.

Thank you

Jamie Day - Chairman

News from CHPC - Freedom of Information

Below you will find a link to a PDF file which details where information can be found / obtained relating to all aspects of the Parish Council's operations.

Click on this link to download the detailed list

PREVIOUS PARISH MATTERS

PARISH MATTERS - March 2010

The General Election campaign seems to have started as I write this Spring review on behalf of the Parish Council although no date has been announced.
In the news today the various parties are proposing the ‘John Lewis’ style of public services to encourage ownership and involvement by staff and greater public involvement in delivering services. As always ‘the meat’ is a little difficult to separate from the election spin, but an important theme seems to be greater involvement of volunteers / empowered residents as apparently being ‘pioneered’ by labour in Lambeth. It all sounds worthwhile and maybe a bit of apple pie but it occurs to me that they should be looking more closely at the model already provided by Parish Councils.

Your Parish Council consists of 9 volunteer councilors who, guided by the wisdom of our clerk and his assistant, use funds raised by the community charge to provide services and be the ‘voice’ for the Parish with regard to other authorities, notably District and County councils and the police. There are no expenses paid to councilors (except a token sum to the chairman) and so relatively little scope for financial scandal. The councilors come from a range of backgrounds and include those working and retired. Some are able to give up more time than others, some focus on particular issues and some operate at both Parish and other levels of council.

The important role of the Parish Council in my view is that it enables others to contribute to the Community. When most successful the nine of us on the Council (supported by our very capable staff) play a relatively minor role. We rely on many others on a formal and informal basis. Our buildings are run by volunteers; there is the Village Hall council, the Charles Morris Hall committee and the Colney Heath football club committee. The scouts lease our land for their building at Roestock and that of course is maintained by volunteers. The Colney Heath Village Plan was prepared by a committee of local people, the Resident’s Associations campaign to improve local amenities and at times battle with incompetence and bureaucracy (e.g. adoption of roads at Highfield). I hope many enjoyed ‘Larks in the Parks’ last year which, as previously, was only possible because local people took responsibility for the organisation, setting up, running stalls, clearing up and, in some very talented cases, also providing entertainment. Then of course we have the fetes; Colney Heath PTA, football club, scouts, Highfield Trust, the autumn produce show to name a few. Sport is important particularly for the children; Harvesters, St Albans City and Colney Heath football, rugby at Smallford, martial arts etc. Other clubs and societies include Twinning, WI, badminton, cycling and drama and of course there are the amazing ‘little trains’ near the Common. The churches of course depend upon the congregation’s gift of time and money; the St Marks refurbishment is a spectacular example of what can be achieved. More behind the scene activities seem so regular and accepted that people may forget those behind them; Old Friends club for the elderly and the Christmas dinner, the shopper’s bus, meals on wheels, delivery of the Christmas gift to senior citizens and of course the many who deliver the Chronicle to your door (and write articles!).

One thoroughly rewarding day I experienced this winter was undertaking conservation work in the Community Park that spans the Ellenbrook opposite St Marks church. Volunteers from St Marks provided manpower and a fantastic cooked breakfast that set about scrub clearance and hedge laying. The Parish clerk provided good tools for the job and essential coffee. Hedges were controlled, river banks cleared to let in more light and wild flowers, litter was removed and sycamore cut back. Hopefully we will be rewarded again by a spectacular show of wild flowers this spring, the occasional sighting of kingfishers, an increase in small fish and the numbers of ducks and coots they attract. That day also reminded me of the importance and quality of our national health services. I took away a souvenir in the form of a hawthorn splinter in a finger. Although spending a good deal of time removing various fragments the next day it was clear that more remained embedded and infected. A really nice nurse at the St Albans minor injuries unit dug deeper than I dare go and sent me home with bandage and a sling with instruction to rest the arm; so many a household chore was thereafter avoided for as long as I could spin out my severe splinter injury and ignore comments from skeptical family members.

Parish business has continued to be quite hectic over the winter period. The budget for 2010/2011 has been agreed but has yet to be ratified by the District Council. The Council have decided to increase the charge by approximately the rate of inflation (~4%) which was a difficult decision given the tough economic climate we currently face. The finances will be fully explained at the Annual Parish Meeting in April. Grants to local organisations have been approved and those who applied will receive their details in due course and their money will follow in May or June. Parish upkeep and maintenance of play areas and recreational areas and buildings and other parish assets continue to consume a hefty chunk of the expenditure. This year we will be looking further at the allotment project (Gloucester Park) and we will be announcing further details soon. After overcoming many difficulties we are now owners of the park having paid another public quango £30k for the area that we have leased for decades (another example of crazy privatization and associated bureaucracy). We have been commenting on the major planning applications at Beaumont school and Home farm. Consultations with Hertfordshire Highways continue about the much needed works to Colney Heath High Street and other traffic calming planned for this summer if the grant is allocated as expected. Treasure Tots continues to serve our youngsters and their parents brilliantly. Our CHPC web site is growing and looking good (colneyheath.org.uk).

Hopefully the forthcoming general election campaign will be informative and overcome the increasing apathy of the electorate over recent years. I am of the view that you should always use your vote even if it is sometimes hard to clearly see what difference it will make. I would suggest that if you have been upset about an MP’s behavior or disagree with their policies then react by voting against them; don’t be complicit by not voting. Many of our servicemen are fighting and losing their lives to give others the right to vote in other countries so the least we should do is to use our vote. Elections for Parish and District Councils will also take place and these I hope you agree play an important role in maintaining our local community.  Finally may I wish all our readers an enjoyable spring 2010 in Colney Heath.

Derrick Crump
Parish Councillor

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