Chris White

The Conservatives seem rather sensitive to criticisms of how they run their road network. Recent literature attempts to make much of the fact that Lib Dem MP Norman Baker had criticised the level of highways support to county councils.

No news there. We have always done so, almost ritually around Christmas when the Government has traditionally made its highways announcement. The problem is that the system (’Herts Highways’) run by the county council does not make good use of that money.

There is a simple test: cross the border into any neighbouring authority and see what you find. Yes: their roads and pavements are in a better state. So to claim that it’s really the Government’s fault won’t wash!

After last week’s jubilation, some sobriety. It is true that the planning committee turned down the proposals for ten different reasons - especially highways reasons.

But it is difficult to believe that they won’t be back with a revised scheme or go to appeal.

But I cannot see any major development on this site being satisfactory on access grounds. There is already a traffic jam at most times of day.

A mystery

One of the most puzzling aspects of last week’s proceedings was the claim from Tesco that there was so little supermarket space in St Albans that local residents were forced to go to neighbouring towns like Watford and Hemel for their groceries.

I know someone who participated in a phone retail survey in the last couple of years who was badgered to admit by the researcher that she shopped outside the town. She responded that she mainly shopped on-line. When asked for where she had last bought clothes, she responded ‘New York’. Presumably this means that some in St Albans are so desperate about the lack of retail provision that they are forced to fly across the Atlantic.

The truth is that people do shop for all sorts of things outside St Albans - but normally because the shop is near their place of work, be it Watford, Hemel or, in one case, New York!

Victoria Street will be closed around 31 July for the final phase of the resurfacing work near the Upper Marlborough Road section. Work could not be completed last year because contractors found a shallow electricity cable which - had it been severed by the road repair machinery - would almost certainly have killed staff on site and blacked out the city.

Meanwhile Chris is pressing for repairs at the other end - the Alma Road junction which is becoming dangerously uneven.

The Lib Dems will be speaking up for local people on Saturday when we march on the main post office in support of the concerns of local people over Post Office closures.

The bizarre incompetence of the Post Office has been exposed in Hertfordshire: the Smallford Post Office is threatened with closure and the local residents are assured that the nearest one is not too far away. True: but it’s the other side of the high speed A414.

Elsewhere there are references to Chorleywood District Council (which doesn’t exist) and residents in Richmond upon Thames invited to step across said river to their nearest alternative.

Chris has been to county hall this week to ensure that the vital repairs on Lemsford Road and Beaconsfield Road will be done this financial year.

Chris comments: ‘There was suddenly doubt because of the former Oaklands site and the lorry movements. But I made it clear that a promise is a promise.’

Spencer Street will now be resurfaced next week after interventions from Chris White.

In a routine check to see whether the County Council would keep its word on this particular street, Chris discovered that they were planning to defer the works until July - despite having told him and residents that it would be done in the coming few days.

Chris comments: ‘This is typical of the County Council. Since the Tories came to power there is no concept of sticking to undertakings given to the public. Local councillors and the public are treated with contempt.’

The County Council is desperately trying to blame the care companies for the fiasco over the reletting of home care contracts.

TV appearances make it clear that they want to be seen as taking on the companies.

The Liberal Democrats have sat down with one of the companies and found a catalogue of errors in the way the previous contract has been run. There can be little doubt that the County Council failed to look after this contract properly and that this led directly to the difficulties on hand-over.

We are now going to the regular ’CSCI’ to see whether there can be external intervention to protect the interests of vulnerable people in St Albans and Three Rivers.

Following an incident last week where an elderly stroke patient was left in
her wheelchair without any support Liberal Democrat county councillor Chris
White has called on the county council to ‘get a grip’ on day-care services
in St Albans.

He said today: ‘It is absolutely evident that there has been a serious
breakdown right across the board: the contract with Supporta Care is not
working.

‘Vulnerable members in our community have the right to have a reliable
service - and a service which is available at weekends. I am not convinced
by assurances that there will be no repeats. There is clearly something
fundamentally wrong and I would be surprised if this is the only
incident.’

Chris added: ‘I am becoming more and more concerned about the direction
being taken by Hertfordshire County Council over adult care services. Too
much is being left to the vagaries of the private sector.’

Herts Highways are assuring me that they will recommence the patching of Spencer Street and Beaumont Avenue within 3 weeks. Residents will recall only too well that contractors had to be removed from Spencer Street because they had effected an illegal road closure. this road is now turning into gravel.

In Beaumont Avenue, it seems that there needed to be road closure too but the contractors hadn’t planned for this. So they worked for a day and then disappeared. But this does not explain why sections in the middle of the road, well away from the hazards at the Hatfield Road end, were not also done.

Liberal Democrats at County Hall will now be holding talks with senior council officers over the future of Herts Highways. It is evident to all of us that matters have got noticeably worse. But current rumours of centralisation of some parts of the local office network have sent a chill through elected representatives. One of the effective parts of Herts Highways has been the local knowledge of local officials: this contrasts to other parts of the County Council where officialdom is often hopelessly remote.

Meanwhile the complacency of the Conservatives was in full view yesterday when one of the leading Tories complained about how much money was being spent in St Albans on roads and pavements: the point of course is not quantity but quality. It is the complex workings of Herts Highways, a bizarre partnership between a council and two private firms, which is wasting so much money.