We have recently been contacted about anti-social behaviour in the Flora Grove area. We have contacted the police to ask for a better and more helpful response to recent incidents. But we would welcome more information from local residents.

Elsewhere, there are hotspots from time to time. Let us know if you are experiencing problems in your area.

The call to Home Care Providers to plan for emergencies issued recently by
Hertfordshire Resilience, the county’s Emergency Planning Partnership, has
drawn a wry comment from County Councillor Nick Hollinghurst.

Nick is the Liberal Democrat Lead on Adult Care at Hertfordshire County
Council.

Commenting on this call for Home Care Providers to be ready for
emergencies, he said: ‘New contracts were issued to a number of Home Care
Providers at the beginning of this year. Since then there has been crisis after crisis as
several companies failed to cope even with the predictable problems in
taking over new contracts. Elderly and disabled people were left without
care over and over again as care workers failed to turn up. At one point
nearly half the county was affected, with some companies having their
contracts suspended and others working to corrective Action Plans as they
struggled to put things right.

And this shambles occurred during mild weather, with no epidemics nor
anything much out of the ordinary! How they will manage in a real emergency
I shudder to think!’

He concluded:

‘Now, over 9 months later, they are at last getting a grip. But to be truly
resilient they really need to develop greater capacity and robust
management. Not all of the Home Care Providers let us down - but those that
did certainly need to heed this latest wake-up call!’

ENDS
Note to Editors

This release is in response to this press release issued last week by HCC

PR 7907 Ready for anything?

Floods, flu pandemics, power cuts and explosions - these are just some of
the emergencies which care providers and voluntary agencies should always be
prepared for.

A new guide called ‘Care Providers - Are You Prepared?’ is aimed at helping
these organisations make sure they are ready for the worst. The guide
includes a series of questions to help an organisation assess how well
prepared it is, as well as a list of emergency contact details to keep
somewhere safe in case the worst should happen.

It has been developed by Hertfordshire Resilience, the county’s partnership
of emergency services, local authorities, health services and voluntary
agencies, which work together to prepare for and respond to major
emergencies.

County Councillor Richard Smith, Executive Member for Community Safety,
said: “Emergencies of all types can affect your ability to continue
delivering your service. It may be a big emergency that hits the headlines
such as the explosion and fire at Buncefield, or it could be something much
more localised like a fire or a burst water pipe in your building. This
guide will help care and voluntary agencies ensure that they can keep
working when all manner of things go wrong.

“Whatever the cause of the emergency, it’s really important that all
organisations providing care or support to those in need can continue to
operate in emergency situations, and that means you need to plan before the
emergency happens. For example, how you would cope during a sickness bug or
even a flu pandemic? Do you have back-up copies of your vital data? What
would you do if a large proportion of your volunteers or paid staff were not
available for an extended period?”

To see a copy of the guide go to www.hertsdirect.org/businesscontinuity and
follow the care providers link. You can also enter into a prize draw with
the chance to win a wind-up radio. Copies of the guide can also be obtained
by contacting Hertfordshire County Council’s Resilience Team on 01992
555961.

The County Council at its most recent local highways meeting has revealed its draft priority list for roads.
As readers will no doubt agree, it is disappointing how many of these are two to three years into the future. There are also some glaring omissions, like Granville Road and Grosvenor Road. Nor is there sufficient note taken of the state of pavements, as in Edward Close, Ridgmont Road and Beaumont Avenue.

Any comments welcome

Alma Road Thin Surfacing 2011-2012

Avenue Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Bardwell Road Footway Works 2010-2011

Beaumont Avenue Thin Surfacing 2010-2011

Beechwood Ave/Sandpit Lane Junction
Improvements 2009-2010

Beechwood Avenue Footway Works 2011-2012

Beechwood Avenue Resurfacing 2010-2011

Bernard Street Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Carlisle Avenue Thin Surfacing 2011-2012

Catherine St nr Church St S113 Signal
Refurbishment 2009-2010

Catherine Street Surface Inlay 2009-2010

Clifton/Essex Street Footway Works 2009-2010

Dickens Close Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Elm Drive Thin Surfacing 2011-2012

Folly Lane Pedestrian Crossing 2010-2011

Gainsborough Avenue Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Granville Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Grosvenor Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Hall Place Gardens Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Hamilton Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Hatfield Road Bridge HCC No. 839 2011-2012

Hatfield Road/Harlseden Road S020 Signal
Refurbishment 2011-2012

Hillside Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Holywell Hill Resurfacing 2013-2014

Homewood Road Thin Surfacing 2011-2012

Jennings Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Lattimore Road Resurfacing 2010-2011

Lemsford Road Thin Surfacing 2009-2010

London Road Resurfacing 2013-2014

London Road to city centre cycle track extension2010-2011

London Road Toucan Crossing Upgrade 2009-2010

Normandy Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Palfrey Close Thin Surfacing 2010-2011

Park Avenue Thin Surfacing 2010-2011

Salisbury Avenue resurfacing 2009-2010

Salisbury Avenue Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Sandpit Lane Bridge HCC No. 751 2011-2012

Sandpit Lane Thin Surfacing 2013-2014

Sandridge Road Railway Bridge HCC No. 640 2011-2012

St Peters Road Thin Surfacing 2013-2014

St.Peters St/Nr M & S S059 Signal Refurbishment2010-2011

Stonecross Thin Surfacing 2010-2011

Victoria St/Lattimore Rd S095 Signal
Refurbishment 2009-2010

Watsons Walk Resurfacing 2012-2013

Waverley Road Thin Surfacing 2010-2011

Waverley Road Thin Surfacing 2012-2013

Woodstock Road South Thin SurfaceTreat 2010-2011

York Road Footway Works 2011-2012

Beaumont Avenue Thin Surfacing

Beechwood Ave/Sandpit Lane Junction
Improvements 2009-2010

Beechwood Avenue Footway Works 2011-2012

Beechwood Avenue Resurfacing 2010-2011

The District Council issued this on: 20^th October 2008

Homes staying with black refuse bags NOW on fortnightly collection.

As the black wheeled bins make their debut across the district with the rollout of the new TWIN BIN system some homes are staying with black refuse bags which will now be collected FORTNIGHTLY. The collections will begin once residents have received a refuse and recycle information pack through their door.

Everything which cannot be recycled or reused can go into black refuse bags. This means food waste will still be collected weekly as it can be recycled in the green waste bag or put into the refuse bags on the alternate week. Residents can also order a 23 litre kitchen caddy for kitchen waste. Residents should contact the council on 01727 819285 or clientservices@stalbans.gov.uk

The Information packs explain the new alternate weekly collections what can and cannot be recycled and what should be put into the black refuse bags, the green waste bags or caddy. There’s also a colourful calendar which specifically shows which week is a green waste collection week and which is a black refuse bag collection week.

The pack includes details about rubbish collections over Christmas and New Year, local recycling sites and information on home composting.

The TWIN BIN service is designed to make St Albans District one of the best councils for recycling in the country, to protect our environment and to make sure we don’t waste valuable resources. Recycling rates for the last quarter in St Albans have increased from 39 per cent to 46 per cent for the same period last year. The Council’s target is a 50 per cent recycling rate by 2010/11.

Local Liberal Democrat county councillors Chris White and Aislinn Lee
have renewed their attack on the county council’s school admissions
planning policy as parents learn that local schools, especially in the
city centre, are full.

Chris White said: ‘Many schools are already full or near to full
because of siblings. That means that oldest children are finding it
difficult to get into a school anywhere near where they live.

‘When the county council discovered that it had miscalculated the
numbers of children needing places by 90 two years ago we warned that
drastic action would need to be taken to provide additional forms of
entry.

‘All we got were temporary classrooms and a failure to recognise that
the majority of the additional 90 in 2006 would also have siblings.’

Aislinn Lee added: ‘I don’t know how many times that we have tackled
the county council on this issue. But they can’t seem to listen to
problems from St Albans. It is time that we in St Albans got a long term solution to a
long-term problem, not just a couple of sticking plasters!

It has been revealed that Hertfordshire County Council has invested £17
million in Icelandic Bank Landsbanki and Heritable.

In view of the credit crunch it is currently unclear whether the council
will be able to recover any of the sums invested.

Liberal Democrat Leader Chris White commented: ‘This is rather grave news.
The amount involved is  7% of the adult care budget. And who knows which
other banks are fundamentally in trouble?’

Chris is calling for the deposits of institutions, including councils and
charities, to be protected alongside personal deposits. ‘It is clear that
there needs to be a guarantee for individual people’s savings. But council
services are can be just as vital to many members of our community.’

He added: ‘I believe the county council is working with advisors to minimise
the loss. We will give them every political support in this.’

Tory-run Hertfordshire County Council are looking to issue nearly 40,000 ID
cards to teenagers in schools and colleges.

The scheme will not have any benefit to anyone carrying the card and will
cost anything up to £2.50 a card to produce. No-one has been consulted in
the run up to rolling out these cards. It will also not include those not in
education or training. Anyone over 16 who is working or on benefits will not
receive this card, therefore victimising those in state education.

Cllr Allan Witherick Liberal Democrat spokesperson on the Police Authority
said: ‘The Tories nationally say they are against ID cards, yet here we have
a Tory-run County Council introducing an ID cards scheme.’

Allan continued: ‘The council is vilifying teenagers. Most teenagers will
have some form of ID as more and more are banned or age limited, they have
not been consulted and will get no say in the matter. It is horrifying that
we are moving further and further into a society that is state controlled.’
END

Conservative-run Hertfordshire County Council have paid out over £2m in the
last five years on compensation payments to people who have been hurt on
Hertfordshire’s roads and pavements.

In figures released to the Liberal Democrats on the County Council it has
been revealed that there were over 6600 claims made in the five year
period. Only 1551 were deemed suitable for compensation totalling over £2m.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Lib Dem, Central Watford and Oxhey) the Liberal
Democrats Highways spokesperson at county hall on seeing the figures said:
‘The state of our roads and pavements is a disgrace. This is clearly shown
by the numbers applying for compensation. What is needed in Hertfordshire is
sensible investment and a review of how we fix our roads and pavements.’

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst continued: ‘The county council has a
responsibility for people’s well being but seems to have forgotten that this
extends to our safety while going about normal business. I welcome any extra
investment in this area that until recently had been neglected by the Tory
administration.’

The basic answer is that we don’t know. There has been no notification of appeal or a revised planning application. Watch this space!

People keep asking me about Beaconsfield Road and Lemsford Road. I am assured that Beaconsfield Road will certainly be done before the end of March. There is probably some slippage over Lemsford Road but I continue to press the case.

These two roads may well share the prize for the worst roads in the division but I am suggesting that Granville Road and Grosvenor Road are fast competing. I have told Herts Highways that they need to get on!

If you are worried about the condition of a road in your area contact Chris.

Herts Highways assure me that they will be resurfacing Bernard Street shortly - this autumn definitely. As ever we need to be cautious since they are prone to make absolute promises and then withdraw them (as they have tried to over both Lemsford Road and Beaconsfield Road). But guarded optimism is in order.

A number of you think so. I have been back in touch with FCC who agree there may be a renewed problem possibly caused by disturbances as a result of building work. They are trying to sort it.

In most areas the new system has rolled out well, although all of us are still on a ‘learning curve’.

If any readers are finding that it is not working as promised - or that they anyway find it difficult - please contact me and I will take it up.

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.

Yesterday the Government has released the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) which sets out the development plans for the next 13 years in the region. The plan calls for 508,000 houses to built and the creation of 452,000 jobs in the region and suggest the growth areas throughout the region including Chelmsford, Hemel Hempstead and Thurrock. However the plan does not cover the extend of infrastructure improvements that will be required for this kind of growth. Nor does it provide the financing for this.

Chris White, Liberal Democrat Leader in the East of England Regional Assembly said: ‘It has been a long wait for the publication of this document. It suggest major changes for growth areas but as usual has no money to implement the changes that are required in infrastructure. Not only do we need increased investment in roads and rail to cope with these increases in population but also schools and community facilities.

‘The launch and distribution of the document has also been a mess. Press have been informed and given details and data, but nobody seems to have told the councils who will have to implement these orders from government.’

At this week’s ‘Planning and External Relations’ Cabinet Panel, the members were unanimous in favour of rejecting the recommendatiojns from EERA on the grounds that they are arbitrary, ill-thought through and not in the interests of either the settled or the traveller communities. In particular the idea that every district regardless of size and greenbelt should take 15 pitches was dismissed as a nonsense. The Tory chair of the Panel has agreed to write a very strong letter. Which is interesting since he was the chair of the EERA Panel which originally came up with the proposals - and he refused to back me and my Lib Dem colleagues when we proposed that these crazy proposals be withdrawn.

 His letter to EERA will make interesting reading!

There are some serious safety issues at this junction which will only get worse when the lorry movements at the ‘Oaklands’ site start to get going. I have asked for Herts Highways to review the crossing - not least to see whether anything can be done about crossing on red.

I have managed to badger Herts Highways into:

- replacing the keep clear markings at the junction of Stanhope Road and Grimston Road

- Rstoring the give way markings at the bottom of Carlisle Avenue.

I am awaiting news as to:

the completion of the patching works on Beaumont Avenue

the restarting of the aborted patching works on Spencer Street.

One of the most noticeable facets of the local election campaign was the fury of local residents over roads and pavements. Many have noticed how much it gets better if you cross the border into another county. So it can’t just be Government underfunding (although that doesn’t help). The Herts Highways system isn’t working. And that is a political matter which will inevitably feature when people vote in the county council election next year.

I really think we are finally there. As far as I can tell the noise from the announcements has been turned down. So thanks to local residents who kept me informed, to the Herts Advertiser and the BBC for giving this publicity, and finally to the District Council who issued the all important noice abatement notice.