Council leads the way on solar energy

St Albans City & District Council has installed solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of its civic offices in St Peter’s Street as part of a range of measures that demonstrate it is leading the way on reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the community.

It is hoped that the move will encourage local businesses and residents to assess their own carbon footprints and to take steps to reduce them.

The 75 polycrystalline panels have been fitted by South Facing – Solar Electricity to the south elevation of the roof in order to maximise solar capture. They are expected to produce around 10,000 kWh of electricity per year which equates to a carbon dioxide abatement of some 5.52 tonnes per year.

In addition to carbon savings, the panels are expected to save the Council around £1,000 per year in fuel costs. The Council is also expected to receive an annual payment of around £1,000 through the government’s Renewable Obligation Certificates incentive scheme, which rewards microgeneration schemes with cash.

Information about the amount of electricity produced by the panels and carbon dioxide savings made will be displayed on a unit in the reception area of the civic offices which will be accessible to residents. This information will also be published annually on the Council’s website.

Councillor Mike Ellis, portfolio holder for Environment and Sustainability for St Albans City and District Council, said: “I am delighted that the solar panels are up and running at the Civic Centre. They demonstrate how these panels can be installed in a sensitive way, on a major building, within the conservation area. I hope that others will feel encouraged to follow suit both within and outside the conservation area to help reduce carbon emissions.”

The Council is committed to minimising the impact of its activities on the environment across all service areas and is introducing a range of measures to reduce energy use, transport emissions, consumption of resources and waste production. The Council’s Carbon Management Plan sets out a range of actions that it will implement to achieve its target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25% of 2006 levels by 2013.

Further information about the Council’s Carbon Management Plan and the steps it is taking to reduce its carbon emissions is provided online at http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/energy/renewable-energy/

Businesses and local residents interested in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and installing solar panels can obtain further information from the Energy Saving Trust at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

So: who is in charge of our roads and pavements?

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Commentary

This week’s ‘Review’ contains a remarkable statement from the Conservative councillor who is paid to be in charge of our roads and pavements: ‘Decisions on the highways repair programme are made by highways officers without any political input whatsoever.’

So what Cllr Stuart Pile for? He is paid £30,000 a year for this plum political job and yet claims to have no role in exercising its functions.

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The cost of potholes: £30,000 a year for County Councillor Pile not to have an input

The truth, of course, is that he does have a role in all decisions exercised by the county council’s Environment Department. He may choose not to intervene. In the case of the surface dressing scandal he chose not to intervene and so chose not to say that the millions being wasted on unneeded surface dressing of rural roads should be spent instead on those rather obvious urban roads which are now falling to pieces. A decision not to take action is still a decision for which he must carry the can.

If he is not willing to intervene to ensure that our money is spent where it should be then he should step aside for someone who is.

Daily Telegraph: £5,000 spent on teaching children how to catch a bus

Readers may wish to comment on the following story. Yes: we should all be encouraged to catch buses, despite how difficult the privatised bus companies make it for us: but is this how our council tax should be used?

The new classes, which train 10 and 11-year-olds to buy tickets and read a timetable, have been criticised for being a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The 90-minute training sessions involve a visit from the “Cool Bus” and are aimed at Year 6 pupils who will be travelling to secondary school by bus in September.

The team behind the scheme says the workshops will help pupils feel confident about catching the bus. The classes also include how to behave on a bus, the cost of vandalism and how to use a phone to find out about public transport.

However, some feel the £5,000 a year cost in a time of recession can not be justified.

“It is excessive to run a special tour of 90-minute talks just to explain how to use the bus,” said a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

“Some of this should be perfectly obvious, while things like how to behave should be down to parents, not the taxpayer.”

The scheme is being funded by Hertfordshire County Council and the bus is expected to visit up to 200 schools in the next year. Stuart Reynolds, marketing officer at the council’s passenger transport unit, said the Cool Bus was a “fantastic resource”.

He said: “It provides pupils with the information they need to be confident about using buses after they have left primary school.

“Catching a bus for the first time can be a daunting experience so we hope that these workshops will go some way to making their first experience an enjoyable one.”

A spokesman for Herts County Council said the scheme also hoped to promote using the bus as a means of public transport for school and leisure.

“The scheme was run by the bus company Arriva but they approached us to fund it,” he said.

“We’d heard lots of positive feedback about the scheme so we agreed.

“It’s not just about teaching children to use a bus, it’s also about behaviour and vandalism, which can be very costly for bus companies.”

Further matters reported to Herts Highways

Grimston Road: Blue block pavements very uneven

Strong sewage smell at top of Holywell Hill. There appears to be foul water leaking towards the top of the hill.

Give way lines at the bottom of Worley Road and Church Crescent: could be clearer

Dickens Close: loose paving slabs

In addition I have reported two new potholes in Worley Road: this road was ‘repaired’ last year by Herts Highways but poorly. We were promised a full resurface but I have not been given a date. I will be talking direct to Herts Highways about this and other matters on Monday.

Chequer Street to close towards end of May for 3 days

Official notice from the county council

TEMPORARY CLOSING OF A1081 CHEQUER STREET, ST ALBANS

NOTICE is given that the Hertfordshire County Council intend to make an Order under Section 14[1] of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, to prohibit all traffic from using that length of A1081 Chequer Street, St Albans from its junction with A1081 London Road north eastwards to its junction with B691 Victoria Street, a distance of approximately 173 metres, except for access.

The alternative route for traffic will be via:-
A1081 St Peters Street, A1057 Hatfield Road, Beaconsfield Road, B6424 Alma Road and A1081 London Road

Or alternatively via:
A1081 London Road, Marlborough Road and B691 Victoria Street

The purpose of the Order is to enable essential sewerage repair works beneath the carriageway to take place.

It is anticipated that the section of road will be closed for up to 3 days, sometime during the period 24 May 2009 and 26 May 2009, when signs are in place.

Items reported to Herts Highways this week: Hillside Road, Lemsford Road and Avenue Road

Hillside Road: badly broken pavements on far side from Old Lyndale School
Cars cutting corners on St Peter’s Road/Manor Road as they enter Hillside Road: this is a danger to cyclists waiting to go into Hillside Road
Hillside Road: pavements outside number 12 – very bad and need attention
Avenue Road blue blocks: whole pavement needs redoing: including the kerbs
The junction of Lemsford Road and Sandpit Lane is very dangerous: high levels of traffic and a great deal of awkward turning

These were reported in response to your comments and my own observations. I continue to press for action on Lemsford Road resurfacing which Herts Highways promised over a year ago.

Can’t they write their own manifestos?

Liberal Democrats have been watching the campaigns of the Labour and
Tory parties in Hertfordshire with interest.

The Liberal Democrats launched their Manifesto ‘Six to Fix’ 100 days out
from the local elections on June 4th. Since then there has been apparent
disquiet from the politicians of the other two parties. Now we discover they
are using our ideas, and our pledges, and passing them off as their own.

The Conservative spin on ‘Six to Fix’ is to have ‘Six Manifesto
Pledges’. The Labour Party, on the other hand, have lifted our six key
issues in their entirety, pausing only to change the order.

Chris White, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, said: ‘In some ways this is
the best compliment for our Manifesto: it shows we are leading the way
on exactly what the voters want and that the other parties are finding on
the dorrstep that the voters like what we have to say.

‘But, as ever – beware of imitations!’