Chris White has called for an investigation into the travel chaos for traffic on the east of St Albans as a result of this morning’s travel chaos.

Chris says: ‘The whole area was at a standstill. Reports are that the problem is a lane closure on the A414 because of barrier repairs. I am trying to find out whether this is the main cause, why, if so, the closure took place during the rush hour and why no account was taken of the rising floodwaters on those side routes which would be used as alternatives by displaced traffic.’

Refuse and recycling
The refuse and recycling service will be operating a near normal service
this week (w/b 9 February). Collections will be as per original
schedule. If you are unsure which collection is due in your road this
week, please check your calendar or look at www.recyclingforapremier.com
If you have uncollected refuse or recycling from last week, this will
now be collected next week (w/b 16 February) when the crews return to
these roads on their fortnightly schedule. Full details are at
www.recyclingforapremier.com
There may still be some roads which are unsafe to access this week. We
will update the website and the Contact Centre during the week with
details of any roads where collections have not been possible and any
alternative arrangements we are putting in place.
We are sorry for the disruption to refuse and recycling services during
this extended period of extreme weather.
As at 11.00am we are experiencing access problems with the following
roads –

Road access problems (Refuse):

Annables Lane
Bower Heath
Bower Heath Lane
Breadcroft Lane
Chamberlains
Coles Lane
Cooters End Lane
Cooters Hill Barns
Dewent Road
Farm Close
Hanover Grange
Holly Lane
Kennel Lane (inc Beech Ridge)
Kinsbourne Close
Kinsbourne Grn Lane
Lower Luton Road (road closed)
Luton Road – Common Lane
Mackerye End
Mackerye End Lane
Plummers Lane
Porters End Lane
Roundwood Lane
Sauncey Wd
Sauncey Wd Ln
Spring Road
Sun Lane
The Common
Watery Lane
Wells Close (top end)

Road access problems (Green Waste (GW) Recycling (R)):

Glensford Drive (GW)
Granby Avenue (GW)
Holly Walk (GW)
Lea Road (GW+R)
Lea Close (GW+R)
Lidhurst Close (GW)
West Way (R)
Weyborn CLose (GW)

Planning Committee
Planning Committee South will take place as scheduled at 7pm this
evening.

Other District council services
We expect all other services to operate as normal, with the exception of
Batchwood Golf Centre and Westminster Lodge Outdoor (the athletics track
and outdoor sports facilities) which will remain closed due to lying
snow.

Schools and roads
For information about schools and roads, please see the Hertfordshire
County Council website: www.hertsdirect.org. Hertfordshire Highways are
not currently asking us for help with pavement gritting as they
prioritising salt stocks for treating roads.

The District Council has taken over responsibility for residential
disabled bays from Herts County Council.

This decision was recommended by the Car Parking Working Party,
following discussions and negotiations between the District and County
Council.

Residents who meet the criteria, will be eligible to apply for a parking
bay outside their property. Details of the criteria can be found on the
council’s website www.stalbans.gov.uk or
by emailing: parking@stalbans.gov.uk or ringing the council 01727
819395. The criteria and application form have been reviewed by the
Access Group which has welcomed the initiative.

Moving this responsibility to the district, will bring residents closer
to the decision making process, where reviews of the local needs for
bays will be conducted.

It is anticipated that subject to a site survey, a bay will be made
available within four weeks of an application being received.

Extreme weather update 1pm Friday 6th February 2009

The District Council Offices will be open as usual but we expect to
continue to run a slightly reduced service in the Customer Service
Centre. The number to call is 01727 866100.

Refuse and recycling
The refuse and recycling service has been suspended on Friday due to
snow and ice on the roads and footways.

The forecast for Saturday is now for widespread icy conditions
throughout the morning, which will again prevent crews being able to
carry out collections safely. There will therefore be no collections on
Saturday.

For the next week commencing 9th February – weather permitting,
collections will be as per schedule. If you are unsure which collection
is due in your road please check your calendar or check this website –
see link below.

For collections week commencing 16th February – again collections as
normal. In addition, we expect to make additional collections to catch
up on the collections missed this week. Further details are at the link
below.

www.recyclingforapremier.com

We apologise for the disruption to services during this extended period
of extreme weather. The key consideration is guaranteeing the safety of
crews and residents when moving large and extremely heavy collection
vehicles around in icy conditions.

Housing
We expect to operate a slightly reduced repairs and caretaking service
with priority being given to vulnerable people and emergency repairs. We
expect all other services to operate as normal.

Leisure facilities
Batchwood Golf Centre closed.
Westminster Lodge Outdoor (this is the athletics track and outdoor
sports facilities) closed.
All other services in culture and community development e.g. leisure
centres are likely to be open as normal.

Meals on wheels
The meals-on-wheels service will operate today with the assistance of
contractors and volunteers.

Markets
The market will go ahead on Saturday 7th, but there will be fewer stalls
than usual. The farmers’ market will go ahead on Sunday 8th February.

Schools and roads
For information about schools and roads, please see the Hertfordshire
County Council website: www.hertsdirect.org. Hertfordshire Highways are
not currently asking us for help with pavement gritting as they
prioritising salt stocks for treating roads.

LIB DEMS WARN OF THREAT TO COUNCIL SERVICES FOLLOWING INTEREST RATE CUT

The County Council will have to trim its budget by a further £600,000
following the Bank of England’s interest rate cut.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Chris White said: ‘There is a downside to interest rate
cuts. Many older people rely upon interest payments as part of their income. They are
also significant users of council services suffering an ever tighter financial squeeze as
the credit crunch and interest rate cuts start to bite.

‘We will be urging the county council not to pass today’s cut onto front line services.’

HCC officials comment:

Just so you are aware Batchwood Drive is about to be closed by the water
company under an emergency closure due to a burst water main. They will
put the closure, diversion route and all traffic management in place. The
diversion route will be Verulum Road, Folly Lane, Catherine Street, St
Peters Street and Harpenden Road. I have spoken to our control centre and
can confirm the diversion is on a salting route.

At this stage I cannot say when the road will reopen, but I will update you
again as soon as I have anymore information.

Following calls from the Liberal Democrats for an inquiry into Sunday
night’s gritting run, the County Council has admitted that it cancelled its
gritting operations on the advice of ‘forecasters’. The forecasters had said
the snow had missed Hertfordshire but just a few hours later changed their
opinion and suggested 10-15cm of snow was due.

Chris White, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, said: ‘The County
Council urgently needs to review its forecaster. By not gritting the roads
lives were put at risk alongside property and businesses. Councils all
around the area were running their gritters throughout the night yet in
Hertfordshire our gritters were sat in the depot. This is not good enough.’

Whilst local media are busy reporting the huge number of school closures the
County Council website was maintaining at 8 am this morning that the snow
showers are light and schools will be open.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris White said: ‘The county website is really
worse than useless. Parents are being told that schools are open while
national and local news outlets are telling people to stay at home and not
to travel. It is also almost impossible to navigate.

‘Our advice is to check your child’s school website, many of which have been
updated, and to listen to local radio.

‘We will yet again be raising with the county council the lamentable state
of its website.’

As part of the Herts Highways/ Passenger Transport Units development of the
bus waiting facilities in St Peters Street the shelters are to be fitted
with electronic screens that will display departure information. The
screens will have the capability to display real time if it becomes
available in the future.

The installations have been approved by SADC conservation and the
accomodation works are commencing to install the associated
cabling etc in to the underground ducts that were provided as part of the
City Centre Road Safety Scheme.