Neonicotinoids are killing the honeybees.
Please join the campaign to ban neonicotinoids.
Click the link below to take action and sign the petition:
http://www.soilassociation.org/Takeaction/Savethehoneybee/tabid/434/Default.aspx
Please forward this and help save the bees.
The introduction of the Twin Bin service has resulted in a boost to the recycling rate for St Alban’s City and District and a significant reduction in the amount of waste going to landfill.
The recycling rate has increased, from 36.35% to 47.44% of waste over the last year, according to provisional figures. This means residents are on track to meet St Albans City and District Council’s recycling target of 50% of waste by 2010/11.
The amount of waste that was sent by the council to landfill last year fell by almost 6,000 tonnes, down from 33,849.68 tonnes in 2007/8 to 27,904.28 tonnes of waste to landfill in the year 2008/9.
The council will be rewarded with a payment of £300,198 from Hertfordshire County Council for meeting landfill reduction targets.
Cllr Mike Ellis, portfolio holder for Environment and Sustainability at St Albans City and District Council, said: “I warmly congratulate our residents on their achievement. They have made a significant contribution to the environment by reducing our landfill by almost 20% in a year when the new service was being put in place. They have increased the recycling rate by nearly a third. We are on track to reach our recycling target and to becoming one of the best recyclers in the county and country.”
The Twin Bin service was introduced in the district last year. Under the service, the black wheeled bins containing non-recyclable household waste are emptied one week and the green wheeled bins containing garden waste, cardboard and card are emptied the following week. Food waste is collected every week as it can be placed in either bin.
For more information about recycling go to: http://www.recyclingforapremier.com/
Member contact:
Cllr Mike Ellis, portfolio holder for Environment and Sustainability at St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 739796
Contact for the press:
Amanda Wilkinson, communication officer
St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819317 E-mail: amanda.wilkinson@stalbans.gov.uk www.stalbans.gov.uk
I have been asked whether council staff or contractors who clear up litter should also be collecting bottles: some residents have found that these are not being picked up and find these items of rubbish some of the most worrying.
I can confirm that it IS council policy to collect these items. If you find that these are not being collected then let me know.
St Albans City and District Council is celebrating its high court victory preventing thousands of new homes being built on the green belt in and bordering the District and creating a continuous urban sprawl between neighbouring communities.
Cllr Robert Donald, Leader of St Albans City and District Council, said: “This is a great victory for our council but above all for our residents. It is a real David and Goliath moment. This shows we were right to take legal action despite being originally advised there were high risks and that success was not guaranteed. This result illustrates our unequivocal commitment to defend the green belt and to safeguard the unique character of the natural landscape and the mix of historic city, towns and villages around our District. These proposals would have ruined this unique character for ever. We recognise this is only one battle won and not the whole campaign. I will go on challenging increased housing development proposals in the green belt as long as and as far as I possibly can to save our District from becoming just another Greater London suburb.”
In a landmark legal case the council has successfully challenged the proposals in the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (the Plan) that related to the development of potentially 5,000 plus homes to the East of Hemel Hempstead, within St Albans District, and more than 1,000 to the west of Hatfield/Welwyn Garden City, actually bordering the District.
This is the first time that any council has successfully brought a legal action in England asking for parts of a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) like the East of England Regional Plan, to be quashed.
The government will now be forced to re-examine these particular site proposals in the regional plan. The council will also have to review its current draft Local Development Framework Issues and Options planning document, in the light of this legal decision, and this may mean a small delay in publication and the start of the consultation period.
The council issued legal proceedings, along with Hertfordshire County Council, against the government in June last year seeking to quash those parts of the Plan that relate to proposed housing growth east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield.
Following a three-day hearing in the High Court that ended on 20 May 2009, Mr Justice Mitting found that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government had not conducted a proper environmental assessment in preparing the Plan. He also ruled that the parts of the Plan that relate to the housing growth to the east of Hemel Hempstead and the west of Welwyn/Hatfield be quashed.
He ordered that the Secretary of State pays the council £15,000 towards over half its legal costs.
Cllr Chris Brazier, deputy leader and portfolio holder for Planning and Conservation, at St Albans City and District Council, said: “The council challenged the East of England Plan in the interests of our residents. I am pleased that the High Court have accepted our arguments that the proposals in the Plan for additional housing were not properly assessed as to their environmental impact.”
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/
Note from the District Council
St Albans City & District Council is pleased to let residents know that
they can now recycle their Yellow Pages.
The new Yellow Pages are due to be delivered across the district in
April and the Council would like all old copies to be recycled.
Residents are asked to put their old copies in their paper recycling box
for collection as usual on their collection day.
For more information and advice on recycling visit
www.recyclingforapremier.com
email client.services@stalbans.gov.uk or telephone the Customer Contact
Centre on 01727 819285.
I have secured a statement from Hertfordshire County Council about their intentions about both Market place and St Peter’s Street. I am dismayed to read that there is no consideration of consulting with the public on any of these issues. I will, howeer, make sure that the public is fully involved, eve if HCC has lost sight of them.
I would warn readers that ‘pedestianisation’ is a loose term and that it often means just the banning of motor vehicles other than for access or emergencies.
Pedestrianisation of Roads in St Albans
Further to the public consultation on the St Albans Urban Transport Plan
during the summer and autumn of 2008, a number of comments were made
from members of the public and local councillors regarding the
pedestrianisation of both Market Place and St Peter’s Street. This
feedback has been incorporated into the final document which has been
completed but has not yet been published.
Now that these suggestions have been formally raised and noted they will
be taken into consideration when any new proposals are brought to the
drawing board. No work is planned for 09/10, apart from a Traffic Model
which will be constructed this financial year and from which computer
simulations can be run.
This model is the first analysis of existing traffic problems within the
City and will be used in future decision making processes for schemes.
Whilst models have been done in the past, there has been nothing of this
scale and detail. It will look at traffic travelling into St Albans, as
well as the routes that people choose when simply passing through. It
will look at the places where congestion regularly occurs and therefore
the impact that schemes and improvements to other areas e.g. the Ancient
Briton or the King William junctions could have on these already traffic
affected areas. It will also look at how pedestrianisation could affect
other roads i.e. moving the problem elsewhere etc.
It is not currently the ambition of HCC to pedestrianise either St
Peter’s Street or Market Place. Certainly no funding has been secured
for either location. If pedestrianisation was to occur then a full
consultation process will be carried out with local businesses. Access
will always be maintained for deliveries though possible at restricted
hours. It has also been suggested whilst hypothetically discussing the
pedestrianisation that provision be made for customer collections.
If you missed the City Vision exhibition, then have a look on the St Albans District Council website. Please let me know your views as to how you want St Albans to develop over the next few years. It’s a fine city but could be a lot better provided we think ahead and don’t let our lives be dominated by the whims of developers.
There has been some recent controversy, stirred up by our MP (who is not of course from St Albans).
I have certainly been told by many residents that they are frustrated by the fact that St Peter’s Street is still open to cars, although others have doubts about where the cars would go banned from the town centre. Evidence gathered when the street was closed for roadworks over the past two years shows that ‘footfall’ (the number of people shopping) went up when the street was closed.
No pedestrianisation scheme is likely to exclude buses or taxis – or emergency vehicles. If readers have views then let me know by completing the on-line poll on this site.
Chris has called upon the Government to change the law to give councils the temporary power to take over empty shops where the landlord has not taken reasonable steps to find a tenant.
Chris said on Radio 4’s Today programme and BBC breakfast yesterday: ‘We are in danger of moving from clone town to ghost town. As more shops get boarded up high streets become less attractive and fewer people want to visit. This can then lead to a spiral of decline – sometimes known as broken window syndrome.
‘If councils had the power to take over these shops they could use them for purposes which will help us all through the recession – clubs for jobless people, temporary youth clubs, or even just cheap accommodation for businesses which are struggling. But the real boon would be that the high street wouldn’t spiral into decline.
Under the proposals landlords would have three months in which to find a tenant before a council could use the powers proposed. Even if a council did use compulsion, the landord would still receive rent.’