Chris funds Transition St Albans work on cutting carbon footprint

St Albans residents will be able to cut their bills and help the environment at the same time with help from a local county councillor.

Councillor Chris White (St Albans Central) has allocated £500 from his locality budget to Transition St Albans (TSA). The funding will help engage neighbours in working together to cut their carbon footprint and household bills through the Transition Streets project.

Cllr White said: “Climate change isn’t going away and it has to be tackled at every level. I am glad to be able to help local people find ways of reducing their household energy use”.

TSA is a group of St Albans district residents who explore ways to make the city more sustainable. You can find out more at http://transitionstalbans.org/.

Cardboard waste

Note from the district council

Residents are being asked to remove cardboard from green waste to help boost household recycling rates, reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and save money.

The roll-out shows that some people are still unclear about what type of waste goes where, in particular cardboard. Experience elsewhere indicates this is common when new recycling schemes are rolled out, and regular promotion and information can help.

A new recycling guide has been developed and delivered to homes to help residents recycle more. This guide is also available on the Council’s website at: http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/Images/Recycling_Leaflet_W_tcm15-38870.pdf

One area where everyone can make a difference is by removing cardboard from the green waste and putting it in their recycling box with their paper. National standards for compost have tightened recently. We are therefore asking people to remove cardboard from their green waste because it is contaminating the quality of the compost, making it unusable.

If the composting plant rejects the green waste because it is contaminated with cardboard, it has to be sent to landfill. This is harmful to the environment and every tonne costs £90 in landfill tax. In the year ended September 2013, 3,328 tonnes of green waste were rejected and sent to landfill at a cost to taxpayers of almost £300k.

Salt of the earth

County Councillor Chris White (St Albans Central Division) has allocated £200 from his locality budget to Aboyne Residents’ Association to buy a salt bin.

Cllr White said: “Local residents have been concerned about the lack of salting in the area and I am delighted to be able to use the county council’s locality budget to help out.”

Your Christmas waste

Note from the the district council

A new guide to recycling and a 2014 waste and recycling calendar are being delivered to homes around St Albans District before Christmas. St Albans City and District Council will be providing information to households in flats in the New Year.

The guide provides lots of information about what residents can recycle now that the new scheme is in place, including a much wider range of plastics. If you have not yet received your guide, you can download it at http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/recyclingguide or call us after Christmas for a copy on 01727 819285.

This is the first Christmas where you can place all non-metallic, non-sparkly wrapping and cards in your recycling box with your paper and cardboard. There is now also no need to remove windows from envelopes or tape and staples from cardboard. These can now be removed in the recycling process.

Your Christmas tree can be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre, or if it is small enough, it can go in your green bin. Some garden centres will collect your tree for a small fee, including Aylett Nurseries on 01727 822255.

Decision by Herts County Council’s Cabinet Panel regarding freight terminal site

The Cabinet Panel unanimously recommended to HCC’s Cabinet that HCC:

1.disagrees with the conclusions of the Secretary of State in his minded to decision letter dated 20 December 2012 that the factors weighing in favour of permitting the SRFI outweigh the harm that it will cause

2.nonetheless acknowledges that it is obliged to accept that the conclusion of the SoS is binding on it and must act consistently with that conclusion even though it disagrees with it

3.agrees to enter into a section 106 planning obligation in respect of its land at the former Radlett Airfield site in connection with the proposed SRFI scheme  (but in doing so does not imply its support for the development) and authorises the DeputyChief Executive in consultation with the Executive Member for Resources & Transformation and the Chief Legal Officer to finalises the terms of the s106 Agreement 

4.urges the SoS to review his conclusion in his minded to letter and to reconsider all the evidence available taking account of

a) any change in circumstances since 20 December 2012 including the impact of London Gateway on the potential container business for the Park Street site

b) all representations received by him since 20 December which might influence his conclusions on the balance of benefit and harm

c) the relative merits of alternative suites including any new sites which may have emerged

and

d) views the Section 106 obligations as currently drafted are inadequate

5. defers any decision on the possible disposal of its land pending an absolute decision by the SoS and the final outcome of any legal challenge to such decision 

6. recognises that should a lawful planning consent be granted, HCC will make any decision on the disposal of its land at the appropriate time having regard, in particular, to the purposes for which it holds the land, any alternative uses then available and its fiduciary duty.  Notwithstanding that if in such circumstances the Council is under a legal duty to dispose of its land, this duty might not require the Council to dispose of its land for use as a SRFI if a rational alternative was then available

The Panel’s recommendations were reported to HCC’s Cabinet who unanimously agreed the recommendations above.

COUNTY BETRAYS ST ALBANS FOR THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER

Lib Dem County Councillor for St Albans South, Sandy Walkington, has condemned the county council’s recommendation that it enters into a section 106 agreement with Helioslough for the Park Street freight terminal and sells its land to allow the development to go ahead.

“St Albans and Park Street were stabbed in the front by Eric Pickles when he suddenly reversed his previous position and said he was minded to approve the scheme,” Sandy said. “Now we are being stabbed in the back by his Conservative colleagues at County Hall. (more…)

Recycling muddle condemned

The Lib Dems have hit out at the recent changes to the new recycling regime following the announcement from the district council that residents who are unable to use the new system can phone the council for a collection.

Cllr Geoff Churchard said: ‘This only goes to show how muddled the council has got over recycling. Lib Dem councillors have received dozens of complaints because it is simply physically impossible to put large cardboard containers into their paper recycling boxes. (more…)

The county council’s self help salting scheme for winter months

Note from the county council

Winter Self Help Scheme 2013-2014

Salt for Districts/ Boroughs/Town/Parish Councils, Recognised Resident Groups and Recognised Community Associations

Following the success of previous winter joint operations Hertfordshire County Council is pleased to release the details of our planned availability of salt supplies for our partners.

During the last season many of Hertfordshire’s Districts/Boroughs/Towns/Parish Councils and recognised resident groups assisted with snow clearance and footway treatments.  This was of tremendous help to our salting and snow clearing efforts. All of this hard work has meant that our councils’ services to the public have not been disrupted.

Following last season’s success, we now plan to restock each of our Districts/Boroughs/Towns/Parish Councils, recognised resident groups and recognised community associations to enable the availability of these support operations.

Please note for Town/Parish Councils and recognised resident groups this is a ONE OFF delivery for highways use only.

District and Borough Councils can receive up to 30 tonnes to assist with highway treatments at no cost with a further 50 tonnes available at cost.

Town/Parish Councils can apply for up to 850 kg in the form of a Hippo-style Grab bag, or up to 34 individual 25 kg Bags.

Recognised resident groups and recognised community associations can apply to their County Councillor for up to 34 x 25kg bags.  To apply please contact your local County Councillor.  Additionally a County Councillor can identify suitable recognised groups that can take delivery of this resource.

Further information regarding salt deployment or regarding Hertfordshire County Council’s winter operations can be obtained by contacting us at winterselfhelp@hertfordshire.gov.uk marked Winter Self Help.

Deployment will begin from mid to late October 2013 to allow resource to be in place prior to the high risk winter period 1 December 2013. Applications after 1st December will not be processed.

In order to ensure accurate control of this scheme this year we have introduced a short application form which is available on HertsDirect, http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/highways/hhonlineservices/saltingroutes/selfhelpsaltbag

We appreciate the continuing efforts in assisting us during severe winter conditions.

Many thanks

Derek Twigg

Assistant Network Manager, Hertfordshire County Council Highways