Key an eye open for fly-tipping

Release from district council

Help keep St Albans City and District clean and tidy by letting us know if you have seen anyone fly-tipping in your area.

Fly-tipping is the dumping of waste on land illegally. It is a criminal activity that can pollute the environment and may be a risk to human health. It can also harm wildlife and farm animals.

Only last week, St Albans City and District Council’s waste management contractors, Enterprise, were forced to clear up piles of leaflets strewn along the Harpenden Road next to Woollam playing fields.

The Council treats fly-tipping seriously and will prosecute anyone caught fly-tipping waste.

If you see someone in the act of fly-tipping or you discover fly-tipped waste, please contact the Council on our hotline number 0845 125 8000 or by email at clientservices@stalbans.gov.uk . To assist with our investigations, it would be helpful if you could record as much information as possible about the fly-tipping, including the location, amount and type of waste, the number of people involved in the incident, a description of what they look like, and, if a vehicle is being used its make, colour and registration number.

Do not touch the waste as it may contain syringes, broken glass, asbestos, toxic chemicals and other hazardous substances.

More information on fly-tipping is available at http://www.stalbans.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/street-care-and-cleaning/latest_news.aspx

TORIES CONDEMNED FOR DELAY TO STREET LIGHTING REVIEW

If you don’t like the plans to switch to part-night street lighting, which are being rolled out across Hertfordshire, you will not be able to influence the policy for another 18 months at least.

In a recent email, the Conservative Cabinet member responsible for Highways confirmed to
his Lib Dem opposite number that the current policy, which introduces a blanket measure of turning some street lights off from midnight till 6am across the whole county, will not be reviewed until the Summer of 2013.

Lib Dem County Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), who is the Opposition Spokesperson for Highways and Transport, has condemned the decision to delay any review for a whole year after the scheme is completely rolled out across the county.

‘Only the Lib Dems refused to support the policy when it came to the crunch vote – Labour voiced no concern at the time,” said Stephen. “The Lib Dems have consistently said that, whilst there is merit in turning off some lights to save money and cut carbon emissions, the Conservative Council’s policy is just too inflexible.

‘We suggested a more flexible policy that some lights – in areas with a busy urban nightlife, for example – should be switched off at 1 a.m. at the earliest, rather than at midnight. The lights could also be turned back on as early as 5 a.m. on the roads to busy commuter stations. However, why have lights on all night on dual carriageways and high speed roads with no pavements and no pedestrians?

‘I’ve now had confirmation from the Conservative Cabinet Member responsible for the scheme saying he will not allow a review of the policy until Summer 2013. From the queries and questions my Lib Dem colleagues and I are getting from our local residents, this is simply not good enough. While most people might accept that some lights should go off to save electricity and money, some have rightly suggested keeping some lights on to help improve safety, if nothing else.

‘We cannot – and should not have to – wait for 18 months to look that this issue again. I suggest residents join us in calling for the switch-off to be reviewed earlier than summer 2013,’ concluded Stephen. You can sign the online petition to ‘Turn our street lights back on’ here: https://consult.hertsdirect.org/petitions/petition?petition_id=26045

Part-night lighting proposals “too inflexible”, say Lib Dems

With the part-night lighting scheme set to be rolled out to more districts from the start of the New Year, Hertfordshire’s Liberal Democrats have once again sounded a warning to the plans by the Conservative administration at County Hall, saying the proposed scheme is too inflexible.

Commenting on behalf of the Lib Dem Group, Malcolm Cowan, Lib Dem County Councillor for Handside & Peartree (Welwyn Garden City), said:

“When the final criteria for the scheme was debated by the Scrutiny panel, the only group that is recorded as not having supported the plans are the Liberal Democrats. We abstained on the final criteria because it was too inflexible to local circumstances; we want local councillors to be able to keep some of the lights on in urban areas, for example. Many residents have said that keeping on one light in three would make an enormous difference and greatly reduce their fears about being in darkness.

“Nothing has changed since that meeting – apart from Labour’s stance, as they are now claiming they have been against it from the start. The record says otherwise.”

“We think the proposals don’t take account of local circumstances,” explained Lib Dem Group leader Chris White. “There are some areas which have pedestrians until much later than midnight – commuters returning from an evening in London, for example – and there, it would make sense to keep the lights on much later. There is little need, on the other hand, to keep busy roads lit which have no footpath or pedestrians, when the cars using them can easily use their headlamps instead.”

Recycled cooking oil saves money and energy

Note from county council

Cooking oil at the Hertfordshire County Council Household Waste Recycling Centres then you’ve been helping to reduce the cost of repairs to damaged drains and watercourses and also providing electricity to power the National Grid.

Used cooking oil has traditionally been difficult to dispose of and research has shown that the majority of householders in the UK are still throwing it down the sink. However getting rid of used cooking oil this way not only harms watercourses and wildlife but adds to your bill from water companies who have to spend on average £15 million per year to service drains blocked with fats and grease.

Many Hertfordshire residents are already recycling used cooking oil responsibly, thanks to a scheme pioneered by Living Fuels, in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council. Living Fuels provides used cooking oil tanks at sites around the county for residents to dispose of their oil. Once collected, the dirty oil is recovered into a clean, green bioliquid called LF100 through a 100% natural process involving no additional chemicals or heat. In turn, that fuels CHP (combined heat and power) units which generate carbon-neutral electricity and heat that is fed into the National Grid.

Rob Murphy, Operations Director of Living Fuels said: “Pouring oil down the drain has been causing problems with the Victorian drainage system in the UK for a while now, and the problem is only going to keep getting worse if people aren’t educated about the perils of tipping their waste oil down the drain. By recycling your used cooking oil, you really are benefitting the environment. Living Fuels are proud to be working with the people of Hertfordshire to help reduce the county’s carbon footprint and save money on water bills.”

New trees in Victoria Street

Chris has used his locality budget to pay for new trees in Victoria Street. Officials plan to protect them permanently in the next few days.

Chris comments: ‘This is an attempt to cheer up Victoria Street, one of the key areas into St Albans. Once the developers and planners have sorted out what is going to happen on London Road we can look at planting trees there too.’

Lib Dems continue to push for better recycling

St Albans Liberal Democrats have continued to press for better recycling facilities at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) serving St Albans, proposing a council motion for the next Council meeting which calls for the District Council’s land next to the HWRC site being used to expand the recycling centre.

This follows the Lib Dem attempt at the last council meeting to press for recycling facilities to be expanded, which was unsuccessful when the Labour Party and the Conservatives voted against, while the Green Party councillor abstained.

“There has been a lot of scaremongering about the future of the recycling centre,” said Chris White, who proposed the motion. “We are putting forward a clear, effective and reasonable solution which would see the current site expanded and maintained.”

“It’s unfortunate that we have to bring the issue up again this time,” said Janet Churchard, who seconded the amendment at the last meeting, “but I think this reflects the importance both the local residents and the Lib Dems attach to the future of this recycling facility. Many residents in Marshalswick use this centre, and would welcome its expansion. I hope that we can achieve cross-party support for this plan, this time.”

Notes:
The full text of the motion proposed for the meeting of the St Albans City & District Council, to be held on Wednesday 23rd November is reproduced below:

“This Council considers that the current household waste recycling centre serving St Albans should be expanded to include adjacent land currently owned by this council and calls upon the Cabinet to work with the county council to expand this facility and improve road access so as to:
· provide a better environment for residents disposing of household waste and recycling
· offer a social enterprise facility for the re-use of furniture and other bulky items
· provide a FareShare depot
· provide a home grown support centre, a social enterprise facility which offers gardening advice and people to bring gardens back into food production”.

Proposed by Cllr Chris White (Lib Dem, Clarence Ward)
Seconded by Cllr Melvyn Teare (Lib Dem, Marshalswick South Ward)

The previous attempt by the Lib Dems to improve recycling facilities in St Albans was covered in a press release issued on 14th September 2011 (“Weak Green Agenda Improved by Liberal Democrats”); if you would like to see a copy, please email Nik (press@stalbanslibdems.org.uk).