The licensing application for St Peter’s Street – brought by the council itself – has been granted.

This means that there will be more control over what goes on in licensing terms in the city centre. Residents were assured that it was not a mechanism to allow more drinking. But it will in essence give powers to the city centre manager to enforce licensed activities without having to go through unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles.

The public is to be given the opportunity to air their views on plans for the redevelopment of a new leisure facility to replace the existing Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre.

The plans for the redevelopment are shaping up and at a meeting of Cabinet at St Albans City and District Council on 7th July, proposals for the mix of facilities, options for layouts and additional facilities, and arrangements for public consultation were presented. The facility mix and initial design layouts will now go out to public consultation over the summer.

The three-week public consultation period will begin on Tuesday 21st July, and will include focus sessions with specific community groups.

Public displays showing the two design options will be available to view at the following venues:

· Bricket Wood Sports Centre

· Civic Centre, St Albans

· Harpenden Leisure Centre

· London Colney Recreation Centre

· Redbourn Village Hall

· Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, and

· Wheathampstead Memorial Hall (Marford Road)

Feedback can be given at the venues or online at www.stalbans.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/New-Leisure-Facility-Developments from Tuesday 21st July 2009.

A new leisure facility at Cotlandswick, London Colney, is also envisaged and the Council is gauging interest amongst commercial leisure and sports operators in helping to deliver this project. When the time comes, residents will be able to give their feedback on the mix of facilities and design proposals.

It is anticipated that both the Westminster Lodge redevelopment and the new leisure centre at Cotlandswick will be open to the public by early 2012.

PRESS RELEASE

Shaping Our Community Consultation – protecting the Green Belt and supporting the local economy and community

Crucial issues affecting St Albans city and district, including protecting the Green Belt while balancing the need to provide new housing, jobs and leisure opportunities are to be debated as part of a major community consultation exercise on the future planning strategy for the area.

People living and working in the district are being invited to have their say on key issues that affect long term planning strategy. As well as protecting the Green Belt, views are being sought on, for example, whether St Albans city centre needs a new supermarket, the proposed locations for schools and youth clubs and new transport measures aimed at reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions. The consultation will feed into work to produce the Local Development Framework – a set of planning documents which set the direction of planning policy until 2026. The context for the document is set by the Sustainable Community Strategy for the District, which has just been revised and is being published at the same time. The priorities of the Local Development Framework are taken from the Sustainable Community Strategy.

The consultation runs from July until 28 September 2009 with opportunities for residents, business and community groups to air their views in a variety of ways, including a touring exhibition, online survey and the offer of public meetings in local wards on request.

Cllr Robert Donald, leader of St Albans City and District Council, commented: “Nine out of ten St Albans residents rate our district as a good place to live. This consultation is an important opportunity to help ensure the district continues to develop and flourish, maintaining its unique mix of city, towns and villages, its urban and rural environment and its diverse heritage, while providing new opportunities to support the local economy and community.

“The council attaches great importance to protecting the Green Belt and will continue strongly to resist any government requirement to encroach upon it. It was for this reason that we successfully legally challenged some of the housing numbers in the East of England Regional Plan earlier this year.

“But residents need to be aware that despite this resistance, we have to prepare for the possibility that the government will require an increase in the number of new houses that have to be built in the district and if this happens we may need to consider building in the Green Belt. So this strategy also invites views about some of the difficult choices which – if required to – we might need to make in future.”

The key issues the community will be asked to comment on include:

Green Belt – protecting and improving the Green Belt is an over-riding priority which runs throughout the core strategy. We want to introduce a more pro-active Green Belt management strategy while also balancing the need for future provision of homes, jobs and recreation.

New jobs and homes – existing and new areas of employment have been identified for growth in line with the council’s commitment to attract new, well paid jobs into the district to encourage economic self containment. Possible new sites for homes that have been agreed and for additional ones beyond 7200 which may eventually be imposed on us centrally are indicated and density issues are also covered.

Shopping provision – two prospective city centre sites are indicated for a new supermarket market for St Albans. While new retail growth is earmarked for St Albans city and Harpenden town centre.

New recreational opportunities – new leisure centres at Westminster Lodge and London Colney are proposed together with easier access and leisure opportunities in the Green Belt and open spaces.

Schools and youth facilities – locations for junior and senior schools are proposed to ensure all children have the opportunity to attend their neighbourhood school. A new site for a youth club has been identified in St Albans and re-provision of Harpenden Youth Centre.

Reducing the District’s carbon footprint and reducing traffic congestion – more emphasis on buses, cycling and walking combined with a mini park-and-ride scheme are proposed to help ease congestion. A new western orbital road is also in the draft proposals.

Green living – to meet the challenge of climate change the core strategy looks at how local communities can become more self sufficient by using eco renewable energy and sustainable building design.

Portfolio holder for planning and conservation, Cllr Chris Brazier says: “We want to hear residents’ views on the important issues raised in the Shaping Our Community consultation. There are lots of opportunities for everyone to take part so please come along to the exhibition or visit our website.”

Following the feedback, the council will revise the document and produce the final Core Strategy. The aim is to submit the document formally to the Government in July 2010 and to adopt it, following approval, in June 2011.

Residents affected by the recession now have a new website to turn to for help if they have been made redundant, fear their home may be repossessed or their business is experiencing cash flow problems.

The site has been built by St Albans City and District Council working with local partners, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Centre for Voluntary Service for St Albans District. It operates as a portal, pointing residents in the direction of council services and other organisations, that can offer advice on a range of issues such as employment law, managing debt, availability of state benefits, dealing with stress and courses to help improve their employment skills.

The website is divided into seven key subject areas: employment and skills, housing, finances, benefits, business support, saving money and care, health and wellbeing.

Although St Albans City and District is relatively prosperous, it has still been affected by the recession. Unemployment for the year ending April 2009 increased by 150%, although from a low base. There has also been a 15% increase in the number of enquiries about debt that the Citizens Advice Bureau has received locally across the same period.

Cllr Melvyn Teare, portfolio holder for culture and heritage at St Albans City and District Council, said: “This website should prove to be an invaluable resource for residents and local businesses by providing them with links to organisations offering help and advice in this difficult time.”

The website can be accessed either via this quick link www.stalbans.gov.uk/recession or the home page of St Albans City and District Council’s own website www.stalbans.gov.uk where ‘Recession Advice’ is one of the ‘In Focus’ topics.

The website is just one of a number of projects that the council’s Recession Response Board is working on. It is transferring additional resource to the Citizens Advice Bureau and has launched a campaign reminding residents of their rights to benefits, such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. It is also working to ensure that creating a sustainable local economy is a key theme running through the council’s long-term planning strategy for the district which is being launched this month.

St Albans City and District Council’s Clarence Park Sensory Garden has been listed as a runner up in the Diversity Achievement of the Year category in the MJ Achievement Awards 2009, local government’s version of the Oscars.

The garden, which was created in 2008 with the aim of catering to the varied needs of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and the young and disabled, has been a huge success having also come runner up in the East of England Equality Awards 2008.

The concept of a sensory garden was developed following a consultation of the diverse local community that had identified the need for a quiet, reflective space.

The council appointed Groundwork Hertfordshire to lead the project and £18,000 in funding was provided by Lafarge Aggregates.

Work started on the Sensory Garden in April 2008 and once the groundwork was completed in June, those residents who had participated in the design process were invited along to help with the planting of herbs, banana plants and other flora and fauna specially selected for their scent and feel.

Cllr Sheila Burton, portfolio holder for sport and healthy living at St Albans City and District Council, said: “This was a real community effort. The garden was planted in raised beds that are easily accessible to wheelchair users. Local children helped choose plants that are easily identified by either the shape of their leaf or their smell to help visually impaired visitors. Local ethnic groups helped design a quiet sitting area for young mums.

The hearing to consider the application is to be held on 21st July 2009
at 2.00pm. The market manager has amended the application as follows:

All licensable activities will cease at 22.00
Opening times reduced until 22.30
No additional hours requested for Christmas and New Year
Residential Streets removed
Agree to EHO conditions
Agree to a condition stating that “permission for all events involving
on sales of alcohol or large scale events will only be granted with
prior consultation and permission from the Licensing Section,
Hertfordshire Constabulary and Environmental Health.

Note from council licensing officer

I have been asked to send you a brief summary of the market application.
There are objections from the public to this application and the
consultation period ends on 30th June 2009. A licensing sub committee
hearing will then be convened to consider the application. Public
notices were displayed in line with the correct procedure for
notification of premises licences applications. Details of the
application have been on our website in the on-line licensing section
for the past three weeks and copies of the application sent to all
members of the licensing committee in line with the notification
procedures. I have also discussed the application with Councillor Pia
and Councillor Willcocks.

An application for a premises licence for the market area has been made
by the markets manager for St Albans City and District Council. There
are a number of reasons for the application which would, if granted,
make the markets manager the licence holder for the market area.
Currently, temporary event notices are required for events that are held
in the market area if they involve the selling of alcohol or some form
of entertainment. Only 12 temporary event notices can be granted each
year. We are close to that limit as requests are sometimes made to sell
alcohol at the monthly farmers’ market, the three Italian markets and
the three continental markets. In addition, the city also hosts one-off
entertainment events such as the St Albans Festival, at which alcohol is
sold and the Christmas Lights Switch On, at which alcohol is not offered
for sale. If granted, the application would mean that there will no
longer be a need to obtain individual temporary licences for these type
of events.

This arrangement would also give the council greater control over
temporary events. Under the current system only the police can object to
the granting of a temporary event notice, whereas, if the licence, is
granted then it will be up to the markets manager to grant permission
for the event after having obtained the prior agreement of the council’s
Licensing Section, the police and the Environmental Health Department.
In addition, the licence, if granted, would mean that buskers would have
to apply to the markets manager for permission to perform in the market
place. Currently, buskers can perform when and where they want. The aim
is to control and encourage street entertainment on market days, during
day-time hours only.

The licence application originally included some residential streets,
however, the markets manager has agreed to remove these.

Lesley Cameron
Principal Licensing Officer and (Home Counties Regional Chair of The
Institute of Licensing)
Licensing Section
Civic Centre
St Peter’s Street
St Albans
Herts
AL1 3JE
01727 819454
e-mail lesley.cameron@stalbans.gov.uk

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE
ST ALBANS CITY FORUM MEETING
ON TUESDAY 23rd JUNE 2009
AT 7pm

IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER
ST ALBANS CITY AND DISTRICT COUNCIL

If you would like to put forward a question at the meeting please
telephone 01727 864511 between 10.30 and 14.30 on the 23RD June and you will be allocated 3mins for your issue.