District Council community grant system

From Monday, local voluntary and community groups can apply for a Community Grant. There is £70,700 in the fund (one of four Voluntary and Community Sector funding schemes within the Council’s overall £0.5m support of this sector). To find out more regarding our Voluntary and Community Sector funding and the application form please visit the SADC website.   Applications for grants of between £500 and £5,000 are welcomed up to 5pm on Friday 27 May 2016.

We are looking to fund projects and activities that benefit the local community, building an inclusive community where everybody is able to take part and contribute to community life.

Applications from local groups must meet at least two of the following criteria –

  1. Reduce inequalities.
  2. Enable local people to become involved in community life.
  3. Encourage people from different groups* to get on well together.
  4. Increase local people’s engagement/interest in local democracy.
  5. Provide support to vulnerable communities in the District.

* i.e. different faith and cultural backgrounds or those with or without a disability.

Groups applying to the fund will need to provide evidence that their activity/project is needed by the community and that it will make a real difference. Please support your local community by promoting the funding to groups and helping them to identify evidence to support their projects.

The application process is short and straight forward. Additional support is available through Advice Surgeries, run by St Albans CVS: dates on CVS St Albans website. There will be 4 around the District in the first 2 weeks to discuss ideas and 4 in the closing weeks, where groups may attend if they have a completed draft application. It is recommended that groups attend one of these if they have not successfully applied for funding before.

Some examples of projects that have been successful include Special Olympics St Albans, OVO (the Maltings Arts Theatre’s resident theatre company), and St Peter’s Church, St Albans. The Special Olympics’ grant enabled 25 young athletes with a learning disability to attend a residential activity week in Devon. OVO used its grant for a performing arts project for groups that are under-represented in the local community. St Peter’s Church installed a storyteller’s seat and benches in St Peter’s Churchyard using wood from a fallen tree.

To support the Community Grants Fund there is a Launch event on Thursday 7 April 2016. Groups will hear from Council officers about priorities, from the CVS about how to complete the form and from groups which were successful in getting a grant in previous years.

 

Help tackle crime

Residents are being asked for their views on how to make the St Albans District an even safer place to live and work

A public consultation has started into looking at ways of reducing crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour.

People are also being invited to say what the District’s crime-fighting priorities should be.

The survey is being undertaken by the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) whose members include St Albans City and District Council and Hertfordshire Police.

Residents can give their opinions by filling in a short online form or paper questionnaire by Friday 1 April.

Feedback from the consultation will be used by the CSP to develop a plan for the year ahead to tackle crime across the District. (more…)

Those missing cash points

The sudden disappearance of cash points at the station has been explained. We have received this explanation from Thameslink:

The supplier of the ATM service is changing and new machines will be installed within the next couple of weeks. The new cash points will still be free to use.

The previous supplier should have left their ATMs in situ until the end of the month.

Conservatives warned over crowdfunding

Liberal Democrat councillor Robert Donald, Chair of the City Neighbourhoods Committee, spoke strongly in favour of the District Council funding the replacement of the much used Clarence Park entrance during the recent Council budget debate. He commented after the Council had voted to accept the CNC’s recommendation to do this priority work:

I was very pleased that the portfolio holder for Resources and the Council Leader did not try to reverse the recommendations of the City Neighbourhoods Committee at the main budget meeting. An overwhelming majority of CNC members had agreed to fund various new play ground facilities and the replacement of the Clarence Park entrance using the Committee’s available Council Tax resources.  (more…)

Alban Way works in February

Note from district council

The 2nd phase of woodland improvement works will be taking place in the Ashley and Clarence Wards between Camp Road Bridge and Ashley Road as detailed below. This work is part of the Greenspace Action Plan (GAP) for the Alban Way.

We will do our best to keep disruption to a minimum but it will be necessary to close sections of the route to keep users safe. The closures will be done during off peak times – 9.30am to 3pm, Monday to Friday – users will need to use alternative routes during these times; the Alban Way will remain open at all other times.

The work will take place in the following stages:

  • Temporary closure of the section between Camp Road Bridge to Sutton Road starting 10thFeb for approximately 2 weeks – between hours of 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday
  • Temporary closure of the section between Sutton Road to Ashley Road week commencing 22nd Feb for approximately 1 week – between hours of 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday

Posters with diversion routes will be put up on site two weeks before the works are due to start (posters attached), we are also in the process of sending letters to local residents who are adjacent to this section of the Alban Way, additionally this information will be posted on our website.

Lib Dems to select Chris White as prospective Police Commissioner Candidate

On Saturday Liberal Democrats from across the County are gathering to approve and formally select their candidate for the forthcoming PCC elections.

The prospective candidate, Chris White, is well known across the County, as Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on St Albans Council and as a Hertfordshire county councillor.

He has built a reputation as a formidable campaigner. Chris has much experience of working on policing issues in his local community and as former chair of the Hertfordshire Police Authority Audit Committee.

Chris qualified as a chartered accountant in 1984 and has worked in accountancy, accountancy training and public affairs. He was a member of the Board of the Audit Commission from 2005 to 2011 and is currently Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the Local Government Association.

You can find out about Chris’s work as a councillor at his website. (more…)

Appeal for Syrian refugee accommodation

A fresh appeal is being made to landlords who can provide accommodation for Syrian refugees in the St Albans District.

St Albans City and District Council is committed to settling ten refugees a year over the next five years. This may be two or three families per year depending on family size.

Attempts to find accommodation in the private-rented sector remain difficult, a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet was told at its meeting on Tuesday 22 December.

Now a new plea has gone out to landlords who may have suitable, self-contained properties to get in touch with the Council’s housing department.

In another initiative, local churches have been approached about using their residential properties when they become available.

Interested landlords are asked to email housingoptionsgroup@stalbans.gov.uk or telephone 01727 819355.