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 Council’s role in storm comes under fire

Herts County Council has come under fire for playing down Sunday and Monday’s storm warnings and claiming “Hertfordshire was going to miss the worst effects of the storm” – so they did not bother to issue any advice.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey) hit out: “The County’s well staffed press and publicity machine sends out hundreds of press releases every week, but issued not one storm warning or any advice to residents about storm St Jude. With roads blocked, power lines down, and untold damage to homes and property it seems that the Tories over-staffed  PR machine just sat on its hands and idly watched events unfold. (more…)

NEW LICENSING RULES FOR SCRAP METAL DEALERS COME INTO FORCE

Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats have welcomed a new law giving councils greater powers to combat the blight of scrap metal thefts on communities across the country.

Every scrap metal dealer is having to obtain a licence to trade from their local authority under the new Scrap Metal Dealers Act with councils?now able to refuse or revoke licences. (more…)

‘Tories close their minds before hearing the evidence’ over night lights, say LibDems

The ruling Conservative group on Herts County Council are making no changes to the controversial and highly unpopular turning off of most street lights at night. The agenda for this Thursday’s meeting of the Highways and Waste panel recommends no changes apart from defining what is a light away from a road.

Malcolm Cowan, vice-chair of the Overview and Scrutiny committee said ‘We have an all-day scrutiny of Part Night Lighting, as the Tories call it, coming up on 1 October, yet weeks before the scrutiny starts, we receive the verdict ‘no change’.  It really is contemptuous of those taking part.’

The report to Highways and Waste panel even claims that putting the lights back on would not reduce fear of crime, despite acknowledging that turning them off did increase fear of crime.

‘It is not just crime, it is the appalling state of many roads and footpaths that makes walking or cycling in the dark so dangerous’ said Lib Dem leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst.

Details of county council waste facilities

After much political pressure we now have some information which is of use to the public rather than mere party political propaganda.

Please see the following factual bullet points relating to the St Albans HWRC  :

  • Improved site layout providing more parking spaces, reducing  both queuing and unloading times.
  • During 2012 – St Albans HWRC received in the region of 150,000 visitors
  • During 2012 – Over 5,000 tonnes of varied ‘household waste’ was brought to the site.
  • Opening Times are: Summer time, Seven days a week from 08:00 until 18:00;  Winter time, Seven days a week from08:00 until 16:00 (Summer times run from April 1st to September 30th and Winter times run from October 1st to March 31st).The Household Waste Recycling Centres are open all year except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day. They are open on all other Bank Holidays.
  • St Albans HWRC achieved a total recycling rate of 80% for the Financial Year 2012/13.
  • Soil Conditioner is sold on site at a cost of £4.00  for a 60 litre bag. (Produced from garden waste brought to the HWRCs).
  • Hertfordshire Waste Partnership associates at St. Albans City and District Council provided HCC with the opportunity to expand the site into land previously forming part of their depot, now operated by the waste and recycling contractors Amey.
  • A new ‘ReUse Centre’ completes the improvements on site, which will be run in partnership with HCC’s contractor Domestic Waste Services Ltd who currently oversee the site on a daily basis.
  • The ReUse Centre will be collecting unwanted, quality items to help further reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
  • As part of their salvage rights, Domestic Waste Services Ltd will generate a small income from items sold at the ReUse Centre. HCC have in turn, a profit sharing arrangement with them,  and any income generated will be invested back into Hertfordshire’s HWRC network.

PLEASE NOTE: (HCC’s first ReUse Centre at the Harpenden HWRC which is in Dark Lane, off Grove Road is run by another of Hertfordshire County Council’s current contractors FCC Environment,  and operates in a  slightly differently way. Here the income generated goes largely to the social care charity Sue Ryder,  but similarly a profit sharing arrangement is  in place and HCC’s proportion of this income once more is invested back into Hertfordshire’s HWRC network).

  • Both of these ‘ReUse Centre’ schemes help off set the cost of running the facilities to Hertfordshire taxpayers.
  • In HCC’s current tender for the future management of the HWRCs when the existing contracts expires, the County Council has invited contractors to push the boundaries further on options for reuse.
  • This refurbished  St Albans HWRC represents the latest upgrade to Hertfordshire’s network of Household Waste Recycling Centres which has been ongoing for the last twenty years.

 

Is your information safe with your County Council?

Herts County Council will tell you that your data about you is safe with them.

But how safe is it really?

Lib Dem County Councillor Paul Zukowskyj (Hatfield South),shadow cabinet member for Corporate Issues, has raised serious questions at the HCC’s audit Committee after an alarming discovery.

Papers found by Paul blowing down an A road outside a recently closed depot for Adult Care Services raised serious questions as to how well the council is protecting people’s private information, especially in relation to medical information and health issues.

Paul commented “The material left behind by HCC when this depot closed, and which is now littering the verges of Hatfield, include compliments slips, blank care assessment forms, handwritten notes by council staff and all manner of other documents. I’ve not found any highly confidential information yet, but I’ve not tried that hard. It wouldn’t surprise me to find it’s there.

“HCC claim that our information is safe, but leaving compliments slips and other logo’d materials is highly dangerous as in the wrong hands they could be used by fraudsters or others to trick innocent people into giving them information.

“HCC need to remember that sensitive information held by the authority MUST be managed and dealt with appropriately, leaving potentially sensitive documents to be read by the new property owners or to blow across public roads simply isn’t on.”

County Council propaganda machine under fire again

Hertfordshire County Council’s notoriously large Press and Public affairs team has come under fire again from the Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), Leader of the Opposition has challenged senior officers regarding a press release promoting the County Council and their controversial contractor during an election period.

Cllr Giles-Medhurst commented, “Ringway have rightly been heavily criticised  by County Councillors, including the Conservative lead member on highways, so why are the County Council issuing press releases praising them?

“Is this another sign the County Council is over-staffed and the expensive public relations machine has either nothing better to do or has lost the plot?”

Lib Dems challenge on part-night lighting again

Liberal Democrats kept up their pressure on the ruling Conservative group at county hall on Tuesday.

The LibDem alternative budget, which was balanced and fully costed, allowed for up to one-third of all lights currently going off at midnight, to be turned back on, with the lights chosen by the local county councillor for each area.

However when LibDem councillor Malcolm Cowan (Handside and Peartree) asked the Conservatives which councillors would take up this opportunity, not one put their hand up. ‘This clearly shows that the promised review of part night lighting is likely to be no more than window dressing, when the Tories are not interested themselves. They are unlikely to allow other parties’ councillors to turn lights back on if they won’t do it themselves.

‘This really is a dog in the manger attitude – I know from my surveys how many people want more lighting at night, but it looks as if they may be denied’ he added.

Lib Dems challenge Conservative budget

On Tuesday, the Liberal Democrat Group on HCC offered the only alternative to the Conservative budget in Hertfordshire, with an alternative budget that invested heavily in Road infrastructure and supported public transport, young people and the homeless.

Liberal Democrats in Hertfordshire proposed a fully costed budget that delivered a huge shot in the arm for our neglected roads, and supported bus routes, school crossing patrols and allow local decision making for areas where the part-night lighting scheme is not working.

Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey, Leader of the Opposition) commented, “This is a fully costed budget that focuses on the issues raised by local people with the Liberal Democrat Group.  This budget would not have cost the Hertfordshire taxpayer a penny yet would have helped rescue our roads from the Ringway fiasco, maintain Crossing patrols at our schools and ensure that our young people had access to more apprenticeships .

“Many local schools are on ungritted roads – our budget also tackled this and still provided vital extra funding to make up for the loss of Shelter in Hertfordshire.”

Cllr Chris White (St Albans Central) continued, “It came as no surprise that the Conservatives voted down our amendment out of hand, however the Labour Councillors on the County Council let down the people they purport to represent by not bothering to submit a budget amendment at all. Instead we heard a rambling wishlist with no costings, no firm plans, just empty rhetoric. It is bitterly disappointing that they voted against our plans to maintain and improve local services”

LibDems lash ‘biased’ council annual report

Herts County Council have published an Annual Report for last year, but opposition Liberal Democrat councillors have attacked it as “one–sided” and “biased,” only reporting good news and omitting the bad. It is supposed to be impartial.

Resources spokesman Cllr Malcolm Cowan (Handside and Peartree) said ‘We have pointed out several errors and the failure to fully report all relevant news about the county council. But the ruling Conservatives have decided instead to ignore our comments and issue a “rose – tinted” and one-sided report at the taxpayers’ expense. It is close to being an item of party propaganda and it is far from impartial’ claimed the councillor.

The Liberal Democrat opposition group cite several failures to report facts, including no mention that the external auditor was unhappy with the Council’s annual accounts last year, and that tens of thousands of pounds had to be spent to correct them and pay for a re-audit.

The Lib Dems have again slammed the Conservatives for failing to report a court finding on Moor End Bus Lane in Hemel Hempstead, which found that road fines were incorrectly collected. This is costing the council over £1.2m as the fines now have to be paid back.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Central Watford and Oxhey), also hit out at the Conservatives: ‘Whilst there are some clear successes, and we recognise the hard work by council officers in ensuring that most of the County’s services are well run, there are a number of clear disappointments. Yet the Conservatives want to say everything is ok. Well, it’s not. For example, there is no mention that Herts Highways, which is now being replaced, is one of the highest costing services in the country and has low performance.

‘Equally, we have had six months of a highways fault reporting system that has been almost impossible for the public to use and issued incorrect works orders. Even the Conservatives admit it is a disaster. Both of these have been white-washed from the ‘official’ Annual Report, which means it has ended up being biased.”

‘If the Conservatives cannot be honest with the public about the failures we all know about, one has to wonder what else they are trying to hide’, concluded Cllr Giles-Medhurst.