The Newsletter of Redbourn Parish Council Autumn / Winter 2017/18 Redbourn Parish Council Redbourn Parish Centre, The Park, Redbourn, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL3 7LR The Parish Council office, normal opening hours: Monday – Thursday: 10.00 - 4.00 Fridays: 10.00 - 1.00 Classics on the Common, see page 9 Tel. 01582 794832 CLOSED: 25th – 29th Dec, & 1st Jan ALSO IN THIS EDITION OF CLERK TO THE COUNCIL: Nish Khanna [email protected] REDBOURN news: DEPUTY CLERK: Chris Kenny FACILITIES OFFICER: Zoe Urrejola Green Belt development latest, p 2 COMMUNITY OFFICER: Becky Firth WEBSITE: Redbourn Neighbourhood Plan: www.redbournparishcouncil.gov.uk public consultation announced, p6 TWITTER: @Redbourn_Parish FACEBOOK: Redbourn Parish Council Redbourn Christmas events p 5 & 25 ROOM BOOKINGS: 01582 794832 Hire charges on page 26 COUNCILLOR CONTACTS: See back page AND MUCH, MUCH, MORE INSIDE! CHAIRMAN & NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Cllr. David Mitchell The staff and councillors of Redbourn Parish Council wish you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! Page | 1 Redbourn News Published by Redbourn Parish Council Issue 43 Autumn / Winter 2017 / 2018 CHAIRMAN’S NOTES Cllr. David Mitchell Yet another update on housing! St Albans District Council is having to start again with a new Local Plan for development in the district. The government inspector failed the previous draft plan saying SADC hadn’t fully co-operated with neighbouring planning authorities, and in June the High Court upheld his view. The government has since announced that it is introducing a standardised methodology for deciding on housing needs figures. This will see a requirement to build many more houses in the district, with the annual housing number being raised from the previous figure of 435 to around 913. Whilst recognising that housing is much needed, it is a worry that all the additional development sites will be on Green Belt. In the previous plan, 4000 houses were proposed on the district’s Green Belt, but now the figure will probably be over 11,000 i.e. nearly three times as many. Exactly where development will take place has yet to be decided but it’s likely that many of the new houses will be allocated to sites in and around Redbourn Parish. In addition, Dacorum Borough Council is considering building 3000 new houses on Green Belt north of Hemel Hempstead. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), amongst others, argue that housing needs in the south east can be met by using brown field sites without raiding the metropolitan Green Belt. Redbourn Parish Council will continue to oppose extensive loss of our Green Belt in order to maintain the rural nature of our Parish. Neighbourhood Plan Working with local residents, Redbourn Parish Council has prepared a Neighbourhood Plan, with approximately 144 new houses around the village. We believe this will meet local housing need but clearly little of the St Albans District’s need or London’s overspill. Our Neighbourhood Plan will be available to view on our website and elsewhere during a regulation 14 public consultation running from 2nd January to 16th February 2018. Do take a look and let us know what you think, good or bad. More details can be found on page 6. New Hertfordshire County Councillor Following the May 2017 elections, we now have a new County Councillor, Annie Brewster. Congratulations to her, and we look forward to working with Annie on matters relating to Redbourn. Herts County Council is responsible for road, schools and libraries amongst other things, so if you have any relevant issues, you can contact Annie directly at [email protected]. New MP And following the recent retirement of former cabinet minister, Peter Lilley, we also have a new MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, the constituency which includes Redbourn Parish. Congratulations to the new incumbent, Bim Afolami. In his election campaign he said that education is one of his main areas of interest. He also expressed his commitment to protecting the Green Belt. To contact him, you can find his details on the back page. Award for the Common One of the things that Redbourn residents value the most is our Common. Redbourn Parish Council owns the land having been given the Common in 1948 by the Earl of Verulam, and we look after it for the benefit of the local community. I’m pleased to say that, thanks to it being nominated by Redbourn-In-Bloom, Redbourn Common has been awarded the Eastern Region’s Biodiversity Award 2017. This is a tribute to the hard work of our RPC staff, the Commons Committee, chaired by Cllr Colin O’Donovan, and our contractor and groundsman, John Pigeon. It’s also great to see the Common being used for numerous community events such as Folk on the Common, the Classics Motors Show and most recently, the Fireworks Display. There is no doubt that the Common is a great asset to Redbourn. And for good measure, Redbourn also won Gold in the Anglia-in-Bloom small town category. Many congratulations all round! Pictured left to right, Cllr Colin O’Donovan and John Pigeon Finally … I would like to wish everyone in Redbourn a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And if you’re going to the Redbourn Christmas Market on 3rd December – keep an eye out for the Nutcracker soldier! Page | 2 Redbourn News Published by Redbourn Parish Council Issue 43 Autumn / Winter 2017 / 2018 CLERK’S CORNER Well, it’s been another busy year for the Team! Over and above our everyday activities, we have had several projects on the go. These include repairs to the museum, planning the refurbishment of the Flamsteadbury Lane play area with an outdoor gym, extending a car park on the Common, important and historic document scanning and continuing our major tree works program. Over the last couple of years, we have implemented some tighter processes around finance and administration which resulted in an unqualified audit for 2016-17 – which, oddly, is a good thing! The Parish Centre continues to be a popular venue for private and commercial hire and we often receive great feedback on this wonderful village asset. Please contact us if you are planning a family celebration or require a meeting room for your business/organisation. I’d like to thank Chris, Zoe and Becky for all their hard work this year – I and Redbourn are lucky to have such a dedicated team – and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Nish Khanna, RPC Clerk Left to right: Chris Kenny, Deputy Clerk; Becky Firth, Community Officer, Nish Khanna, Clerk, Zoe Urrejola, Facilities Officer Ken Hodson Computer Hardware and Software Repairs, Individual Tuition Upgrades and Advice for Home and Business Tel. 07974 156743 / 01582 794723 Email: [email protected] No fix, no fee for all repairs – you have nothing to lose. Low hourly rate. Most repairs carried out in your home, if not the computer will be picked up from and delivered back to you. Problems with Windows / Applications / Games / Internet / networks fixed. Friendly training and instruction available in plain English Advice given on upgrades – many older computers can be upgraded at a fraction of the cost of a new machine. Upgrades of hardware and software carried out. Page | 3 Redbourn News Published by Redbourn Parish Council Issue 43 Autumn / Winter 2017 / 2018 COMMONS COMMENTS Cllr Colin O’Donovan, Chairman of Commons & Open Spaces Committee PARKING You may have noticed that we have repaired and reinstated the car park at corner of Lybury Lane to its original size. The reasoning behind this is to make more parking spaces available around the Common as parking on the Common continues to be an issue. The overflow car park by the Cricket Club has now been closed – there should be no reason for people to park on the Common other than in the allocated areas. CUMBERLAND GARDENS Repairs have been carried out to the pathway at both entrances of the Gardens. Grounds and gardens rd continue to be maintained and will be used to host the Christmas Market on 3 December. Please note that dogs should be kept on a lead whilst walking through Cumberland Gardens as well as picking up mess. PLAY AREAS Flamsteadbury Lane We are pleased to inform you that the replacement and refurbishment work on this area will be starting this month and should be finished within the month. This will include a designated toddler and junior area with 2 new climbing frames, a roundabout net, springers and swings – hopefully something for everyone! We have plans to install an outdoor gym and goal posts (outside of the play area) however, there will a delay in installation due to planning permission issues. We are hopeful this will happen in early January 2018. NICKEY LINE We are in the process of obtaining quotations to repair the entrances on the Nickey Line at Chequer Lane. ST Albans District Council has taken over the running of this area but we still have some money in the budget for these repairs. IGAS Heating Ltd, your local, honest and reliable plumbing, heating and gas specialists. No job too big or small; from leaky taps to full central heating installations. Call today for FREE quote or friendly advise. M: 07380 803 642 Email: [email protected] T: 01727 537076 www.herts-heating.co Page | 4 Redbourn News Published by Redbourn Parish Council Issue 43 Autumn / Winter 2017 / 2018 Redbourn Christmas Market Sunday 3rd December, 11am – 5pm This year will be the 6th annual Redbourn Christmas Market - come along and support this fantastically festive community event and kick off your Christmas.