06 Feb 2026
Time is running out to have your say on whether central St Albans should have its own parish council.
As previously highlighted in the pages of the St Albans Times, the ongoing Community Governance Review (CGR) is looking at whether there is an appetite among residents for the creation of a St Albans City Parish Council.
This would cover 28,000 households in Batchwood, Bernards Heath, Clarence, Cunningham, Hill End, Marshalswick West, Sopwell, St Peter’s and Verulam wards.
The CGR was triggered by the local government reorganisation initiative, which will see HCC and SADC replaced with two or more unitary authorities.
A campaign in support of the parish council proposal is being run by St Albans Civic Society with the backing of local residents associations and other bodies, who fear without such an authority the city will lose local representation and ownership of heritage assets.
The last public meeting looking at the proposals takes place this Saturday from 11am to 1pm at the Christ Church Centre, 3 High Oaks, with speakers including Civic Society chair Mary Conneely, district councillors Robert Donald and Nuala Webb and St Stephen Parish Council chair David Yates.
Ahead of the meeting, Mary spoke to the St Albans Times about some of the ongoing concerns surrounding the consultation.
“This January, our members and volunteers from across the district were chatting to residents, delivering leaflets and hosting three well-attended public meetings to support the campaign to establish a city centre parish council after SADC disappears. We received a raft of feedback and queries and we can say very loudly that people are confused, even as we near the end of this second phase and after the ballot information has been delivered since early December.
“It’s not about the simple message that we need a local council. That’s easily explained. We’ve noted pretty much universal support for a local council and a yes vote on the ballot paper. So what’s confusing people?
“An often repeated question is what does a parish council do and what is its link to the church? Well the latter part is easy, they share the word parish but they’re very different things; a parish council is the lowest (first) tier of local government in England.
“It’s a civil body, not a religious one and they are not related to church ecclesiastical parishes.
“Parish councils represent the local community – whether a village, town, or city – they serve and locally elected councillors must live or have a business within three miles of where they seek election.
“They make decisions on very local issues, such as parks and play areas, grants to local groups and allotments, are consulted by higher councils such as unitary authorities on planning applications and raise a small local tax called the precept (part of your council tax).
“The best-run ones consult their residents then set priorities and raise their ambitions to meet the community’s aspirations. At one of the public meetings, the town clerk of Ware, Terry Philpott,
gave a great overview of how they operate, discussing how they manage their assets to generate income, then re-invest it, such as in refurbishing their lido, or building a new skate park, supporting events to promote the town and maximising visitor and community engagement.
“Other queries about the CGR process have been ongoing. We can now make clear, after SADC released a statement on the issue of comments left on their website, that all consultation responses will be considered whether submitted via the ballot, the online questionnaire, email, or post and the strategy and resources committee will be presented with all responses received and will use those responses to inform the final recommendations that will go to council in July.
“We also heard from a large number of residents that they had not received a ballot paper or had lost it, so if this affects you and you live in one of the relevant areas please email CGR@stalbans.gov.uk before 5pm on Thursday February 19 to request a replacement pack. The closing date to return all ballot forms is Monday February 23 at midday.”
- There are further details on the meeting and background information on the local council issue and Save our City campaign on the St Albans Civic Society website at www.stalbanscivicsociety.com.
