A much-heralded council parking permit for the over-70s has met with a vocal backlash from residents. The Local Access Permit was introduced in response to SADC’s decision to restrict the heavily-discounted senior citizens’ car parking permit to those people on the lowest incomes as part of a budget-balancing exercise last year. It...
Green councillors have launched a damning attack on SADC’s latest Air Quality Action Plan, warning it may fail to deliver meaningful improvements to local air quality. A draft plan for tackling air pollution was issued last year, covering a period up to 2029, and included measures including the promotion of low-emission...
Have the Liberal Democrats lost control over the council’s finances? A scathing report to SADC’s audit committee has highlighted “significant weaknesses in arrangements to make informed decisions using timely and accurate financial information”. Roopal Bakarania, audit manager for the external auditor BDO, said they had also found a “significant number of material...
To use a football analogy, any decision on the St Albans Local Plan are now firmly in the hands of the VAR, rather than SADC referees. In fact, council leader Cllr Paul de Kort is clear that whatever happens now won’t be politically motivated at all, at least during the examination...
St Albans Conservatives have pledged their commitment to localism in the face of the Government's reorganisation plans. Deputy leader Cllr Matt Cowley (pictured) said: “With the Labour Government pushing ahead with plans to impose large unitary authorities on our communities, there is a real risk that the voice of local people...
Four years of district council accounts remain unaudited and unapproved due to shortcomings within the national auditing process for local authorities. Councillors sitting on the SADC audit and governance committee were told on Thursday that the auditor’s report for the three financial years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 had arrived late on...
SADC leader Cllr Paul de Kort has signed a joint statement released by 10 Herts councils asking whether a single unitary authority would be right for the county. The Labour Government has announced plans to extend devolution to all parts of England, providing additional powers and funding flexibility for elected mayors,...
Has the death knell sounded for St Albans City and District Council after half a century as our local authority? The Labour Government has announced plans to extend devolution to all parts of England, providing additional powers and funding flexibility for elected mayors, and replacing the current system of two-tier local...
Have sweeping changes to planning policies vindicated St Albans district council’s decision to steam ahead with its Local Plan? The Plan, which allows for the building of 15,000 new homes in the district up to 2041, was submitted for Government approval just two weeks before far-reaching revisions to the National Planning...
No ‘showstoppers’ or ‘red flags’ were raised in a review of St Albans' draft Local Plan which would prevent it from being submitted for Government approval. SADC's blueprint for planning development in the district for the period up to 2041 has been three years in the making, and today it moved into...
Contribute
You can help keep quality local journalism alive by making a one-off donation or set up a regular direct debit. Any contributions will help ensure the long-term future of the St Albans Times.
