Plans to balance the books at SADC include charging under-fives to swim in the district’s pools, and drastically reducing opening times for the Verulamium splash park. Under proposals put forward by the council’s public realm committee, the splash park will only be open for eight weeks - six during the school...
SADC leader Cllr Chris White is realistic about the highs and lows of 2023, and despite the challenges the council has faced, there remain plenty of things that he is proud of achieving over the last 12 months. “Actually getting a Regulation 18 consultation out, in other words, the consultation on...
Could we be entering the end game for the completion of Jubilee Square? That is the feeling at the Civic Centre according to SADC leader Chris White. He told the St Albans Times that the latest hold-up was a technical issue relating to the penthouses at the project. “There is more nervousness...
In a revised and updated article, we examine Michael Gove's changes to the National Planning Policy Framework and his criticism of delays to SADC's Local Plan. To build or not to build? That is the question...
The Liberal Democrats have overturned a 1,580 Conservative majority to win the Harpenden Rural seat in yesterday's county council by-election. Alison Wren received 1,474 votes, compared to 766 for the Conservatives, 168 for Labour and 119 for the Greens, taking the seat vacated following the resignation of Conservative Annie Brewster to...
Cash-strapped St Albans district council missed out on thousands of pounds extra revenue from the sale of unwanted Charter Market equipment, it has been claimed. A job lot of three tractors including a Reliance Mercury RM403 tractor, a Reliance Mercury tractor and a Vallely VT55 Beaver tractor was sold together with...
Is the district council’s cash crisis even worse than we previously imagined? New details surrounding SADC’s finances have emerged in the agenda notes for a meeting of the strategy and resources committee. According to these notes, SADC has a budget gap of £2.95m in 2024/25, caused by various factors including a loss...
Councillors have rejected a petition by more than 500 residents to pause the Local Plan process and look again at housing need in a bid to save the Green Belt from development. A meeting of the planning policy and climate committee on Tuesday night called for a halt to the Plan...
Pedestrians and cyclists alike should benefit from major changes to the road network in central St Albans, but will they result in snarl-ups and delays for motorists or ease traffic flow through the city? As detailed in last week’s St Albans Times, Herts county council is planning to install traffic lights...
The latest delays to the completion of Jubilee Square - the huge project on the site of the former police station and NHS building in Victoria Street - raises further questions over its impact on council finances. The entire scheme has taken more than four and a half years, and construction...
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