Community News Winter 2013

Community INCORPORATING

Recycling News

WINTER 2013

Look out for our

NEW RECYCLING GUIDE being delivered to homes this winter.

SNOW SERVICE NEWS ONLINE When it snows, all the latest news on services is available at www.stalbans.gov.uk/snow.

You’ll find information on refuse and recycling, school closures, gritting, salting routes, advice on clearing pavements outside your home and lots more. Follow us on Twitter @StAlbansCouncil. See back page for waste collection arrangements in the snow.

Community News is published by St Albans City & District Council www.stalbans.gov.uk

Waste and recycling collection dates A useful 2014 collection calendar is being delivered to local homes. A handy reminder of what to put in each recycling box is included.

Details are also available at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/ wasteandrecycling or if in doubt call 01727 819285.

Resurfacing work to improve the Alban Way

Leisure News Batchwood rebuild begins Building at Batchwood Sports Centre has started following the fire that destroyed the facility two years ago. The new sports centre is expected to be completed in the summer of 2014.

The facility will be an East of England regional centre of excellence with six indoor tennis

courts and a special judo dojo facility. It will also be suitable for a wide range of other sports activities.

The fire also destroyed the golf and bowls clubhouses at Batchwood. New pavilions for both sports are now rebuilt and occupied by the Batchwood Hall Golf Club and Batchwood Hall Bowls Club.

The Alban Way, which runs between Cottonmill Lane in St Albans and Hatfield, has been resurfaced.

The upgraded path forms a section of the forthcoming green ring through and around the city. When it is completed in 2015, cyclists and pedestrians will be able to travel around St Albans with minimal use of roads. The Council has built new cycle routes in Verulamium Park as part of the project too. More information on cycle routes is available at www. stalbans.gov.uk/cycling, telephone 01727 819366.

New London Colney leisure centre update The Council will be managing the construction of the planned new £3.5M leisure centre at London Colney, rather than working with a leisure partner as originally planned. The new centre

will include a 60-station fitness centre and eight five-a-side and one seven-a-side sport pitches.

More information is available at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/cotlandswick, 01727 819368.

St Albans Food & Drink Awards 2013

Civic Centre – a hub for info and advice (Left to right): Lucy Clark from Heaven is a Cupcake (Best Local Producer and Local Gem); Giles Fry, Caitlin Jones and Ashley Moore from The Snug Bar (Best Bar); Angelo from Barrissimo Cafe Italiano (Best Café); Roma Bhowmick from Radio Verulam; Cllr

2 Winter 2013

Annie Brewster, Mayor of St Albans; Christo Tofalli from Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (Best Pub); Mr and Mrs Singh from Singhli (Best Street Food); John Gunner and Alec Goodhand from That Little Place (Best Restaurant). The Kate D’Arcy Award was won by Alec Goodhand.

At the Civic Centre in St Albans, you’ll find a host of independent, confidential and impartial advice, information and guidance on offer from the local organisations above.

Check it out for yourself.

See www.stalbans.gov.uk/ civiccentre for details of each organisation’s opening times or call 01727 866100.

St Albans City & District Council Community News

What’s on at the

museums December

Exhibitions Until 12 Jan 2014.

Cornering the Market. The history of St Albans market. Free. Museum of St Albans, Hatfield Road.

Events 5 Dec, 7.30pm.

Thursday Night Lecture. The History of the Jewish Community in St Albans. £8.

Verulamium Museum, St Michael’s Street.

February

Exhibitions Gadgets and Goggles (until 13 April, see Jan) Events 22 Feb, 11am - 4pm.

Murder at Verulamium Museum: Who Killed the Curator? An interactive murder mystery trail through the museum for families. £5.

Museum of St Albans, 9A Hatfield Road.

January

Exhibitions 24 January-13 April 2014. Gadgets and Goggles.

A touring exhibition showing Victorian inventions and wonderful gadgets collected by Maurice Collins, with Steampunk items lent to the Museum. Free. Museum of St Albans.

Stuck for Christmas presents?

Check out the new shop at Verulamium Museum in St Michael’s Street, St Albans, brought to you in collaboration with the British Museum.

25 & 26 January 2014 Put a date in your diary for Residents First Weekend on 25 and 26 January. It’s a great opportunity for residents to see top local attractions for free, or try leisure activities, restaurants, and other great local outlets at a discount. See www.stalbans.gov.uk/residents-first for further details nearer the date, or call 01727 819311.

Market dates The official visitor website for St Albans

For visitor information on St Albans and surrounding towns and villages, visit www.enjoystalbans.com • Things to do • What’s on • Where to stay • Eating & drinking • Travel & maps St Albans Tourist and Information Centre The Town Hall, Market Place, St Albans, AL3 5DJ. 01727 864511, tic@stalbans.gov.uk, Mon-Sat: 10am-4.30pm (closed on bank holidays).

www.enjoystalbans.com www.stalbans.gov.uk

St Albans Market every Wednesday and Saturday plus Thursday 19 to Tuesday 24 December (no market Christmas Day) St Albans Farmers’ Market 2nd Sunday of the month plus Sunday 22 December Harpenden Farmers’ Market 4th Sunday of the month St Albans Christmas Market (in the grounds of St Albans Cathedral) Thursday 28 November to Saturday 21 December.

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Pay for your parking by mobile phone

CCTV used to improve community safety A recent Council report shows that Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) helped ensure the safety of the community in 5,131 cases last year, up from 4,694 in 2011.

CCTV helps police and other support services to respond to an

You can now pay for on-street parking in the District using your mobile phone. The Pay By Phone service charges the parking fee to a credit or debit card. You can also extend your parking session, receive a text reminder that parking is due to expire and get a text receipt. Fees apply. Details on Pay & Display machines or at www. stalbans.gov.uk/parking.

average of 14 incidents per day in the District.

The Community CCTV Annual Report is available at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/cctv.

Or call 01727 819416.

Think before you drive this Christmas Police are warning drivers of the consequences of drinking or taking drugs before getting behind the wheel.

Officers will be carrying out tests on all drivers involved in road collisions. They will also be on the

lookout for suspicious driving.

If you are caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, you could face a minimum of a 12-month disqualification, as well as a fine and/or imprisonment.

Customer service award

New flexi-care homes Two brand new flexi-care schemes are being developed in the District on the site of former Council-owned sheltered housing schemes.

Lea Springs in Harpenden and Caroline Sharpe House in St Albans will both be completed in 2014. They will provide independent and modern

Artist’s impression accommodation for older residents who meet various specific criteria.

For more information, please contact 01727 819277.

The Council’s Customer Services team at the Civic Centre in St Albans has been awarded Cabinet Office Customer Service Excellence certification.

The assessors said the team “presents a highly organised and robustly managed one stop shop service.” See back page for contact details and opening times.

It’s your vote, don’t lose it. Register now Voter registration forms have been delivered to all households in the District.

Residents will need to check that the details are correct and return the form in order to register to vote.

If you are not registered, you may lose the right to vote in the European Parliamentary and district elections on 22 May 2014.

If there are no changes to the 4 Winter 2013

You information can now onpay thefor form, on-street you can parking in the your register to voteDistrict online,using by freephone mobile phone. or by text.

Details of how to do this The PayByPhone service the are available on the formcharges together parking fee to a credit or debit card. with the security codes that you will You extend your parking needcan foralso registration. session, receive a text reminder that More information about the parking is due to expire andisobtain a voter registration process available text receipt.

Fees apply. at www.stalbans.gov.uk/elections or on 01727 819294.

St Albans City & District Council Community News

GREEN ISSUES Water-saving devices worth up to £30 on offer Hertfordshire is one of the driest regions in the country.

Here, the average person uses 174 litres of water per day compared with the national average of 150 litres. High water use is also affecting our natural environment including our rare chalk streams.

If you book a free home visit to get advice on how to save water, energy and money you can receive

water-saving devices such as toilet flushing mechanisms and water-efficient shower heads worth up to £30.

Information from Groundwork Hertfordshire on: 01707 260129, hertfordshire@groundwork.org.uk.

Free shower timers are available from Council reception while stocks last.

Don’t have a rubbish Christmas Christmas trees You can recycle your tree at your local Household Waste Recycling Centre (see page 7). If it is small enough it can go in your green bin.

Some garden centres will collect your tree for a small fee (including Ayletts, 01727 822255).

Wrapping paper and Christmas cards All non-metallic, non-sparkly paper

and Christmas cards can be recycled.

Put them in your paper recycling box.

Christmas food Put your food scraps in your green bin (wrapped tightly) or in your home composter. You can put glass, plastics, clean foil, food and drinks cans, aerosols, newspapers and magazines in your recycling boxes too. See page 7 for what goes where.

Fly tipper prosecuted A man from St Albans faces a fine and costs of over £600 following a court judgment.

The offender was photographed in the act by a member of the public. Fly tipping is a criminal offence and there are hefty fines for offenders. For details of what to do if you see someone fly tipping see: www.stalbans.gov.uk/flytipping, or call: 01727 819598. www.stalbans.gov.uk

Get composting The Council is offering discounted compost bins in partnership with www. getcomposting.com.

Prices start at £16.98 plus delivery – less than half price. A Buy One Get One Half Price offer is also available on selected items.

Visit www.get composting.com, 0844 571 4444.

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St Albans in bloom winners There were talented winners from across the local area in this year’s St Albans District in Bloom Awards.

Thanks to all the judges and to Ayletts Nurseries for sponsoring the awards and hosting the awards ceremony.

The winners are:

Best sustainable garden

Best school project

Winner: Miss Jane Smith of Colney Heath Highly Commended: Mrs Heather Osborne of St Albans

Winner: Redbourn Infant & Nursery School, Redbourn Highly Commended: Roundwood Primary School, Harpenden Highly Commended: Watling View School, St Albans

Best street or group project

Winner: Digi Kidz After School Club, St Albans Highly Commended: Wheathampstead – River Lea/Carparking project

Winner: Mrs Kate Aylett of Wheathampstead (no relation) Highly Commended: Mrs Joan Walton of St Albans

Best front garden

Best pub frontage

Winner: The Plough & Harrow, Harpenden Highly Commended: Blacksmith Arms, St Albans

Best parish

Winner: Wheathampstead Parish Highly Commended: St Stephen’s Parish

What happens to my recycling?

Plastics, cans and foil These items are sorted at a recycling facility in St Albans. Magnets are used to separate the metals and air jets to separate plastics. Each type of material is then bulked into large cubes to be sold.

Plastic bottles can be turned into packaging, drainage pipes, garden furniture or simply new plastic bottles.

Glass

Paper and cardboard Paper and card is taken to a transfer station in St Albans before going to the paper mill to be graded, pulped and cleaned. The pulp is then laid out on mesh to dry and finally made into new paper products such as packaging.

6 Winter 2013

The glass from the kerbside collections and the static recycling banks around the District is graded into colour and size. Some is used as aggregate for road surfacing.

Other glass is used to produce more bottles and jars.

Food and garden waste All the food and garden waste goes to a composting plant at South Mimms.

The compost is used on farms and community gardens.

St Albans City & District Council Community News

What can I recycle?

A new guide to recycling in the District is being distributed to homes before Christmas.

This contains lots more details about local recycling. Look out for your copy!

Paper and folded or torn cardboard

Plastics, cans and foil.

No plastic bags

Glass

Green waste, food waste and shredded paper Use paper caddy liners or wrap food in newspaper to keep your bin clean.

Put glass in its own box as usual (No broken glass please.)

Need an extra recycling box?

You can have up to five recycling boxes for free. Extras cost £3. To order more boxes contact 01727 819285, wastemanagementservices@stalbans.gov.uk.

Cardboard recycling Cardboard has been contaminating the quality of the compost made from green waste, making it unusable.

This is why we are now asking you to put cardboard in your recycling box with your paper rather than in with your compostable waste.

We’re sorry that the recycling collection vehicles can’t take cardboard larger than the size of your recycling box at the moment. We hope to be able to take larger sheets in future when we get new machinery.

In the meantime, if you have large sheets you can’t break down, you can book an oversized cardboard collection free of charge. To book please call 01727 819285. www.stalbans.gov.uk

Why bother?

Recycling more and reducing landfill is good for the environment. It saves resources and energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

It also saves money. It costs households £90 for each tonne of waste sent to landfill. It’s costing local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds annually to bury waste that could be recycled.

Food caddies Lots of councils use food caddies and research shows they can be very effective in helping to reduce landfill.

We know some people like them and others aren’t so keen. If you don’t want yours, let us know and we will collect it and give to someone else.

Email wastemanagementservices@ stalbans.gov.uk or call 01727 819285.

Household Waste Recycling Centres Open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. • Dark Lane, Harpenden 10am – 6pm • Ronsons Way, St Albans 8am – 4pm (winter), 8am – 6pm (summer) www.wasteaware.org.uk • Waterdale, A405, Bricket Wood 8am – 6pm 7

Keeping the District Clean and Green If you spot a problem with...

Waste Collection in the snow We will be working hard to keep services going this winter. If snow and ice hit the District we have plans in place to help keep disruption to waste and recycling services to a minimum.

If disruption lasts for a day or two, collections will roll on one day until we catch up. Crews will work on Saturdays until the backlog is cleared.

Where disruption is more severe,

lasting 3 days or more, green waste collections will be suspended for those roads that were missed.

All black and green waste will be collected together and sent to landfill.

Recycling boxes will be emptied on the next scheduled collection day, weather permitting. You may prefer not to put out your green bin until the next scheduled collection so the content can be composted.

Christmas waste and recycling collection dates

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Abandoned vehicles Illegal or litter Dog fouling or stray dogs Dumped rubbish Illegal Overgrown hedgerows Spills from refuse collection Accumulation of leaves Pest control Damaged street furniture Street cleaning Drugs paraphernalia Empty/derelict property Air pollution

...please contact The Cleaner District Hotline: 01727 819598 Email: a.cleanerdistrict@stalbans.gov.uk Together, for a Cleaner District Now on twitter: @StAlbansCouncil

Please put your bins and boxes out by 7am.

Usual collection day Monday 23 Dec Tuesday 24 Dec Wednesday 25 Dec Thursday 26 Dec Friday 27 Dec Monday 30 Dec Tuesday 31 Dec Wednesday 1 Jan Thursday 2 Jan Friday 3 Jan Monday 6 Jan Tuesday 7 Jan Wednesday 8 Jan Thursday 9 Jan Friday 10 Jan

Revised collection day Monday 23 Dec Tuesday 24 Dec Friday 27 Dec Saturday 28 Dec Monday 30 Dec Tuesday 31 Dec Thursday 2 Jan Friday 3 Jan Saturday 4 Jan Monday 6 Jan Tuesday 7 Jan Wednesday 8 Jan Thursday 9 Jan Friday 10 Jan Saturday 11 Jan

Council Christmas opening times Monday 23 Dec – Open Tuesday 24 Dec – Open 8.45am-12pm Wednesday 25 Dec – Closed Thursday 26 Dec – Closed Friday 27 Dec – Closed Monday 30 Dec – Open Tuesday 31 Dec – Open Wednesday 1 Jan – Closed Normal office opening times resume from Thursday 2 Jan (see below) Emergency out of hours telephone: 01727 811155

My Council Services App

Now on Twitter @StAlbansCouncil

We hope you enjoy reading Community News.

If you can spare a moment, please email communications@stalbans.gov.uk or call 01727 819572 and let us know your views and what else you want us to include.

St Albans City & District Council Civic Centre, St Peter’s Street, St Albans, Herts AL1 3JE

Website: www.stalbans.gov.uk Email: contactus@stalbans.gov.uk 8 Winter 2013

Customer Service Centre opening hours: Mon-Thurs 8.45am-5pm, Fri 8.45am-4.30pm Housing Repairs: 01727 819256 Refuse & Recycling: 01727 819285 Council Tax: 01727 819204/819205 Benefits: 01727 819476 Cleaner District Hotline: 01727 819598

All Other Enquiries: 01727 866100

Harpenden Town Council Information Point Town Hall, Leyton Road, Harpenden Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10am-4pm Telephone: 01582 768278 Alternative formats: If you want to receive this newsletter in an alternative format, such as Braille, or in another language, please call 01727 819572. See www.disabledgo.com for information about access to local facilities.

St Albans City & District Council Community News

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