Council News

Have YOUR say on the future of Greenwood Park

What’s the current situation with Greenwood Park?

St Stephen Parish Council aims to provide the best services and facilities to our residents in the most cost effective way. We have become increasingly concerned about the amount of our public funding that we are currently spending to maintain ageing and inefficient facilities. We also wish to minimise the environmental impact of our operations, including that of staff and equipment travelling between different sites.

For these reasons we are planning to bring together the parish office, our grounds & maintenance staff and equipment to within Greenwood Park, our largest site. The aim is to modernise and future-proof our buildings and car parking facilities there. This also offers a chance to consider what facilities and activities residents want to see.

We want to hear your views and ideas on the future improvement of Greenwood Park.

The Parish Council has engaged a specialist, independent agency to consider options to develop the Greenwood Park site. We have not given any instruction as to what should or shouldn’t happen in Greenwood Park. There has been no pre-determination of outcome. Your response to this survey will help the Council and the independent agency understand what residents want. The agency will then provide three feasible options for further consultation with residents.

How will any future development be paid for?

The Council intends to pay for this project partly through funding contributions from developers that have been set aside for community and leisure facilities, received by District Council for housing developments within the parish. We will seek funding from third parties, apply for grant funding and may sell some or all of the land at Bricket Wood Parish Centre but ensure a venue remains in Bricket Wood. We also expect future running and maintenance costs to be reduced if our facilities are more efficient, for example through better insulation.

How can I share my views and ideas?

We want to understand how we can serve our residents at Greenwood Park and want you to have your say. Your views will inform the options being developed by the independent agency. We are sure you will appreciate that not everything everyone asks for will be delivered, but your views will help to shape our long-term thinking about the facilities and services we provide.

We also want to find out from people who don’t currently use Greenwood Park what would attract them to visit. Everyone in your household can complete this survey and we really want to hear from right across the community. We hope to make Greenwood Park an inclusive space for all members of the community to use and enjoy for future decades. We can do this with your help! There are two ways to take part in this consultation:

Option 1 – Complete the paper survey

Complete the paper survey delivered to your home address and drop it back to either the Parish Centre or to Greenwood Park Community Centre.

Option 2 – Complete the survey online

Click here to complete the survey online


Click here to download a copy of the survey

Additional paper copies of the survey will be available at the Parish Centre and Greenwood Park Community Centre

St Albans City & District Council is developing a new Draft Local Plan, which is like a blueprint for future development. It establishes the Council’s long-term planning strategy for delivering and managing growth and infrastructure, for environmental and heritage protection and enhancement, up to 2041.

This is an emerging Draft Plan, and people who live and work in the District, community groups and businesses are all encouraged to give their views. We want to hear from as many people and organisations as possible. The feedback received will help shape the final proposals.

Government guidance requires that Local Plans should set out an overall strategy for the pattern, scale and design quality of places, and make sufficient provision for housing (including affordable housing), infrastructure, community facilities and conservation and enhancement of the natural, built and historic environment.

Draft Local Plan 2041 Regulation 18 Consultation will be available for you to comment on between the following dates:

Start Date: 12/07/23 10:03 AM

End Date: 25/09/23 5:00 PM

How do I make any comments?

The best way to respond is by using the online consultation system which can be found through links on the Council’s website at: https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/new-local-plan

You can send a response by Email to:

planning.policy@stalbans.gov.uk, or by post to:

Spatial Planning Team, St Albans Council Offices, St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3JE.

If you have any queries about this Regulation 18 consultation stage, you can contact us using the details above.

At the close of the consultation period, all comments will be considered by the Council and used to inform the next stage of the Local Plan process.

Yours sincerely,

Spatial Planning Team

St Albans City and District Council

Draft Local Plan Consultation Exhibitions:

A series of exhibitions staffed by Officers of the Council will take place over two weeks in September. The exhibition will come to the Parish Centre in Bricket Wood (AL2 3PJ) on Wednesday 6th September from 2pm to 8pm.

We can’t wait to welcome residents to our fantastic celebration of the Coronation of King Charles III from 3pm on Saturday 6 May. Bands will be playing throughout, with a fantastic firework finale at 9:50pm.

Music:

A fantastic line up of live music acts for all the family to enjoy with our very own special compère – Elvis Shmelvis – bringing the event to the next level!  🎵🎹🎙🎸

The Big Choir start our line up

Grace George – a real young musical talent whose latest song featured on the Love Island final!

Kick Pistol – popular local teen rock and punk band

The Papersnakes – acoustic duo

The Brickets – back by popular demand, singing their toe tapping songs from the 60s and 70s

And headlining are Soul Enforcement Crew – an exciting and hugely popular 8-piece soul band!

Refreshments:

Taste buds get ready to be tingled with a fantastic variety of food and drink stalls!

Gracey’s Pizza 🍕

Raj’s Indian delights 🍛

Jack’s Smokehouse  🥩

Churro Boyz 🍩

Queen of the Island (Caribbean) 🍗

The Weeping Chef (vegan) 🥕 🍅

Lazy Llama☕ 🍰

Girl Guides (burgers and hot dogs) 🍔 🌭

The Lankan Kitchen (Sri Lankan food) 🍛

The Orange Van (drinks).🍸

Tipsy Bubbles (drinks).🍾

The Overdraught Pub 🍺

Entertainment:

On a large screen we will be showing highlights of the coronation – keeping us in the celebration vibe!

There will also be a face painter and craft activities.

In addition, we are super excited to welcome Crossfit Verulamium who will be setting up exciting and fun fitness challenges for kids and adults! Be ready!

Herts Inclusive Theatre will be on site putting on workshops for free, for all to get involved with.

Please walk, cycle, lift share, etc. as there will be very limited parking at the venue and beyond Midway Surgery car park.  No cars to be left overnight or they will be clamped.

Bring your own blanket, foldaway chairs or just dance the night away! There will be no seating provided.

Please bring cash for some refreshment stalls.

 Please take litter home or use the bins provided.

Events

– We are thrilled to be running ‘A Coronation Festival’ in Greenwood Park Saturday 6 May 3-10pm.

Following on from last year’s festival we will be having live music throughout, a screen showing coronation highlights, our very wonderful Elvis Shmelvis hosting, many more food and drink stalls, children’s activities and of course our firework finale!!  All welcome and this event is free ⭐️

– Armed Forces Day event is on Sunday 25 June. A wonderful event for the whole family with plenty of exciting displays and parade, held 2:30-5pm at the Parish Centre in Bricket Wood.

Green spaces

– Woodbury Field play area 

The start date for phase 1 works is planned for 28 March and we are looking at a 4-week build.  We would welcome feedback on this once complete and will consult on phase 2.

– Woodbury Field drainage 

We have had significant issues with drainage of the site before works can start. A contractor came in and blasted the area with compressed air to a depth of 1m, which has allowed the surface water to work its way down to that depth.  

When they were doing the work they hit an old fashioned clay drainage system that was still working but blocked.  The grounds staff dug down and put a pipe coming off this old system and directed the water into the ditch on Lye Lane.  The water came out of the pipe constantly for nearly two weeks and the site has dried up significantly. We also undertook the clearing of the ditches in the area, allowing all the water to now drain away from the site. We liaised with the different companies (Cadent, MLS Traffic, district and county council and the landowners) and did the work on the same traffic measure as the Cadent works, which saved significant costs for the council and other disruption to the general public having more road works in the area.

Well done to our grounds staff for their tenacity in solving this tricky issue!

– Tree work 

All safety and general planned maintenance tree work will be completed by the end of March.

– Park Street Recreation Ground play area

We are soon going out to tender on phase 2 of the play area and hope to install after the school holidays to avoid any inconvenience.

Fixed Asset consultation

–  We have appointed our independent consultancy company to review the options available to the parish council in relation to our Fixed Asset Strategic Review. Once we have held initial meetings, we hope to provide further details.  Things are moving forward!

Greenwood Park

– A baby change room is now up and running in the Public Toilet opposite Lazy Llama Café. Open 8am – 5pm, 7 days a week.

We have created this with limited funds and space options but were keen to provide this much needed facility for our park visitors. We hope to include an improved family changing room option as part of future developments at Greenwood Park. New signage will be installed outside the Community Centre so it can be seen from the car park and pathway up from the playground to direct visitors.

New Community Garden

– Last week councillors voted for Grow Chiswell Green to be given a site in Greenwood Park to make a Community Garden. Our Senior Grounds Person met with Christy Mitchell last week to mark out the site. They are very excited to start their project.  

We welcome residents to get involved and contact info@growchiswellgreen.org 

Waste

– We are getting a lot of household waste and black bags full of dog waste put into the bins around our parks. This should all go in the brown general waste bins that SADC provide. Please can residents be more considerate with their waste!

Other news

Nominations are now open for the BBC Make a Difference Awards. Honour someone who always goes above and beyond. Entries close at 11pm on 05/03/2023. See a full list of categories here bbc.in/makeadifference