tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77722703527109542342018-03-06T08:01:21.917+00:00Green St AlbansThoughts from St Albans' first Green CouncillorSimon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-55812405003128736842015-07-14T10:19:00.000+01:002015-07-17T13:17:38.615+01:00My year at St Albans Council - annual report
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Courier New";
panose-1:2 7 3 9 2 2 5 2 4 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 2 1 2 1 8 4 8 7 8;
mso-font-charset:2;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:0 0 65536 0 Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-74859922802734056352014-12-06T00:13:00.003+00:002014-12-10T11:03:18.694+00:00New train operator worse than ever
At a recent meeting of the Council's Scrutiny Committee, I joined other councillors in quizzing Govia and Network Rail representatives on recent events on the Thameslink route.
The Chief Operating Officer of Govia confirmed what passengers already suspected - that since Govia took over from First Capital Connect, service on the route had got significantly worse. We were shown the graph of Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-1954076293840986122014-11-29T10:22:00.001+00:002014-11-29T10:22:17.846+00:00The Odyssey Begins
After years of increasing excitement, the Odyssey Cinema on London Road in St Albans has finally opened its doors. I was lucky enough to attend the official opening this weekend, and was hugely impressed with what I saw.
Though there is still a little work to do in advance of the public opening in December, the project is essentially complete. The huge screen with beautiful arch, the big, Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-80251749775485647892014-10-25T18:18:00.001+01:002014-10-30T12:49:29.730+00:00Update on Hightown's proposed homeless hostel at St Claire's
Hightown Praetorianand Churches Housing Association is proposing to turn its building at St Claire’s
in Church Crescent in to a short stay homeless hostel. This is an update I have
written for residents of the local area, following my meeting with the Chief
Executive of Hightown this week.
On 23 October I had an hour-long one-to-one meeting with
David Bogle, the Chief Executive of Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-56475629788596569672014-10-21T14:25:00.001+01:002014-10-21T14:25:10.952+01:00Council's tax freeze is a false economy
St Albans District Council has announced that it intends to freeze Council Tax in April, for the seventh year in a row.
Freezing Council Tax is a popular headline, but it hides a massive, false economy.
A freeze is of course a cut in real terms, as inflation reduces what the Council can get for its money.
The Council currently raises around £10million in Council Tax, out of a budget of Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-38890190682422789162014-10-08T11:29:00.000+01:002014-10-08T11:29:01.378+01:00£1.8million a year for local shops?
Small
independent retailers in St Albans district could be in line for
substantial new support from a new levy on the biggest stores and
supermarkets.
Councillors in St Albans are to debate whether to
support a nationwide move that would allow councils to raise a levy on
the largest retailers in their area. The proposed levy would be up to
8.5% of rates. It would be payable only by Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-20181342699830241222014-06-27T17:06:00.001+01:002014-06-27T17:10:07.831+01:00Digging away: a year of activity on St Albans Council
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Times;
panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-27135673798667899532014-02-07T09:39:00.001+00:002014-02-07T09:39:38.306+00:00Tories' housing strategy fails to impress
St Albans Council's new housing strategy was examined last
night (6 February) by the cross-party scrutiny committee. The strategy
set out three "key priorities" for housing, but it was what the strategy
didn't say that left councillors on the committee intrigued. The
strategy report also revealed the full scale of the failure to build
enough affordable homes in the district.
I Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-15422837157734509232014-01-19T16:47:00.001+00:002014-01-19T16:49:59.909+00:00Climate Change on St Albans Council's agenda
Good news that St Albans Council seems to be getting a bit more serious about facing up to the challenge of climate change. This week saw the Council's first meeting of the 'Carbon Reduction Task and Finish Group' - an odd name that gives the
impression we're going to solve it all in a couple of weeks. But there
are signs that this group, which initially leafed through current and
possibleSimon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-4246177175585198532014-01-17T16:36:00.001+00:002014-01-17T16:38:15.250+00:00Signs of progress at the Odyssey Cinema
Exciting news as the Odyssey Cinema has just applied for planning permission to put up the signs pictured above. As the local councillor, I certainly won't be objecting to this visible step forward in the cinema's plans.
It's due to open later this year, hopefully late spring/early summer.
In the meantime, here's what the cinema used to look like:
Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-60912591650703899782014-01-11T15:23:00.003+00:002014-01-11T15:24:05.836+00:00Carbon Reduction Group finally launches
A year after I got approval for a Carbon Reduction Group on St Albans Council, the administration has finally got one started. The first meeting is Friday 17 January at 6pm at the Council offices.
The agenda and items for discussion are at http://stalbans.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=473&MId=7615.
If you have any ideas for subjects you'd like raised at the meeting, please let me Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-23499532563971674732014-01-10T10:16:00.004+00:002014-01-10T10:16:58.530+00:00Strike your lights, Premier Inn!
It's good to see that progress is continuing with the new Premier Inn hotel in St Peters Street. What's not so good is the stream of applications from the developer to erect huge illuminated signs to advertise the hotel's presence.
The third such application has just come in to the Council (ref 5/2013/3447 if you want to make a comment on the website). The picture above shows some of the Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-84146723391532751262013-11-25T14:42:00.000+00:002013-11-26T13:02:01.653+00:00Six great initiatives proposed for St Albans budget
St Albans Greens are proposing six new initiatives as part of the Council's budget this week.
I'll be proposing an amendment to the Council's annual budget on Wednesday 27th November.
The carefully costed amendment proposes:
1. £10,000 to help the most vulnerable Council tenants look after their gardens, reversing a proposed cut by the Conservatives
2. £600 to install 15 cycle racks in Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-85319677331491873822013-10-06T16:46:00.001+01:002013-10-06T16:51:38.673+01:00Give me your ideas for St Albans' local budget
The Conservative administration in St Albans will be presenting its annual budget for debate at Council on 27 November. Government cuts mean St Albans has to find over £1m spending reductions, or find other ways to generate income.
The other parties can propose amendments to that budget, usually by suggesting different cuts in order to save or introduce different services or initiatives. In Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-65381461704644693772013-09-20T11:39:00.000+01:002013-09-20T11:39:07.992+01:00One-page guide to new recycling system
Following numerous questions about the new recycling system in St Albans, I've produced this one-page guide that gives you all the main information you need.
You can download it here.
In a nutshell:
you can now recycle more plastics (essentially trays etc that food comes in)
your cardboard should now go in a recycling box with your paper
you should have received a kitchen caddy to make Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-79601947074274936912013-07-12T10:27:00.000+01:002013-07-19T10:36:33.732+01:00Summer Report - or, What I Did Before The Holidays
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0cm;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-88640010208547023432013-07-01T20:57:00.003+01:002013-07-09T11:25:59.064+01:00Time for St Albans to Axe the Tax
Now that the Bedroom Tax is up and running, and our local MPs have refused to back the Council's request to lobby against it, I will be formally asking St Albans Council next week (July 10) to bolster its opposition to the Bedroom Tax.
The Council announced its united opposition to the controversial benefit cut, known as the Bedroom Tax, in February. Councillors voted overwhelmingly to ask Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-76181385287821683182013-06-01T15:10:00.001+01:002013-06-01T15:11:30.971+01:00Green victory as Hospitals Trust u-turns on disabled parking
Great news today as West Herts Hospitals Trust announced they will NOT be charging disabled drivers to park in hospital car parks after all.
This follows my motion to Full Council back in February, and Jack Easton's petition, which featured on the front page of the Review.
The full story is here.Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-49290804222517886722013-05-01T11:32:00.003+01:002013-05-01T11:35:37.053+01:00Supreme Court rules: Illegal city pollution MUST be tackled
St Albans Greens have been campaigning since 2009 for action on air pollution in the centre of St Albans, particularly at the Peahen and Watson's Walk junctions (see picture above from 2009). It's also one of the issues I've been pursuing since I became a councillor in 2011.
But it's been hard work. Greens got district council agreement for signs to encourage queuing drivers to switch off Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-63916973127518086512013-04-11T09:31:00.004+01:002013-04-11T09:33:39.490+01:00Green Party leader launches St Albans manifestoFrom the Herts Ad today:
Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-37157984163853874482013-02-14T16:09:00.000+00:002013-03-13T10:20:29.011+00:00Stop hospital parking charges for disabled drivers
UPDATE: St Albans Council agreed my proposal below, and will also be calling the Board of the Hospital Trust to appear before a Council committee in April. In the meantime, we've started a petition on this. Please sign here.
To the shock and surprise of many, the West Herts Hospitals Trust has announced plans to start charging disabled drivers (at least £4 per visit) to park at their Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-31274793691033342372013-01-31T10:43:00.002+00:002013-01-31T10:44:21.248+00:00Some great improvements to the Conservatives' budget
I'm happy to report that I had another successful budget night at St Albans Council on Wednesday.
Each year I have the opportunity to ask for changes to the budget and Corporate Plan, as do the other opposition parties.
I proposed an amendment that included 12 new
measures, from exploring ways to boost local businesses, to informing
residents when local trees are to be felled. One of themSimon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-50549505325139105052013-01-28T15:42:00.001+00:002013-01-28T15:53:54.917+00:0012 things I want the Council to do on Wednesday
On Wednesday, I'm looking to take advantage of the District Council's budget process for the second time, to introduce a raft of changes and ideas.
I'm proposing an amendment at the Full Council meeting, at which the year's budget and Corporate Plan will be debated and voted on. The amendment includes 12 separate changes and new measures, from exploring ways to boost local businesses, to Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-40771866612756382732013-01-22T17:11:00.000+00:002013-01-22T17:11:00.061+00:00Getting Council to act on fuel poverty
Fuel poverty is in the news a lot at the moment. The problem of households having to spend over 10% of their income on heating is growing rapidly in this country. There are two main reasons: rising bills and poor insulation.
In the St Albans parliamentary constituency 5,261 households are
fuel poor, which is 13.7%. In the Harpenden/Hitchin constituency 5,397
households are fuel poor, which Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772270352710954234.post-61703006708124548702013-01-06T13:32:00.001+00:002013-01-06T13:51:50.203+00:002013: The Year of Benefits Battles
2013 looks like being the year when benefits really start to bite. Locally we are about to see big changes to housing and council tax benefits. Nationally the government's benefits crackdown looks set to affect millions of households.
Despite what we're told, these are not simply 'skivers'. According to a report just out from the Children's Society, half a million key workers will be Simon Groverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03281860427374889846noreply@blogger.com0