As your local Councillors, Melvyn Teare and Rod Perks have the ability to call in planning applications to committee.  This could be if you are concerned about the impact it would have on the local area, or equally that planning officers don’t allow something simply because the rules are inflexible. Before you get to this […]

In response to a petition presented to St Albans City & District Council by CLASH: Council motion in response to CLASH petition That Council thanks the local community action group, CLASH, for their petition opposing the allocation of land, east of Harpenden Road, as a strategic housing allocation by St Albans City and Distinct Council. […]

St Albans City and District Council has organised a series of public meetings for residents, businesses and community groups to air their views as part of a public consultation on its proposed strategy for locating future development in the District for the period 2011 to 2028. The proposed strategy sets out proposals on the scale, […]

Planning committee member Councillor Allan Siao Ming Witherick has welcomed the implementation of a new planning system which will hopefully see applications turned around faster. The new My Service Planning facility, which will replace the current planning applications search facility, will provide a greater range of searches and more detail about each application and its […]

With the parliamentary party in government, Liberal Democrats often get asked why are they in a coalition with the Tories. Have “we” given up our principles for power? Do we agree with what the coalition government is doing? All kinds of different questions, especially in light of recent entrapment exercises with the press which showed […]

This week I, Councillor Allan Siao Ming Witherick, met with the new head mistress of St Albans Girls School which sits just to the East of Harpenden Road. This was an opportunity to look around the school site and see the conditions that the pupils work in and to hear about their proposals for the […]

Many of us take for granted how St Albans looks, it’s traditional blue brick streets, the Cathedral and old familiar landmarks.  But we also know that over time it has changed substantially, with new developments and extensions to existing properties. This has not been due to accident.  Some of it has been due to parts […]