Judy Shardlow

The matter of gypsies illegally living at Riverbanks Stables on Lower Luton Road was heard on Friday 26th February before His Honour Judge Robinson in the High Court. The Defendants Bob Smith and Carol Smith attended in person. However their solicitors South West Law had written to the Court. The Council was represented by counsel.

It was ordered by consent that the Defendants do by on or before 12 noon on Friday 7 May 2010 cease the use of any buildings or caravans for residential purposes and remove all caravans from the land. The Defendants were ordered to pay the Council’s costs of the claim which were assessed at £7310.

Failure by the Defendants to comply with the order would be contempt of court and result in committal proceedings which could lead to imprisonment.

We recently reported that Hertfordshire County Council’s six week waste strategy consultation which closed 18th December 2009 had identified Blackbridge Tip as a possible site for what they describe as ‘re-restoration’. In reality it would mean re-opening site for dumping tons of inert waste - a mixture of rubble and soil. In a related piece of news that affects the same site we’ve discovered that Lefarge in mid January dumped large amounts of stones, brick and slabs onto the site as well as bulldozing large amounts of earth to create a massive turning area. “Although LaFarge were asked by the county’s footpath team to improve the by way access for horse riders and carriage drivers, they have taken the request as an opportunity to create a massive access way and turning area, suitable for accommodating tipping lorries. It is obvious that this is all part of an attempt to lever open the site for renewed dumping.

Please add your signature and your comments on this proposal to the online petition. Follow this link to add your voice:
www.petition.fm/petitions/protectwheathampstead

Wheathampstead residents are doing their bit to keep St Albans District at the top of the county for recycling with an impressive 53% of our waste now being recycled. But we are very disappointed that Wheathampstead Parish Council have taken the backward step of removing all the recycling facilities at Wheathampstead Memorial Hall, without any consultation with local residents. Although the tetra pack recycling bin remains it is shortly to be removed. Cllr Judy Shardlow said: “This is a very short-sighted move by Wheathampstead Parish Council. The argument that everyone should be able to recycle at the kerbside does not stack up, as many residents in flats do not yet have full recycling facilities in place. We should be offering people as much opportunity as possible to recycle their waste, not taking away valuable facilities.”

Roadside litter and fly tipping is a problem that never goes away. Cllr Judy Shardlow regularly asks St Albans District Council’s cleaner district team to make sure our verges are kept clear of litter but she says: “Litter is often dropped from cars by people who don’t care about the countryside, but it looks awful and costs council tax payers to pick it up. It’s important that our lovely district stays lovely despite litterers and fly-tippers and if anyone sees fly-tipping taking place they should contact the council on 01727 866100″.

Cllr Judy Shardlow is asking all residents to stand up and object to Hertfordshire County Council’s inclusion of the former Blackbridge Tip in its latest waste strategy consultation. The site was close in 1974 but in the 1990’s Herts County Council and Lafarge Redlands tried to re-open the site for dumping, a move that was successfully opposed by St Albans District Council. Now twenty years later they are at it again, trying to sneak in plans to re-open this site and others through a six week consultation held just before Christmas.

Judy Shardlow said: “There is an legal agreement on the site that protects it, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped the county council from trying to sneak it into their very short consultation timed for the busy Christmas period when they hope no-one is paying attention. However, St Albans District Council objected strongly to re-opening this site. If we have to we will resort to the High Court to uphold this legal agreement in an area that is identified as a valuable wildlife habitat.”

Please add your signature and your comments on this proposal to the online petition. Follow this link to add your voice:
www.petition.fm/petitions/protectwheathampstead

Cllr Judy Shardlow is thoroughly fed up with pot holes, craters and poor quality patching on our village roads: “I know that the snow has damaged the roads, but even before the snow arrived they were unfit for purpose. The Lower Luton Road is in a dire condition, the fabric of the road is falling apart and all we get is tarmac stuffed into the holes and a promise that at some point in the Spring the road will be patched, sprayed with tar and covered in chippings. Herts County Council define this road as a ‘rural road’ but the volume and type of traffic the road carries each day is not that of a rural road. We need an appropriate level of repair and resurfacing not the shoddy fix that we always get.”

Wheathampstead High Street is also in desperate condition, rutted with potholes, poor quality patching and faded lines marking out the high street. Please sign my petition to demand that Hertfordshire County Council give repair our roads to a standard that reflects the large amount of traffic that they carry.

Sign the petition today and I will present it to Cllr Stuart Pile at County Hall

St Albans District Council will take out a legal injunction to remove gypsies illegally encamped at Riverbanks Stables in Wheathampstead. The gypsies, who own two houses in Luton, have been living illegally on the Green Belt site for over two years. The council has in the past refused two applications made to allow a change of use from Green Belt to residential, and although both applications were appealed, each appeal was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate who agreed that significant harm to the Green Belt was caused by living on the land.

The Plans North planning committee agreed last week that the council will take the matter to the High Court. If the High Court grants an injunction the family will have a short time to leave the site. If they remain their refusal to leave may be viewed as a contempt of court, which can be punished by imprisonment.

Cllr Judy Shardlow, St Albans District Councillor for Wheathampstead said “Our legal team have received very thorough and well considered legal advice and the committee supported the recommendation to take High Court action and I hope that this action will proceed quickly. The Planning Inspectorate agrees with us that the gypsies must leave, this has all been going on for far too long.”

County council plans to open up old tipping sites in the Green Belt have been met with concern by St Albans district councillors. The seven sites in the district, including Blackbridge Tip in Wheathampstead have been identified as part of the county council’s waste strategy consultation.

St Albans District Council’s Planning Policy Advisory Panel last week expressed serious concern about the short time scale of the six week public consultation as well as what was seen as attempts to lever open former ‘restored’ landfill sites under the guise of improving them. The proposals also identify four large sites in St Albans: Harper Lane, Harper Lodge Farm, Roehyde and Tyttenhanger Quarry as possible sites for processing waste including: dry and green waste recycling, in-vessel composting, thermal treatment and end of life vehicles.

Cllr Judy Shardlow, district councillor for Wheathampstead ward and vice chair of the Planning Policy Advisory Panel said: “Six weeks is not enough time for a public consultation on a waste strategy that will govern how waste is dumped, and processed recycled in the county for the next 16 years. The consultation describes the ‘re-restoration’ work proposed for the seven sites in the district as ‘landscape improvements’ but in reality all they plan to do is open up these sites to dump tons of waste – with no guarantees about what waste or how much would end up on each site .”

She added: “Blackbridge Tip, and all the sites identified for ‘re-restoration, are in Green Belt and are areas of high landscape value. Blackbridge in particular is governed by a legal agreement which prohibits any further tipping on the site. It is completely inappropriate for these locations to be included in the consultation and I urge local people to write to the county council objecting to the proposals.”

Full details about the consultation and how to respond can be found at: http://www.hertsdirect.org/envroads/environment/plan/hccdevplan/wasteplanning/
The deadline for responses is 18th December 2009.

Long overdue funding for some exciting new play equipment has finally been approved for Caesars Road play area.
The green space which is used by local children and WASPS (Wheathampstead After School Club) will benefit from £53K of funding
designed to encourage natural play.

Cllr Judy Shardlow asked for the site to considered by the district council for funding under the Play Builder scheme. She said: “There is very little play equipment there at the moment but great potential to put in some really fun and exciting kit that hopefully local kids of all ages will really love.”

A play project steering group has been set up which includes representatives from both village primary schools as well parish, district and county councillors. The steering group will seek additional funding for the project, appoint a landscape architect and be involved in setting up local consultations. If you would like to learn more about this project or to join the steering group please contact Judy Shardlow.

Gypsies illegally living at Riverbanks Stables in Wheathampstead have lost their planning appeal to allow them to continue living on the site. The gypsies who have been living on the site with their ten children and grandchildren have made repeated applications for permanent mobile homes to be allowed on the site.

Cllr Judy Shardlow said: “This is the second time the family, who own two properties in Luton, have lodged an appeal to stay on the site. The inspector has agreed with us that this cannot happen, that it would causes significant harm to the green belt and that they must leave.”

She added, “I have already spoken to the council’s enforcement team about this and they will be taking the legal steps necessary to ensure that the family comply with the council’s position.”