Monthly Archives: October 2014

“The Elegance and Scandals of Georgian St Albans” lecture series

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Local historian and Honorary Alderman Kate Morris will give an illuminating account of the social life and politics of elegant Georgian St Albans in a series of four lectures in the Assembly Room of the Grade II* Town Hall and The Mansion House at Oaklands College (built c.1782). The first lecture takes place on 30th October,

These Thursday evening lectures have a guided walk on the following Sunday to bring the scandals of Georgian St Albans to life.

You can buy tickets for the lectures and guided walks from the Tourist Information Office, the Verulamium Museum and St Albans Museum. All profits will go towards renaissance: St Albans – your new museum and gallery at the heart of the city.

See this flyer for more details of the events.

 

Annual General Meeting and subscription renewal

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The first APRA Annual General Meeting will be held at Spicer Street Church on 18 November – free tea/coffee and biscuits will be served from 7.30 pm and the meeting will start promptly at 8.00 pm.

Reports on the past year’s business and financial status will be presented and opened to discussion. We also hope that there will be a short presentation from the charity Transition Streets on how street-sized groups working together can achieve energy savings.

IMPORTANT – There will be three vacancies on the committee for the coming year and we are keen to find enthusiastic new members prepared to give some time to working with us. Nominations should name Proposer and Seconder and include a very brief (100 words or less) introduction to the nominee and their interest in APRA, which will be advertised to voters. The nominations must be sent to Secretary APRA, 13 College Street, AL3 4PW or by e-mail to secretary@aprastalbans.org to arrive by the deadline of 28 October. Electronic votes will be available for those who cannot attend the AGM, but only paid-up members for 2014/2015 can vote.

ALSO IMPORTANT – Membership subscriptions are due from 1st November – please join or renew now. (£5 per individual, £8 for two members in the same household, £10 for commercial bodies). New members should download and complete an application form, which also gives payment options; renewing members need do so only if their details have changed. Payment will also be accepted at the AGM on arrival.

 

The Spotted Bull latest news

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  • The public house has been renamed The Brickyard by the owner, who wants to run it as a ‘sophisticated tapas and wine bar’.
  • The owner’s appeal against the SADC Enforcement Notice to remove the unauthorised side and rear extensions is set to be heard on 2 December. APRA has sent a submission supporting the enforcement.
  • The SADC planning committee overturned their own officers’ recommendation not to allow full paving of the front and rear gardens, despite objections – the latter has now been completed to within less than 1 metre of the boundary with neighbouring properties.

Notwithstanding the unsettled appeal, an application to vary the existing licence to cover the new layout (to midnight, plus 1 hour Friday & Saturday) was heard on 18 September and refused following strong objections by APRA and others on the grounds that it would result in unacceptable increase in noise disturbance. The owner has now re-applied with some conditions to limit noise, e.g., automatic door closers into the garden but noise from the paved garden itself will only be controlled by the ‘best endeavours’ of the management staff. Given recent experience of wine bars we think these conditions are inadequate and will again object. The SADC consultation period ends on 28 October.