Latest news with #StAlbansCityandDistrictCouncil
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Champions wanted for 'treasured' city park
A new group says it is hoping to protect a beloved city park which is home to 100 acres of "stunning landscapes" and "rich Roman history". Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is a popular tourist spot welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. The local council owns the park and is planning to spend £2.2m on improvements, including £25,000 of proceeds from the film Wonka, which shot a scene in Verulamium. "People really love the park, but they're a bit upset – it's looking a little tired at the moment," said Bill Free, the chair of the new Friends of Verulamium Park group. "I like the lake and river, but they've been a bit sad in recent times." The group said it wanted "to give a voice to all park users" and enhance the area's wildlife and "natural beauty". "It's a lovely park; it's got a nice look back over St Albans and you can see the cathedral," said Mr Free. "There's a large playground, a splash park in summer; it's got wildlife and the Roman wall. People really value its presence." He said although there had been issues with the quality of the lake and littering, "actually the council and Environment Agency are doing an awful lot for the park". St Albans City and District Council set up a green space action plan which included the idea of a "friends group", he explained. "It's very common, most parks in London have this. "We hope to be able to help the council spend their funds in a way that suits the people who use the park." Group members will be asked to pay £10 per year to help fund things like information boards and litter picks. "We're going to largely rely on voluntary activity but we'd like a fund to be able to do things," Mr Free added. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Wonka movie park's million-pound makeover Council taking action over city's smelly lake Major movie set to be filmed in Roman park St Albans City and District Council
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Champions wanted for 'treasured' city park
A new group says it is hoping to protect a beloved city park which is home to 100 acres of "stunning landscapes" and "rich Roman history". Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is a popular tourist spot welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. The local council owns the park and is planning to spend £2.2m on improvements, including £25,000 of proceeds from the film Wonka, which shot a scene in Verulamium. "People really love the park, but they're a bit upset – it's looking a little tired at the moment," said Bill Free, the chair of the new Friends of Verulamium Park group. "I like the lake and river, but they've been a bit sad in recent times." The group said it wanted "to give a voice to all park users" and enhance the area's wildlife and "natural beauty". "It's a lovely park; it's got a nice look back over St Albans and you can see the cathedral," said Mr Free. "There's a large playground, a splash park in summer; it's got wildlife and the Roman wall. People really value its presence." He said although there had been issues with the quality of the lake and littering, "actually the council and Environment Agency are doing an awful lot for the park". St Albans City and District Council set up a green space action plan which included the idea of a "friends group", he explained. "It's very common, most parks in London have this. "We hope to be able to help the council spend their funds in a way that suits the people who use the park." Group members will be asked to pay £10 per year to help fund things like information boards and litter picks. "We're going to largely rely on voluntary activity but we'd like a fund to be able to do things," Mr Free added. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Wonka movie park's million-pound makeover Council taking action over city's smelly lake Major movie set to be filmed in Roman park St Albans City and District Council
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Champions wanted for St Albans' treasured Verulamium Park
A new group says it is hoping to protect a beloved city park which is home to 100 acres of "stunning landscapes" and "rich Roman history".Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire, is a popular tourist spot welcoming hundreds of thousands of visitors local council owns the park and is planning to spend £2.2m on improvements, including £25,000 of proceeds from the film Wonka, which shot a scene in Verulamium."People really love the park, but they're a bit upset – it's looking a little tired at the moment," said Bill Free, the chair of the new Friends of Verulamium Park group. "I like the lake and river, but they've been a bit sad in recent times." The group said it wanted "to give a voice to all park users" and enhance the area's wildlife and "natural beauty"."It's a lovely park; it's got a nice look back over St Albans and you can see the cathedral," said Mr Free."There's a large playground, a splash park in summer; it's got wildlife and the Roman wall. People really value its presence."He said although there had been issues with the quality of the lake and littering, "actually the council and Environment Agency are doing an awful lot for the park". St Albans City and District Council set up a green space action plan which included the idea of a "friends group", he explained."It's very common, most parks in London have this."We hope to be able to help the council spend their funds in a way that suits the people who use the park." Group members will be asked to pay £10 per year to help fund things like information boards and litter picks."We're going to largely rely on voluntary activity but we'd like a fund to be able to do things," Mr Free added. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minister disappointed after council scraps prayers
A church minister has said he is disappointed by a council's decision to scrap prayers before meetings. The Reverend Peter Crumpler from St Paul's Church in St Albans said the decision was "a shame". St Albans City and District Council voted to go ahead with the move last month. Liberal Democrat Sinead Howland, who proposed the motion, has said it means no councillor will "feel like an outsider in their own chamber". Mr Crumpler said he was "very disappointed", as the prayers said in meetings had not always been Christian. "This isn't a decision taken against the Christian community, it's a decision to make the council meetings no-go areas for religion," said Mr Crumpler, speaking to the BBC Three Counties Radio on Sunday. "Although many people in St Albans would have a faith, and many people in St Albans would be sympathetic to faith, the council is saying 'No, we want no overt space for this in our council meetings', and I think that's a shame." Like many councils across England, St Albans has had a tradition of inviting a local religious leader - often the mayor's chaplain - to say prayers before meetings of the full council. A motion was brought to council to cease the practice and allow for a minute's silence to be held instead, for those councillors who wished to reflect before making decisions. Twenty-five members agreed and 20 voted against. Sinead Howland, who proposed the motion, said: "It ensures that our council meetings mirror the diversity of our community, allowing no councillor to feel like an outsider in their own chamber. "Numerous councils have already implemented this change, recognising the necessity for a neutral and professional environment where all members can begin their work on equal footing." The National Secular Society said: "We congratulate the council on its decision to remove prayers from the beginning of meetings, to ensure no-one in attendance feels alienated or excluded. "The motion allows the council to hold a moment of silence instead, offering everyone the chance to pray or reflect silently if they wish. "We urge all councils across the country which still hold prayers to take heed and follow St Albans's example." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Councils hold fast on prayers stance Call to end prayers before council meetings St Albans City and District Council St Peter's Church, St Albans National Secular Society
BBC News
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
St Albans park used for Wonka film to have millions spent on it
More than a million pounds will be spent improving a park that featured in the Wonka will be carried out on the artificial lakes and meadow at Verulamium Park, in St Albans, which are reported to have unpleasant algae and smells in warmer months. St Albans City and District Council said it would enhance the quality of the lakes and improve biodiversity. In 2022, the producers of the blockbuster film paid the council £41,000 to use the park, with £25,000 ring-fenced for improvements, the authority said. The council, which owns the park, said the work would cost "a seven-figure sum" and it had "set aside a £2.2 million budget". The lakes were built more than 80 years ago to a design that would not be allowed today, it said. The lakes are heavily silted. That will be removed and recycled to provide "highly fertile planting areas around the edges". Helen Campbell, a Liberal Democrat councillor who chairs the public realm committee, said the plans were "for an area of the park that is in need of improvement". The council said Bell Meadow, currently closed for safety reasons, is a flood-plain and the ground is often underwater or did investigate returning the River Ver, which flows through St Albans, to its natural path, but it said that could cost between £4m and £6m, which was "well beyond the available budget". Its preferred option is to keep the river in its current channel, but create a wetland in the meadow, along with a permanent, raised footpath."The goal is to transform this area of much-loved Verulamium Park and create new wetlands, footpaths, wildlife habitats and nature walks. "It won't solve the flooding as the area is a flood-plain, and with climate change we are getting more and more deluges of rain," Campbell added. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
