 Our prestigious City Centre development Jubilee Square is on schedule to welcome its first occupants over the next few weeks.
The £64 million project was carried out by the Council to regenerate a run-down area of the City Centre and has seen the creation of two landmark buildings.
All pre-occupation requirements have been finalised. This has included securing the building warranty, ensuring all planning conditions were met and completing some highway works.
The sale of all 93 flats to Watford Community Housing will be finalised this month, within the deadline set by Homes England.
We will retain nomination rights for 33 of the flats and these will go to people on our social housing register. This will include some tenants from Telford Court which is being decommissioned to allow for the redevelopment of the site.
The remaining flats will be sold on a shared-ownership basis to help people get on to the property ladder.
Secure your vote for the General Election on Thursday 4 July and note these key dates.
If you are not already registered to vote at your current address, the deadline to register to vote is 23.59 on Tuesday 18 June.
If you can’t make it to a polling station, the deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Wednesday 19 June and the deadline to apply for a proxy vote is 5pm on Wednesday 26 June.
You will need to bring approved photo ID to the polling station to vote. If you don’t have ID, the deadline to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate is 5pm on Wednesday 26 June.
Click on the button below to find out more information including how to register to vote, make the applications mentioned above or contact our Electoral Services Team.
Don’t forget that Alban Day is being held on Saturday 22 June with thousands of people expected to enjoy the City Centre event.
For the first time, the annual Alban Street Festival will be held on the same day as the Alban Pilgrimage to create one unmissable event.
The Pilgrimage is a vibrant procession of giant puppets that tell the story of Alban, Britain’s first Christian martyr.
It begins at 11am from St Peter's Church and will culminate in a gathering at the Cathedral Orchard where people can enjoy a picnic and many family-friendly activities.
Alongside the regular Charter Market, we will be providing a number of other exciting attractions such as live music at the Clock Tower, craft activities, henna tattoos and the chance to interact with actors playing figures from the City’s past.
There will also be activities by the Vintry Garden to celebrate Windrush Day which is on 22 June too. There will be musical performances, Caribbean food and the chance to play dominoes, a game that is an integral part of Caribbean culture.
 St Albans Greener Together – an exciting project to encourage climate action across the District – was launched at SustFest Expo.
The project is creating a network of residents, community groups and businesses who are committed to a more sustainable future.
Backed by the Council, the project has been developed with the assistance of the University of Hertfordshire.
SustFest Expo is a new community-led event which was held at the Alban Arena to kick off the annual St Albans Sustainability Festival.
The Greener Together team ran a stall to raise awareness of the project, explain its aims and recruit members who want to join the effort to improve sustainability.
You can find out more information, including an introduction video, here.
 We’ve been congratulated for completing the first wave of our ambitious project to decarbonise our social housing.
The Department of Energy and Net Zero confirmed we had retrofitted 136 properties to a high standard.
The homes were equipped with solar panels, low energy lighting and insulation to reduce harmful emissions and cut tenants’ future energy bills. There were also some upgrades to windows, external doors and ventilation.
The £2.25 million works were supported by a Government grant of £1.48 million. The remainder came from our housing budget which is financed by rent from tenants rather than Council Tax.
We are now undertaking £18 million of eco-friendly improvements to more than 900 homes, having secured a further £8.45 million grant.
Photo: solar panels and external wall insulation at one of the homes to benefit from the first wave of improvements.
 Our recycling and waste contractor Veolia has launched its sustainablity fund for 2024.
The firm is offering grants of up to £1,500 to community groups for projects that improve the local environment.
This might be for activities that enhance biodiversity, promote recycling or the reuse of materials.
Any not-for-profit organisation, community group or resident can apply to the Sustainability Fund here. Applications close on Monday 30 September.
Since launching in 2021, the fund has supported over 260 projects around the country with over £200,000 in funding.
Café Roma’s new owner has gained a top food hygiene rating after signing up to our food mentoring scheme.
Velina Grudeva, who recently took over the City Centre business, is one of the first people to benefit from the initiative.
She was given training by our food, health and safety team about how to comply with complex food safety legislation.
This included advice on storage, preparation, cleanliness and allergens as well as other issues.
Further details about the scheme, including charges, are available from our food, health and safety team at fhrs@stalbans.gov.uk and on the Council’s website here.
Congratulations to Bryan Hawkins who has run his Charter Market business for a quarter of a century.
Bryan is at his Market Golf stall every week on both Wednesday and Saturday, selling an astonishing range of new and used golf equipment.
Clubs, bags, balls, caps, shoes, gloves and tees are among the items that Bryan, a keen golfer himself, has available.
He said: “I have been here a long time now and have built up a good customer base. I have a reputation that I fiercely protect for giving outstanding customer service and value.
“The Charter Market is unique – I know of no other market that provides such a variety of specialised products and traders. I urge anyone not familiar with it to come and have a look.”
Our Eric Morecambe Centre in Harpenden has been awarded a score of ‘excellent’ by Sport England’s Quest scheme.
The award followed a tough, two-day examination of its facilities and customer service, including a mystery visit during the pantomime season.
Theatre Manager Kate Barton said: “We are very proud to have received an excellent rating. This is our first time taking part in the assessment, and we are thrilled to receive this score which is a testament to the fantastic team we have here.”
The EMC was built on the site of the town’s former sports centre as part of a multi-million redevelopment by the Council and is run on the Council’s behalf by leisure contractor Everyone Active.
You can find a full programme of events here.
 We are supporting a national campaign urging people to dispose of lithium-ion batteries properly – following an alarming rise in bin lorry fires.
These type of batteries are used to power mobile phones along with many other electrical devices.
If thrown into a waste bin, they can cause a blaze when compressed by a bin lorry’s crusher.
Battery fires in bin lorries and at waste sites in the UK have reached an all time high - over 1,200 in the last year, an increase of 71% from 700 in 2022.
Batteries should never be binned, but always recycled at supermarkets or at a household waste and recycling centre. They can also be put out in a bag for our weekly collection of small electricals. More information about the campaign is available here.
Photo: a bin lorry destroyed by a battery fire.
Our Winter Beds Project – run with the Open Door charity and other organisations – helped keep 22 rough sleepers safe this year.
The annual project provides emergency accommodation for those who need it during the cold winter months.
This winter, the Bunkabins were used on 106 nights with nine of the guests moved on to long-term housing and another seven moved into temporary accommodation.
Open Door recruited and managed more than 60 volunteers who helped to run the project.
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Councillor Jamie Day has been elected the new Mayor of the City and District of St Albans and has chosen his charity for the year.
He will raise money for St Albans Fund for the Future during his civic year.
The Fund, managed by Hertfordshire Community Foundation, distributes grants to smaller charities and community groups within the District.
As Mayor, Cllr Day will chair Full Council meetings and represent the City at a variety of events, often involving voluntary and charity groups.
His wife Liz (pictured right) is the Mayoress and Cllr Jenni Murray (left) is the Deputy Mayor.
One of the new Mayor's first duties was to lead a moving ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Mayor Day attended the event at the War Memorial in St Albans City Centre along with the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Jenni Murray, and former British Army soldier John Gauthier, a member of the Royal British Legion.
Town Crier Stephen Potter read a proclamation to remind people of the importance of the Allied invasion of the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944.
The Rev Mark Dearnley of St Peter’s Church read a poem by a D-Day veteran and led a minute’s silence. Around 50 residents attended the event to pay their respects to the fallen.
In the evening, the Mayor lit a commemorative beacon as darkness fell at Highfield Park.
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 Our Museums team is celebrating Refugee Week, which runs from Monday 17 to Sunday 23 June, with an an exhibition of paintings on the railings outside the Museum + Gallery on Market Place.
The exhibition is organised by the charity Herts Welcomes Refugees and is in keeping with the theme of this year’s Refugee Week, Our Home.
People whom Herts Welcomes Refugees have helped settle in the county were asked to produce their Visions of Home and the result is a colourful and stimulating display of artwork.
 LAST CHANCE: Becoming Us – African Caribbean St Albans, Keeper’s Galleries, Museum + Gallery, until Sunday 30 June, Free.
Explore the role of the African Caribbean community in St Albans and celebrate its contribution to the District over the past 80 years.
Co-curated by LeeAnna's Wish and Active Lifestyles, the exhibition aims to inspire the next generation and encourage people from different backgrounds to embrace a shared history.
The focus is on the period between 1948 to 1971 - the Windrush years - but there is also reference to black St Albans residents before and after this time
Among the themes are working lives, African Caribbean culture and commercial music.
LAST CHANCE: Women everywhere, doing everything, all at once, Verulamium Museum, until Thursday 4 July, Free with admission charge
This is your last chance to meet the inspirational women archaeologists of the 1930s, Tessa Wheeler and teenager Helen Carlton-Smith, who brought Verulamium to life.
You can then step further back in time to meet four women from the Iron Age and Roman times - Boudica, Regina, Flavia and Sabina - who also left their mark on our history.
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 St Albans Healthy Hub is your free one-stop-shop for health and wellbeing information, advice and support.
You can get advice on many issues including how to lose weight, quit smoking, cut down on alcohol, become more active and manage money.
The organisations involved include Citizens Advice, Communities 1st, Mind in Mid Herts and many more. You can find more information here.
 The NHS is urging people aged 40 and over to come forward for a potentially life-saving blood pressure check.
Around one in four adults in the UK has high blood pressure, but only half of them are aware of it.
If left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia.
People who are Black or South Asian are more likely to be at risk, so please do come forward for a check.
Pharmacies across the county will provide a free check for anyone over 40 who hasn’t had their blood pressure taken in the past six months. You can find more information here.
Hertfordshire police are working with other organisations to make people aware of the scourge of cuckooing.
Cuckooing is where criminals exploit vulnerable individuals by taking over their home to conduct illegal activities such as drug dealing.
The police want people to understand what cuckooing is, how to spot any occurences in our neighbourhood and how to report any suspicions by calling 101.
You can find out more about this criminal activity here.
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 Hertfordshire County Council is working with Samaritans to deliver free suicide prevention training for frontline workers and volunteers.
The training will equip people with practical skills so they can have an effective conversation and assess risks. This can help them make successful interventions to save lives.
If you would like to find out more, then please email SuicidePreventionHerts@hertfordshire.gov.uk for more information.
 Don't forget to register for our Landlord Forum on Wednesday 26 June if you have a property to let.
This is an opportunity for private landlords and letting agents to learn about new legislation, receive advice from guest speakers and discuss housing issues.
The Forum will take place from 6.30pm at the Council Chamber in the Civic Centre, St Peters Street. You can find out more information here and book your place here.
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