 We are working with Hertfordshire County Council to reimagine the route between St Albans City rail station and the City Centre.
The aim is to create a sustainable, safe and vibrant Victoria Street that enhances the quality of life for the whole community as well as supporting local businesses and tourism.
Enhancements could include more trees and planting, new places to sit, improved signage, wider pavements, protected cycle lanes, better bus stops and accessibility measures.
We are inviting local communities to share their vision for the future and tell us how they would prioritise improvements within the space available. Share your ideas online by Tuesday 12 November.
You can also find out more by attending a drop-in event on Wednesday 30 October at Marlborough Road Methodist Church, 4pm to 7pm.
 Baker Yashar Entesary learned his trade from French, Polish, Hungarian and English masters.
Now he and his wife Seda sell their home-baked produce twice a week at the Charter Market.
His sourdough bread, muffins, croissants, cakes and pastries are so delicious that customers have nicknamed him the 'Persian Paul Holloway,' a nod to his Middle Eastern roots.
Yashar runs a shop called Artichoke in Hemel Hempstead’s Old Town and decided to expand by launching his stall five months ago.
He said: “This is a great market and I have attracted a lot of new customers. Baking is my passion and there is nothing I like more than making people happy when they taste my produce.”
St Albans Mayor, Councillor Jamie Day, will lead a Remembrance Day Parade and Service in St Albans on Sunday 10 November.
He will be joined by leaders of the major faiths with everyone welcome to attend and pay their respects to the members of Britain’s armed forces who lost their lives in two World Wars and other conflicts.
The Mayor will lead a parade through the City Centre at 10.30am with representatives of the Royal British Legion, air, sea and army cadets, the Guiding and Scout movements, the Police and other uniformed services.
The procession will walk to the War Memorial near St Peter’s Church for the start of the service at around 10.50am.
Photo: scene from last year’s Remembrance Sunday service.
 Our Christmas Cracker on Sunday 17 November heralds the start of the festive season in St Albans District.
The City Centre will be closed to traffic for the celebration which runs from noon to 6pm and features numerous attractions.
There will be a Santa’s grotto, street entertainment, live music, stars from the Alban Arena pantomime and around 100 stalls selling food, drink and novelty gifts.
 Four fun and informative pop-up events are being held across St Albans District to celebrate Older Persons’ Day.
We have organised the Flourishing Lives events along with partner organisations to highlight the contribution older people make to our community.
There will be opportunities to socialise and find out about services that keep older residents safe, connected and independent. Everyone is welcome to drop in for a chat with free refreshments available:
Wheathampstead, Marford Memorial Hall, Monday 21 October, 10am to 12:30pm;
St Albans Civic Centre, Wednesday 23 October, 1.30pm to 4pm;
Redbourn Village Hall, Thursday 24 October, 9:30am to 12pm;
London Colney Caledon Centre, Monday 28 October 10am to 12:30pm.
Pensioners who are not in receipt of Pension Credit will no longer receive a fuel allowance payment from the Government to help with their heating costs.
If you know someone who is of pensionable age, on a low income and not currently receiving pension credit, please ask them to check this website to find out if they are entitled
It is possible to have savings of over £16,000 and still receive Pension Credit and pensioners who are currently receiving Attendance Allowance may qualify even if they also receive a relatively high state pension or a private pension.
We have identified almost 200 residents who we believe may be entitled to Pension Credit and are not currently claiming it.
We have written to them to encourage them to make a claim. If you have received such a letter from the Council, please act on it. You can obtain help from Citizens Advice.
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 Christine Ovenden is celebrating 20 years as a volunteer for Special Olympics St Albans - a charity that provides sports training for people with learning disabilities.
She has helped St Albans-based athletes enjoy great success with five winning at this year’s Special Olympics World Games for Team GB at football, golf, athletics and an equestrian event.
The athletes use local leisure centres to train, including Westminster Lodge and Harpenden, both of which are managed by Everyone Active in partnership with the Council.
Christine was volunteering at an art therapy class when she came across the local Special Olympics Club.
She said: “I have always enjoyed sport and believed it should be accessible to all. Special Olympics is all inclusive and there is a sport for everyone. Seeing the enjoyment and team spirit is the most rewarding experience.”
Photo: Christine, 4th from right, celebrates with Sosa athletes and staff at the Special Olympics National Games in Leicester.
 You can keep up with what local police teams are doing via the community messaging system Herts Connected.
Sign up to this service and you can choose to receive free police messages as well as Neighbourhood Watch, Action Fraud or Police and Crime Commissioner alerts.
In addition, you can use the community voice platform, echo, to let the Police know what you think they should be prioritising in your area.
Your feedback will help shape local policing priorities, initiatives and campaigns. You can give your thoughts here.
Violent crime and anti-social behaviour fell by 11 per cent in St Albans City Centre following a police crackdown.
Targeted, high-visibility police patrols were undertaken under Hertfordshire Police’s Operation Hotspot.
Fourteen people were arrested, 13 stop searches were carried out and two knives were recovered during the Herts Police and Crime Commissioner’s initiative to provide extra patrols in crime hotspots.
The City Centre was identified as one of the hotspots with officers clocking up 800 extra hours of high-visibility patrols in the period from May until mid-September.
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Take care to properly dispose of any Halloween waste you might generate such as pumpkins.
Pumpkins can be recycled with your food waste and any particularly large ones can be left beside the food caddy for collection.
You can find out more at the Love Food Hate Waste website, which contains some tasty pumpkin recipes, and at Recycle Now.
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 Fireworks are often used during celebrations in the autumn and winter months - and we are asking residents to consider using quieter ones.
Loud bangs and flashes may be upsetting for some people such those who are neurodiverse, have anxiety or have experienced trauma.
They can also terrify many animals including dogs, cats, horses and farm animals as highlighted by the RSPCA's #BangOutOfOrder campaign.
Quieter fireworks are widely available with many retailers stocking them.
We are also encouraging people and businesses to limit the use of fireworks to specific dates such as Bonfire Night, Diwali and New Year’s Eve.
 Thousands of people turned out for last month’s St Albans Feastival – a celebration of the District’s important food and drink sector.
We organised the family-friendly event in the City Centre with the support of partners including St Albans City Centre BID and SA Law.
Among the attractions were a cookery theatre, live music and 100 stalls offering an astonishing variety of food and drink products from local businesses.
Half-term, Saturday 19 October to Saturday 2 November
Verulamium Museum: Celebrate the launch of Greg Jenner’s new Totally Chaotic History book with a museum trail and take part in family workshops including Archaeology, The Roman Kitchen and Mosaic Making.
Museum + Gallery: Explore the stories and history of Ankara fabric - and print and weave your own one - for Black History Month or create your own Pots with Faces in our clay workshop.
Details of more half-term activities are here.
New exhibition: Maria Meyer: Thingchronicity, from Friday 15 November, Museum + Gallery, Free.
This November the Keeper’s Galleries will be taken over by multidisciplinary artist Maria Meyer’s captivating sculptures, installations and paintings.
Meyer works primarily with existing objects, arranging them as conceptual assemblages that explore our relationship with artefacts and our immense desire as humans to be surrounded by material objects.
Image: Maria Meyer, Somebody Else's Problem.
New exhibition: Mapping an Uneven Path, from Friday 15 November, Verulamium Museum, included with admission
Curated by Kyle Lewis Jordan, this exhibition explores the ways in which Romans practised and understood medicine and healing, as well as their cultural attitudes towards disability. Part of our series Revisiting the Romans.
Image: Iapyx removing arrowhead from Aeneas: Naples Archaeological Museum.
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A by-election will take place on Thursday 17 October for a vacant seat in the Harpenden North & Rural ward of St Albans City and District Council.
Voters are reminded they will need to show approved photo ID to vote at a polling station. This includes a current or expired UK passport or driver’s licence.
They should also check which polling station they should vote at in case it is different to the one they usually attend. More information here.
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Our Resident Engagement team is inviting tenants and leaseholders to help shape the services that matter most to them.
This Initiative offers them the chance to join residents' forums where they can scrutinise Council services to ensure maximum value.
We want these forums to reflect our community's diversity, with support and training available for those who join.
Whether improving housing services or sharing ideas, tenants and leaseholders can play a key role in shaping their neighbourhood.
We are currently holding a technical consultation on whether a draft Local Plan for the District has met all the necessary legal requirements.
The Local Plan is a blueprint for future growth and identifies land for infrastructure, employment and housing developments in the years to 2041.
We have now started what is known as the Regulation 19 Consultation to allow for public comment on the Plan’s compliance and 'soundness' with national planning policies.
The consultation runs until Friday 8 November and you can find out more about it here.
 St Albans Healthy Hub is your free centre for health and wellbeing information, advice and support.
You can get help 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.
If you’re expecting a baby, Hertfordshire County Council’s Love Your Bump campaign can help you stay healthy throughout your pregnancy, so that your baby has the healthiest possible start in life.
The campaign offers free specialist support and services to help you stay active, manage healthy weight gain, reduce the amount of alcohol you drink and quit smoking for you and your baby.
Enjoy instant and easy access to the free services, with the added convenience of no waiting lists and session times that are designed to fit around you.
Healthwatch Hertfordshire is seeking your views to inform a new campaign that raises awareness about the stigma around drugs and alcohol.
Stigma is when a person, or group of people, are seen in a negative way or myths are believed about them.
The goal of the campaign is to reduce myths and improve understanding around drugs and alcohol and give residents, carers, and professionals tools and information that can help them support people who face drug and or alcohol-related challenges.
Please help by giving your views here.
Our partners at Hertfordshire County Council want your help in shaping a new drug and alcohol strategy for the next five years.
They've consulted with experts and organisations that support those with substance abuse issues. Now they want to hear your thoughts on their proposed goals before we publish the new strategy.
The strategy has three main aims: to combat the supply of illegal drugs, improve access to support services for those seeking help with an addiction, and prevent young people from becoming involved in substance abuse.
You can complete the consultation survey here.
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