Category: Archived news

Plantlife’s annual campaign calling all garden owners not to mow during May – liberating your lawns and providing a space for nature. Please visit Plantlife’s website to find out more, including what you can do:

THE NOMINATION PERIOD CLOSED TUESDAY 4TH APRIL AT 16.00 HOURS

St Albans District Council has since published the Statements of Persons Nominated, along with a Notice of Uncontested Election for Harpenden Rural Parish Council. This means that all candidates nominated in our Parish are already considered to be elected, without needing to hold a poll on 4th May 2023.

We will have two vacancies which we will hope to fill by co-option at our Annual meeting in May, and we will post information about this very soon.

Please note that these Notices cover all the parish councils in the District as well as Harpenden Rural:

Parish council nominees
Notice of uncontested parish elections

There is also a Notice of Persons Nominated for the District Council here.

Please share this information with friends, neighbours and relatives to alert them to the introduction of voter ID.

Electors will need to show photographic ID to vote in person at the local elections this May.

You must also be registered to vote by 11:59pm on Monday 17 April 2023.

Accepted forms of ID include a UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Commonwealth passport; a UK or EEA drivers’ licence; and some concessionary travel passes, such as an older person’s bus pass or an Oyster 60+ card. Voters will be able to use expired ID if they are still recognisable from the photo.

Anyone who does not have one of the accepted forms of ID will be able to apply for free ID.

You can do this online at gov.uk or by completing a paper form, available to download (same website) or by contacting St Albans District Council. Residents can either drop in at the Civic Centre or call 01727 819294 and the form will be posted.

The full list of accepted ID is available on the Electoral Commission’s website, along with more information about the new requirement and details of how to apply for the free ID: electoralcommission.org.uk/voterID.

Those people registered to vote by post do not need any further proof of ID.

If you wish to register for a postal vote, you must do so by 5pm on Tuesday 18 April.

It is with great sadness that Harpenden Rural Parish Council has learned of the death of Her Majesty, The Queen.

The Parish Council extends condolences to members of the Royal Family on behalf of all residents within the area.

We wish King Charles a long and prosperous reign.

St Albans will soon start to conduct a Community Governance Review (CGR) of the parish and town councils’ electoral arrangements in the District, starting around January 2022 and concluding in approximately December 2022.  Publication of a timetable has been postponed but is expected later in October 2021.

There will be meetings arranged by St Albans District Council to promote the CGR and to encourage residents to give their comments and opinions. We will publish details here as soon as there is more information from the District Council.

The purpose of a CGR is to ensure that an area’s electoral and community governance arrangements are appropriate and continue to reflect local identities.  A CGR can alter the boundary of an existing parish or group a number of parishes together in a grouped parish council.  The outcome for Harpenden Rural Parish Council will be determined by evidence and opinion gathered from local residents, and any changes arising from the CGR will take effect from the next scheduled parish council elections in May 2023

Any changes arising from the CGR will take effect from the next scheduled parish council elections in May 2023 .

Unlike the LGBCE review completed in 2020, a CGR can alter the outer boundaries of parishes.

The St Albans District Council (Electoral Changes) Order 2021 was made on 28 July 2021. It is a law to implement recommendations made by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) for new electoral arrangements in St Albans District Council.

New ward arrangements for St Albans District Council have now successfully completed a 40 day period of Parliamentary scrutiny and will come into force at the local elections in May 2022. Under these new arrangements, Harpenden Rural will move from Redbourn into the new Harpenden North and Rural district ward.

The Order for St Albans District Council can be viewed through the following link.

The Order refers to a map which can be viewed here.

Following LGBCE’s review, St Albans will be conducting its own Community Governance Review (CGR) of the parish and town councils’ electoral arrangements in the District, starting around October 2021.  Any changes arising from the CGR will take effect from the next scheduled parish council elections in May 2023 . Unlike the LGBCE review, a CGR can alter the outer boundaries of parishes.

The website for Harpenden Rural Parish Council has been refreshed and updated. If you have any comments then please contact the Parish Clerk, parishclerk@harpendenruralpc.org.uk.