St Albans & district · Local news you can trust
Andrew Rumsey was installed at the Cathedral on Saturday before 1,500 people, ending a vacancy that ran 374 days from Bishop Alan Smith's last day in office.
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Council
St Albans council abolition paused: May 2027 poll goes ahead
The plan to abolish St Albans council in 2028 and merge it with Dacorum is on hold under a government review. The district election on 6 May 2027 goes ahead.
Local Info
St Albans planning: Local Plan adopted, 15,045 homes
St Albans adopted its new Local Plan on 9 September, replacing the 1994 plan: 15,045 homes by 2041 on twelve strategic sites. Plus live applications.
Schools
Beaumont School: four blocks to go in phase two rebuild
The Department for Education wants four Beaumont School buildings demolished and one part three-storey teaching block put up. Registered 4 September.
St Albans
St Albans fireworks: Sat 7 Nov, Verulamium, from £10
The St Albans Fireworks Spectacular is confirmed for Saturday 7 November in Verulamium Park. Gates 6pm, display 7.30pm, early bird adults £10 to 16 October.
St Albans
St Albans Christmas Cracker: Sun 22 Nov, five roads shut
The Christmas Cracker runs noon to 6pm on Sunday 22 November. Five city centre roads close, about 100 stalls, a free Santa's grotto and a Ferris wheel.
Harpenden
Harpenden Christmas Carnival: Sun 22 Nov, noon to 6pm
Harpenden's Christmas Carnival runs noon to 6pm on Sunday 22 November, free, with the Farmers' Market from 10am. Batford and Southdown light up later that week.
St Albans
St Albans panto: Beauty and the Beast, 4 Dec, from £16
Beauty and the Beast runs at the Alban Arena from Friday 4 December to Sunday 3 January, 54 performances, from £16 plus a £3.50 booking fee. Joe Swash stars.
Food hygiene
St Albans food hygiene ratings: 814 fives, one zero
Three in four rated premises in St Albans district hold five stars. Nineteen hold two or below, and a Harpenden kitchen has held a zero since 9 June.
Roads
A414 Park Street closure: every weekend from 11 September
The A414 between M1 junction 8 and Park Street closes 8pm Friday to 6am Monday from 11 September, until 2027. The diversion runs through St Albans.
Local Plan
St Albans Local Plan: 611-name petition, vote on 9 September
A 611-signature petition asks councillors to reject the Local Plan on Wednesday. Officers say they cannot change it: the only choice is adopt or do not adopt.
Local Plan
St Albans Local Plan ruled sound, adoption vote 9 September
Two government inspectors signed the plan off on 21 August and councillors vote on adopting it on 9 September, replacing the 1994 plan. Three sites were added, sixteen deleted.
Community
St Albans defibrillators: mayor's appeal funds three more
A civic year raised £4,760, enough for three defibrillators and two CPR training manikins. The volunteers who carry them still need £6,600 to replace five ageing units.
St Albans is built next to the Roman city it replaced. Verulamium is the park at the bottom of the hill and the abbey is at the top, and the medieval clock tower is still standing in the middle of the market. Harpenden is four miles north with its own common and its own high street, and around them are Wheathampstead, Redbourn, London Colney, Sandridge and Bricket Wood.
St Albans Daily reports what the record shows. St Albans City and District Council decides planning, bins, car parks and licensing; Hertfordshire County Council runs the roads and the schools. In a district with this much conservation area and this much green belt, the planning register is where nearly every significant local argument begins, and we go through it with the source linked on every fact.
Every fact is linked to the official document it came from.