WELCOME TO OUR SITE

Richard and Trish attended the "topping out" ceremony at the Subsea7 building in Brighton Road on 4 September

Richard and Trish attended the “topping out” ceremony at the Subsea7 building in Brighton Road

Contact Richard at  richard.clifton@sutton.gov.uk and Trish at trish.fivey@sutton.gov.uk

Richard’s charitable appeal, as Mayor of Sutton for 2016-17, to support Sutton Shopmobility and the Alzheimer’s Society, raised over £26 000.

R and T at station small

Welcome to our site. This site aims to tell you the latest news about Sutton South Ward and our work as your local Councillors.

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Sutton South Hello!
Find out about this pioneering local initiative to combat loneliness in Sutton

Public Art in Sutton South
Some of Sutton South Ward’s best public artwork

Richard’s Blog
Richard reports back on his recent activities

Sutton police
Contact details and information on our local police force

Who Are We?
Trish and Richard introduce themselves

Trish with the Leader of the Council, the Mayor, Tom Brake MP and others, at the Sutton Peace March on 1 July

Richard on the bus at the London New Year’s Day Parade

Richard’s grand-daughter, born on 25 April

SLOWING TRAFFIC IN FARM ROAD AND GRANGE VALE

At the South Sutton, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee meeting on 7 September our main decision was to install a vehicle operated sign in Farm Road to reduce speeding. Richard lives round the corner from Farm Road and vehicles certainly speed down it. This complements other measures in the Ward to reduce speeding, in particular in Cavendish Road and Cedar Road.

We also agreed to install a width restriction at the point in Grange Vale where the road passes under the bridge. The speed of vehicles has a safety implication for pedestrians walking west to east on the narrow pathway, particularly if pushing a buggy. We also agreed to plant a replacement for the vandalised tree in Willis Avenue. The committee also agreed Richard’s proposal to purchase from the Royal British Legion a “Silent Soldier” and install it in the flower beds in front of Northumberland House. These are large silhouettes of soldiers, designed to be installed through 2018 in prominent places to remind us that this is the centenary of the conclusion of the Great War.

We hope the parking consultation will now take place much earlier than anticipated.

PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT

 

 

The concern of Sutton Council to protect the green and pleasant environment in our Ward has again been demonstrated in Cavendish Road, though the threat to sensible and informed local decision taking from the remote Planning Inspectorate, based in Bristol, remains.

A planning application was submitted for the buildings at 7-9 Cavendish Road, previously a care home, for demolition of the buildings and erection of a three storey block of flats, with roof accommodation, comprising 16 flats (three 1-bedroomed, seven 2-bedroomed and six 3-bedroomed), 9 car parking spaces, secure cycle parking, provision of a refuse store, with access to the rear.

The Council has turned the application down. The Council considered that the proposed development, by reason of its height, bulk, mass and detailed design, would constitute an unsympathetic form of development that would have a negative visual impact on the Cavendish Road street scene. The proposed development would therefore have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the area.

The Council also turned the application down because it considered that at least some affordable housing ought to be provided as part of an acceptable development on this site and, as such, the proposal would cause significant harm to the promotion of mixed and balanced communities.

An earlier application was also turned down but is now the subject of an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. This is a threat we cannot control. We will let residents know the outcome and if further applications are made.

A proposal for a house extension in Downside Road was also rejected as it would close the visual gap between houses, causing harm to the spacious and open character of the road and result in a visual terracing impact on the street scene.

REDUCING VEHICLE CO2 EMISSIONS IN SUTTON SOUTH

A significant part of the northernmost section of Sutton South Ward is in the central Sutton Controlled Parking Zone. Sutton Council is consulting on a scheme to alter charges for parking permits in the Controlled Parking Zone so that charges relate to the CO2 emissions of vehicles. It is also introducing special provisions to help carers and those undertaking childcare who are regular visitors.

The general nature of the Order is, to support the Council’s Parking Strategy and policy to cut carbon emissions in the Borough, to link the charges for parking permits in the controlled parking zones to the CO2 emissions of the vehicle for which the permit is issued; and also to introduce the facility to purchase carer and childcare permits for use in the zones. The impact will be to reduce charges for the least polluting vehicles and increase them for some others, and facilitate carers and those with regular childcare responsibilities to park in the zone.

You can find the proposals at

www.sutton.gov.uk/trafficpublicnotices

clicking on “view our Permanent Traffic Order Consultations” and “Notices of Proposals”

Reference PP1035 – CPZ permit charge changes linked to CO2 emissions and carer permits

Comments are invited by 31 August.

Richard has commented on the proposals that he would like to see a differential scheme imposed for diesel vehicles as they do not emit excessive CO2 compared to other vehicles but do emit other harmful particulates.

 

CONSULTATION ON CHANGES TO TRAIN SERVICES FROM SUTTON

Many of those who live in Sutton South Ward travel up to London by train, those who travel for work doing so most days.
So we all may be interested in a consultation exercise being conducted by Govia Thameslink Railway, incorporating Southern and Thameslink, on changes to the rail timetable from Sutton from May 2018. Most organisations publicise consultation exercises but this seems to be almost like a secret exercise that you only find out about by accident.
The changes are considerable and helpful – a new all day service between Sutton and London Bridge via Norwood Junction (currently it is peak hours only) and a doubling of the frequency of the service from Sutton to Epsom Downs.

To find the consultation, and make comments, you need to click on this link, then go to “Be Part of It” and click on “Read More”, then click on information sheet 4 to discover what is proposed for our area.

[NOTE: The information above was correct when this post was posted. As of 30 July, they seem to have removed information sheet 4 and are promising it will be restored, with an invitation to comment, in the autumn. We are trying to find out what is happening. It is still worthwhile visiting the site. ]

CHANGES TO OUR POLICE TEAM

Our police station in Carshalton Road

At the Sutton South Ward consultative meeting with the local police on 11 June we learned that our long serving PC, Mark Towler, is moving to other duties. There is a new policing model being adopted and our Ward will be under Sergeant Anna Smith – who also covers Cheam, Belmont and Sutton West – but with two dedicated Ward officers – Kelly Heath and Andy Peak – plus a PCSO (Laura Jagoe, who has been with us a long time but is currently on maternity leave).

We recorded our grateful thanks to Mark, who will be missed.

The meeting heard that Sutton South remains a low crime area with just two house burglaries, though four garage burglaries, in the previous twelve weeks. The sector priorities remain tackling burglary, anti-social behaviour and speeding, while for our area we asked the police to continue to keep an eye on drug use at certain addresses, speeding and action to deal with all-day drinking.

PC Towler with Richard, the Mayor, at the 2017 police awards ceremony

COMPLETION OF THE GATEWAY PROJECT

Outside Northumberland House

 

Following the re-vamping of the area around the station, with the opening of the side entrance, new paving and the new clock, the area in front of Northumberland House (previously Sutherland House) has been given a piazza-style treatment, to make it more spacious and to enable the restaurants to have tables outside. We welcome views on further improvements to the area.

REFLECTING A SOMBRE MOOD

There is a sombre mood in society at the moment, with terrorist acts and a mood of Islamophobia in some quarters that threatens to divide our society. For this reason Richard took great pleasure in accepting an invitation from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association to attend their mosque in Willow Lane in Sutton on the evening of 15 June to break fast with them at sundown, during the holy month of Ramadan. In this photo he is inside the mosque with Nasser Butt, former Liberal Democrat Councillor for this Ward, on the left as you look at the picture, and, to the right, Naseer Dean, President of the London region of the Association.

Trish has also accepted several invitations to attend the Central Mosque in Carshalton Road and took part in the Sutton Peace March on 1 July. She was invited to attend Friday prayers at the mosque the previous day to pass on information about the Peace March.

Trish with the Leader of the Council, the Mayor, Tom Brake MP and others, at the Peace March