WELCOME TO OUR SITE

Ed, Richard and Trish at our outdoor surgery in Brighton Road

A CHRISTMAS APPEAL: CAN YOU HELP ?

The Salvation Army in Benhill Avenue is again running its Christmas Toy Appeal for vulnerable children, many whom may not receive a Christmas present this year. Tags are placed on the Christmas Tree with restricted information provided by social services, (i.e. the number of children and their ages).

The number of children they have been asked to consider as part of their appeal this year has increased from about 200 to about 300. The Salvation Army is concerned they will be unable to provide a gift to all the children, as they rely heavily on donations. We are sure our residents will want to contribute towards this worthy cause and help put a smile on the face of a child at Christmas.

Richard and Trish on the top of the Subsea7 building during its construction

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

Richard was first elected to Sutton Council in 2010, and was re-elected in 2014 and 2018. Trish was first elected in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018. 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 and Historic Buildings in Sutton South
Some of Sutton South Ward’s best public artwork and the important historic buildings in our Ward

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

Richard and Trish with fellow LibDems assembling at Sutton station to travel up for the stop Brexit march. 20 October

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

Trish won an award from Pimlico Plumbers – who are strong supporters of Remain – at the LibDem annual conference

Richard’s band entertained the Mayor and the regulars at the Robin Hood pub in Sutton in December

Richard and team canvassing during the Belmont by-election, where there was a 12% swing to the LibDems from the Tories

FURTHER CONSULTATION ON THE PARKING SURVEY RESULTS: MAKE SURE YOU RESPOND

Are car clubs part of the solution?

Analysis has now been concluded of the survey of residents views on parking conducted at the start of this year. Over 5 500 residents responded to the survey and officers have prepared street-by-street proposals reflecting the views expressed.
A further survey, of views on the proposals officers have made following the survey, is now underway.
Residents have received a consultation letter and are asked to respond by 16 December.

Many residents tell us of concerns about parking, particularly near Sutton station, and residents in many roads at the edge of the current Controlled Parking Zone have told us they would like parking controls in their road. For that reason the Council has put aside funds for a comprehensive consultation exercise. Further consultation of residents of Sutton South Ward on parking issues is underway, asking for responses by 16 December. You can look to see if there are proposals for your road, and comment on them, by going to

www.sutton.gov.uk/parkinghaveyoursay

Residents were consulted earlier this year asking if there were parking problems in their road and, if the answer was yes, what they would like done. The further stage in the consultation sets out information on street by street proposals from the traffic engineers, based on the responses.

Now in my ninth year as a local Councillor (Richard) and my fifth year (Trish), we both find parking to be one of the most difficult issues. Residents often have strong views but in many roads there are strong views in different directions. It is inevitable that in some roads some people will be delighted by the proposals, some opposed, and some indifferent. Officers and Councillors can only be guided by views set out in the responses to consultation, so do respond to the further consultation exercise.

A WORRYING MEETING WITH THE POLICE

Our police station in Carshalton Road

On 29 November we attended he first meeting for a long time of the Sutton South Ward Police Community Panel, held in the Parish Office at Christchurch in Christchurch Park. The summer meeting was cancelled at a late point due to it being on the evening of one of the football matches England were involved in in the World Cup. This was a meeting that left us feeling worried. An increase in crime, in burglaries and thefts from motor vehicles, was reported for the first time for some time. This may not be unrelated to problems of police numbers following the merger with Croydon and Bromley. There are a significant number of unfilled posts, vacancies, that the police are struggling to fill, particularly PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers). These officers are important for work on community relations. One member of staff is about to be moved to work in Croydon, though she did not request this move, and we are again losing our Dedicated Ward Officer, Kellie Heath. Kellie is also being moved to Croydon.

CAN YOU HELP? A CHRISTMAS APPEAL

Richard helped serve Christmas lunch at Devonshire Avenue school

The Salvation Army in Benhill Avenue is again running its Christmas Toy Appeal for vulnerable children, many whom may not receive a Christmas present this year. Tags are placed on the Christmas Tree with restricted information provided by social services, (i.e. the number of children and their ages).

The number of children they have been asked to consider as part of their appeal this year has increased from about 200 to about 300. The Salvation Army is concerned they will be unable to provide a gift to all the children, as they rely heavily on donations. We are sure our residents will want to contribute towards this worthy cause and help put a smile on the face of a child at Christmas.

TREE PRUNING TIME AGAIN

The trees can look bare and shorn when pruned

Every four years there is a full review of all the street trees in our Ward and a pruning exercise to take down the height of the largest trees. Some trees are found to be diseased and a few have to be felled, but will be replaced.

When the trees are pruned they look bare, but the foliage will re-grow next year.

It is believed that Sutton has more street trees per yard of pavement than any other of the 32 London boroughs, with over 20 000 trees across the borough and over a thousand in our Ward. This leads, every autumn, to a big job collecting up the leaves. There is a schedule for collecting them, but the speed of doing this is directly related to the resources devoted to it. Tory Government cuts to Council funding have not helped.

This looks a bit dangerous – pruning in The Ridgway

 

CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO TRANSPORT IN SUTTON SOUTH

 

bus

Transport for London is consulting on proposals for a new, direct and fast public transport link  service for Sutton and Merton. This consultation is called the Sutton Link and seeks views on bringing the tram to Sutton, or developing what is called a new Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) route. You can respond to the consultation at

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/sutton-link

Councillor Whitehead, the Chair of Sutton Council’s transport liaison committee, and Sutton Council officers will be meeting with TfL London Buses in the New Year to discuss how bus services can be tailored to meet future development proposals in the borough. It will also provide an opportunity to raise any issues related to any shortcomings with existing services. A similar meeting has been held in previous years but Councillor Whitehead tells us a more thorough review of outer London services is now promised by TfL.

This is an opportunity to set out views on any changes we would like to see made to services in the area, including changes to frequencies or the duration of services, or route diversions/extensions to provide missing connections.

Officers will consider how this information is presented to TfL. However, the final decision on any such changes rests with TfL and there will be limited resources available.

Local residents in Sutton South Ward have raised with us the following concerns when consulted in the recent past.

Route frequency – although residents have commented that on some routes, such as route 80, frequency and reliability is good, bus 470 is seen as too infrequent, being only about every half hour.

Similarly, route S4 could be more frequent.

A further difficulty with the 470 is that it does not run on a Sunday so our suggestions for the 470 are to increase the frequency from once every half an hour, run it on Sundays and (see below) extend it to Epsom hospital.

The X26 bus to Heathrow is used by many and the increased frequency of the X26 is welcome, but the buses have difficulty in keeping to the timetable, perhaps because of the length of the route. Some residents say they would not use it if travelling to Heathrow to catch a plane as it is not 100% reliable. There may thus be a case for increasing the frequency further.

Route length – could the 470 go to Epsom hospital rather than Epsom market as there are residents who use it to go to the hospital?

On route 151, the frequency and reliability is generally good but the service could be improved if some rush hour buses turned round at North Cheam, bearing in mind that the 213 duplicates the 151 onwards to Worcester Park.

Timetabling – it is noted that the 80 and 280 buses running northwards along Brighton Road frequently arrive at the same time. Could the timetabling be looked at?

Passenger information – it has been pointed out that the two bus stops in Mulgrave Road close to Sutton station do not include digital displays on bus arrival information. Although there are other ways of getting this information, on your mobile phone, not all passengers have the skill to get this.

A review of the information arrangements was suggested for some routes. On route 164, at some stops the bus is recorded as a minute away or due but it does not turn up for six or seven minutes.

Other matters – There has often been comment on arrangements at Sutton station. A resident suggested that congestion in Mulgrave Roadcould be alleviated by moving the taxi rank. It would be possible to move it to The Quadrant now the side entrance to the station is open, but this would probably be unpopular with the taxi drivers and railway passengers, and was not a proposal pursued under the Sutton Gateway project. A resident also commented that this part of Mulgrave Road has on occasions been briefly flooded during very heavy downpours. I have asked Council engineers to investigate.

A summary of these comments, by bus route, is:

470 – increase the frequency from once every half an hour, run it on Sundays and extend it to Epsom hospital

151 – the service could be improved if some rush hour buses turned round at North Cheam, bearing in mind that the 213 duplicates the 151 onwards to Worcester Park

80 and 280 – buses running northwards along Brighton Road frequently arrive at the same time so review the timetabling

164 – review the information arrangements as at some stops the bus is recorded as a minute away or due but it does not turn up for six or seven minutes

S1 – review the way the timetable is set out on the website

S4 – review the frequency.

It should be noted that while this summary is focussed on suggesting improvements, many residents have commented to us in favourable terms on the frequency and reliability of local bus services.

We have put this digest of views forward to officers for consideration. Any decision rests, of course, with Transport for London.

LEST WE FORGET – A MEMORABLE DAY

Remembrance Sunday, November the 11th, was memorable. Trish attended the service at Belmont, Richard was called in at short notice to play the Last Post at the Remembrance Sunday event at the war memorial in Manor Park. The previous day he had played trumpet for the Phoenix Concert Band at a Remembrance event at St Barnabas church, locally. They played all the usual pieces such as Nimrod and Abide With Me.

The trumpet section at St Barnabas

The day was also remarkable for the heavy rain. Richard spent the afternoon unblocking drains to eliminate the flooding in Grange Vale and Cedar Road.

Grange Vale flooded

Grange Vale after Richard had unblocked the drains

Cedar Road flooded

Cedar Road after Richard had unblocked the drain

PROTECTING OUR RESIDENTS

 

With winter fast approaching, we are anxious to help the NHS deliver the important messages that will keep our residents safe from influenza over this busy period.

Last winter Sutton saw lower than the national average uptake in free flu vaccinations in 2 and 3 year olds. Small children are some of the worst affected by the virus and, if they get it, they’re likely to infect other members of the family too.

We want to spread the message about the importance of people living in Sutton taking-up the flu vaccine.

You can access Sutton’s winter toolkit by clicking on this link.

http://www.swlondon.nhs.uk/winter

Sutton’s winter toolkit contains information to help protect Sutton’s residents from flu including Local statistics on those most at risk from flu in the area, and Information on how you can receive your flu jab.

A BIG SWING IN BELMONT

Richard and team canvassing during the Belmont by-election

The Liberal Democrats achieved a swing of 12% to the LibDems from the Tories in the by-election in Belmont Ward. The by-election was caused by the resignation – still unexplained – of one of the Tory Councillors who had stood for election as recently as last May. The Ward is the safest Tory seat in the borough so a shock LibDem victory was never on the cards, but LibDem Councillors take great satisfaction in the movement of opinion towards the LibDems.

MORE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE WARD AGREED AT OUR LOCAL COMMITTEE

Improvements to Brighton Road

More improvements to Brighton Road

SOUTH SUTTON, CHEAM AND BELMONT LOCAL COMMITTEE 

On 13 September the Sutton South, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee met and discussed an agenda somewhat reduced from the agenda originally planned due to the “purdah” requirements following the announcement that there will be a Council by-election in Belmont Ward. No indication was given as to why Councillor McManus, previously a member of the committee, had resigned. Matters discussed included:

– we heard an interesting presentation on the work of the parks police, who are diligent in pursuing and preventing anti-social behaviour in our parks

– we agreed to set in chain consultation on an action plan to improve Overton Park

– we confirmed decisions to install speed awareness signs in Cedar Road, which is notorious for speeding, to complement those in Farm Road and those planned for Grange Road and Worcester Road

– we noted a number of improvements to Sutton South Ward, including re-painting of the railings at two places in Brighton Road and the modification of the width restriction at Grange Vale.

The widened width restriction in Grange Vale