HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS I HAVE BEEN DOING IN THE MOST RECENT PAST AS YOUR COUNCILLOR. I REGARD THIS BLOG AS A WAY OF REPORTING BACK.

I am now into my fifteenth year as a local Councillor – where do the years go? I was first elected in 2010, having contested Sutton South Ward unsuccessfully in 2006. I was re-elected in 2014 and then again in 2018 and 2022. I take some pride in this. The fact that I lost in 2006 shows defeat is possible. Having an election every four years, if you are the sitting Ward Councillor, is like having a test where your residents can either say you are doing a good job or throw you out. So far I have passed the test each time.

I spend a significant proportion of every day dealing with some aspect of my responsibilities as a Councillor, in particular local casework. My principal contribution to Sutton’s civic administration, now, is that I chair the Planning Committee.

This is my latest responsibility. Over my years as a Councillor I have had a succession of jobs. For the two years to May 2016 I was Chair of the Planning Committee and lead member on human resources – which carried with it chairing the Council and Employees’ Joint Committee and the health and safety committee. I also sat on the important Strategy and Resources Committee. On 23 May 2016 I was elected Mayor and gave up these responsibilities to concentrate on Mayoral duties. I stood down as Mayor on 22 May 2017, a date etched on my memory as the following day my eldest daughter, Jane, was admitted to St Christopher’s hospice in Sydenham where she died shortly afterwards of a brain tumour.

Following my re-election in May 2018 I took up the post of Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee, a new committee formed by the merger of the audit committee and the standards committee. I was yet again appointed Chair of the Council and Employees Joint Committee and the Health and Safety committee. In May 2019 I stood down as Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee. I continued to chair the Council and Employees Joint Committee and represent the Council on the Greater London Employment Forum, which discusses employment matters in London with recognised trade unions. I was again appointed to the Planning Committee, which I used to chair, and the Housing, Economy and Business Committee, of which I was once vice-chair. After the election in 2022 I again took up the role as Chair of the Planning Committee, retaining my duties as chair of the Council and Employees Joint Committee (which has now absorbed the duties of the separate health and safety committee) and leader of the Liberal Democrat delegation to the Greater London Employment Forum.

Subsequently there have been further changes in committee membership and I am now, in addition to being Chair of Planning Committee, a member of the Licensing Committee and a member of the Pensions Committee. 

Below are some highlights of my work, mixed in with a bit of personal information. But do have a look at the page “Who are we?” for some biographical information on who I am and what I stand for.

December 2024. The month started with Planning Committee. We agreed an application for retrospective approval of various minor deviations from the original planning permission granted in 2016 for the New Mill Quarter in Hackbridge. This is now fully built and occupied (over 700 units of accommodation) and is an impressive, modern, well-built estate. We agreed a proposal to convert a house that was previously a doctors’ surgery into a house in multiple occupation in the Beeches, refused a proposal to have an intrusive sign on the grass verge near Carshalton Beeches station and approved a proposal for a house in what was a garden (though with access to the street) in Beddington. This last item was unusual in that the committee overturned an officer recommendation to refuse the application.

On 6 December I took a training course by video on safeguarding. This was required by the Lawn Tennis Association to enable me to continue my role as Safeguarding Officer for the nearby tennis club. The other requirement was to renew my DBS certificate, and on the same day this came through.

On the 7th I helped raise money for the Mayor of Sutton’s charity appeal by organising a group of musicians to play Christmas carols in the Straw cafe in Sutton, in Manor Park. Sadly the weather was poor so we only had a small crowd. However, the event raised £380 for the Mayor’s charity appeal.

A lot of Council committees seem to have meetings just before Christmas. On 10 December there was the Pensions Committee. On the following evening Scrutiny Committee, where we had an interesting discussion of flooding with representatives of Thames Water.

On 13 December I played (trumpet) in a concert given by the Phoenix Concert Band at Christchurch, the church where we regularly practice, in Christchurch Park.  This was attended by the Mayor of Sutton and raised almost £800 for his charity appeal. The programme was varied, ranging from an arrangement of the music from Porgy and Bess to an arrangement of Bad Romance (a Lady Gaga number). There was a lot of Christmassy music including an arrangement of White Christmas and the famous Christmas Festival arrangement of Christmas music by Leroy Anderson. 

November 2024. On 5 November I went to the Devonshire Avenue Nature Area, the only open space in our Ward, with my fellow Sutton South Councillors, to help the Sutton Nature Conservation Volunteers in tidying up the area and hacking back the undergrowth. We do this a couple of times each year.

On the 6th Planning Committee met. I was concerned that the agenda included consideration of an application regarding the Felnex site in Hackbridge but no representative of the applicant attended the committee. I proposed we defer the item, which was agreed. We agreed a proposal for a block of flats in Wallington and an important application to re-configure the Goat Road junction on Mitcham Common.

The following weekend was Remembrance weekend. I had the privilege of playing the Last Post at a short ceremony outside Wallington Old Town Hall on the Saturday, and on Sunday played trumpet with the Phoenix concert band at the Remembrance Sunday event at the war memorial in Belmont. It was a bit chilly but I thought we played well. The music included Nimrod, the British Legion March and Moonlight Serenade.

On the 14th. I attended the AGM of the only company of which I am a Director – Highfield Lawns Ltd. This company owns the tennis courts opposite my house and its only function is to enable the tennis club to continue by charging it a peppercorn rent. It also ensures the tennis courts are not built on. It has never declared a dividend to shareholders. 

October 2024. The month usually begins with a meeting of Planning Committee on the first Wednesday. However, it was cancelled due to lack of business. When I was first elected in 2010 the committee met fortnightly and could not keep up with the business. Now, it has much less business due to the changes in what is permitted development and the introduction of the “quickie” “prior approval” route to get planning permission. I regard these changes as reducing oversight of development and cannot say I welcome them.

So the month began with a meeting of the Pensions Committee. This is a committee of Councillors that oversees the pension fund of the Council, which pays pensions to retired employees of the Council and some other associated bodies. As a retired civil servant, it always strikes me as a point of interest that every local authority in the land has its own pension scheme. There is a single pension scheme for civil servants. Higher rates of return on investments might be possible if the authorities pooled investments. This is now, to some extent, being done across London authorities and one of our agenda items was a report on the progress made.

On 21 October there was a meeting of Council. There was, in my view, insufficient attention paid by Councillors to the size of the agenda and the need to get through the business. Discussion of the final items on the agenda was abbreviated and I did not get to make the speech I had prepared on the European Environmental Safety Directives. On 24 October I went to a meeting held at Sutton FC to hear a talk by Helen Maguire, the newly elected MP for Epsom and Ewell. I was fascinated to learn she has a background of service in the Military Police, including in Iraq, an untypical background for a LibDem MP. On 27 October I went to the Diamond Riding Centre, half an hour’s walk from where I live, to play trumpet for the Allegra Concert Band at a concert to raise money for the centre. I understand we raised over £400. Our programme included the music from The King and I, from Jersey Boys, and a great arrangement of the music of John Williams (Star Wars etc.). On 28 October I attended a board meeting of Sutton South Hello, an important organisation in my Ward that provides opportunities for the socially isolated to meet.

September 2024. A major commitment for me during the school summer holidays is to look after my grandson. On Tuesday 3 September we went to the Oval to see Surrey beat Durham in a 20-20 quarter final match. This was one of the best cricket matches I have seen this summer. He went back to school on 5 September.

Council business began the following evening, on 4 September, with the monthly meeting of the Planning Committee. We agreed an outline application for re-development of the Elm Grove estate in central Sutton. This will return to committee when plans are more concrete. The only resident of Elm Grove who asked to speak to the committee strongly supported the proposal.

On 15 September I attended the annual “inspection” of Mitcham Common, required by the statute setting up the Mitcham Common Conservators. Part of the common is in Sutton. I am a Mitcham Common Conservator.

On 23 September I attended a “Walkabout” inspection of Sutton Court, one of the social housing estates in our Ward.

On 25 September I attended the quarterly open meeting with our Ward police officers. A note of this meeting is on a separate page dealing with policing matters. The key point to note was the Ward remains a low-crime area, though every crime is a a matter of concern and we are never complacent.

August 2024. August is usually a quiet month for Council activities, though I seem to have quite a lot of casework with residents on at the moment. I do not discuss this casework in this blog as it is a confidential matter between myself, often my fellow Ward Councillors, and the resident or group of residents concerned. The one Council committee meeting I have attended this month was Planning Committee, which concerned a disputed proposal for a new Macdonalds restaurant in Wallington. Planning law requires that each application is approached by Councillors with an open mind, so there is no political “whipping” of members to support a certain line. No-one can doubt that this happens in practice as there was a lot of cross-party voting on this application and I was in the minority in supporting the recommendation of officers. 

I have had a relaxing month after the hard work of the (successful) General Election campaign. I am a member of Surrey County Cricket Club and have watched some cricket at the Oval. My least liked form of cricket is The Hundred but I go to watch the games if it is a pleasant and dry evening, as getting in costs nothing if you are a Member and travel is free due to the wonders of the Freedom Pass (if, like me, you are 77 years old). On our 54th wedding anniversary on 8 August Gloria and I went for an excellent meal at a Michelin starred restaurant (St Barts) in the City. On 11 August I played third trumpet for the Allegra concert band on the bandstand at Clapham Common. Our programme included the Dam Busters march, an excellent arrangement of pieces composed by John Williams (Star Wars etc.), the music from Fiddler On The Roof, from the film Aladdin, and from Jersey Boys (Big Girls Don’t Cry etc.).

July 2024. The month has begun with the resounding victory of the Liberal Democrats locally in the General Election. It has been a great result for the party with 72 Liberal Democrat MPs elected to the new Parliament. These include our two victorious candidates in the two constituencies that make up the London borough of Sutton. I spent a lot of time canvassing and delivering literature in support of Luke Taylor, our candidate in the Sutton and Cheam constituency. I am delighted that he is now Luke Taylor MP.

The calling of the election for 4 July meant that the meeting of Planning Committee due to be held on 3 July was postponed a week. This caused me a problem as I had arranged a week’s holiday that week, visiting Reykjavic in Iceland. My vice-chair, Councillor McCoy, chaired the meeting in my absence. From 16 to 19 July my wife Gloria and I took part in a Civic visit, or study tour, with the London Mayors’ Association to Lille, Arras and Douai, where we met the Mayors of these towns (or city in the case of Lille). These were very interesting visits. Lest anyone reading this gets the impression these were jaunts at public expense, there was no element of subsidy and we all had to meet the full costs of the visit.

June 2024. The general election has been called for 4 July ! I will be fully involved in work related to the election and not adding to this blog till it is over. Council committee meetings are cancelled for June – except for Planning Committee as there are statutory deadlines to be observed. So the one Council commitment I have had in the month was to chair Planning Committee on 5 June. On 8 June there was an event to remember D-Day at the Cheam War Memorial where I was invited to play the Last Post.. 

May 2024. The month began with the local elections on 2 May. Nationally, the LibDems have done well, gaining seats and winning more seats than the Tories. Our Mayoral candidate finished ahead of the Greens and Reform. We maintained our two seats on the Greater London Authority and, for the first time, won a constituency seat (in South West London, broadly Richmond and Kingston). Trish was our constituency candidate and increased our vote in the Croydon and Sutton constituency.

The Sutton Council by-election produced what must have been the only Conservative gain from Labour in the whole of England. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of one of the three Labour Councillors for reasons that remain unclear. This result is undoubtedly attributable to the special circumstances of ULEZ. This does not alter the “balance of power” on Sutton Council where the LibDems continue to have a majority of three over all other parties.

May 13 was local AGMs day – the Sutton South Neighbourhood Association met in the afternoon for their AGM at Christchurch, the Highfields Residents’ Association met in the evening for their AGM at the tennis club pavilion opposite my house. At both meetings I reflected that they had attracted more people in earlier years.

On May 14 I attended a meeting of the Licensing Committee at which the owner of the Spaghetti Tree in Brighton Road was taken to task over complaints of loud music disturbing the neighbourhood over a prolonged period, and despite warnings. His licence was modified to prevent him doing this. Unfortunate – but a salutary lesson that these licence conditions are there for a purpose, to protect local residents, and they will be enforced.

April 2024.  The 3rd of April was a busy day in relation to my responsibilities as chair of Planning Committee. In the morning I attended a public hearing on an appeal against a decision we took to turn down an application for a substantial development on Green Belt land, based on an argument that this was a care home. I dislike a system whereby the remote Planning Inspectorate in Bristol can overturn local democratic decisions. Our officers gave a good account of themselves. We await the outcome. That evening Planning Committee considered three interesting applications. The most significant decisions were to endorse a tree preservation order to protect a beautiful tree in Carshalton from being chopped down and to turn down an application to re-develop the pharmacy building in Carshalton. I thought the design of the proposed building unacceptable. The big event for me so far this month is that on 11 April I went to The Barbican to hear Alison Balsom play Wynton Marsalis’s trumpet concerto. Wynton was in the audience. It was fabulous – but I sometimes reflect that hearing these great musicians makes me consider giving up my own pathetic efforts to play the trumpet.

Work is building up for the Mayoral and Greater London Authority (GLA) elections on 2 May, together with a Council by-election in St Helier West on the same day. 

 

On April 24 there was a further meeting of the police consultative panel, held at Devonshire Avenue school. Burglaries were up but thefts of and from motor vehicles down. No thefts of catalytic converters for about a year.

March 2024. The month began with the Council meeting on 4 March where we adopted the budget for the next year. With so many Councils going bust or in dire straits, we are surviving, but it is difficult and we are being driven back to asking what we can afford above the statutory minima. Trish and I both spoke – Trish on the audit and governance function (she chairs the Audit and Governance Committee) and I on homelessness. This is a particular interest due to the work history of my daughter Ellie, and because as chair of Planning Committee I have a role in increasing the supply of affordable housing.

The following day I attended the first day of a public enquiry into a decision of the Planning Committee to reject an application for a major development on Green Belt at Woodcote Grove. I have taken a great dislike to these applicants and I hope the decision goes the right way. I learned later that the applicants, clearly recognising that they were losing the argument, tried to get the Inspector removed. The hearing was then suspended till September. What a farce!  The day after, 6 March, Planning Committee met.

On Friday 8th Gloria travelled to Armagh to visit the Observatory there with a group from the Scientific Instruments Society, an international society of which she is President. I stayed home to play (trumpet) in a concert at Redhill on the Saturday. On the 13th I attended a meeting of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee where we considered a report on the work of Sutton Housing Partnership, meeting their Board members. On the 20th I attended a meeting of the Mitcham Common Conservators.

The resignation of Ruth Dombey as Leader of the Council has been announced. She has been a very capable and inspiring leader. She has excellent judgement and a wonderful ability to put our policies into words all can understand. She will be missed. Councillor Lewis is an excellent successor and will grow into the job.

February 2024. A great start to the month with the “Safari Supper” organised by my local residents’ association. Twenty one couples took part. You cook one course and go to other people’s houses for the other courses. A great idea. On the 7th there was a meeting of Planning Committee, unusually and by accident a “themed” meeting in that both applications we considered related to educational facilities for children with special educational needs. We passed both applications. The following day our local committee met, by video. I do not think a video meeting is a good idea for this type of committee. On 10 February Gloria and I attended the London Mayors’ Association annual dinner, at the Royal Horseguards hotel in London. An excellent meal. But not a cheap event so we may not get there next year.

On 20 February the three Councillors attended a review meeting where architects “peer reviewed” proposals for the conversion of Quadrant House from being an office block to being flats. The logic is unassailable – there is a housing crisis but little demand for office space in an era when so many work from home. But I was not keen on some aspects of these proposals.

On 24 February Trish and I attended an event organised by the Ukranian community in our Ward to note with sadness the second anniversary of the Russian invasion. On the 25th I played cornet for the Crystal Palace Brass Band Progress Band in a music contest in Bromley, where we played well and won a cup. One piece we played was the famous Shostakovitch Waltz.

January 2024. A busy start to the year, though the monthly meeting of Planning Committee which is always on the first Wednesday of each month was cancelled due to lack of pressing business. The 17th was a busy day with a meeting at the Devonshire Avenue Nature Area with Council officers and a local resident to discuss the setting up of a “Friends of Devonshire Avenue Nature Area” group. That evening there was a meeting of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee which discussed important proposals to get some local projects back on track after they had been disrupted by the private sector contractors leading them going bust. We also discussed the rental charges for social housing in the borough. The following evening there was a meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee which I attended as a substitute for Councillor McCoy who is unwell. This discussed a disgraceful event where a Councillor (Councillor Mattey) had been found to have breached the Council’s Code of Conduct in relation to some comments regarding Holocaust Memorial Day events but he had refused to apologise for the breach.

On the 19th Gloria and I went swimming at the Westcroft baths, something we do every week to keep fit. As old age pensioners, both in our seventies, we have free swimming. I wonder how long this concession can be retained in the light of the financial problems that all local Councils are now having to cope with.

On the 19th I was part of a Licensing Sub-Committee considering a licence application for “FeastyFest” in Cheam next summer. We granted the licence. On 26 January I went to the Holocaust Memorial Day event in Sutton library – we remembered the Holocaust and reflected on later events that had led to refugees, including Ukraine, Afghanistan. Nothing was said about Gaza. On the 29th there was a full Council meeting at which, for once, I did not make a speech.

December 2023. A further meeting of Planning Committee, not as dramatic or important as the one we held last Thursday to discuss the future of the B and Q site. Council activities tend to ease off as it gets towards Christmas and my time is increasingly occupied with Christmas carol playing. I played second trumpet for the Phoenix Concert Band on 8 December, a free concert at Christchurch in Christchurch Park with a collection for the Mayor of Sutton’s charities. We collected £442, The following day six of us raised £300 for the charity appeal playing Christmas carols at the Straw cafe in Manor Park. On 13 December all three Councillors went to the Hello Christmas party at Christchurch. As ever, Trish led the dancing.

On 16 December I organised a group to play Christmas carols in the St Nicholas shopping Centre. A collection for the Mayor’s charity fund raised £230. Seventeen musicians turned up including trumpets, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, a bass clarinet, a tuba, an electric bass. I am fifth from the left in the photo. So my musician friends raised almost £1 000 for the Mayor’s charity appeal over the Christmas period.

November 2023. The month began with Planning Committee. Just two planning applications to consider, both in Wallington. Sensible decisions were reached but I was disappointed at the behaviour of a Conservative member and had to remind him that the committee treats those who come to speak to us on these applications with courtesy. On the 3rd I attended the tea for “retired folk” organised my local residents’ association – the Highfield Residents’ Association. Although I am 77 years old, am I really “retired” ? I am pretty busy, as readers of this blog will realise. On the 4th Gloria and I went to watch the firework display in Ruskin Park, Carshalton. It was very good. The following day I played cornet for the Crystal Palace Brass Band at a street market in Norwood next to South Norwood cemetery, combining it with a visit to the grave of my daughter Jane, who died of a brain tumour in 2017, in the cemetery. This is her tombstone.

On the 9th I travelled to Reading to have a medical examination by the UK Biobank. This is a research facility. The results of their medical examination go into their research data base. I get no feedback on the results unless I have a serious medical problem that is detected in which case they tell my doctor – not me. On the 12th I played trumpet as part of the Phoenix Concert Band at the Remembrance Day event in Belmont. This was a good event. On the 21st I attended the AGM of Highfield Lawns Ltd., the only company of which I am a Director. The aim of the company is to ensure the open space it owns opposite my house remains a tennis club. On the 28th. I attended a meeting of the Housing, Economy and Building Committee where the sobering news was that there is a big spike in homelessness with 970 Sutton families homeless and in bed and breakfast accommodation that night. This statistic was referred to (by me) two days later when Planning Committee met under my chairmanship and approved development plans for the soon to be redundant B and Q store site, which will provide 337 affordable homes where families from the housing register, in desperate circumstances, will be housed – but not before 2028.

DUE TO SOME WEBSITE CAPACITY PROBLEMS I HAVE CURRENTLY LOST THE EARLIER MONTH BY MONTH RECORD OF MY ACTIVITIES – I THINK IT DOUBTFUL NOW THAT WE CAN FIX THE PROBLEM