PROTECTING THE AREA AGAINST UNWANTED DEVELOPMENT

cotoneasters
The Highfields Residents’ Association has, with the support of Heather and Richard, adopted a strong policy to resist any development in its area that will alter the character of their area.
Richard, a former Chair of the Association, who spoke in favour of the policy at the Association’s meeting, said “This is a sensible policy, consistent with the policies of Sutton Council, that will be helpful to local Councillors in our work to protect the area against unwanted development.”
The policy sets out the circumstances in which the Association will object to a planning proposal in its area. It reminds residents that it is best to talk to your neighbours before proposing changes to your property that might affect them. It generally opposes developments in back gardens and those that alter the street scene, and developments inconsistent with the neighbourhood’s designation as an Area of Special Local Character.
The Highfields Residents’ Association covers the Highfields Area of Special Local Character in South Sutton, and includes The Ridgway, Mayfield Road, Hillcroome Road and Chalgrove Road. Richard is a former Chair of the Association and organises their annual Safari Supper.
The policy was adopted at a special meeting of members held by the Association on 15 July.

39A EATON ROAD: PLANNING LAW MUST BE RESPECTED

39A DURING DEMOLITION

39A DURING DEMOLITION

At Sutton Council’s Development Control meeting on 17 July Richard persuaded Councillors to reject a retrospective application relating to the house built at 39A Eaton Road.
The building at 39a Eaton Road has already had two applications rejected by Sutton Council, but the developer had won on appeal.  When a second developer finally started building, he decided to amend the design, thus departing from the design for which he had permission.  Window bays were wider, the height of the building had increased by half a metre, with roof lights projecting above the ridge of the roof by a further half a metre.
Letters of objection had been received from 62 properties.
Richard said: “Local people were unhappy that the developer had failed to understand the principle that, if you have Planning Approval, that is what you build to, and not something else.  Builders know this.  Architects know this, so why didn’t the developer?”

Councillor Mary Burstow said: “When I saw the plans for the first time, I was surprised by how the amendments had increased the buildings size and bulk.  The building no longer looked like a large house, trying to blend in with its neighbours, it looked like an ugly block of flats.”

Should the applicant appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and be unsuccessful he will have to lower the roof height and reduce the width of the window bays.  The cost of doing this will be significant.  Richard said “It is very important the developers understand that Sutton Council is not a soft touch when it comes to planning permission.”

 

RICHARD WARNS OF SHORTAGE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Sutherland House

Sutherland House

 
Sutton is facing a major shortage of homes at prices people can afford, Richard told the public enquiry into the latest planning application for Sutherland House, on 18 July.
He called on the Planning Inspectorate to make it a condition of granting the application that at least some of the 160 luxury flats to be included in plans to renovate the block be “affordable homes”, to enable Housing Associations to make them available to people in real need.
He told the enquiry of examples from his casework as a local Councillor where people were living in cramped conditions, including one case where parents, grown up children and their children were all living in a two bedroom flat, yet this family were still some way down the priority list on the Council’s housing register. There was a crying need for more homes at prices people can afford.
He said “These flats, close to Sutton station, will be worth a bomb. I cannot believe that the economics of this project make it impossible to provide some affordable homes without the developer still making sufficient profit to make the conversion worthwhile.”
He criticised Government plans to make it possible to convert offices to housing without providing affordable homes, in the future.
He said “Sutherland House is an eyesore. It is overdue for re-development. But the developers could make this one change, providing some affordable housing, to help the local community.”
Richard was speaking at a Planning Inspectorate enquiry into the most recent planning application for Sutherland House, to convert the property to 160 luxury flats, held at Strawberry Lodge, Denmark Road, on 17 July.
The Council has suggested that up to ten of the flats could be affordable homes without an unacceptable impact on the economics of the project, following an independent study. 

RICHARD SEEKS WIDENING OF GATEWAY PROJECT

side entrance
Consideration should be given to providing more taxi ranks in Sutton town centre.
 
Richard intends to ask the Board considering a programme of development around Sutton railway station (the “Sutton Gateway” project) to look at the case for additional taxi ranks in the town centre, and whether they could be made to work and be of value.
He was speaking after meeting officers from Transport for London and the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, preliminary to the development of the project to look at the options for improvements to the area around Sutton railway station. 
He said “The only major taxi rank operating all day and night in the town centre is the one at the railway station. It is a long walk from the other end of the town centre. While we are looking at the way buses and taxis operate around the area of the station, as part of the project TfL is funding, we ought to look at the town centre as a whole.” 
Transport for London have provided funding for a project to examine options for improvements to the area around Sutton railway station. This may include the opening of the side entrance to Sutton station, and the project is about to commence.
Sutton South Ward includes the side entrance and many of our residents, commuting to London every day, walk past the shuttered and barricaded side entrance to enter the station from the oftenovercrowded front. Richard is a member of the project Board.

125 th. ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

christchurch

The weekend of the 13th and 14th  July marked the 125th. anniversary of Christchurch in Christchurch Park.

Richard brought the New London Concert Band, for whom he plays trumpet, to Christchurch on Sunday afternoon to perform a concert, as part of the celebrations. A large audience, on a hot day, listened to a concert that included a selection of James Bond themes, some Bach, a lot of Leroy Anderson (Blue Tango, Belle of the Ball), themes from Walt Disney films, and a lot more.

CARING FOR SUTTON’S 20 000 STREET TREES

Sutton is famous for its street trees, over 20 000 in the Borough and over a thousand in our Ward. It is what gives Sutton its green, pleasant, suburban feel that people so like. Low crime, good schools and a pleasant suburban feel. We like Sutton.

A lot of correspondence with residents this summer about the basal growth of trees, which seems to have been particularly vigorous. The programme is well underway to cut it back and we are monitoring progress. We got them to give priority to Cavendish Road and some trees on street corners, like the one below, where the basal growth was affecting sight lines of car drivers at junctions.

Before

Before

And after.

After

After

A COMPLETE WARD TOUR

 

SUTHERLAND HOUSE FLOWERS

Heather and Richard marked the first day of July by spending the morning undertaking a complete tour of the Ward, going down every road. They noted every pothold in the Ward and were able to compile a full list of problems – including areas where there was a bit of rubbish that needed clearing up, a dumped washing machine and sink, some graffiti (not a lot, this is much less of a problem than it was a few years ago), and candidates for further grit bins (but there are a lot in the Ward already) and rubbish bins. Basal growth of trees is vigorous this year but the programmeto cut it back is underway. We have noted some specific problems and got them dealt with.

Let us know of any locations you are concerned about that ought to be on their list.

 

RICHARD CALLS FOR NEW CONTROLS ON PAYDAY LOANS

Richard is calling for new controls on payday loan companies.

Figures released as part of Sutton Council’s “Economy Watch – Economic Indicators” report show an alarming rise in debt enquiries from Sutton residents to the Citizens Advice Bureau. Richard said, in a letter to residents, “I am increasingly concerned that people are turning to these companies without looking into the real costs of borrowing money, which in some cases that I have investigated are well over 1000% APR.”

This was among the principal conclusions he drew when he spoke to the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee about the latest data on Sutton’s economic performance. He pointed out that, amongst the generally positive data on economic development in Sutton, enquiries to Sutton’s Citizens Advice Bureau were up by about 5% in the last quarter with debt enquiries increasing by 8.8%. There has to be a fear that recent welfare cuts will make the position worse.  

In a letter to residents he called for consideration to be given to establishing by law some upper limit on the interest rate that can be charged on loans. 

 Richard said “I have said my piece, at Sutton Council meetings, about the problem of loan sharks and “payday” loans, and I cannot see why it is impossible to have a maximum figure for the interest charged on these loans (it can be well over 1000% APR) imposed in law.”

As long ago as 9 May 2011 Richard made a speech to a Sutton Council meeting calling for an end to illegal loan sharking, drawing attention to loan offers he had found on the Internet where the APR was over 1000%.

His comments come in the same week that Newcastle United hit the headlines over the sponsorship of their football kit by a “Payday Loans” company and evidence was published of an increase in this type of lending. He was commenting on a paper “Economy Watch – Economic Indicators Report” presented to the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, of which he is vice-chair. The latest data are mostly encouraging on economic trends in Sutton, showing Sutton is surviving the recession well.

 

HOW IS SUTTON SURVIVING THE RECESSION?

Richard helping to open the Metrobank in Sutton

Richard helping to open the Metrobank in Sutton

The latest data continue to show that Sutton is surviving the recession well.

They show that average house prices in Sutton (as measured by the average price of houses in Sutton sold in any particular month) were up almost 1% in February of this year compared to the previous month, and stood at 4.2% above the figure for a year previously. The cost of the average house sold in February, the latest month for which reliable data are available, was £255 000. This bullishness in the housing market is generally taken as an indicator of confidence in the local economy. 

Positive indicators include:

The economic activity rate of working age adults in Sutton, at 81%, continues to be well above the average for London, which is 76%. Sutton residents continue to find work, and the percentage has increased (by 0.5%) in the last year. Many residents commute to central London for work, and it is unsurprising that the average pay of employees working in Sutton (£519 a week) is less than that in central London.

This finding, that Sutton residents continue to find work, is supported by the decline in numbers claiming Job Seekers Allowance, down by 7% in March compared to the figure for a year previously.

That said, the number of people who have been collecting JSA for over a year has risen in the last year, suggesting that those who have become distanced from the labour market are finding it more difficult to get work. Richard says this mirrors what he finds, as a local Councillor, in his casework, with people made redundant in their 50’s often finding it hard to get back into work.

This suggests that the Council’s “Opportunity Sutton” programme is an important priority. Jobs are gold dust and the prosperity of the Borough depends on people finding and staying in work.

New business start ups were at a record level in Sutton in 2012, with 863 new companies formed.

The number of local companies going into administration was down in the most recent quarter (January to March) and down on figures for a year previously.

The data that comes to the Housing, Economy and Business Committee usually shows a mixed picture, but the latest data are mostly encouraging. One negative that concerns us is that enquiries to Sutton’s Citizens’ Advice Bureau were up by about 5% in the last quarter, with debt advice enquiries increasing by 8.8%. Richard has said his piece, at Sutton Council meetings, about the problem of “payday” loans and we cannot see why it is impossible to have a maximum figure for the interest charged on these loans (it can be over 1000% APR) imposed in law. Richard’s comments are included in a separate post on this site on this subject.

This information is analysed by Richard in his role as vice-chair of the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, which has oversight of economic development matters and the “Opportunity Sutton” programme. This is currently generating projects involving over £90 million worth of investment in Sutton, including the “Sutton Gateway” project to develop and improve the area from Sutton Court to the station. We hope this will include improving and opening up the side entrance to Sutton station, better shops and restaurants, new jobs from office development, more housing as Sutherland House is developed, the relocation of the recycling bins at The Quadrant and a general tidying up of the area.

RAISING THE FLAG

flag 2013

Richard attended the annual “Raising The Flag” ceremony, on 24 June, in the town centre, to celebrate the achievements of our armed forces. The photo shows our MP Paul Burstow with Council leader Ruth Dombey, and local cadets.