COUNCILLOR HEATHER HONOUR GETS FUNDING TO IMPROVE DANGEROUS ROAD

Mums with children in buggies, walkers with dogs and pedestrians generally have diced with death for years as they walked along Kings Lane Bridge, which lies at the end of Hillcroombe road and is a busy thoroughfare leading to Carshalton Road.

For years concerns have been raised about pedestrian, cyclist and driver safety on Kings Lane bridge which is only 3.6 m wide over the railway and only allows one line of traffic at a time. Approaches to the bridge are at 90 degree bends and the bridge parapets are a combination of solid brick with rails on top which makes the sight lines very poor.

There have been 3 personal injuries at the junction between April 2008 and April 2011, and residents who use the park have reported numerous “bumps” as cars failed to negotiate the difficult twists and turns safely.

Heather Honour, Lib Dem Councillor for Sutton South, raised this in April at the Sutton South, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee, Discussions followed with other councillors in Sutton South and the neighbouring ward, Carshalton Central, residents and with the council’s traffic engineers.

On July 5th Heather presented a proposal to the Local Committee drawn up by traffic engineers. Building out the footways on both sides of the junction would slow and guide vehicles on a more visible line and provide a longer footway for pedestrians. The warning signs will be upgraded and re positioned and be more prominent. The cost of implementing the complete scheme is £16,000. Other improvements, amounting to £500 will be made at the Carshalton end of the bridge.

Funding will be allocated from the Local Implementation Plan. The work should begin in November 2012.

Councillor Heather Honour said,

“ Someone said to me that the road is so dangerous we should leave it as it is. I don’t think that is good enough for our residents who risk their lives every day as they walk or drive over Kings Lane Bridge. Our traffic engineers have worked hard to find the best solution because no one wants the road closed to traffic or made one way.

It is great that funding can be found quickly and let’s hope that the work can be completed before we have snow and ice on the bridge”.

MORE CONCERNS ABOUT PROPOSALS FOR St. HELIER

The London Ambulance Service has revealed alarming journey time figures to Sutton Councillors.

[ Heather, Paul Burstow MP and Richard demonstrating their opposition to the threatened closure of of the Accident and Emergency Department, outside St. Helier hospital ]

Alarming figures from London Ambulance Service stunned Councillors at the special meeting, attended by Heather, of Sutton Council’s Scrutiny Committee, a meeting focusing on St Helier Hospital, on Monday June 11.

Bill Arkell, Operations Manager for Sutton and Streatham, shocked the meeting by revealing that journey times for emergency patients will more than double if St Helier’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) ward is closed.

Currently, the average journey time to St Helier is 8.5 minutes. Under the new proposals that will soar to 14-15 minutes to St George’s in Tooting, 16-17 minutes to Kingston and up to 20 minutes to Croydon Hospital.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Mary Burstow, Chair of the Scrutiny Committee, said: “These are truly alarming figures. Report after report has shown that the quicker people get treatment the better the outcome. Doubling journey times can only put Sutton residents at greater risk.”

The well-attended meeting also heard that turnaround time – how long it takes from an ambulance arriving at a hospital to being ready to go on another call – is 15 minutes or less on average at St. Helier Hospital, again half the time of neighbouring hospitals.

Councillor Burstow added: “In light of these figures, it is absolutely astonishing that Better Services Better Value (BSBV) [the NHS body that recommended closure of St. Helier’s Accident and Emergency Department] didn’t bother to ask seek wider views and opinions.”

The BSBV panel last month recommended that St Helier Hospital’s A&E, maternity and children’s wards should be closed – leaving St George’s, Kingston and Croydon to deal with the patients.

St Helier would instead become a centre for planned operations.

Age UK Sutton, which represents around 27,000 people – and Sutton Carers – which has 4,500 registered members looking after thousands of people – also told the meeting that they had also not been consulted before BSBV made its recommendations.

In robust exchanges between councillors and Rachel Tyndall, BSBV Senior Responsible Officer, and Mike Bailey, Acute Medical Director for BSBV, Sutton Council Leader Ruth Dombey referred to previous threats to St Helier saying: “We have been through years of uncertainty, so we are more than a little cynical.”

Councillor Dombey added: “Under the proposals St Helier would become the site for elective surgery for patients from Ham to New Addington.

“Is there any guarantee they would come? What about the transport issues? Where would they park when they got here?”

During the meeting it was revealed that BSBV’s recommendation supposes that between 2013 when the decision is due to be made and 2017 when it should be implemented, up to 50% of A&E patients would be persuaded to seek treatment in the community instead of going to hospital.

Click here to sign our petition organised by local LibDems, on the website of Paul Burstow. [Click on the word “petition”]

Resident served with Sutton’s first ‘Acceptable Behaviour Contract’

A resident has been served with Sutton’s first ‘Acceptable Behaviour Contract’ for the alarm and distress caused to her neighbours by her dogs.

The 24-year-old female dog owner, who lives in a block of flats in Langley Park Road, Sutton, allowed her two Staffordshire Bull Terriers called ‘Roxy’ and ‘Governor’ to:

Run out of control off the lead
Jump up and intimidate residents
Carry on barking for long periods

In addition, she also repeatedly failed to clear up after her pets.

Police decided to take formal action following an incident on Friday 30th March when her dogs ran out of their home in pursuit of a man making a delivery in Langley Park Road. The man was forced to run and jump onto a vehicle to avoid being bitten.

As a result the resident was sent a letter on the 13th April advising that this incident had come to the attention of police. A second letter was sent on 2nd July after her dogs had continued to behave in an unacceptable way.

This second letter included an Acceptable Behaviour Contract – a voluntary agreement between the resident and Sutton Council, the Met Police in Sutton and London and Quadrant Housing Trust – the resident’s landlord.

The contract only named one of her dogs – Governor – as she had given up Roxy at around this time. The conditions in the agreement include:

The dog being kept on a lead no longer than three metres in a public place including Langley Park Road, public footpaths and roads within Sutton borough
Clearing up after her dog
Regularly exercising her dog

Failure to comply with the agreement may result in an Anti-Social Behaviour Order being obtained to stop the resident causing harassment, alarm or distress and the tenancy agreement being reviewed and even revoked.

The action is part of borough’s Local Environmental Awareness of Dogs (LEAD) initiative to make owners of all breeds of dog aware of their responsibilities to their pet and the wider community.

Since August 2011 a total of 27 letters have been sent to residents whose dogs have come to the notice of police.

PC Heath Keogh, of Sutton Police station, who is co-ordinating the LEAD initiative for the borough, said: “Whilst we want to work with residents to reduce the nuisance and concerns caused by their pets, we are equally determined that we will take whatever action we need to make sure that this happens in reality.

“The bottom line for Sutton residents is a breach of an ASBO which could result in five years jail or a fine or both, and a possession order leading to a tenant’s eviction, for those in rented accommodation.”

The LEAD initiative was prompted by the fatal dog attack in Demesne Road, Wallington, on 23 December 2010, when a 52-year-old woman died after being attacked by a dog.

LATE NIGHT NOISE DANGER AVERTED

We were recently approached by residents in Worcester Road concerning the licence application to re-open the former “Academy” public house in Grove Road as a nightclub. They were concerned at a likely impact on late night noise problems in the area.

Following discussions with residents, Richard submitted representations on the prevention of public nuisance to Sutton’s Licensing Committee, and spoke at the public hearing held on 28 March.

He pointed out that it would be a matter of concern for premises so close to many residential properties to be offering music, dancing, films and sale of alcohol (for consumption on and off the premises) until 4.30am, seven nights a week, and then – after a break of just a few hours – starting again at 9.00am. The application, if approved, would lead to an unacceptable degree of public nuisance, particularly due to noise from people coming away from the premises into neighbouring streets in the early hours of the morning.

Although the premises are not in Sutton South Ward, some of the people coming away from the club in the early hours would walk through our Ward. Concerns had been raised by the police about disturbance and noise late at night, drunken people walking home, alcohol-related brawls and anti-social behaviour. The application should be refused.

We are pleased say that the application was refused, the Committee citing in particular problems with noise, community impact and alcohol-related crime.

ON YOUR SIDE …..

The new "disabled" car bay outside Fiske Court

As active Councillors, we are continually taking up problems brought to us by local residents. It gives a warm feeling if we can solve the problem.

Two recent examples illustrate the range of issues we deal with. A disabled resident at Fiske Court in Cavendish Road has had the problem that she parks her mobility car, which she depends on to get around, in the “disabled” parking bay outside Fiske Court. This is right under a lime tree and the sap means the car gets very dirty. She is unable to wash the car herself due to her disability and has to get it washed frequently, which is expensive in terms of time and money. We have now got the bay moved so it is no longer under the lime tree.

The other example is more problematic. We were alerted by residents to problems with the waste bins at Grosvenor Court in the Brighton Road. This is not the first time there have been such problems. Grosvenor Court is a large block of mansion flats above a row of shops and restaurants in Regent Parade. A set of waste bins at the back of Regent Parade are used by both the businesses and by residents. However, the businesses have their own bins for trade waste. There have been instances when the trade waste has wound up in the bins meant for residents and the volume has meant there has been a dreadful problem of overflowing rubbish.

The most recent problem seemed to arise from one of the businesses in Regent Parade putting its trade waste in bins that were not for this waste. We arranged for the Council’s enforcement team to make an inspection and they concluded that due to the failure of previous attempts to encourage the owner to manage his waste in a responsible manner they would issue a Fixed Penalty Notice. We hope that this will be enough to prevent this issue from re-occurring in the future. Everyone is sorry that things reached this point, but it seemed that the problem would not go away unless it became clear that action would be taken, and it important people know that as active local Councillors we will prompt the Council to take action to protect the interests of residents when problems like this occur.

ACTION ON SAFETY PROBLEM AT MAYFIELD ROAD / RIDGWAY TRIANGLE

The Triangle

Richard has intervened with Council officers to sort out a potential road safety problem at the triangle in the middle of the road where Mayfield Road meets The Ridgway. The opportunity was taken, at the same time, to confirm with residents whether they want any changes made to the layout of this attractive local feature.

The small triangle of land at this road junction is planted with cotoneaster bushes and three flowering cherry trees. It is understood that up to about the mid-1980’s the area was grassed, though with the trees, and it was planted with cotoneaster bushes at the initiative of local residents. It is believed that there was an understanding that the residents would maintain the bushes, but the bushes have always been maintained by the Council.

Correspondence between residents about the maintenance of the cotoneaster bushes led Richard to convene a meeting at the triangle on 9 August 2012, attended by Bill Bailey, the Council officer in charge of the maintenance of hedges, and several local residents.

Mr. Bailey explained that the Council treated the cotoneaster bushes as a slow-growing hedge and cut them twice a year, normally in July and September. The difficulty arose with the first cut, as advice from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was not to cut any hedges till August, and by then it is likely that the cotoneaster bushes will have grown to a height that means they are interfering with the visibility of drivers. Drivers coming from Mayfield Road have difficulty seeing cars coming down The Ridgway, from the left, as they are obscured by the bushes. In recent years the cut had been scheduled for July but he had usually been alerted by a local resident to a developing safety problem and had immediately arranged for the bushes to be trimmed, ahead of their position in the schedule. The Council would be happy to adopt any solution that was acceptable to the residents.

In discussion the following points were made:

– it seemed unlikely that birds would nest in these bushes, and residents did not believe that this was a real likelihood. Mr. Bailey said that the contractors would always check in any case, and he had no problem about arranging that the first cut would be earlier

– options such as paving the edge of the area or reverting to grass had been proposed but were unpopular with residents, who generally liked the layout of the triangle as it is

– an option would be to cut back the cotoneasters at the corners or along the part of the triangle fronting The Ridgway, but these solutions too would be unpopular

– the problem could be avoided by scheduling an earlier cut, with the additional safeguard that any resident who felt a problem was arising before the first cut could contact the Council or a local Councillor (three LibDem Councillors live in The Ridgway), and the Council would arrange an immediate inspection and cut (if necessary). This was agreed to be the best solution.

Mr. Bailey has now written to the Council’s contractors instructing that next year the first cut will be in June. This will eliminate the potential road safety problem but without making more radical changes to the triangle that residents do not want.

Richard said “There was a potential road safety issue here and I was pleased I was able to sort it out. It was good to take the opportunity to take views on the layout of what is an attractive feature of the area. I am glad we are not going to change it but can at the same time deal with the problem these bushes can cause.”

SUTTON ENDS THE SCOURGE OF GARDEN GRABBING

Sutton Council’s planning policies mean gardens are safer in green and leafy Sutton.

Gardens are safer in Sutton as the Borough’s green policies have blocked “garden grabbing” for development to a greater extent than anywhere else in London.

In 2006, 91 planning applications to build new residential units on back gardens got through in the Borough, but in 2010/11 only 23 were allowed.

The fall of 68 is by far the biggest across the capital and is the result of the authority’s policy of restricting back garden development, which was toughened up even more in the Borough’s recently-approved Site Development Policies document.

Richard says “As I have said in a number of speeches seeting out my views on planning at meetings of the Council, we are succeeding in maintaining the green, suburban feel of Sutton, and protecting our precious green spaces.”

The recent tightening of policy will make it even more difficult for would-be developers to build on back gardens in Sutton.

The Council toughened its opposition to back garden development in 2009 when its Core Planning Strategy insisted that any development must respect local context and distinctive local character.

And in March this year the Site Development Policies document made permission even more difficult to obtain with a series of rules to resist garden builders.

The policy insisted that ‘The council will not grant planning permission for the development of new housing units on back garden land, where the site either individually or as part of a larger street block:

· Makes an important contribution to the character and appearance of the surrounding area; or

• Is considered to be of ecological value; or

• Is likely to make a contribution to mitigating the impacts of climate change; or

· The proposal adversely affects the amenities of future occupiers or those currently occupying adjoining or nearby properties.

ENDING THE SCOURGE OF EMPTY HOMES

Sutton Council has launched a consultation on proposals to change Council tax payment requirements and entitlement to Council tax benefit. This results from changes proposed by the Government to “localise” Council tax benefit payments.

The Government’s proposals provide opportunities but present major problems. They enable Sutton to adopt its own scheme of entitlement to Council tax benefit (paid to those in hardship to help them make Council tax payments) but since the funding provided by the Government has been cut to 90% of the previous level the scheme Sutton will be required to adopt is bound to be less generous than the current scheme.

You can see the full proposals by clicking on this link.

The one positive aspect is that it will enable Sutton, subject to consultation, to remove incentives for people to keep properties empty, by removing discounts that enable people with empty homes and second homes to pay less council tax.

While the new scheme for paying Council tax benefit is less generous, the Council has sought to protect the elderly, the disabled and those with small children. This is in accordance with our principled belief, as Liberal Democrats, in fairness and helping the disadvantaged.

Richard, as vice-chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee, is closely involved in this work. He says “no-one wants to introduce a less generous scheme for payment of Council tax benefit, but Government decisions force us to do this. The one ray of light in these proposals is that we can put pressure on people who are keeping properties they own empty to get them back into the housing market. When properties are in short supply we cannot afford to have homes remaining empty.”

THREAT TO SUTTON’S COMMUTER SERVICES: RICHARD AND HEATHER SUPPORT ACTION

MANY RESIDENTS OF SUTTON SOUTH WARD COMMUTE INTO CENTRAL LONDON EVERY DAY TO WORK.

SERVICES WILL BE CUT AND JOURNEYS ON OTHER ROUTES MORE CROWDED UNLESS WE CAN STOP THE PROPOSALS TO AXE SERVICES TO FARRINGDON, St PANCRAS AND BEYOND.

After Richard made a stirring speech to Sutton Council about transport services on 16 July, Richard and Heather joined rail campaigners in Sutton for a day of action on 18 July in a bid to save our vital link to The City, St. Pancras, North London and stations to Luton.

Under current plans Thameslink Loop Line trains which link Sutton to St. Albans and Luton through central and north London will terminate at Blackfriars station from 2018.

But Richard, Heather and other campaigners – including our two LibDem MPs and the Leader of the Council Ruth Dombey – boarded trains on the morning of 18 July to travel to Blackfriars as part of our day of action.

Richard – who was interviewed on BBC Radio London that morning as part of the campaign – summarised our case in a speech he made to Sutton Council on 16 July. He said:

“We all know the importance to Sutton of maintaining a through rail service to north London.

I want to stress the importance of links to St Pancras International as St Pancras develops further as an international rail hub.

Over the next few years there will be a positive mushrooming of international rail travel from London. If the current plans of Deutschbahn and Eurostar come to fruition, by 2014 it will be possible, on arriving at St Pancras, to have a choice of services to travel from London to Amsterdam.

In addition to the current services to Brussels and Paris there will also be services from London to North Germany. This is a big market in terms of business travel. At present, each day, about 30 planes fly from London’s airports to destinations in north Germany, carrying about the same number of people as could be carried by just a few trains, using the Velaro D trains that are being built to provide rolling stock for these new services from London, by the train manufacturer Siemens at its Dusseldorf factory, which in fact I visited recently.

Aside from the potential importance of these international links to the residents of Sutton, there are international companies that have significant centres of their enterprises in Sutton – Sutton, a thriving London suburb, offering office space much cheaper than that found in the centre of London, less than half an hour by train from the centre, with a pleasant ambience and environment, and a location from which – importantly – you can reach the centre of Brussels in just two train journeys, one taking about 40 minutes and one about 2 hours. And the centre of Paris in just 15 minutes more. And soon – Amsterdam, north Germany.

Now, these are transport links that it is vital for Sutton to maintain, for the sake of our residents but also to maintain our attractiveness as a centre for business development. When I look at the data on economic activity that comes regularly to the new Housing, Economy and Business committee, some clear conclusions stand out. It is clear that Sutton is doing relatively well in terms of surviving the recession and maintaining one of the highest rates of economic activity on the part of its residents of any part of London. But we need to continue to attract new businesses.

The Tramlink extension is perhaps equally important, particularly in relation to the north Sutton site, which is an attractive site, and on which the Housing, Economy and Business committee now has a task group working on the planning brief. Our current plans include scope for a Tramlink stop at the site, something that will greatly enhance its appeal, and we see this development as an important part of our future growth strategy.

So we must keep pressure on TfL to continue work on the feasibility of the Sutton Tramlink proposal, and make clear to the Department for Transport that changes that remove our linoks to north London and in particular to St Pancras, are not acceptable.

The Thameslink service is absolutely vital. Losing it would sever our only direct link to North London and would mean Sutton residents would need to take at least two trains to get to St Pancras. It is quite scandalous that, at a time when we should be improving public transport, there is a serious proposal to cut the link between North and South London.”

We need to act now as the Department for Transport is currently consulting on the new seven-year Thameslink franchise which will run from September next year and incorporate the Southern franchise from 2015.

Ironically, the cross-London Loop Line service which runs through Sutton, Carshalton and Hackbridge stations, was recently reopened at nights and weekends after being split for three and a half years by engineering work. It is all very well reopening it now, but Sutton’s residents need the line to stay open for good.

The new franchise will set service patterns for 2018 and beyond, so it is vital that we act now and do not become a Cinderella area for rail transport.

To view the DfT consultation document visit www.dft.gov.uk/consultations

To give your input into Sutton’s response, email alex.forrest@sutton.gov.uk

Richard and Heather will be submitting their own response.

More detail about the attitude the Council is taking, opposing this threat, is in a further post on this site “Train Links To North London Must Remain” (see archive July 2011).

Heather and Richard outside Sutton station

HELP US SAVE ST. HELIER’S MATERNITY AND A and E UNITS !

A panel established under the NHS’s Better Services Better Value review has recommended that St Helier should become the centre for planned surgery in South West London, but losing its Accident & Emergency (A & E) and maternity units.

The review was initiated by the local NHS not by the Department of Health. Decisions about healthcare are taken by the local NHS organisation not Ministers. In the event that the final decision taken was challenged it could be referred to the Secretary of State for Health for a final decision.

As local Councillors who have used the services of St. Helier hospital, we oppose this decision. Heather has already been particularly active in opposing it as a member of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for south west London. On 15 May we joined our MP Paul Burstow in a demonstration against the decision at St. Helier hospital (in the photo above you can see Heather, Paul and Richard in front of the hospital).

Paul Burstow, has raised serious concerns about the way in which the Better Services Better Value review, and the talks about a merger with St Georges, have been handled. Treated as completely separate discussions, in fact they directly impacted on each other.

At this point no final decisions have been taken. Whilst important, the panel’s recommendations are not binding and mark the beginning of a process which will include a public consultation, expected in early autumn.

Local LibDems have previously fought to save St Helier and in 2010 secured £219m to refurbish and rebuild the hospital.

Paul Burstow comments:

“This is a flawed conclusion from a flawed process. There is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge before final decisions are made.

The panel have ignored the pressure on all the A&Es and maternity units in south west London.

A cloud has gathered over St Helier but I believe we can mount a successful challenge to the assumptions that have led the panel to this conclusion.

We have saved St Helier before, and we will fight to do so again.”