MAINTAINING AND IMPROVING PLANNING CONTROLS IN SUTTON

Sutherland House

Both Richard and Heather made important contributions to debates at the Sutton Council meeting on 30 April.
 
Supporting Local Businesses

Richard seconded a motion on supporting local businesses, noting the conclusions of the Portas review on support for town shopping centres. He pointed out out that we have strong planning controls in Sutton designed to maintain the pleasant, green, suburban character of the Borough, but that the Portas review and the proposals of the Local Government Association in response to it highlighted additional controls that would be useful. He noted that, on many of the specific proposals in the Portas review to re-vitalise shopping centres, Sutton was well placed – having strong links with local businesses, a mix of retail shops, banks, restaurants, leisure facilities, markets and events, good transport links and parking facilities.

Brighton Road High Street

Heather drew attention to the difficulties in Sutton South Ward relating to the continuing failure to re-develop Sutherland House (see the photo above) and hoped that the new powers we were seeking would improve our ability to influence situations like Sutherland House.
 
Parking
In another debate, we welcomed a review that is to be undertaken of parking controls in Sutton. A subject  that is of great interest to residents.
We noted that Sutton has low charges for parking, relative to most London Boroughs, issues fewer penalty notices than any other Borough, and that the accounts for parking charges roughly break even, so these charges do not subsidise other Council services  We both drew attention to our wish to introduce specific parking schemes in Suton Court and Eastleigh Close.
 
The text of the motion on planning was:
Supporting local businesses
Proposer:  Jayne McCoy
Seconder:  Richard Clifton
This Council notes the findings of the Portas Review and supports the Local Government Association’s response proposing a five point plan for our high streets.
This Council has produced its own response to the Portas review with specific recommendations it intends to implement locally in particular:
  • That the Council support the Business Improvement District (BID) Steering Group in its application to become a Portas pilot.
  • That we build up a package of tailored support for District centres.
This Council welcomes the devolution of powers in the Localism Act to improve our local area and supports the Local Government Association’s call on the Government to now go further by giving Councils the power to protect our high streets and district centres, specifically:
  • To introduce new powers to enable councils to tackle the clustering of premises such as betting shops, fast food takeaway and late night off-licenses, and limiting the power of the planning inspectorate to overturn local community decisions.
  • To improve existing planning powers, including Article 4 and to introduce a new umbrella use class, in to which local authorities can add types of premises they consider to be problematic in their area.
Thereby allowing us to defend the diversity of our high streets and district centres and ensure they are thriving and sustainable for years to come.
Council calls upon the Leader to write to the Secretary of State for Communities to press for these important new controls.

LOCAL COMMITTEE

On Thursday 19 April we attended the Sutton South, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee, at Overton Grange school. Amongst other things we:

– sought re-assurance from the police about police resources in Sutton, given the evidence that police resources are stretched that Richard heard at the Licensing Committee hearing he attended on 28 March (see post below “Late Night Noise Danger Averted”)

– obtained agreement to litter bins being provided at locations suggested to us by residents, including Grange Road and Upland Road

– established the way forward on the Eastleigh Close parking scheme, and the Bonchurch Close yellow lining (removal thereof) scheme

– heard a presentation on the new bin collection scheme. We noted that local authorities have suffered 26% cuts in Government funding of running costs, in real terms, and 29% of capital programmes since 2010, and Sutton Council has done well to keep the Council tax frozen for three years while avoiding draconian cuts like closing libraries. The new bin collection scheme will save £500 000. There may be a few rough edges, to be ironed out in the next few weeks, but it is a worthwhile scheme

– noted further proposals for the expansion of primary schools, including The Avenue, which some of our residents send their children to. We noted that the expansion of Devonshire Avenue school had been successfully completed with no adverse consequences, and the school did well in its OFTED inspection. We noted that the percentage of children born in the Borough entering State primary schools had risen from below 84% in 2007/8 to almost 94% in  2010/11, due to the recession coupled with the high quality of Sutton’s State primary schools leading to parents turning their back on private education. This is what has caused the need to expand primary schools.

SOUTH SUTTON WARD POLICE CONSULTATIVE PANEL: 18 APRIL

 

Sutton Police Station

On 18 April we both attended the consultative panel, at which the representatives of the local community discuss police priorities with our local “Safer Neighbourhoods” police team.

The panel welcomed Sergeant Geraldine Costello, our new sergeant, whom we share with Belmont Ward.

The latest crime statistics show Sutton South remains a low crime area and crime has, overall, fallen further, but with a small increase in residential burglaries, many from garages. There is a welcome reduction in thefts from motor vehicles and criminal damage.

The panel confirmed as police priorities for the next three months:

– theft from motor vehicles, to keep on top of this following the recent reduction

– drugs and anti-social behaviour in the Brighton Road

– garage burglaries

– support for “Operation Ferrous”, which relates to the theft and trading of scrap metal, a particular problem due to the escalation in the price of scrap metal.

The panel discussed “community payback” work by offenders. It also had a discussion of ways of improving how it represents the local community and provides information on its work, to have a better dialogue with the police on behalf of the community.

DEVONSHIRE AVENUE NATURE AREA: FURTHER TREE PLANTING

Pupil’s planting boosts nature reserve

Pupils from Devonshire Primary School helped to plant an orchard in their local nature reserve, the Devonshire Avenue Nature Area.

The youngsters spent a morning digging deep through tough chalk soil, to plant six apple and pear trees. Officers from Sutton Council’s  Biodiversity Team were on hand to show them how to best plant the trees and teach them about how the trees will grow.

It is hoped the nature reserve will eventually be home to a small orchard, which will complement the existing wildlife, which includes bees, butterflies – including the scarce small blue butterfly and other insects.

The orchard is being rejuvenated as part of a wider project to improve the site for the local community, which we have spearheaded as Liberal Democrat Councillors for the Ward. Further plans include new benches and a self-guided nature trail.

Heather said “It was wonderful to see the children enjoying themselves, and learning so much at the same time: how chalk developed from microscopic sea creatures millions of years ago; how to plant trees using a mixture of the original soil and compost and how to encourage wildlife.  These lessons will stay with them for a long time”

Councillor Graham Tope, Executive Member for Community Safety, Leisure and Libraries at Sutton Council, said: “The pupils from Devonshire Primary School worked very hard to plant these trees, and I’m sure that in years to come they’ll be proud to come back and see the fruits of their labour.

“This is a great asset for the local community, and with more features on the way to make it even more usable, I hope local residents will make the most of it this spring and catch a glimpse of some beautiful natural wildlife.”

 

GARDEN WASTE COLLECTIONS RE-START NOW

Garden waste collections re-start from Monday 16 April 2012 and run until Friday 14 December 2012. Each household can put out, free of charge:

*  two Council authorised 120 litre reusable sacks, or

*  three 70 litre jute sacks (additional single use 70 litre biodegradable sacks can be purchased for £1 per sack).

Just put out the sacks on the day of your normal re-cycling collection, starting Tuesday 24 April in our Ward. 

FREE GARDEN WASTE SACKS ARE AVAILABLE FROM BOROUGH LIBRARIES.

There is a more general re-organisation of waste collection services taking place at this time. It will not alter waste collection arrangements in our Ward in that bins will still be collected on Tuesdays across almost all of the Ward, but the time of bin collections might change in some roads. The collection in Westmoreland Drive is on Wednesday.

WHERE TO SEE THE OLYMPIC TORCH

The torch will pass through Sutton on 23 July.

It will enter the Borough via Croydon Road and continue along Acre Lane to the centre of Carshalton. From Carshalton Ponds the torchbearers will make their way along Carshalton Road to Sutton High Street and continue along Angel Hill, Sutton Common Road and Reigate Avenue before leaving the Borough via Bishopford Road.

For residents of Sutton South Ward, the best place to stand is probably along Carshalton Road between Carshalton Ponds and the High Street.

There will also  be a display of Olympic banners attached to lamp-posts along the Brighton Road, in our Ward, between 6 June and 30 September.

COUNCIL TAX FROZEN AGAIN

At the Council meeting on Monday 5 March, Sutton’s Liberal Democrat Council passed a budget that, for the thrid year in a row, froze Council tax at its current level.

This has been achieved despite major cuts in Government support, designed to achieve the objective of reducing the public spending deficit.

Unlike many other Councils, including some close nearby, Sutton has achieved this without closing libraries or leisure centres, and while protecting essential public services such as street cleaning and adult social services. As Liberal Democrats, we have a particular concern to protect the disadvantaged, and take particular pleasure in having protected the most vulnerable groups.

CONCERN AT POLICE RESOURCES

Sutton South Ward is a low crime area, but we have felt a need to express concern about the resources available to the local police. This was after the meeting of the consultative panel for our Ward arranged for Wednesday 14 March was called off due a shortage of available police personnel.  

We both sit on the panel, which is a vehicle for consultation with the community about police priorities and is also a mechanism for the community to help the police. More information about the panel is available on the page on “Sutton Police”.

The text of our letter to Sutton’s senior police officers was as follows:

“To Superintendant Phil Willis, Head of SPSS
    Chief Inspector Alan Chambers
 
 
Dear Colleagues
 
The scheduled police consultative panel meeting that was due to take place tonight in Sutton South Ward of the London Borough of Sutton has been postponed by the police.
 
Councillor Heather Honour and I, the two Liberal Democrat Councillors for the Ward, are concerned at this cancellation, which appears to be due to problems related to police resources. I am writing to you to express our concern and to seek re-assurance that there are not going to be longer term problems with the policing of our Ward.
 
The Sutton South Ward Safer Neighbourhoods policing team used to have its own sergeant. Last year that was taken away from us, when the long-serving Dave Williams retired, and a single segeant was appointed to cover both Belmont and Sutton South. We did not protest at this, since analysis we regularly carry out of crime trends in Sutton South compared to the rest of the Borough show it is a low crime area, and Belmont Ward has similarly low figures. Sergeant Brendan Mcwilliams was appointed.
 
Since then there has been a continuous pattern of change. Sergeant McWilliams is now leaving us and we find that the resources of the team are almost continuously depleted by training and by officers being deployed away from the area to help with operations elsewhere. This depletion is the reason we have been given as to why it is not possible to hold the scheduled meeting of the panel thisevening.
 
We fully appreciate that there are times when local resources have to be offered up to assist in wider policing exercises, and recognise that as the Olympics approach this may happen more often. However, we would be concerned if our area was left with so little cover that normal policing tasks for the community were put at risk, and if this were to impact on crime levels.
 
We would welcome your reaction to these concerns and trust you can put our minds at rest.
 
Best wishes.
 
Richard Clifton
   Councillor for Sutton South Ward”
 

A WORD OF THANKS TO THE NATIONAL TRUST

We have written to the National Trust to thank them for the unwitting help they gave us when we pursued our objective of installing a small piece of children’s play equipment in the Devonshire Avenue Nature Area (DANA), so the area is better used. The inspiration for the wooden play equipment came from the NT installation at Box Hill. Our letter explains all and reads as follows: 

“Dear National Trust.
In a world of grant applications and “evidencing” everything, we thought you would find the following useful.
 
The children’s natural play area in Box Hill has been imitated.
 
We now have similar play equipment in the Devonshire Avenue Nature Area (DANA) in the London Borough of Sutton.
 
This tiny, one acre reserve is surrounded by blocks of flats.  The nearest playground for children is over a mile away.  But the nature area is home to the very rare small blue butterfly.  There was an inevitable conflict between the conservationists, who wanted no “nasty modern looking stuff that looks like it has come from Disney land” and local families desperate for somewhere to take their children.
 
We were able to show that the National Trust have achieved that balance at Box Hill.  Using your play area as inspiration we were able to work with the locals and the conservationists to achieve a happy compromise.
 
The result, we hope is a much improved Nature Area, where more children come to play and the precious small blue butterfly is still protected.  But most important of all, we now have a chance to educate the visitors about the importance of nature conservation and what to look for in their area.
Thank you for your inspiration.
Cllr Mary Burstow       (Sutton Play Champion)
Cllr Heather Honour  
Cllr Richard Clifton   (Sutton South Ward Councillors)”