WHAT A WASTE!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Heather visited the Viridor Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Lakeland near Sough yesterday, 29th February, with Councillor Mary Burstow.

Their aim was to observe at first hand the operation of an ERF similar to that proposed on land currently used as the Beddington landfill site.  This is particularly important given their roles as Vice Chair and Chair of Sutton’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

For  more information on future plans for the Beddington site visit:    http://www.slwp.org.uk/

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT COUNCILLORS ACHIEVE ACTION ON PLAY AREA

Sutton Council has now completed the first stage of the programme we have been spearheading for improvements to the Devonshire Avenue Nature Area.

We have taken forward this programme with Council officers, closely involving the South Sutton Neighbourhood Association. We have promoted the case for the installation of a small piece of play equipment, shown above, suitable for children aged up to 7, to enable better use to be made of the area while not removing its central purpose as a nature area, home to the rare small blue butterfly. A further programme is underway to tidy the area and lay out paths. The nature area is the only open space in our Ward. It is in a part of our Ward where many children live in small flats without access to a garden, as a study conducted by Devonshire Avenue school has shown. We are pleased with the progress of this project and see it as a significant achievement.

Trees were planted on 26th March at 10 am with children from Devonshire School (plus Heather and Richard) taking part.

Further steps include the following:

* the back wall was removed at the beginning of January and the area levelled. The contractor has put a

formal path through the woodland.

• The area will be reseeded. This needs temporary fencing.

• A nature nature trail will be installed.

• Mary from the Council’s biodiversity team is working on the signs, to guide the nature trail.

• There will be a number of carefully positioned benches installed

• There will be another nature trail for children when the weather is warmer. The last was hugely

popular and we have found that children who took part in last June’s Nature Trail are still fascinated

by butterflies. 

DEMOLITION OF 39A EATON ROAD

Residents will have noticed that the demolition of 39A Eaton Road has taken place.

Sutton Council consistently rejected planning applications involving the demolition of this house. The reason why demolition is now taking place is that the Planning Inspectorate, based in Bristol, over-ruled your local Council when an appeal was made.

Richard spoke against the application when it came to the Council’s Development Control Committee, and helped persuade the Committee to throw the application out. But we cannot overturn a decision by the Planning Inspectorate, whose decisions have been – in our view – inconsistent and unhelpful to planning policies in our area.

We remain concerned that the continuing demolition of family houses and their replacement by small blocks of small flats without gardens is leading to an unbalanced housing stock in the area, and we will continue to oppose this trend in dealing with planning applications. There is more information on our position on the page on planning on this site.

CONSULTATION ON PARKING SCHEMES IN BELMONT WARD

At the South Sutton, Cheam and Belmont Local Committee on 23 February there was discussion of proposals for parking schemes (yellow lining on the roads to prevent parking at certain times) in a number of roads in Belmont Ward, including some roads adjacent to South Sutton Ward. There has been some misunderstanding about the origin of these proposals and their likely impact. Richard, who spoke at the meeting to remind the Committee of the implications for South Sutton, explains as follows.

“This scheme has been under consideration for about five years. It arises from developments at the Royal Marsden Hospital that had the effect of putting pressure on parking in neighbouring roads. It was agreed, some years ago, to fund, from section 106 money provided by the Marsden (so the cost is not a charge on Sutton Council tax payers), consultation with local residents on parking schemes. The original proposals, for roads close to the Marsden, would have led to some displacement of parking into roads further afield and the consultation was stopped, then resumed over a wider area. Eventually much of Belmont Ward was included in the consultation, including roads that are far removed from the Marsden such  as Egmont Road.

The roads adjacent to our Ward covered in the latest consultation that could lead to displacement into Sutton South are the small part of Langley Park Road south of the junction with Chalgrove Road, the part of Devonshire Road south of Egmont Road, and Egmont Road. The latest round of consultation produces strange results. The response rate of residents in Devonshire Road was less than 20% – implying most of them are not fussed about parking – and in Egmont Road it was only 8%. This is not a mandate for change. The decision taken at the Local Committee on 23 February was to have a further round of consultation in these roads.

As Liberal Democrats we support localism – ensuring decisions are taken at the local, community level wherever possible – so we support the delegation of decisions on parking schemes to Local Committees, though our Party is in a minority on our Local Committee. This set of proposals, under discussion for five years, was well advanced when we were elected in 2010 so we cannot stop it progressing. What we can do is look out for the interests of our residents.

 At the Local Committee on 23 February, we:

– expressed concern at the possibility of displacement of parking into neighbouring roads in Sutton South Ward, if any of these schemes were to be introduced after the next round of consultation

– proposed that if any changes were introduced there should be monitoring of displacement into roads in Sutton South Ward, and, if displacement arises, consultation with residents in our area on whether further parking controls are necessary.

We will seek to ensure this happens. Let us know your views.”

MORE GRIT BINS

NEW GRIT BIN IN CAVENDISH ROAD
 
When the snow falls, the pavements in Cavendish Road get icy. The snow usually melts fairly quickly on the pavements on the north side as this gets sun during the day, but the pavements on the south side are shaded by tall buildings like Fiske Court, so the snow lingers and hardens to ice. This is a particular problem as on the south side there are several blocks of sheltered housing for the elderly, Fiske Court and Richard Sharples House.
 
Responding to requests from residents of Fiske Court, Richard has several times been to Cavendish Road and himself cleared the pavement of snow. Now, we have discussed the problem with Council officers and got a new grit bin put in place outside Fiske Court. This will help deal with the problem if the snow returns.
 
Our picture shows Richard with Lee, who delivered the bin and filled it with grit.

ACTION TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AT THE GRANGE VALE BRIDGE

The bridge as it was.

The bridge as it is now.

We are pleased to report success in our campaign to improve pedestrian safety at the Grange Vale bridge.

Action has been taken to improve the safety of pedestrians who pass under the railway bridge in Grange Vale. Grange Vale is a one-way street and the traffic passes in the direction that is away from you as you look at the bridge in these photographs.

There is a very narrow pavement where Grange Vale passes under the railway bridge on the Sutton to Epsom Downs line. As Grange Vale is a one-way street, cars roar round the corner from the Brighton Road end and under the bridge, the driver only seeing a pedestrian on the pavement (or in the road, the pavement being so narrow) under the bridge at the last moment. It is a particular problem for parents with buggies or small children passing under the bridge.

A bid was submitted to Transport for London for the installation of a pedestrian-operated traffic light system, so the pedestrian can stop the traffic while passing under the bridge. Transport for London, led by Tory Mayor Boris Johnson, did not support the proposal, as not meeting their normal criteria for such a development. Your local LibDem Councillors have looked at alternative methods of improving the safety of the road for pedestrians.

The action taken has been to build out the pavement on the right just in front of the bridge as you look at it in these photographs, with posts at the edge of the pavement, to slow the speed of the traffic as cars have to align themselves more carefully before entering under the bridge.

We have campaigned for this improvement since we were elected and are pleased that we have got action.

Measuring our success at the bridge

Because of the dip in the road, the road can be flooded during the leaf fall season, as there are a lot of trees nearby including those next to the railway line. We have got the response team to agree to treat Grange Vale as a priority during the leaf fall season. Nevertheless, last year the road was briefly flooded due to leaf fall blocking the drains and Richard himself cleared the drains.

The drains after Richard cleared them.

FANCY A CHAT AND A CUP OF TEA?

Do you fancy a chat and a cup of tea?  Are you a senior citizen in the South Sutton Area?


Every second Saturday of the month between 2pm and 4pm there is an informal tea party at the Friends Meeting House  at 10 Cedar Road, Sutton SM2 5DA.  Everyone welcome for tea and biscuits, coffee and cake, games or just a good old chat

Do come along!  The next “tea party” is Saturday 10th March.  More information from 0208 642 5876.

If you know someone who would like to come but can’t manage the trip let me, Heather, know  and I will try to sort out transport.  I can be contacted on 07790 031764 or heather.honour@sky.com

The following tea party  will be held on Saturday 14th April.

FUNDING SUCCESS

Good news for our local volunteering teams

Sutton Centre for the Voluntary Sector (SCVS) in partnership with the Volunteer Centre Sutton (VC Sutton) and other local charities has been awarded Transforming Local Infrastructure Funding by the Big Fund (the non-Lottery funding arm of the Big Lottery Fund) on behalf of the Office for Civil Society.

The bid was for just under £400,000 and Sutton is one of only 72 local areas to be awarded funding from the last pot of money being released from central government to help infrastructure organisations become more effective and self-sufficient for the future.

In a statement, Civil Society Minister Nick Hurd said: “This fund is not designed to support business as usual. It is about making things better for the front line. It’s about supporting organisations with innovative business plans who want to play their part in modernising the landscape of local infrastructure.”

The bid was developed in consultation with the voluntary/community sector and local partners and will enable us to:

·         Improve support services to the voluntary/community sector by developing closer working between SCVS and VC Sutton.

·         Increase support for volunteering by creating a corps of volunteers.

·         Look at the feasibility of developing a voluntary sector building or hub – co-locating voluntary organisations and providing integrated support services for the voluntary/community sector.

·         Support voluntary/community organisations to become more enterprising through working more closely with local businesses.

·         Work across London to increase corporate giving to the local voluntary sector.

This is an exciting project which will increase the levels of support and funding that SCVS and the Volunteer Centre are able to offer to voluntary/community organisations in Sutton in these challenging times, and we look forward to working with colleagues across the borough to develop it.

Let me, Heather, know on heather.honour@sky.com if you are interested in volunteering in Sutton.

St Georges decide not to proceed with merger process.

“As Vice Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Committee and one of two Sutton Council representatives on the SW London Health Scrutiny Committee, I will be following very closely the implications for the residents of Sutton South  of the decision by St George’s Healthcare Trust not to proceed with the merger with  St Helier Hospital. Please see the press release below.”

Cllr Heather Honour

St George’s decide not to proceed with merger process

St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust have informed us and our strategic authority, NHS London, that they cannot proceed with their bid to merge with St Helier and Sutton hospitals.

Throughout the process St George’s have been very positive about the strategic opportunity to merge and the benefits this could bring to patients.

However, due to the financial challenges facing hospitals in south west London and the inability to pre-empt the outcome of the Better Services Better Value review, which is looking at how NHS services are provided across south west London, they do not feel able to proceed at this time.

This is because the review, which will be open to public consultation, could have a significant impact on the financial income of all hospitals involved.

St George’s have however expressed a full commitment to working closely with St Helier and Sutton hospitals in the future.

Jan Sawkins is the Independent Chair of the special Board set up to help St Helier, Sutton and Epsom hospitals to achieve foundation trust status.  She said: “Whilst we have always been aware that a bidder could withdraw during the process, at this stage in the transaction it is obviously very disappointing news.

“The Transaction Board has a meeting scheduled next week (7 February 2012) and we will use this to consider the options and agree a way forward.  This may include re-opening tenders for St Helier and Sutton hospitals.”

Matthew Hopkins, Trust Chief Executive said: “This is disappointing news, but St George’s have been clear to us that their decision is not based on our staff, nor the quality of the services we provide at St Helier and Sutton hospitals.

“As you would expect, the Trust Board and those working on the transaction have been looking at other options in case this happened and we look forward to discussing these with the Transaction Board next week.

“Whilst we are making decisions about the long-term future of our hospitals, our priority will – as ever – continue to be ensuring our patients and local people receive the very best services.”

Asked what this means for Epsom Hospital, Jan added: “It is the current belief that, subject to Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust being confirmed as the Preferred Partner for Epsom Hospital, the de-merger could continue whilst we make alternative arrangements for St Helier and Sutton.

“Whilst this would, of course, need further investigation and approval by the Transaction Board, the Trust Board and others, it is felt that this would be in the best interest of Epsom Hospital, its patients, staff and local people.

“However, I would emphasise that the priority remains to secure the future of Epsom, St Helier and Sutton hospitals.”

For more information about the work of the Trust visit our website: www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk.  You can also follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/epsom_sthelier) or find us on Facebook (facebook.com/epsomsthelier).

This is what St Georges said in their press release:

St George’s media statement

 St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust submitted a bid for a potential merger with St Helier Hospital in November 2011.

The board is clear that a merger between St George’s Healthcare and St Helier would be an excellent strategic opportunity, with the potential to bring significant improvements to the care of patients across southwest London and beyond.

After careful consideration the board has reached the conclusion that the current terms of the merger prevent us from proceeding further at this time.

The level of financial challenge facing hospitals in south west London,  combined with the inability to pre-empt the outcome of a public consultation around the Better Services Better Value (BSBV) review, means this is not the right time for us to progress with the transaction.

We want to continue to build on the existing links that are in place for clinical services.  We have identified a number of the potential benefits to patients that would occur from an acquisition which could also be delivered if the organisations remained separate legal entities which we shall continue to pursue.

We are particularly keen to develop the clinical and academic networks that span St George’s Healthcare and St Helier, and explore opportunities to establish new networks across services, to the benefit of patients.

A key priority for the trust is to achieve Foundation Trust (FT) status by 2014, and we will focus our efforts on achieving this. The board feels strongly that achieving FT status will strengthen the opportunities for St. George’s Healthcare and St Helier to work together in the future.

This is what Ashford and St Peters have had to say:

Statement re Epsom Hospital

Chief Executive at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Andrew Liles, said:

“The decision made by St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust not to pursue their bid for St Helier and Sutton hospitals has not changed our position regarding Epsom and we will continue to progress our plans to acquire Epsom hospital (through merger) in line with the process set out by the Transaction Board.  Of course this is still subject to approval by the Transaction Board, Epsom and St Helier, the local health authorities and others and by our own Board, who will need to be assured that any final decision is in the best interests of both the Epsom and Ashford and St Peter’s catchment populations.

As a Foundation Trust already we feel we are in a strong position strategically to pursue these plans and we know they have already passed through the first stage of the process successfully, meeting the criteria set by local people, stakeholders and staff.  These include new and innovative partnerships – with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Central Surrey Health and Surrey and Sussex Partnership NHS Trust – to create an integrated healthcare campus at Epsom Hospital, bringing additional services and added benefits to local patients and staff.  Our plans are also made more straightforward by the fact that Epsom hospital is not part of the Better Services Better Value review in South West London.

We have also had positive initial discussions regarding financial and commissioning support for our plans, although of course final decisions regarding the preferred provider and agreement of financial support are still to be made.”

For more information please call the Press Office on:  01932 722163

CHALLENGING INJUSTICE AND HATRED

Sutton Council held its annual event for Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday 27th January 2012 in the Europa Gallery in Sutton Central Library. We both attended. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’ and had the aim of encouraging people to challenge injustice and hatred, thus creating a safer, better future. There were speeches from the Mayor of Sutton, Councillor Gerry Jerome, Holocaust survivor Marcel Ladenheim, Mr. Meddie Kakyama-Mayanja, who spoke on the African genocides, and Reverend Meir Lev, Minister of Sutton and District Synagogue. There were references to local experiences of hate crime in Sutton, along with a stall from the Safer Sutton Partnership on reporting hate crime, to bring a local perspective to the theme of ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’. There was also an exhibition with information and photographs on the theme.