STREET TREE PRUNING PROGRAMME ABOUT TO BEGIN

Residents often ask treeResidents often ask us about the street trees in their road.

There are over a thousand street trees in the Ward, and they are an important contribution to the pleasant, green, suburban character of Sutton which we all cherish. Unfortunately at this time of year they drop a lot of leaves, and these are being progressively cleared up. Trees are selectively pruned on a four year cycle. A survey of the trees in Sutton South Ward has recently been completed by trained arborculturalists and a programme of tree pruning and felling will be completed in the Ward between the end of December 2014 and March 2015. The arborculturalists have carried out a full health and condition survey and the pruning recommended is to remove or minimise the potential for the trees to cause harm to people or property. Unfortunately the programme will involve the loss of a few trees, nineteen in all. We are only taking down trees which are dead, or dying, or diseased, and dangerous.

Our contractor City Suburban Tree Surgeons will begin the work shortly and expect it will be completed by the end of March 2015. If a tree near you is felled and, after it is felled, you would like the Council to consider a replacement, let us know. The tree planting budget is, like all Council budgets, under some pressure. Residents and residents’ organisation sometimes fund planting and this is always possible.

FREE GRIT PROGRAMME AGAIN A GREAT SUCCESS

SNOW

Free Grit for residents and local businesses

Sutton Council again provided masses of free grit to our residents and local businesses, to get ready for snowy and icy conditions. There could be snow by Christmas.

Each household or local business was able to collect 10kg of free grit courtesy of Sutton Council to use on footpaths, pavements or roads in front of homes or business premises.

Many residents collected grit for themselves and for elderly friends and neighbours or for residents and local businesses who do not have a car. We are delighted this scheme, which has been so successful, has been repeated despite the massive pressure on Sutton Council due to Government cuts in funding.

AVOIDING FLOODING – CLEANING THE RAINWATER GULLEYS

drains

Work will be carried out between 24 October to 11 November to clean the gulleys in roads in our Ward. This is essential work to avoid flooding.

The work will require temporary  waiting restrictions – ‘no waiting’ – and loading restrictions – ‘no loading / unloading’ – in those roads or lengths of roads where cleaning is taking place on the day of the cleaning.  Advance notice will be given to residents three days before the restrictions are due to apply.  The restrictions will be removed as soon as the works are completed.  The works will take place between 7am and 2pm on Mondays to Fridays.

The work will require the temporary  suspension of any disabled persons parking places,  permit parking place,  shared use permit/pay and display parking place,  loading place or any other free parking place in those roads or lengths of roads that are adjacent to a drainage gulley, on the days cleaning is taking place.

The days the work will take place are:

24/10/2014 Abbottsleigh Close, Audely Place, Carmborne Road and Stanley Road (between Worcester Roadand Ventnor Road).

27/10/2014 Blackbush Close, Effingham Close, Grange Road (Overton Road to Worcester Road), Grange Vale, Tapestry Close. Upton Dene, Ventnor Road and Westmorland Drive.

28/10/2014 Bonchurch Close, Brighton Road, ( Devonshire Avenue to Mulgrave Road), Devonshire Avenue, Devonshire Road Sutton (Langley Park Road to Devonshire Avenue).

29/10/2014 Christchurch Park, Milestone Close, Walnut Mews and White Lodge Close

30/10/2014 Albion Road, Downside Road. Farm Close Sutton, Farm Road, and The Ridgeway.

31/10/2014 Ambleside Gardens, Cavendish Road, Prior Avenue and Upland Road

10/11/2014 Cedar Road, Chalgrove Road, Eaton Road, Langley Park Road, (Chalgrove Road to Railway Bridge), Mitre Close.

11/11/2014 Cedar Gardens, Cumnor Road, Hillcroome Road, Mayfield Road, Rutherford Close and Wellesley Road.

12/11/2014 Coniston Gardens, Copse Hill, Eastleigh Close, Ferndown Close, Kayemoor Road, Leslie Gardens, Summers Close, Willis Avenue and Worcester Road (Overton Road to Mulgrave Road).

RICHARD SETS OUT HIS VISION AS CHAIR OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE

richard-councillor-002

On 11 July Richard took the helm as chair of the Council’s Planning Committee (formerly the Development Control Committee) by chairing the first meeting of the Committee following the election and his appointment as chair.

A lively meeting dealt with some important planning applications, including one for the re-development of Times Square in the Sutton shopping centre.

Richard commenced by thanking his predecessor, former Councillor John Leach.

Richard introduced his first meeting by setting out his view of the vision and mission of the committee, saying that the work of our committee is massively important and our mission is:

– to achieve the vision for Sutton in our plans and ensure that acceptable standards are observed in all developments within the Borough.

He said “The business of the committee is to consider certain categories of planning applications, particularly those that are significant to the development of Sutton and those that are disputed.

The way the planning system works is that Sutton Council adopts and publicises planning policies, setting out its overall plans for the Borough and standards on such matters as design, environmental impact and the impact on local amenities.

These policies are discussed and adopted by the Housing, Economy and Business Committee (HEB).

Our committee is concerned with the implementation of those policies – in the actuality of the proposals for new developments in Sutton, in the planning applications that come before us and thus what is actually built.

In considering planning applications we will not grant them where there is clearly a conflict with our planning policies. A decision not to grant an application is of course subject to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

But the work of our committee is massively important – to achieving the vision for Sutton in our plans and in ensuring that acceptable standards are observed in all developments within the Borough.”

 

RICHARD AND TRISH TAKE ON NEW RESPONSIBILITIES

TWO 1 ROTATED

Trish and Richard are taking on a range of new responsibilities, following their election.

Trish will be a member of the Council’s important Housing, Economy and Business Committee. She will be a member of the Licensing Committee, having had experience in matters relating to licensing. She will also be a member of the Appeals Committee and of the Merton and Sutton Joint Cemetery Board.

Richard will be chair of the Council’s Planning Committee (formerly Development Control Committee) and continue as chair of the Health and Safety Committee. As a former chair of the Board of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work he cannot escape that task. He will also sit on the Strategy and Resources Committee and the Standards Committee. He will also sit on the Council’s joint committee with recognised trade unions and have other responsibilities on joint committees of London Councils. His wife Gloria sometimes reminds him that he is supposed to be retired.

NEW STREET TREES PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED

Richard plus tree in Farm Road 

Richard planting a tree in Farm Road.

Richard, Nali, Heather and Sue with trees

Richard, Nali, Heather and Sue with trees

There is a new programme of tree planting in our Ward, over the winter. Exciting news. Some of these are already planted. Here is a listing of sites. Contact us if you have other nominations to make.

There will be a number of different types of tree including laburnum, malus trilobata, corylus colurna, prunus sargentii rancho, crataegus laevigata “Paul’s Scarlet” and acer campestre “Streetwise”.

SUTTON SOUTH WARD

 ALBION ROAD, SUTTON Outside number 20      

 

 ALBION ROAD, SUTTON 10 (FLATS 1-8) near FERNDOWN CL      

 

 CHRISTCHURCH PARK, SUTTON AMBERLEY COURT(FLATS)      

 

DEVONSHIRE AVENUE, SUTTON

 PENARTH COURT      
 

DEVONSHIRE ROAD, SUTTON

 10      
  DEVONSHIRE ROAD, SUTTON  near junction Egmont Road      
 

DEVONSHIRE ROAD, SUTTON

  near junction Egmont Road      

 

EFFINGHAM CLOSE, SUTTON

 57      

 

FARM ROAD

 7, and opposite Kayemoor Road      

 

KAYEMOOR ROAD, SUTTON

 Outside 24/26, outside 10, outside 32/34      

 

PRIOR AVENUE, SUTTON

Outside 41

      

 

 STANLEY ROAD, SUTTON 3-15 ESPRIT COURT (entrance)      
 

UPLAND ROAD, SUTTON

 Close to number 90      

 

 UPLAND ROAD, SUTTON

Outside 45, 53/55, 76

      

 

 UPLAND ROAD, SUTTON

Outside 9, 62, 4

      

 

 MAYFIELD ROAD, SUTTON

Outside 15

      

 

 WILLIS AVENUE

Outside 15/17

      

 

 EFFINGHAM CLOSE

  Outside 5, and outside 6      

 

  CAMBORNE ROAD

 4b

      

 

An additional tree has been planted outside 3 Chalgrove Road at the suggestion of a resident.

Residents have the opportunity to foster these new trees and help leave a green legacy. Under the Council’s Tree Fostering Scheme they can help look after trees that are planted near their homes for up to three years. Maintenance duties include watering the trees with three buckets of water a week in the dry months and, if they want to, loosen tree ties and trim off broken twigs. By signing up, residents will receive a tree care guide with information on how to look after their tree.

NEW POWERS TO COMBAT LITTER

Fly tipping in Prior Avenue

Fly tipping in Prior Avenue

The latest public satisfaction survey shows most of our residents really like living in Sutton, and the Borough achieves higher satisfaction scores than most comparable London Boroughs.

Amongst the things that bug people, however, is the litter people drop. The Council has taken new powers, including to impose an £80 on-the-spot fine, enforced by new litter wardens.

An 11 tonne mountain of rubbish, one day’s worth of litter was created in the middle of Sutton High Street on 6 February as part of the anti-litter campaign to change bad habits and save council tax payers money.

The pile, over 10ft tall and just as wide in clear plastic bags, demonstrated how much street litter is collected each day at a cost of £4m a year. That is the equivalent of running a library service for a year, repairing 100,000 potholes, providing 210 residential care places for the elderly or building half a primary school.

litter picture

The anti-litter event also included a display of fly tipping collected from the Borough’s streets. Despite the Council having a dedicated service for collecting larger goods, some people still fly tip at a cost of £170,000 a year to clean up. Fly tipping can include anything from TVs and sofas to large tipper trucks dumping commercial waste. There have been particular problems at certain roads in our Ward such as Prior Avenue.

NEW BENCHES AND REPAIRED BENCHES

bech in brighton rd straightened

Residents have suggested places in the Ward where an additional street bench would be useful, particularly for people struggling home with heavy shopping.

We have agreed a number of locations in the Ward for additional benches, including in Cavendish Road, Cedar Road, Worcester Road and Grange Vale. In addition a number of the existing benches that are now in a somewhat dilapidated state will be repaired and cleaned. This includes the bench pictured here in Brighton Road, which has slats missing.

FEWER EMPTY HOMES IN SUTTON

end of devonshire

With continuing pressure on housing in the Borough, it is a matter of concern if houses are left empty for long period.

Last year Sutton Council introduced a number of technical changes to Council tax collection arrangements that changed financial incentives to keep properties empty. Richard, in his role as vice-chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Commmittee, was closely involved in the design of these changes, which involved the removal of discounts on Council tax previously enjoyed by owners of second homes and owners of empty properties.

At the meeting of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee on 8 October Richard commented on figures the Committee discussed that showed a fall in the number of empty properties. However, while the figures are moving in the right direction there is clearly some way to go. They show that there are still 200 properties in Sutton empty for over two years (excluding those in probate), down from 210, and over 450 properties unoccupied and unfurnished (470 down from 573). 

Richard said “at a time of housing pressure these empty properties are a cause for concern. The policy the Council introduced last year to remove financial incentives to keep properties empty has been a success, in that the numbers have fallen, but there is still a way to go.”