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)”

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.