The weekend of the 13th and 14th July marked the 125th. anniversary of Christchurch in Christchurch Park.
Richard brought the New London Concert Band, for whom he plays trumpet, to Christchurch on Sunday afternoon to perform a concert, as part of the celebrations. A large audience, on a hot day, listened to a concert that included a selection of James Bond themes, some Bach, a lot of Leroy Anderson (Blue Tango, Belle of the Ball), themes from Walt Disney films, and a lot more.
Sutton is famous for its street trees, over 20 000 in the Borough and over a thousand in our Ward. It is what gives Sutton its green, pleasant, suburban feel that people so like. Low crime, good schools and a pleasant suburban feel. We like Sutton.
A lot of correspondence with residents this summer about the basal growth of trees, which seems to have been particularly vigorous. The programme is well underway to cut it back and we are monitoring progress. We got them to give priority to Cavendish Road and some trees on street corners, like the one below, where the basal growth was affecting sight lines of car drivers at junctions.
Before
And after.
After
Heather and Richard marked the first day of July by spending the morning undertaking a complete tour of the Ward, going down every road. They noted every pothold in the Ward and were able to compile a full list of problems – including areas where there was a bit of rubbish that needed clearing up, a dumped washing machine and sink, some graffiti (not a lot, this is much less of a problem than it was a few years ago), and candidates for further grit bins (but there are a lot in the Ward already) and rubbish bins. Basal growth of trees is vigorous this year but the programmeto cut it back is underway. We have noted some specific problems and got them dealt with.
Let us know of any locations you are concerned about that ought to be on their list.
Richard is calling for new controls on payday loan companies.
Figures released as part of Sutton Council’s “Economy Watch – Economic Indicators” report show an alarming rise in debt enquiries from Sutton residents to the Citizens Advice Bureau. Richard said, in a letter to residents, “I am increasingly concerned that people are turning to these companies without looking into the real costs of borrowing money, which in some cases that I have investigated are well over 1000% APR.”
This was among the principal conclusions he drew when he spoke to the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee about the latest data on Sutton’s economic performance. He pointed out that, amongst the generally positive data on economic development in Sutton, enquiries to Sutton’s Citizens Advice Bureau were up by about 5% in the last quarter with debt enquiries increasing by 8.8%. There has to be a fear that recent welfare cuts will make the position worse.
In a letter to residents he called for consideration to be given to establishing by law some upper limit on the interest rate that can be charged on loans.
Richard said “I have said my piece, at Sutton Council meetings, about the problem of loan sharks and “payday” loans, and I cannot see why it is impossible to have a maximum figure for the interest charged on these loans (it can be well over 1000% APR) imposed in law.”
As long ago as 9 May 2011 Richard made a speech to a Sutton Council meeting calling for an end to illegal loan sharking, drawing attention to loan offers he had found on the Internet where the APR was over 1000%.
His comments come in the same week that Newcastle United hit the headlines over the sponsorship of their football kit by a “Payday Loans” company and evidence was published of an increase in this type of lending. He was commenting on a paper “Economy Watch – Economic Indicators Report” presented to the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, of which he is vice-chair. The latest data are mostly encouraging on economic trends in Sutton, showing Sutton is surviving the recession well.
Richard helping to open the Metrobank in Sutton
The latest data continue to show that Sutton is surviving the recession well.
They show that average house prices in Sutton (as measured by the average price of houses in Sutton sold in any particular month) were up almost 1% in February of this year compared to the previous month, and stood at 4.2% above the figure for a year previously. The cost of the average house sold in February, the latest month for which reliable data are available, was £255 000. This bullishness in the housing market is generally taken as an indicator of confidence in the local economy.
Positive indicators include:
The economic activity rate of working age adults in Sutton, at 81%, continues to be well above the average for London, which is 76%. Sutton residents continue to find work, and the percentage has increased (by 0.5%) in the last year. Many residents commute to central London for work, and it is unsurprising that the average pay of employees working in Sutton (£519 a week) is less than that in central London.
This finding, that Sutton residents continue to find work, is supported by the decline in numbers claiming Job Seekers Allowance, down by 7% in March compared to the figure for a year previously.
That said, the number of people who have been collecting JSA for over a year has risen in the last year, suggesting that those who have become distanced from the labour market are finding it more difficult to get work. Richard says this mirrors what he finds, as a local Councillor, in his casework, with people made redundant in their 50’s often finding it hard to get back into work.
This suggests that the Council’s “Opportunity Sutton” programme is an important priority. Jobs are gold dust and the prosperity of the Borough depends on people finding and staying in work.
New business start ups were at a record level in Sutton in 2012, with 863 new companies formed.
The number of local companies going into administration was down in the most recent quarter (January to March) and down on figures for a year previously.
The data that comes to the Housing, Economy and Business Committee usually shows a mixed picture, but the latest data are mostly encouraging. One negative that concerns us is that enquiries to Sutton’s Citizens’ Advice Bureau were up by about 5% in the last quarter, with debt advice enquiries increasing by 8.8%. Richard has said his piece, at Sutton Council meetings, about the problem of “payday” loans and we cannot see why it is impossible to have a maximum figure for the interest charged on these loans (it can be over 1000% APR) imposed in law. Richard’s comments are included in a separate post on this site on this subject.
This information is analysed by Richard in his role as vice-chair of the Council’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, which has oversight of economic development matters and the “Opportunity Sutton” programme. This is currently generating projects involving over £90 million worth of investment in Sutton, including the “Sutton Gateway” project to develop and improve the area from Sutton Court to the station. We hope this will include improving and opening up the side entrance to Sutton station, better shops and restaurants, new jobs from office development, more housing as Sutherland House is developed, the relocation of the recycling bins at The Quadrant and a general tidying up of the area.
Richard attended the annual “Raising The Flag” ceremony, on 24 June, in the town centre, to celebrate the achievements of our armed forces. The photo shows our MP Paul Burstow with Council leader Ruth Dombey, and local cadets.
It fell to Richard, as vice-chair of Sutton’s Housing, Economy and Business Committee, to make the case, when the Committee met on 18 June, for the scrutiny report prepared by the Committee on the Council’s procedures to deal with those about to become homeless.
Richard told the Committee that homelessness – being put in bed and breakfast accommodation often far from Sutton – is a terrible experience, especially for families. It can lead to people losing their jobs if they are too far away to travel back every day. It can lead to mental breakdown, marriage breakdown, and the disruption of the education of children. Our first priority is to avoid this, and it is not too much to ask landlords to wait a week or two in some cases before a property is vacated as a last effort is made to find somewhere else to live.
The report commended the approach that the Council has traditionally used, and was implicitly critical of modifications to the procedure introduced in Feruary to respond to some criticisms of the approach that, the scrutiny report concluded, were not well founded.
This was the first scrutiny study undertaken by one of the Council’s subject committees established when governance arrangements were revised last year. The Committee studied a number of documents when it met on 19 March, and listened to a variety of views, from Council officers, from officers from a neighbouring authority (Croydon) and a landlord who voiced criticisms of the Council’s approach. It was evident from these documents that Sutton’s approach is identical to that of most, indeed almost all, London Boroughs.
The report describes the procedures followed by the Council. To evict a tenant from a property a landlord has to go through a legal procedure with a number of steps commencing with a notice to quit and ending with the execution of a bailiff’s warrant.
Richard, whose daughter works for the largest charity supporting the homeless in the West Midlands, commented:
“This is a procedure involving a private landlord and a private tenant, so it is worthwhile just reminding ourselves why the Council gets involved atall. This is because at the end of the procedure, if someone has no other accommodation and is homeless and in priority need, the obligation falls on the Council to find them accommodation. This usually means putting them in bed and breakfast accommodation, something that can be soul destroying for the family or individual concerned, and an expensive procedure involving costs that ultimately fall on our own Council tax payers.
So, the Council has a unit doing all in its power to assist those threatened with homelessness to find new accommodation. The report shows that in many cases they are successful, and that alternative accommodation is often found quite late in the eviction process. If they are not successful, at the end of the process the tenant will be put into bed and breakfast accommodation, but this is rightly regarded as a last resort to be undertaken when all else has failed. The process followed is described in Appendix A of the paper, and the first recommendation in the paper is to support the approach described, on the basis that this offers the best chance of minimising the numbers made homeless, thus minimising both the cost and human misery that homelessness involves, but correctly discharging the Council’s legal duties to those threatened with homelessness.
The criticisms of the approach, first voiced by Councillor Shields at a Council meeting, picked up by the local paper in the memorable but misleading headline “Council says wait till the bailiffs arrive”, and repeated by at least one landlord, appear to be that by waiting to the end of the process the Council runs the risk of upsetting landlords and thus discouraging landlords from working with the Council. It was also suggested that the tenants are disadvantaged by having a Court judgement against them. But the evidence in the paper (paragraphs 2.18 to 2.30) is that the Council maintains good relations with landlords, and that the Court judgement relates to possession of a property and does not affect the standing of the individual or family made homeless.
Officers told us, however, that for a period from February 2013 a modified approach was trialled, described in Appendix B, involving moving earlier to accept someone was homeless if it appeared that there was no realistic prospect of finding alternative accommodation. It is not often that, in assessing policy options, one can compare the outcome from two periods where different policies were tried. But the evidence in the paper (see paragraphs 2.16 and 3.8) is that the modified approach led to an increase in homelessness, as accommodation is often found for those threatened with homelessness quite late in the process.
So the recommendations support our continuing to follow the procedures described in Appendix A, but also call on officers to continue to work closely with landlords, keep the trends and statistics under review, and report back to us in due course.
Homelessness – being put in bed and breakfast accommodation often far from Sutton – is a terrible experience, especially for families. I know from my casework that it can lead to people losing their jobs if they are too far away to travel back every day, to mental breakdown, to marriage breakdown, and to the disruption of the education of children. Our first priority is to avoid this, and it is not too much to ask landlords to wait a further week or two in some cases before a property is vacated as a last effort is made to find somewhere else to live.”
Sutton Council’s campaign to bring trams to the Borough is celebrating an early success.
Plans to extend the existing Tramlink network to Sutton have been included in the Mayor’s new vision for London document, “2020 Vision – The Greatest City on Earth”, published last week. It outlines some of the challenges facing the capital, including housing, employment and transport.
Sutton Council, business and residents support the tram extension, which will improve transport links in and out of, and across, Sutton. The project will also create and sustain new jobs, drive economic growth, ease traffic congestion and reduce CO2 emissions.
We understand the original draft of the Mayor’s vision document made no mention of bringing the tram to Sutton, but our Tramlink campaign, still in its infancy, has already yielded a result. The Mayor of London is asking us to demonstrate how this investment will be justified by the improvements it can bring in terms of jobs, growth, and housing.
Sutton is already one step ahead. We have commissioned research which demonstrates that extending Tramlink to Sutton will create 10,000 jobs, bring forward sites for residential development, and support and boost the economy.
We know that extending Tramlink will ensure Sutton continues to prosper into the future. The Borough of Sutton has had an ambition to bring Tramlink to Sutton since 2003 when it was included in the Unitary Development Plan. The Borough has successfully worked with Transport for London to examine the feasibility of bringing trams to central Sutton, connecting it to St Helier Hospital, Morden Tube Station and Wimbledon. At some point a spur through our Ward, Sutton South, would connect to the Marsden hospital. This feasibility work is ongoing, and Sutton’s Tramlink campaign seeks to ensure the Mayor will continue to fund this work in Transport for London’s future budgets.
Heather and Richard attended the Sutton South Ward police panel on 12 June. There was discussion of current crime trends, including recent burglaries and attempted burglaries in Mayfield Road.
While the police were unable to give a reason for these incidents they commented that sometimes there is a “clustering” of crime in an area for a short period for no obvious reason, but it would be unusual for it to persist as a problem. They have moved quickly to re-assure residents and have knocked on doors in Mayfield Road, and left a feedback form where there was no-one in. If you have any observations you want to make to the local police you can contact them on ztsnt-suttonsouth@met.police.uk
Also, nine local residents attended their recent street briefing.
While no-one can ever be complacent and we must all maintain our vigilance, it remains the case that this Ward is a low crime area, indeed one of the safest areas in south London. Burglary, along with theft from motor vehicles, remains a police priority for the area, but the most common form of burglary in our area is theft from garages, and residential (house) burglaries are mercifully rare.
The meeting also discussed future action on speeding, a dog seizure in Cumnor Road, a cannabis factory in Westmoreland Drive and the success of the extension of the “No Drinking Zone” to our Ward.
We also discussed the introduction of the “London Policing Model” on 24 June. While the implications are not all positive, these changes are not going to damage the excellent service we generally get from our local police.
Next street briefing: 12 July outside Lavender Court in Cavendish Road.
Speaking at the Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee on 13 June Richard welcomed progress on agreeing a structure of incentives to persuade Brighton Road car park users to move to Gibson Road if the car park closes. Currently, Subsea7 are applying for planning permission to build a new international headquarters (see above) on the site.
Richard pointed out that this development will safeguard several hundred jobs currently in Sutton that were likely to move elsewhere, and bring a further three to four hundred jobs into Sutton South Ward. These new jobs are good news for Sutton.
This development will create jobs, not just for engineers but a range of less skilled jobs (clerks, receptionists, cleaners, messengers, drivers etc.). This site is surrounded by areas of social housing where we meet, in our casework, people who are out of work and whose lives would be transformed by finding work. Every day we open the newspaper and see news of more redundancies nationwide – but Richard and Heather can speak of securing an extra 300 plus jobs in our Ward. The development will also give an uplift to the area, the Gateway to Sutton from the south, with office workers and the company’s clients spending money in local shops, restaurants and hotels, creating further jobs.
But the second message is that to deal with local concerns about parking in local streets if the car park closes, we need to persuade the users of the Brighton Road car park to use the town centre car parks, which have the capacity. The average weekday demand at peak occupancy of the car park is about 380 vehicles and 320 have season tickets. So the season ticket holders are key.
The first and most important element in the strategy is a financial discount to persuade people to move. The discount proposed by the Committee, as a recommendation to the Strategy and Resources Committee, says to the season ticket holders “move to Gibson Road and you will pay, for the first year, what you paid last year less 10% – unless, you already have a discount, in which case it continues. This is to compensate you for the inconvenience of moving and to provide an incentive to move to Gibson Road”.
We hope this will persuade people to move, to a car park which is no more than seven minutes walk away.
The further element of the strategy is improvements in respect of signage to the car parks (including electronic signs indicating what number spaces are available) and improvements in access, in particular enabling those leaving Gibson Road to avoid the town centre one way system.
We hope this proposed substantial discount will achieve the right result, so that we will be able to secure the major advantage of the new jobs while coping with the reduction in parking space. The structure of discounts will, however, be further considered by the Strategy and Resources Committee.