Local councillors Alan, Jill and Hamish attended the meeting of 19th June 2013 and recently received the notes of the meeting re: 229-245 Carshalton Road.

Attendees:     3 shared ownership leaseholders,  2 private owner-occupier neighbours (Carshalton Road & Shorts Road); Councillor Whitehead, Councillor Pollock and Councillor Salter;  Karla Powell – Housing Services Officer Metropolitan, Kimberley Adams- Anti-Social Behaviour Officer Metropolitan, Faran Forghani- Traffic & Highways Works Manager LB Sutton, Marie Pagan- Social Inclusion Delivery Manager LB Sutton

Apologies:     Tyson Bunby- Housing Services Manager Metropolitan, Safer Neighbourhoods team

Background

Marie explained that the meeting had been set up in order to address a number of concerns raised by local residents in relation to the new flats at 229-245 Carshalton Road. The new development had been vigorously opposed by local residents and Marie reminded people that the planning application had been turned down twice by the Council before it went to the Planning Inspectorate on Appeal when permission was granted. It was the Planning Inspector who set the parking conditions, allocating 7 spaces to the Nursery, 14 to the shared ownership flats, 2 for the disabled flats and 6 for the larger family units. All the social rented flats in the scheme had been let to local people on the Council’s Housing Register and the shared ownership flats sold to local people or people with a local connection such as employment. The meeting would hopefully identify any concerns and agree actions that need to occur to resolve them and improve the neighbourhood for all residents.

1.    Shorts Road

Faran advised that the double yellow lines had been approved by Committee following representations from the Police and Fire Brigade. There had been two objections to them whilst others had been in favour. The no parking signage has still to be put up as there has been a delay as the school wall is “Listed”. The residents reported that the yellow lines had helped to improve and defuse the situation.

A resident suggested allowing people to park on the pavement outside 1, 2 & 3 Shorts Road but Faran advised that the pavement was 150mm to narrow to do so.

 2.    Shortage of parking

Faran stated that there was no quick solution to the lack of parking in the area and that it was a borough-wide problem. Sutton has the highest car per household ratio in London at 3.5 cars per h/h. With a growing population, and a high percentage of older people the problem was exacerbated. It was also noted that more companies such as BT expect their drivers to keep their vehicles at home overnight and this too was adding to the parking problems.

Karla explained that Metropolitan is having discussions with the leaseholder of the Nursery about managing access to the 7 car parking spaces between 7pm and 7am weekdays and at the weekend. Residents reported that some parents were using the shared ownership parking spaces.                                Action: Karla to follow up.

Karla advised that vehicle registration details of residents with cars are held by Metropolitan and the cars that were reported as causing parking problems were not amongst that list.

It was noted that people are now parking on Cambridge Road. Residents said that the problem was made worse by people having dropped kerbs to their property frontage which limited parking space on the road. Faran advised that parking on a crossover can only be with the owner’s consent, and that the Police/ Parking Attendants would not enforce action unless the owner complains.

3.    Communal space/Grass Area at 229-245 Carshalton Road

The residents reported that children were kicking balls and throwing bricks around the grass area and subsequently damaging cars. Karla agreed to contact the residents of Denning and Jenning House, reminding them not to allow children to cycle between cars or play football near parked cars, as it is in the Good Neighbours Agreement signed by all residents. Councillor Whitehead suggested giving residents information about local parks.            Action: Karla to send letter to residents.

4.    Exit Barrier

Karla advised that the problem with the barrier to the parking area at 229-245 Carshalton Road would be fixed imminently by the contractor- i.e. the need to use the key to get out and press a button to gain access would be reversed.

5.    Anti-social behaviour

Councillor Whitehead had received a number of complaints from local residents including people parking white vans on a sheltered housing scheme in Rosefield Close. Marie advised that it should be reported to the housing association that manages the scheme.

There had also been a complaint about washing being hung up on balconies or in front of windows. Kimberly advised that whilst it might be unsightly, it was not a breach of tenancy and there was little Metropolitan could do about this.

6.    Carshalton Road Red Route

A resident complained that TFL had carried out roadworks between 9.30pm and 4.00am for 3 days, with no notification to local residents. He was also unable to find any out-of- hours contact details for people to complain about the problem. Faran advised that he attends a Working Group to discuss all planned highway/ roadworks in Sutton. He will raise the matter at the next meeting in two weeks time. Councillor Pollock asked for the Ward Councillors to be notified of the outcome.

It was noted that the quality of the road surface specification had been reduced and that already the re- surface work on Ringstead Road was in a bad condition.

Bus Stops- it was noted that bus stops were moved without notice e.g. Ruskin Road.

A resident complained about speeding traffic in the early hours, plus lorries hitting the kerbs causing a noise nuisance. Faran explained that as Carshalton Road was an “A” road, vertical measures could not be used to calm speeding traffic. The Mayor’s priority is to keep traffic moving and minimise street furniture so it was unlikely that TFL would agree to speed humps He advised that Sutton has the 5^th or 6^th lowest accident rate in London and that accidents/ injuries had reduced by 50% since 1999.

Action: Faran to follow up complaints at the Working group

7.    General Issues @ 229-245 Carshalton Road

Plants are dying and not being looked after and rubbish accumulates at the front of the building. Karla agreed to ask the cleaning contractors to ensure they deal with both issues as part of their once a week visit.            Action: Karla to follow up

Sewage smell outside of 1B Denning House-            Action: Karla to investigate.

The railings and brickwork on the Shorts Road side of the scheme were breaking up.          Action: Karla to investigate

It was noted that the noise of the traffic reverberating off the building had increased for neighbouring households.

8.    Contact Details

Marie handed out contact details for all the relevant people that residents could contact with any further concerns.

Finally it was agreed that there was no need for a follow up meeting providing residents and Ward Councillors were kept informed about the agreed action points.