Housing: MP promotes energy savings

Green homes!

The Government’s Big Energy Saving Week may be over, but the MP for Carshalton and Wallington Tom Brake is reiterating the importance of energy efficiency.

Tom said “Every pound counts in times like these, and the cold season isn’t doing much to help that. Big Energy Saving Week proved to be a wonderful opportunity to help everyone in the community save money on energy bills by doing things such as installing proper insulation, turning off unnecessary lights, and unplugging appliances.”

£1.1 billion has become available through the Warm Home Discount, and a further £48 million through the Warm Front scheme, so Sutton residents are advised to make use of these funds and others to keep their energy bills low and home temperatures high. Tom will also be doing his bit to ensure his home and office are energy efficient.

Tom said, “Every little bit does so much to eliminate wasteful energy output and save money. I urge everyone to find out how you can make life easier for yourself and others by cutting down on energy consumption and cashing in on these savings.”

For advice about how to cut your energy output and to find out what funds are available to you, visit http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/besw_events

Sutton Council will push ministers for faster services from London to Sutton

The following is an article taken from the recent edition of the local “Sutton Guardian” newspaper which we thought would be worth placing on our web site.
 
Sutton Council will be pushing ministers for faster services from London to Sutton.  The “fiasco” caused by the Government’s controversial and later reversed decision to award a major rail contract after a flawed bidding process will allow councillors more time to lobby ministers for better rail links to Sutton.

All bidding on rail franchises has been suspended by the Government after the process by which the West Coast Rail Line was awarded to First Group earlier this year was revealed to be faulty. The award has since been rescinded and the bidding process is being revised.

A consultation on the combined Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, which serves Sutton, was held earlier this year and closed in September.

Sutton Council responded to the consultation by asking for, among other things, a 15 minute stopping service between London Victoria and Sutton and improvements to the town’s station.

Paul Sullivan, a member of the public, raised the issue at Sutton Council’s full council meeting on Monday 5th November and asked why the council did not submit detailed plans of how to achieve those aims and suggested there should be a meeting between interested parties and the Department for Transport (DfT) to figure out how a detailed plan could be put together.  He added: “I would like to hear whether the council feels, as the official representative of people of Sutton, whether it has done enough to ensure a new franchise delivers a better rail service more in line with our neighbours and why it did not use its political connections to go the extra mile and ensure this.”

Councillor Jill Whitehead, chairwoman of the council’s environment and neighbourhood committee, said: “The council set out the level of frequency and the level of service it would like to see but the council doesn’t have the remit to prescribe how that is achieved. The council has set out its expectations and has deferred to the expertise of the DfT .”

She also said she met Transport Minister Norman Baker MP to lobby him and that councillors are seeking to lobby further.

Cllr. Colin Hall said: “Delays in franchising caused by the West Coast fiasco will give us more time.”

Cllr. Whitehead added: “We will use this time to campaign and will seek more meetings with ministers.”

It is not clear when the franchise bidding process will be reopened.

Remembrance Sunday

There was the annual Remembrance Sunday event this mornng at Carshalton War Memorial, and of course this is held traditionally “at the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month…”.

Local councillors from all the three party groups on Sutton Council were in attendance and a memorial poppy wreath was laid on behalf of the councillors. 

There was a very large crowd taking part in the open air service, admirably led by the Rector of Carshalton, Dr. John Thewlis, who is Rector at All Saints’ Church, the main Church of England parish church for central Carshalton.  (The church itself is a magnificent piece of architecture, particularly its interior.)

Carshalton's first World War Memorial

There are plans by Sutton Council to add a new Second World War Memorial in the War Memorial Gardens off Honeywood Walk, Carshalton Ponds, in the vicinity of the existing First World War memorial.

These plans, drawn up by Cllr. Hamish Pollock, were discussed on site with a senior officer from English Heritage on Thursday, 8th November together with Sutton Council’s chief planning officers and two local councillors Jill Whitehead and Hamish Pollock.

Further discussions are due to take place soon with the Royal British Legion about these plans as well as other interested parties including local military historians.

More in a future posting….

Ash tree dieback

The Government has now held two COBR meetings to discuss the issue of Ash tree dieback. The Local Government Association (LGA) has been present at, and contributed to, both of these meetings and are now in a position to provide an update on this to “member councils” such as Sutton Council.

At a recent meeting the Government has committed to producing an action plan to combat the spread of the disease. This will involve further monitoring of trees by owners and managers of land, and the destruction of (only) diseased trees that have been recently planted.

Sutton Council will want to consider its role in this like all councils.

The LGA will be working to ensure that the views of those responsible for combating Ash tree dieback in council-owned parks, woodland and roadsides are taken into account in shaping the government’s action plan and we will update you on this work in due course.

More in a future posting….

Pubs in Carshalton … Mill Lane, Carshalton

The Lord Palmerston Pub

Hamish reports: “Here are two lovely, traditional-looking pubs in the Mill Lane area, one of the oldest roads in Carshalton and which runs along the north side of The Grove Park. The pubs have great charm and are outwardly from the Victorian era in age/architectural terms.”

The Rising Sun Pub

The first is “The Rising Sun” on the corner with North Street. The second one is “The Lord Palmerston”.

Local MP supports new food labelling

Making healthy dietary choices can be a difficult task, but a change in the way food is packaged will make these choices easier.

MP for Carshalton and Wallington Tom Brake is backing a new proposal from the Department of Health that will institute a combination of guideline daily amounts (GDA), colour coding and high/medium/low text to indicate levels of sugar and fat content on the front of food packaging.

Tom said “Putting this information on the front of packaging will allow buyers to see what they’re eating at first glance. A consistent system such as this will reduce the confusion that may occur due to ambiguous or improper labelling.”

Following the announcement, the UK Government will be working with industry and other partners to agree to the detail of the system and make sure they use consistent visuals to show – on front of packs – how much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar, and how many calories are in food products.

The new labelling scheme is expected to be used in stores by summer 2013.

Carshalton hosts local “Question Time”

An exciting new Question Time event is offering local people the chance to quiz leaders and get answers to a range of issues that affect life in the borough. Sutton’s first-ever Question Time on 7th November brings together a panel of local leaders from local government, police and the voluntary sector to face an audience of up to 110 people eager for answers on topics they select themselves.

The panellists are Leader of the Council, Cllr Ruth Dombey; Guy Ferguson, Police Borough Commander; Susanna Bennett, Chief Executive Sutton Centre for the Voluntary Sector; Cllr Colin Hall, Deputy Leader of Sutton Council and Niall Bolger, Chief Executive of Sutton Council.

Cllr Ruth Dombey said: “We want to listen to people. We want to explain the financial pressures on public services and understand our residents’ priorities and concerns.

“We want to answer your questions about youth services and services for the elderly, about education, parks, parking and policing. We want to talk about the voluntary sector and how local people can get involved in their community.

“Most of all we want to talk about your concerns and provide answers.”

The event, hosted by Matt Watts, Editor of the Sutton Guardian, will be at the Charles Cryer Theatre in Carshalton from 7-9pm.

Tickets will be on a first-come, first-served basis, but anyone who cannot get along can follow events as they happen using Twitter at #SuttonQT.

Ticket-holders will be asked if they have a question as they arrive and some will be selected to put their enquiry directly to the panel.

Before the night itself some residents will be filmed asking questions and the audience will be able to vote which ones should be screened on the night and addressed by the panel.

To apply for tickets or pose a question email questiontime@sutton.gov.uk or for further information contact Sutton.gov.uk/questiontime

This is intended to be the first of a series of Question Time nights with several being planned for next year.

The second event won’t be open to the public but will be just for the members of the Sutton Seniors Forum but we are already thinking about a suitable venue for the third which will be open to everyone.

Sutton Policing Matters

There have been extensive media reports about the future of local policing following a presentation given by the Metropolitan Police to the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
 
Some of the planned changes announced
     
·        Redeploying more officers to Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) with 2,000 more Police Constables; 4,600 more Specials, but 891 fewer Police Community Support Officers.
·        The 2,000 Police Constables are likely to be redeployed from other roles: 800 from investigation and 1200 from other territorial policing such as town centre and youth teams.
·        A shift in emphasis, with SNTs taking on enforcement and investigating of low level crime, led by neighbourhood Inspectors
·        Reviewing front counters – looking at reducing hours and potentially shutting 65. Possible opening of new “contact points” in other police buildings or shared with partners such as in supermarkets.
·        Selling New Scotland Yard. 

Sutton's Police Station

At this stage there are still many uncertainties. For example there are suggestions that some boroughs could be grouped together to form “Basic Command Units” (BCUs) to share back office and other functions.  It would appear that if there is a move to BCUs, each borough will still have an accountable senior police leader – they may however be of a lower rank.
 
Who makes the final decision?
The London Mayor, through his Office for Policing and Crime sets the budget for the Metropolitan Police Service, and also owns all police buildings. So at the moment the Police are developing proposals for local policing and changes to police stations. These proposals will then be put out for consultation by MOPAC, date as yet unknown.
 
Following these proposals being announced Caroline Pidgeon said:
 
“Liberal Democrat Assembly Members at City Hall will continue to ask questions of the London Mayor, the Deputy London Mayor for Policing and Crime and MOPAC to ensure that key concerns are raised and discussed.  In particular we will continue to push for proper consultation on any planned changes and for the continuing provision of local, accessible police bases and front counters.
 
“I have already asked the Mayor many questions on the issue. His latest answer is that: “no front counter will close unless an equivalent or better facility for public access has been identified.”
 
“We will continue to hold the London Mayor to account over this commitment to improve public access to the police.”

Carshalton Place Canal

Carshalton Village and its surroundings can be truly beautiful at any time of year, even on a very soggy November morning….

Two pictures were taken by Cllr. Hamish Pollock on Sunday morning, 4th November of Carshalton Place Canal from the ornate bridge at Talbot Road.  It was actually, momentarily, sunny!

Carshalton Place Canal looking towards Ruskin Road

The wet weather has certainly left its mark.

Carshalton Place Canal looking towards the High Street