Sutton’s reputation as having some of the very best schools and brightest students in the country has again been confirmed with the recent outstanding A-Level results.

Pupils from the 14 London Borough of Sutton secondary schools were among the hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland picking up their A-Level results recently.

Early indications show that grades in Sutton are set to remain exceptionally high with 66.9 per cent of students gaining A*, A or B grades, up from 66.1% last year. That is all the more remarkable because nationally the percentage of A* and A grades fell this year.

The number of students achieving any sort of pass rose from 98% last year to 99.4% and these results look certain to maintain the borough’s position among the top performing local authorities in the country.

Cllr Dave Callaghan, Chair of Sutton Council’s Children, Family and Education Committee, said: said:”Congratulations to all students who are celebrating their success. Their commitment and hard work, and the invaluable support and guidance of teachers, governors and parents, have been rewarded by these superb results.

“Sutton’s schools are some of the best in the country, and these results mean that students have an excellent start in their future education and careers.”

A photo taken of the so-called “Carter House”, 229-245 Carshalton Road, Carshalton on Monday, 20th August 2012 with most of the tarpaulin removed. The full huge scale of the four-storey building at the corner with Shorts Road is now even more apparent.  It does not fit in fit with Carshalton’s typically 2-storey houses. 

The three Carshalton Central Lib Dem ward councillors Jill Whitehead, Alan Salter and Hamish Pollock fought alongside many local residents against the planning application for this oversized development but alas it was granted planning approval.   The case for a refusal of permission was undermined to some extent by the present of the 72 inter-war flats at Wynash Gardens diagonally opposite the site which are of course three-storeys.

Carter House revealed!

We are hoping that plans will come to fruition soon for a much-needed refurbishment of Highfield Hall, Carshalton Road, Carshalton.

It’s quite near the junctions with Oxford Road and Harrow Road. Local residents may know the building as the local polling station.  The building is currently let by the Council to the charity, British Polio Association, specifically we believe that it is used by the British Polio Fellowship Sutton, Merton & District Branch.

Highfield Hall which has seen better days... and hopefully will be refurbished in coming years...

The Post Office in their infinite wisdom have repainted Carshalton Road’s gold letter box red again…! 

This is because apparently the Post Office are now going to be honouring Cheam the town of abode, and not Carshalton, the birthplace of the Olympic athlete Joanna Rowsell… the box in Carshalton Road is on the north side between Alma Road and Shorts Road and it’s nearly opposite the busy junction with Cambridge Road.

Carshalton Road's briefly-golden letter box returns to red!

The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says:

The Conservative Party is not honouring the commitment to Lords reform and, as a result, for the first time part of our contract has now been broken.

When part of a contract is broken, it is normal and necessary to amend that contract in order to then move on. So that is what we are doing.

I have told the Prime Minister that when Parliament votes on boundary changes for the 2015 election Liberal Democrats in Parliament will oppose them.

Coalition is a two-way street. I cannot permit a situation where Conservative rebels can pick and choose the parts of the contract they like while Liberal Democrats are bound to the entire agreement.

The Liberal Democrats joined the Coalition, in good faith, in the national interest at a time of crisis. We will continue to work in the national interest.

We will continue to focus on the central task that brought the Coalition together: Rescuing, repairing and rebalancing our economy.

And we will continue fighting for and delivering the things we believe in – making the tax system fairer; the Pupil Premium; green energy; and jobs and opportunities for our young people.

In my discussions with the Labour Party leadership, they have made it clear that while they continue to back Lords reform in principle, they are set on blocking it in practice. Supporting the ends, but – when push comes to shove – obstructing the means.

I invited Ed Miliband to propose the number of days that Labour believe is necessary for consideration of the Bill. He declined to do so.

Instead he confirmed Labour would only support individual closure motions – which could bog down Parliament for months.

Regrettably Labour is allowing short-term political opportunism to thwart long-term democratic change.

So Liberal Democrats will continue to pursue our values in government and we will continue to campaign for democratic renewal.

My hope is that in the next Parliament we will return to it emboldened by the overwhelming vote in favour of our Bill at second reading and that Lords Reform will eventually be a reality.

Nick Clegg
Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS You can read my full statement at the Liberal Democrats’ website.

Reform of the House of Lords is a key commitment in the Coalition Agreement – the contract that keeps the coalition parties working together in the national interest.

 The Liberal Democrats have held to that contract even when it meant voting for things that we found difficult.

Following Team GB’s success in cycling at the London 2012 Olympic Games, local Carshalton & Wallington MP Tom Brake will be put through his paces by aspiring young cyclists at the Herne Hill Velodrome as part of his Olympic Challenge in aid of Bliss, the babycare charity.

Tom on his bike recently during the Blenheim Palace triathlon

Olympic Gold medallist and Tour de France hero, Bradley (the Sideburns) Wiggins, trained at the Herne Hill Velodrome as a youngster and campaigners are hoping to secure its future so that the next generation can build on our Olympic success.

Tom Brake said “I am really looking forward to racing against local cyclists who are hoping to be Olympians of the future – I just hope they go easy on me.’

The sporty MP has been taking part in ten Olympic sports to raise money for Bliss, the babycare charity. To find out more and donate visit http://www.justgiving.com/tombrakegoldchallenge/

For anyone interested in taking up cycling, Sutton Cycling offer a range of activities for cyclists of all ages. Visit www.suttoncycling.co.uk for more information.

Cllr. Hamish Pollock reports about the new Nature Reserve Fence: “To safeguard the important nature reserve in Warren Park which is off King’s Lane, Sutton (in Carshalton Central neighbourhood, though) and prior to the installation of the fencing the Council put up site notices that informed site users about our intentions, which included impressions how the fencing would look like. This type of fencing was chosen, so that no dog fouling occurs in areas where responsible dog owners would not be able to pick up the dog mess.” 

Nature Reserve Fence in Warren Park facing the playground

Cllr. Jill Whitehead who chairs the Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee says: ” The Council opened the wildlife area to the public to provide Access to Nature in the local area of Warren Park, in line with London Planning policies. The Council also has the obligation to maintain the site as nature conservation site and the fencing is intended to stop the current decline of the chalk grassland whilst continuing to provide an accessible nature site. There is already a successful recovery of the grassland visible.

Nature Reserve Fence running parallel with the railway

Cllr. Alan Salter says: “The residents have asked for more dog bins. New dog bins were installed in Warren Park recently. These are placed to be easily accessible when leaving the park. An additional bin at the far end of the park as suggested by local residents would create difficulties emptying as the bags tend to break when moved over a long distances. It is unlikely that people who do not clean up after their dog will be encouraged to do so with an additional bin. Self closing gates have been queried by some residents: Self closing gates are generally only used on children’s playgrounds as safety guidelines suggest, and in those instances gates always open outwards as they are designed to stop dogs getting in rather than children getting out, as the gates are not a substitute for parental control. The usual way for stopping people running into roads at entrances etc. is by way of a highways barrier. Additional dog bins and installation of new self closing gates could be provided at the park but there would be a cost to providing this as well as an ongoing maintenance requirement.

Warren Park's playground with state of the art play equipment installed in recent years

Please let us know if you have any local concerns about Warren Park or other parks and open spaces in the borough.

Response to the Department for Transport Combined Thameslink Franchise Consultation…

From Councillors Jill Whitehead, Hamish Pollock and Alan Salter, Liberal Democrat Councillors for Carshalton Central, London Borough of Sutton

Jill Whitehead is also Chair of the Council’s Environment and Neighbourhood committee, which includes public transport.

1. We are the elected Liberal Democrat Councillors for Carshalton Central Ward, which includes Carshalton Railway Station in the middle of the ward we represent. Carshalton station is essential to our residents as many of them commute to London, and others use this busy station to get from A to B in an area which does not have access to either the Underground or trams. The train is often the only option for our residents – we have just two lines one of which is Thameslink and the other a half hourly service to Victoria. We used to have a service to London Bridge but now there are only three morning rush hour services on this line.

Sutton has been undergoing a big population rise – one of the highest in London – and our ward has one of the biggest rises in the Borough as witnessed by the expansions to schools close to the station. We have one large F.E. college, two large girls’ secondary schools and five primary schools close to Carshalton Station which help contribute to railway journeys. These include Carshalton F.E. college and St Philomena’s Catholic school (over 1000 pupils) which both have a wide catchment area across South London including areas covered by Thameslink.

2. Our Ward is almost entirely residential and a significant number of our residents commute daily into central London for work. Many of these commuters use trains on the Thameslink Loop Line to travel to stations north of Blackfriars, including Farringdon and St. Pancras. One of our councillors used to use this route before retiring a few months ago and has a husband and son who still use this route every day to get to the Farringdon and St Pancras areas. Residents of the ward also tell us they consider they benefit greatly from having a direct service to St. Pancras International, for Continental Europe, and Luton airport. 

3. For that reason we are concerned at the proposal, first set out in the London and South East Route Utilisation Strategy (July 2011), that all Sutton / Wimbledon Thameslink Loop Line trains will terminate at London Blackfriars from 2018.

4. Terminating Wimbledon Loop services at Blackfriars would result in our residents losing their cross-London service. This will penalise those of our residents who have made their residential, employment and educational location decisions on the basis of the existence of the cross-London Thameslink service. These residents, who chose to live in Carshalton on the basis of an existing pattern of transport connections, would lose a service that they have had for many years, and based their life around.

5. Any decision should take account of the impact of changes on the travel patterns of existing passengers, and of consequent requirements to change established travel patterns. It is because of the impact on our residents that we object to any proposal that would result in terminating Wimbledon loop trains at Blackfriars. If this service was terminated at Blackfriars, residents would ask for alternatives. The daily London Bridge service on this line was taken out some years ago because Thameslink was operating – now the changes would mean reduced service on the Thameslink service as well.

6. Not only would our residents lose a through service they have come to depend on, they would lose their connection with Eurostar and domestic long distance trains at St. Pancras International and Kings Cross. Instead they would have to change trains at Blackfriars, carrying possibly heavy luggage onto already crowded trains. This movement could be particularly difficult from the western bay platform when travelling north and to either bay platform when travelling south because of the platform lengths and the position of lifts and stairs at each end of the platforms. The recent Passenger Focus passenger survey found that having to change trains was a strong disincentive to train travel.

7. The London Borough of Sutton is a major business centre with many commuters and business travellers. It is therefore essential that all Sutton’s Thameslink stations retain their connections to central and north London and beyond, and maintain their direct link to St. Pancras and the City. As Sutton Borough is not on the Underground (unlike Wimbledon) nor Overground (unlike Croydon), nor is yet on the tram network (unlike Wimbledon or Croydon), it is even more essential that the Borough retains its existing rail networks. We are concerned that services on the Kent and SE London side are being improved  at Sutton’s expense despite their having many more links into central London termini and beyond, and more choice of public transport travel than Sutton.

8. Many residents have contacted us with their concerns about these intended changes. One Hackbridge resident (who uses Hackbridge station, the next one to Carshalton on the Thameslink line) believes the remedy is to build another tunnel into Blackfriars and two extra rail lines going North past St Pancras. He also believes that whoever wins the franchise should run a fully Metropolitan service within the M25 so all London services are coordinated, and that services should be close to 24 hours like the tube starting earlier and finishing later. He also asks what old tunnels and bridges lying vacant in the Blackfriars and City (Holborn Viaduct) areas can be reactivated to allow more trains to pass through and Sutton services to continue North. These suggestions have some merit to help keep Thameslink services running from Carshalton to North of Blackfriars.

9. We thus strongly object to any proposal that would result in terminating Wimbledon loop trains at Blackfriars from 2018.

10. We are aware that Sutton Council is submitting comments, and support those comments. However, we are making this submission to draw particular attention to the impact on our residents in Carshalton Central Ward, and neighbouring wards where residents use Carshalton or Hackbridge stations.

JILL WHITEHEAD

HAMISH POLLOCK

ALAN SALTER

Liberal Democrat Councillors for Carshalton Central ward, London Borough of Sutton