Hamish reports: “I thought the recent foggy spell in Carshalton was rather atmospheric. Here we have a view up the Carshalton Place Canal looking from Talbot Road towards Ruskin Road and Carshalton Park beyond that.”

Foggy Carshalton Place Canal

Residents have recently contacted the FOCUS team after a particular nasty accident that took place in Mill Lane. The driver concerned, we understand, was driving whilst very drunk.

Jill, Alan and Hamish fully sympathise with local residents regarding both the traffic speeding perceived, poor visibility at road junctions, and chronic parking situation in Mill Lane.

However for newer residents of the area it may be worth our recapping on the recent history on these topics.

The residents in the Mill Lane area were consulted by the local council over its proposals for traffic calming and road humps some three years ago in 2008 and the local residents then turned down the proposals, which is of course why there are no road humps or other trqaffic calming measures in place.

We think it is unlikely that there would be any fresh proposals from the Council for traffic calming/road humps in that Mill Lane for some time to come, bearing in mind the last rejection of the previous detailed proposals, and also that the thinking from the new central Government is seemingly that road humps are becoming less effective in dealing with slowing down larger passenger vehicles such as “4 x 4s” also known as “Chelsea Tractors” etc. etc.

Many local councillors would generally resist the further loss of any parking spaces other than at street junctions (where there are yellow lines already) as there are already huge shortages of parking in the North Street/Mill Lane area, and more and more residents are car owners these days.

The Council provided in around 2002 or 2003 some additional residents’ parking in bays on the south side of Mill Lane which made the road a bit wider along the middle section.  This was much welcomed by residents at the time.

Jill, Alan and Hamish are in regular close contact with the local police’s safer neighbourhood team and we have informed them of the details that we received about the recent nasty accident.

This is the time of year when we can really appreciate the beauty of our local trees in Carshalton and Sutton even though the deciduous trees are baring their branches!  Carshalton Village Conservation Area being the oldest conservation area in the borough, is particularly blessed with hundreds of mature trees which add to the marvellous setting of old buildings and water ways.

The Carshalton London Plane earlier this year

The Oriental plane, the only one known in cultivation from the Old World, has been cultivated in gardens for millennia, especially in their native range of south-east Europe and Western Asia. The first plane trees known to have been planted in Britain (from about 1650) were of this species. Most trees seen in London however belong to the group that is often described as the London Plane, a group of hybrids derived from crosses between P. orientalis and Platanus occidentalis. This cross is thought to have occurred in about 1650 in the south of Europe. The first of these trees were planted in England from about 1680.

The oldest London planes in London are known to go back as far as the later 18th century. They include some trees at Kew Gardens, which are dated to the 1770s (Bean). The tree at Barn Elms Recreation Grounds, and the huge tree by the Sutton Ecology Centre at Carshalton are probably also from the late 18th century. Among the known oldest Oriental planes is one at Osterley Park, dated to 1759, and one at Kew Gardens, of similar age.

Few other trees exist in London that are as old as this. Most were planted when new parks, squares and streets were developed and constructed during and after the industrial revolution. Apart from a few historic estates, most trees seen now are from plantings of the 19th century and later. For much of suburban London, the plantings are often from the periods of their development in the earlier 20th century.

The Plaque about the Carshalton Plane Tree, Festival Walk

Further to our recent posting on this topic:  Cllr. Jill Whitehead says: “On 8^th November 2011, the Council’s Executive Committee decided to reject plans to move its staff in the Civic Centre, owing to the high costs of this in the current economic climate. The property market and cost of borrowing were seen as too uncertain, and this involved too many risks”.  Jill is Vice-Chair of the Council’s Scrutiny Overview  Committee  which in October had asked the Council to look at alternatives other than relocating Carshalton staff to the Civic Centre.

    Cllr. Alan Salter adds: “The Council has now decided to continue with its series of Smarter Services Sutton Reviews, which will give a better idea of what the council’s accommodation needs will be over the coming years. Owing to the government’s requirements for councils to cut costs and be more efficient in difficult economic times, fewer staff may be required in some operational areas in future.”

    Cllr. Hamish Pollock, Chair of the Council’s Carshalton & Clockhouse Local Committee says: “We have been assured that the ideas local residents came up with for the future uses of Carshalton buildings such as The Lodge, Honeywood Walk, Stonecourt, North Street and The Grove house at the meetings held with local groups over the summer and at the Special Local Committee of 15^th September 2011, will be returned to, and reconsidered in the future when the time is right.  The Council believes that the consultation undertaken with residents had been very important in reaching its decision.”

Sutton High Street

Thursday 17 November
On the first day of Christmas…

Entertainment starts in Sutton High Street at 4pm! There will be great community music on the Trinity Square stage from 4pm, with School Choirs, SCOLA, our Youth Theatres and some pantomime magic, singing carols and festive songs we can all join in with!

The Christmas tree in Trinity Square will look great covered in baubles and the lights will be switched on at 6pm by The Mayor of Sutton and Father Christmas. Look out for the Christmas baubles painted by local school children.

Friday 18 November
On the second day of Christmas… Music Night Sutton Town Centre

Get into the Christmas spirit at at venues around the town with mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and hot food accompanied by live bands, a variety of local singers and entertainment.
For over-18’s only

Saturday 19 November
On the third day of Christmas… Sutton High Street

Come and join Poppy the Penguin, Al-freezze the Snowman and their new friend Flo the Eskimo And there’s a surprise in store!
There’ll be lots of party dances and games for children. Come and see the parade of costume characters, and meet Cinderella in her beautiful carriage drawn by REAL PONIES

The Former Carshalton Bus Garage

Jill, Alan and Hamish have recently received some information from the council’s planning officers on the current major planning application for the former tram/trolleybus depot/bus garage site in Westmead Road, in response to residents’ recent queries:-

• The current application is for a re-development scheme to provide a total of 3 commercial units and 29 residential units of which 4 units are proposed for affordable housing (all within block C which is located towards the rear of the site). 
• From the onset 3 blocks of flats (Blocks A, B and C) and a row of terraced houses were proposed for the site. 
• The residential units in Block B are not proposed as affordable housing and Block B has apparently always been present in the pre-application discussions with the Council’s planning officers.
• There has been no increase or decrease in the number of terraced properties (11) proposed before the application and the current application scheme. However, the scheme has been “toned down” in the number of flats proposed from 24 flats before the application to 18 flats in the current application.
• Although the total number of units proposed within the site has been reduced, the number of car parking spaces to be provided within the site has been increased from 38 spaces before the application to 42 spaces with the current application.
• There has been no reduction or variation in the number of terraces (11) proposed from the scheme before the application and the present application scheme. However, Block C was re-designed to address the specific concern of family-sized housing and the four affordable housing units contained within it would provide for two 4-bedroom houses and two 3-bedroom maisonettes.

Please do let us know if you have any particular concerns. More in a future update in FOCUS and/or on this web site.

A Recent View of the Former Garage

Hamish says: “I visited the Carshalton War Memorial Hospital buildings on Remembrance Sunday, 13th November (well, it was an appropriate day) as I was out and about delivering FOCUS leaflets in the area.  Here near Carshalton Park we have Ashcombe Court which was completed in around December 2010 is 10 flats built to the south of the old Carshalton War Memorial Hospital and backs onto the 1930s houses of Park Close.  We more recently have Corbould Close which was completed a few months ago and which includes 8 sheltered housing flats built to the north of the hospital. The old war memorial hospital building itself is mothballed pending its future fate for redevelopment.”

The Old Hospital Ponders Its Fate

Ashcombe Court flats as completed in 2010

Corbould Close, as completed in 2011

Jill, Hamish and Alan have over many years been trying to get various street name plates in Carshalton Central ward repainted or replaced where they have gone missing most mysteriously (some old ones have simply disappeared over the recent months – perhaps stolen by scrap metal thieves).  If your local street name plate has gone missing or you think it could do with cleaning up or repainting or replacement, please do let us know.  

Recently we have got some signs repainted and replaced in the Ashcombe Road area. Another new street name Corbould Close has also appeared in Carshalton as was actually suggested by one of us for the new development off The Park called which recently opened. Corbould is the name of the Reverend W. R. Corbould, Rector of Carshalton from 1919-1957 who did so much for the Parish of Carshalton as well as improving the remarkable Church interior. He was succeeded in 1958 by the Reverend Leigh Edwards and in 2001 by the present incumbent Father John Thewlis.

Replacement Sign at Ashcombe Road

Corbould Close - as suggested by the local Lib Dem FOCUS Team

 

Local councillors Alan, Jill and Hamish are pleased to report that after some considerable time, money has been used by the Council’s public realm funds (outdoor projects) to repair and/or rebuild the numerous old brick piers that support the railings at Carshalton Park along Ashcombe Road in particular as well as The Park. As residents nearby will know, many of the old piers had become very cracked and were potentially unstable, which is why rebuilding and repairs had to be done.  We wish to thank both the Rotary Club of Carshalton Beeches and the Friends of Carshalton Park for all their efforts in respect of these works.

Some temporary (but admittedly ugly) metal fencing around the old piers (that is in fact owned by the Council) has been in place for some time although this should all be removed soon when hopefully all the rebuilds/repairs are completed.