Note: You will need to take a utility bill (or similar) showing your address in Sutton in order to collect.  

The locations and timings are:

The Green, Clockhouse
Saturday 9am – 4pm
Sunday 9am – 4pm

B & Q, Carshalton Road, Sutton (underground car park)
Saturday 7am – 5pm
Sunday 10am – 4pm

Woodcote Green Garden Centre & Nurseries, Woodmansterne Lane
Saturday 9am – 5.30pm
Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm

Kimpton Park Way Reuse and Recycling Centre
Saturday 9am – 5pm
Sunday 9am – 2pm
Please take a plastic bag or plastic container to Kimpton Park Way to collect the grit.
Check the webcam to avoid busy times www.sutton.gov.uk/kimptonwebcam

If you are elderly or disabled and currently receive an assisted bin collection you can arrange for the grit to be delivered to you. Please call 020 8770 5070.
Alternatively a neighbour could pickup your grit on your behalf providing they bring along a utility bill showing your address.

The Community Leadership Awards give residents the chance to say a big “thank you” to the people who go out of their way to make Sutton a better place to live.

So far around 100 nominations have been received, but nominations are open until 4 November, so there is still chance to put forward someone you think deserves recognition.

No act is too big or small; whether it’s running a youth club or helping an elderly neighbour out with the shopping, the council wants to hear about your local heroes.

Sutton Council leader Sean Brennan said: “Lots of people are involved in their local community, which is a big part of what makes Sutton a great place to live in. During these tough economic times we’re all having to do more for less, so their contribution is even more important than ever.

“Human kindness, good citizenship or public spirit – whatever you want to call it, Sutton has it in abundance, and we want to thank them for that.”

Anyone can nominate someone they think deserves recognition. There are two categories for members of the public: Helping Sutton Do More with Less and Improving People’s Lives. There is also an award for Sutton Council staff: Outstanding Staff Contribution – serving Sutton’s people.

The winner of each category will win a shopping voucher worth £100, and runners up will be presented with certificates at a ceremony in December.

The awards were launched last year. The first winners were scout leader Jonathan Moritz, lollipop lady Brenda Kingsmill and teacher Nic Andrews.

Jonathan, troop leader of Cheam Scouts, said: “I was so pleased just to be nominated. I started running the scouts because some of the leaders couldn’t commit to it as they were moving away. I stepped in and have found it massively rewarding.”

To nominate someone fill in the online form at: www.sutton.gov.uk/leadershipawards, email leadershipawards@sutton.gov.uk or pick up a postcard at Sutton Central Library or Carshalton Library or other local libraries in the borough.

The closing date for nominations is Friday 4 November 2011.

Cllr. Hamish Pollock reports: “As I’m the current Deputy Mayor of Sutton borough, I had the very great honour of attending the Sutton Youth Orchestra’s two hour music concert on Friday 28th October 2011 at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon. The music by Sutton Youth Orchestra and their Croydon counterparts was indeed superb.  It made me realise, if I ever needed reminding – as I have two music-loving teenagers of my own, that there is such a huge musical talent amongst young people in our borough.”

Sutton Youth Orchestra at Fairfield Hall

St Philomena's School

Local school governor Cllr. Alan Salter says: “Sutton achieved the best GCSE results in the country, it has been announced.

Sutton’s youngsters topped the results table, published last week, with 74.4% achieving five or more A*-C grades including maths and English. The national average was 58.3 per cent, while 62.2 per cent of outer London pupils achieved the benchmark this summer.  The next best areas in England were: Kensington & Chelsea at 72.2%, Hammersmith and Fulham 70.8%, Kingston at 70.4%, and Buckinghamshire at 69.4%.”

Cllr. Jill Whitehead who is also a local school governor says: “An impressive 91.2 per cent of Sutton’s 16-year-olds earned five or more A*-C grades in any subject, compared to an outer London average of 82.7%. In Agust, it was revealed that Sutton pupils had achieved their best ever SATs results, placing the borough third in the national league table.  The tests in reading, writing and mathematics, are taken by 11-year-olds at the end in their primary education.”

It also follows Sutton being announced as the best place in London to bring up a family. The survey which looked at a number of factors, including access to good schools, named Sutton as one of the top 20 best places to live in the whole of England and Wales.

For many years St. Philomena’s School (pictured) right in the heart of Carshalton has provided some of the best results in England. Many local residents will be familiar with this excellent secondary school and its wonderful grounds and its huge car boot fairs!

Jill, Alan and Hamish have taken up recent concerns from local residents about parking issues during the ever-popular Sunday morning car boot sales at St. Philomena’s School, off Shorts Road in the heart of the Carshalton Central neighbourhood.  Unfortunately, these car boot sales do not require a licence from Sutton Council as they are not classed as “street trading”. As the car boot fairs operate from private property they do not fall under the terms of the legislation which only applies to the public highways. These car boot sales have never been licensed and therefore there is no licence or conditions to be complied with.  Generally speaking nuisance parking takes place rather than illegal parking and therefore we’ve been told  that there is no enforcement action that could be taken by our parking wardens or the police. 

We have recently contacted the new head teacher of St Philomena’s School asking that further measures are put in place to limit the disruption to local Carshalton Central residents wherever possible. When we hear back from the school’s head, we will report back soon, we hope.

We have also asked Transport for London to help. They operate parking controls on the A232 Red Route which Pound Street is on. They have confirmed to us recently that they will continue to enforce parking in Pound Street on the A232 Red Route, but they said that they didn’t think the situation has got out of control enough yet for further parking restrictions to be implemented on Sundays as the car boot fairs happen about 5 times a year.  More in a future posting..!

Following a presentation to councillors at the full council meeting on Monday 17th October, Andrew Woodhead, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at NHS London, said the transition board was “working on an assumption that services would remain”, but would not guarantee that St Helier Hospital could continue to provide A&E and maternity services in the future.

He said the proposed merger of St Helier and St George’s Hospital in Tooting was an organisational matter, which would allow the hospital to achieve Foundation Trust status. The future of services is being dealt with by a separate review of healthcare in south west London called Better Services Better Value, he said.

All NHS organisations must become foundation trusts by 2014 but to do that they have to meet strict criteria including proving they are financially sustainable and well governed.

The government has confirmed that St Helier Hospital does not meet the criteria and cannot become a Foundation Trust without merging. The only other NHS Trust interested in a merger is St George’s Hospital, Tooting.

Following questions from councillors, senior members of staff from NHS London confirmed that phase one of the redevelopment of St Helier would go ahead, despite the planned merger.

Councillors also quizzed them on what would happen if the St George’s bid was unsuccessful. They were told the board is already looking into the various scenarios, and Cllr. Colin Stears who represents the neighbouring ward of The Wrythe earned a promise that the council would be involved in these discussions.

Cllr. Stears said: “It was disappointing, but not surprising, that we did not receive the guarantees we had hoped for. The council was united in wanting assurances on the future of local A&E services, which look increasingly under threat in the light of this proposed merger.

“One positive outcome was the promise that the council would be involved in discussions from an early stage about the options for St Helier if the St George’s bid falls through. The lack on consultation with local people throughout this process has been extremely frustrating so I’m glad the trust is finally taking notice.”

Residents can have their say on the possible merger with St George’s until 11 November. A final recommendation, will be made by the transaction board which is overseeing the merger in January next year

Wallington High Street After Refurbishment

Following completion of the improvement works to Wallington Town Centre as part of the Wallington Integrated Transport Package, the Council is carrying out a survey to gain some feedback on what people like about the enhancements to the town centre.

The survey is available online at:-http://www.opinionsuite.com/sutton/consultation_finder and copies can also be collected from Wallington Library.  Completed surveys can be returned to the council by post or handed in at the library.
 
The closing date of the survey is Friday, 28 October 2011.

Please note that there are also some unofficial surveys being carried out by parties trying to influence a return to on-street parking which we have received some complaints about. The council’s survey is in the form of a colour leaflet: Wallington Evaluation Final[1] and is being carried out by independant parties.

What does Anti-Slavery Day and Child Trafficking mean to you?   Do you shift about on your seat at the very mention of the word “sex”?  Does it make you feel uncomfortable?  Would you rather leave it to someone else to deal with?

An annual date was established last year to raise awareness about people including children in the UK and around the world who are exploited on a daily basis.  We need to open up our hearts and minds, here and now – watch out for the signs that might and have been staring us in the face.  Our personal embarrassment will not stop modern day slavery but the will and courage to act upon it, here and now, will help and save those caught up in the cruel world of human trafficking and slavery.

Sutton Council marked Anti-Slavery Day on Tuesday 18th October – please think about it and do something that will speak volumes – look at that child, look at that woman, look at that man – sign a pledge today!

http://antislavery.org/english/antislavery_day/default.aspx