Cheam marks the start of the holiday season on Friday 4 December. The annual Cheam Village Late Night Christmas Shopping event, run by Cheam Traders with the support of Sutton Council, starts at 5.30pm. The theme for this year is Star Wars – so expect to see light-sabers and Sith Lords alongside food, jewellery, and handicraft stalls as well as singers, street entertainers and even an appearance from Santa himself. Whitehall Museum will be open late allowing visitors to enjoy the building dressed for Christmas, and a special snowman trail is sure to delight the little ones. The festivities culminate at 6.20pm as the lights themselves are switched on. Last year’s event attracted nearly 4000 visitors so expect busy streets and bustling market stalls.

Saturday 5 December sees the festive fun move on to Carshalton Village where area charity EcoLocal will host the Frost Fair, starting at 1pm. All Saints Church bells will peal to get the event underway when attendees will be able to enjoy a varied range of tasty treats and a variety of craft stalls selling wonderful gift ideas such as glassware, pottery, woodcraft and much more.

Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council, said:

“There are lots of events taking place across our borough to mark the start of the holiday season. There’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy this Christmas – we can’t wait to welcome you to one of our fantastic festive events.”

Sutton Council is launching its own energy supply company that will use waste heat to provide low-carbon energy to thousands of homes and businesses across south London.

The  is calling on developers in Sutton, Merton and Croydon to join the Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (SDEN) which has the potential to provide sustainable heating and hot water to 19,000 homes at no greater cost than a conventional boiler.

Energy generated by the new Energy Recovery Facility and from the existing landfill in Beddington will provide low-carbon heating through a network of pipes that will serve developments, eliminating the need for households and businesses to have boilers. The project also has the potential to harness energy from other businesses, which is currently wasted.

Sutton is already in negotiations to sign up its first partner to join the network. Barratt Homes are developer for the Felnex site in Beddington, Sutton, which will contain 725 homes and a supermarket, both of which will be connected to the SDEN. That will save 900 tonnes of CO2 emissions with future phases expected to increase this to over 5,000 tonnes.

The council is setting up the SDEN to help reduce the borough’s carbon footprint as the UK’s first One Planet Borough – a status which means the council has made series of environmental commitments.

It will also invest profits back into public services to benefit Sutton residents, for example they could be used in measures to reduce fuel poverty.

The plans are backed by the Government and the Greater London Authority. The Department of Energy and Climate Change has also cited SDEN as a leading example of best practice.

Cllr Jayne McCoy, Chair of the Housing, Economy and Business Committee at Sutton Council, said:

“Sutton has long been committed to environmental sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint. We are now pushing the boundaries further by setting up the Sutton Decentralised Energy Network. The SDEN will offer developers in South London a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels for the provision of heat and hot water. There are lots of potential benefits including lower construction costs, lower green taxes, better resilience, no ongoing plant maintenance and increased lettable floor space. For Sutton, the SDEN will help to reduce our carbon footprint and any profits we make will be invested back into public services for our residents and businesses. At a time when our council budgets are being severely cut by the Government, it is projects like the SDEN can help local authorities to bring in much needed revenue while also creating a low-carbon borough.”

James Dunne, Operations Director at Barratt Homes, said: 

“The SDEN offers developers the chance to connect to a low-carbon energy supply when building new homes. Barratt already has a proven record in district heating. It is straightforward to build the infrastructure, significantly reduces emissions and it counters the rising price of fossil fuels over the long term. We are looking forward to working with the SDEN to supply our 725 home development in Sutton with low-carbon energy.”

How SDEN works

The council will be laying a network of highly insulated steel pipes to deliver hot water to our customers.

The amount of heat energy taken from our network is controlled by users – exactly the same as a heating or hot water system fed from a boiler located in a building.

Inside the property, the method used to deliver heating can remain the same, such as radiators and underfloor heating

Benefits can include:

• Reduction in construction costs
• Increased lettable floor area in developments due to reduced plant space
• Enables developers to meet planning regulations more easily and cheaply
• Reduced exposure to green/carbon taxes and levies
• Avoids ongoing heating plant maintenance, servicing and replacement
• Better resilience than conventional heat supplies
• Participation in a scheme that will deliver significant carbon savings to South London
• Profits can be reinvested in public services in Sutton

Developers interested in finding out more about the network should call Sutton Council on 020 8770 5918  or email opportunitysutton@sutton.gov.uk

Just when security should be at the top of the agenda for the Mayor of London and Conservative Government, they are putting neighbourhood policing at risk.

Over 1,000 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) across London are at risk of being axed to meet Conservative cuts. Please sign our petition here to protect our police. 

We live in one of the safest parts of London, where the council and police have a special partnership that helps keep crime down. It’s a great record, but this could all be put at risk if these cuts go ahead. 

PCSOs play an invaluable role in keeping crime down. They are often the only visible police presence on our streets and they work hard to pick up local intelligence, prevent low level crime and tackle anti-social behaviour – giving Police Officers the time to tackle more serious crimes. 

If you value Sutton’s neighbourhood police as much as I do, please click here to sign our petition.

Best wishes, 

Tom Brake
Lib Dem MP for Carshalton & Wallington 

PS. Please send this link – www.tombrake.co.uk/pcsos – to any friends or family who may be interested and encourage them to sign our petition.

A campaign to increase the recycling knowledge of Sutton residents will be launched next week in an effort to improve recycling rates.

Sutton currently recycles 37% of its waste – above the London average of 34%. The council wants to build on this through the ‘Good to Know’ campaign which includes a series of recycling roadshows, posters, a leaflet drop to households with information about what people can and cannot place in their bins as well as bin stickers for households with kerbside collections.

There are currently five recycling roadshows planned for November and December to offer hints and tips on recycling more and wasting less, and the council will look to book more in the New Year.

As 23% of waste placed in brown bins could be recycled there is still opportunity to make Sutton’s recycling figures even better.

On top of the many environmental benefits of recycling, it is also far more cost-effective for the public purse to recycle materials rather than dispose of them. These savings can then be used to fund other important council services.

The Sutton Good to Know campaign is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and Resource London after Sutton Council successful bid for funding.

Carshalton Central ward Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of Environment & Neighbourhood Committee at Sutton Council, said:

“Here in Sutton we take our responsibilities very seriously – we know our residents work hard to make sure they recycle as much as possible but there is still more that could be done.

“The ‘Good to Know’ campaign will help people to improve their recycling rate. This will make a real difference to Sutton and the environmental health of our planet, along with contributing to the achievement of our One Planet Sutton targets.”

The recycling roadshows currently booked will be on:

The Sutton campaign has been timed to coincide with the launch of the new Recycle for London campaign. Recycle for London, supported by Mayor Boris Johnson, will offer helpful tips and suggestions on how to recycle, reduce waste, and re-use more.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:

“This is a great way to boost the environment and save money, so let’s not waste any time and get into the habit of recycling more of our everyday items.”

The Recycle for London campaign is marked by the launch of a refreshed website – http://www.recycleforlondon.com – offering advice for residents and visitors to the capital on what they can and cannot recycle in their postcode area, as well as helpful tips and suggestions on how to reduce waste and re-use more. It is being launched by Resource London, a partnership between the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) and WRAP with the aim of helping London boroughs boost recycling rates across the capital and hit the Mayor’s target of recycling 50% of local authority-collected waste by 2020.

In polling to understand London’s recycling habits, Recycle for London found that there is a strong intention to do more in the city; more than half of Londoners polled (55%) are adamant that everybody should recycle. Londoners are keen to do more to tackle waste with two-thirds saying they would feel greater pride in their city if it were more environmentally friendly.   Despite this positive attitude, the survey found that one in ten (13%) Londoners exaggerate how much they recycle to make themselves look better. This rises to a quarter (23%) amongst 25-34 year olds who took part in the poll.

Younger Londoners do, however, show a strong appetite to do more in the city. 76% of 18-34 year olds asked say they wish they recycled more – more than 10% higher than the London average – but 11% of younger people openly admit that they simply don’t know what or how to recycle at home.

Do YOU want to go greener? Then visit Recycle for London’s website and take the campaign’s short quiz by clicking here to see what kind of recycler you are and get tips on what ‘just one thing’ you could do to make London a greener city. Or join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #JustOneThing

For further information on the Sutton campaign and what can and cannot be recycled in the borough visit www.sutton.gov.uk/recycling

Sutton stands in solidarity with Gagny, Paris.

The London Borough of Sutton has been twinned with Gagny, a north-eastern suburb of Paris, since 1974.

The Mayor of Sutton, Cllr Muhammad Sadiq, has sent the following message of solidarity to the Mayor of Gagny, Michel Teulet, following Friday evening’s terrorist atrocities in the centre of Paris that left 129 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Cher Monsieur le Maire,

On behalf of the entire London Borough of Sutton, I am writing to you to express our sincere condolences with regards to the barbaric terrorist attacks in Paris.

These sickening, violent and tragic attacks aim to divide, ignite and promote hatred. These extremists will never succeed.

Our towns were twinned 40 years ago with the purpose of building a relationship, which has since grown and flourished, and to promote peace. Our solidarity has never been stronger and we stand shoulder to shoulder with you all.

The thoughts and prayers of the whole community in the London Borough of Sutton are with all of you; those who were brutally killed and injured, their families and friends, the brave who protect the lives of others by putting themselves at risk, and the entire French nation.

We stand in harmony with the entire world and are Praying for Paris.

Nous sommes solidaires avec vous.

Kindest regards,

Muhammad Sadiq

Mayor of Sutton

Private Harold Dickman Mims of the 4th Battalion, Dorset Regiment lived at Bosworth, Egmont Road, Sutton and was killed in action on 27 September 1918, at the age of 22. Harold is buried in Sains-Les-Marquion British Cemetery and is commemorated on the Sutton War Memorial.

Sutton residents are being invited to go online and see if they can spot any of their relatives from World War I in an amazing collection of Edwardian and pre-war photographic glass-plate negatives.

Run by Sutton Council’s Archives Service, the Sutton Archives project, can be seen here and here. It is an astonishing collection of more than 10,000 glass-plate negatives by local photographer David Knights-Whittome, who owned shops in Sutton and Epsom from around 1904 until 1918, that was rescued from the basement of a high-street shop, having been untouched for 100 years, that is now stored at Sutton Library.

The collection contains hundreds – or perhaps thousands – of WW1 soldiers in uniform, a lost generation of men and boys who either lived in the area or were stationed locally before their postings. Work to date has already uncovered images of a number of men whose names are listed on local war memorials.

The Sutton Archives project has had some really positive reactions to its research. On seeing the image of Private George Leonard Ingram of the 25th Battalion (Tyneside Irish), Northumberland Fusiliers, his family contacted the Archives project and said:

“Thank you for posting this. George is my maternal grandfather. My mother, Nora (known as May) sadly died three years ago, aged 96. She would have been so pleased to have seen your blog.”

Carshalton Central ward Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee at Sutton Council, said:

“The Sutton Archives is an extraordinary historical record of local and national importance. Finding these plate-glass negatives must have been like discovering Egyptian King Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings as the riches of history are etched upon them.

“We hope that Sutton residents will visit the archives project online and see if they recognise a great, great, great grandfather or grandmother, uncles and aunts, and relatives who lost their lives in the Great War but whose images have been captured for posterity by David Knights-Whittome a century ago.”

In March 2014 Sutton Archives was awarded £95,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable the cleaning, digitisation, research and cataloguing of the vast collection of glass-plate negatives.

Work began last December and around 3,500 plates have been cleaned, rehoused, digitised and catalogued. More than 200 of the individuals depicted have been researched. The work is largely done by a team of dedicated volunteers who have put more than 1,200 hours of their own time into rescuing and rediscovering this material. Without their help, it would be impossible to make the material available.

As well as documenting thousands of local residents, the glass-plate photographs depict local and regional schools, colleges and theatre groups, social events such as weddings and house parties, grand country houses and other institutions from across the UK and the Continent.

David Knights-Whittome also held a Royal Warrant and photographed the Royal family, including Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII, in formal portraits and at house parties. He also photographed royalty in Portugal and Copenhagen.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the project should contact Project Officer Abby Matthews at abby.matthews@sutton.gov.uk or phone 020 8770 4746

Dr. W. S. Danks   Dr. W. S. Danks lived in York Lodge, York Road, Sutton. He enlisted at the beginning of the war and was taken as a German prisoner of war while attending wounded soldiers on the battleground and survived the war after drawing lots among fellow prisoners for release.

Flight Lieutenant Charles Anstey Narbeth     Flight Lieutenant Charles Anstey Narbeth RNAS lived at Ferndale, Grove Road, Sutton. He was photographed on 9 February 1917.

Private Victor Douglas Alexander Deuchar   Private Victor Douglas Alexander Deuchar of the East Surrey Regiment lived at 9 Weihurst Gardens, Carshalton.

Lieutenant Kenneth R. D. Fawcett   Lieutenant Kenneth R. D. Fawcett of the Royal Navy lived at Camden House, Benhill Wood Road, Sutton. He was mentioned in despatches “for valuable service during operations in Petrograd Bay” in 1919 aboard HMS Voyager.

Private George Leonard Ingram   Private George Leonard Ingram of 25th Battalion (Tyneside Irish), Northumberland Fusiliers (formerly of the Royal West Kent Regiment) lived at 4 Bell Cottages, Ewell Road, Cheam. He was killed at the Battle of Arras in 1917 and is commemorated on the Cheam War Memorial.

G. Merheim Esq   G. Merheim Esq lived in Carshalton Park Road, Carshalton. He served with the Royal Fusiliers and later the Royal Engineers.

Nurse Rose Letitia Berkley   Nurse Rose Letitia Berkley lived at “Harcourt”, Christchurch Park, Sutton and was a VAD Nurse for the Red Cross.

Nurse Corisande Hart

Pop singer Michelle Heaton of Liberty X and Mayor Muhammad Sadiq will switch Sutton’s Christmas lights on at a ceremony in the town centre on Saturday 14 November.

There will be an exciting range of events throughout the day to appeal to all the family which will culminate in the lights being switched on at 6pm and the High Street will become a winter wonderland for the duration of the festive period, with the support and funding of Successful Sutton, Sutton’s Business Improvement District.

As the day gets off to a start at 10am the EcoLocal Christmas Market will provide shoppers the chance to browse a range of special seasonal treats and sweets – the perfect place to pick up some stocking fillers.

Events get into full swing at midday as two stages open. The Main Stage and the TazZa Coffee Shop Community Stage will host performances throughout the day from a wide variety of local musicians, actors and artists providing entertainment for the whole family.

Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council, said:

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year and we’re very excited about this day of festive fun which will get the season off to a colourful, vibrant start. We can’t wait to enjoy the musical performances as we browse the Christmas Market – and even enjoy a mince pie or two, I’m sure!”

Little ones will be able to enjoy the thrill of face-painting and visiting a Very Important Person in the Grotto – we don’t want to give the game away, but our guest will be travelling from the North Pole to make this appointment. Look out for the jolly red fellow among the various elves, stilt walkers and fairies who will be visiting Sutton High Street for this very special occasion.

Ross Feeney, Chief Executive of Successful Sutton, said:

“We are pulling out all the stops to ensure Sutton’s festive season starts with a bang. Come and join the festivities, do a spot of early Christmas shopping and make the most of Sutton’s great shops, restaurants and bars.”