It’s still only feeling like autumn at the moment, but Sutton Council is planning ahead in case there is yet another cold winter… Residents and businesses in Sutton are to be given a supply of free grit for the fourth year running and are being asked to be community-minded when collecting their supplies. Each household and business can collect 10kg of grit to use on footpaths, pavements or roads in front of their homes or premises as the borough prepares for the cold weather predicted to come before the end of the year.

In addition to this, Sutton is looking for good Samaritans to also collect grit for their elderly friends and neighbours who may not be able to collect themselves.

The council successfully pioneered the scheme – which has been copied by other authorities around the country. In previous years, the council gave out grit to more than 10,000 residents.

Cllr. Jill Whitehead, Chair of Sutton’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee, said: “This scheme is an excellent example of the council and residents working together to help each other.

“Council gritters will be on hand to do main roads, bus routes and roads around hospitals, GPs surgeries and schools when required, but it is impossible for them to reach everywhere.

“This is a practical, value-for-money solution to a problem and exemplifies the Sutton way of people helping each other out to get things done.”

The free grit will be available for four weekends in October, 5/6 12/13, 19/20 and 26/27 from four locations around the borough.

It is available from B&Q in Carshalton Road, Sutton, Woodcote Green Garden Centre & Nurseries in Woodmansterne Lane, Kimpton Park Way Reuse and Recycling Centre and The Mount in Clockhouse. At Kimpton Park Way residents have to bring their own container for the grit, but you can log on to www.sutton.gov.uk/kimptonwebcam to check if there is a queue before you go.  In order to claim your free grit you will need to bring your Sutton Council tax bill/business rates (NNDR) or a current utility bill. And anyone who wants to help a neighbour can bring along one of their bills and collect the grit on their behalf.

Residents who currently receive an assisted bin collection can have the grit delivered to them. Simply call 020 8770 5070 for details.

For details on how to use the grit go to www.sutton.gov.uk/gritting.

Fans of fine buildings and architecture will get the chance to explore various venues across Sutton in this year’s Open House weekend. Open House London is an annual event in which buildings throw open their doors to the public so they can experience the finest of ancient and modern architecture.

A local treasure is Honeywood, a chalk and flint house dating to the 17^th Century. This house in Carshalton is our local museum and was reopened following a £900,000 renovation scheme.

Other local “open houses” are Carshalton Park Grotto, off Ruskin Road, All Saints Church by the Ponds, The Water Tower in West Street, The Charles Cryer Studio Theatre in Carshalton High Street, and Little Holland House in Beeches Avenue, Carshalton.

Carshalton Central ward Cllr. Jill Whitehead, who is Chair of Sutton’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee, said: “This event is a great way to encourage the community to interact with the buildings around them.”

“It offers a fascinating insight to both modern and traditional architecture.”

Sutton Police have asked residents to use the individual ward email addresses (see list below) contacting their safer neighbourhood teams, which are organised on a “council ward” basis. 

For our neighbourhood the E-mail address is:-

CarshaltonCentral.snt@met.police.uk. 

Their main phone number is: 020-8721 2898.

The local Police are inviting the public to come meet officers during a ‘mini open day’ in the High Street, Sutton, outside Waterstone’s book shop on Sunday 22nd September 2013 between 10am-3pm.

Youngsters will get a chance to see inside the Council-funded police CCTV van and climb behind the wheel of a police car.

Officers from the Sutton Central police team will be on hand to explain their body cameras, which are used to help gather evidence of anti-social behaviour and offences during the day and at night.

Sutton’s Safer Transport Team will also be offering bicycle marking to help cyclists protect their bikes and register the details on BikeRegister to help tackle and prevent cycle crime.

There are at present 18 wards in the borough (each has a number of police officers allocated) and the E-mail address for the safer neighbourhood team for each of them is as follows:- 

The email addresses below go to the team’s inbox rather than to individual members of each team, so will avoid unnecessary duplication.

Know your Numbers! Week is finally upon us. The Nation’s largest blood pressure testing and awareness event!

Across the nation 250,000 people will register at the “Pressure Stations” including Carshalton and Wallington MP, Tom Brake. On the 19^th September Tom will prepare to have his blood pressure checked at the ASDA Pharmacy in Wallington.

One in three people have raised levels of blood pressure in the UK, a condition which can potentially lead to stroke and heart attacks. The need to have your blood pressure checked regularly is high, considering the fact that high blood pressure offers no obvious symptoms.

The importance of early diagnosis was highlighted recently by Public Health England (PHE) who said that checking the blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and lifestyle of people aged 40 to 74 could prevent 1,600 heart attacks and 4,000 cases of diabetes a year. Tom has commented that he will be looking forward to his appointment on the 19^th September and hopes that it will “encourage more people to appreciate the necessity of regularly checking your blood pressure.”

Cllr. Hamish Pollock took this photo on Saturday 14th September of the newly redecorated and restored Fox and Hounds, a historic pub within the Carshalton Village Conservation Area.

Fox and Hounds pub with a vintage London Routemaster bus passing by!

Your local FOCUS team councillors and our MP Tom Brake received many complaints and comments on the state of the pub at the eastern end of Carshalton High Street a few months’ ago when it was in a right old state.

We asked the pub’s management at the time what was planned for this pub and indeed since then the pub has changed hands and is in the process of being redecorated and much restored.

See our earlier postings of 10th March and 19th July….

WELL DONE new management!

The new Costa Coffee is now open in Carshalton…. a picture of the new premises is below, at Units A & B, Beacon Grove, Carshalton High Street within the Village Conservation Area. 

The planning permission given by Sutton Council on 26th June 2013 for this prominent site was reported in a previous posting on this web site (27th June 2013).

Cllr. Alan Salter says: “Local FOCUS team councillors ensured that the cafe’s deliveries/opening hours were limited to help to safeguard the amenity of local residents living above the shops and elsewhere.  The daily opening hours were reduced at our request from 7am-8pm by one hour to 7am-7pm and deliveries would be contained within the same time slot.” 

This opening brings back into use two empty shop units that were formerly occupied by Johnson’s Dry Cleaners and Country Harvest greengrocers/fruiterers – a replacement greengrocers/fruiterers business has of course sprung up next door (Rhubarb & Bramley) that in turn replaced the former butchers’ shop.  

Cllr. Hamish Pollock says: “Plans are afoot by the Friends of Honeywood Museum in Carshalton  to have a sign fixed to the wall to the left hand side of the museum facing Pound Street/High Street. They have approached the Council’s planning service about the Honeywood sign a while ago”.

The planners have confirmed that the wall to the side of the Honeywood Building is listed and as such the Friends of Honeywood would require both listed building consent and Advertisement consent if their proposal is to go ahead.  The Council’s Heritage Service is to pay for the signage as well as both the planning application and design fees. The Heritage Service team will be liaising with the Friends of Honeywood so as to proceed with the work. 

Please let us know what you think of the signage idea. More in a future posting…

Artists impression of the new Subsea7 building

At Wednesday night’s Development Control Meeting, Sutton Council gave the go ahead to proposals, which will see a five storey, 17,500 square metres of office space created on the site of the Brighton Road car park.  Cllr. Hamish Pollock took part in the meeting and voted for this major planning application.

The site which had been declared as surplus to requirements many years ago in the Local Development Framework, was earmarked for a mixed use redevelopment by the Council.

Subsea 7, a major engineering and construction firm, will complete their purchase of the site and move their operations there from their current offices around the corner in Quadrant House, next to Sutton station. The new building will include office accommodation, an on-site staff gym and a restaurant. The new building will create a landmark building at one of the key entrances to Sutton and will complement the Transport for London / Network Rail plans for improvements between this site and Sutton Court Road.

Dave Williams, vice president at Subsea 7, said: “We are delighted with the committee’s decision, which will lead to the creation of new jobs in a variety of disciplines, as well as giving Sutton a building to be proud of. We will be working hard over the coming months to finalise all planning and legal matters with a view to getting on-site as soon as possible.”

Discover the secrets of Sutton Town Centre with our FREE Walking Tours. Discover the history of Sutton from Domesday Book to the present day every Wednesday from 14th August to 25th September 2013 at 3pm and 5.30pm.

• Tours last approx 90 mins.
• Arrive early as spaces are limited to 20.
• We meet at the top of the high street, by the crossroads at the sign of the cock, just outside Barclays and Caffe Nero.

General Information

• Tours are limited to 20 people, please arrive 10 minutes early.
• Visitors in wheel chairs are welcome to join our tours.
• Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
• Dogs are not allowed on tours – with the exception of assistance dogs.
• Please bring appropriate clothing/footwear for inclement weather conditions.

A father and daughter have been fined for letting their dogs foul the pavement after a sophisticated investigation by Sutton Council officers.

A man, 52, and his daughter, both of Mill Lane, Carshalton, were fined a total of £340 by Croydon Magistrates on 3 September after admitting to two counts each of letting their dogs foul the footpath.

Sutton Council officers mounted an operation to catch the culprits in response to a number of complaints from locals about the disgusting behaviour of the pair.

Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of Sutton Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee, said: “This prosecution is a tribute to the hard work and ingenuity of our officers.

“It is a revolting offence that understandably upsets our residents. We reacted swiftly to their concerns and in order to maintain a clean and safe environment that our residents expect and deserve.”

In December 2012 enforcement officers sited mobile CCTV cameras at the junction of Mill Lane and Butter Hill. Carefully sifting through the footage in January, they spotted a pattern to when offences were committed.

When the pattern of times was established, officers carried out live surveillance early in the mornings and established the identities and address of the pair.

After they failed to pay a fixed penalty, Sutton pressed on with the prosecution and magistrates fined them both £50 for each offence plus £50 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

To report dog fouling in your area log on to www.sutton.gov.uk and click on ‘report it’ or call 020 8770 5070.