Jill, Hamish and Alan have received a message from the Friends of Sutton Ecology Centre in Carshalton to say that the Friends are holding their Summer Garden Party at the Ecology Centre, Festival Walk, off Honeywood Walk near Carshalton Ponds from 11.00am until 4.30pm on Saturday 3rd August. 

The “Bioblitz” and launch of the “Nature Discovery Backpacks” are also taking place on the same day, so there will be lots going on. 

 

A message is in from Alistair Cruickshank of Carshalton Lavender

Dear Councillors,

I very much hope you will be able to look in during our harvest weekend this Saturday and Sunday at our field on Stanley Road Allotments.  The field is now in full flower and is looking very impressive.  We are expecting large numbers of people coming to pick their own lavender flowers, watch the distillation of lavender oil, buy lavender-related products and and browse among the stalls.  Full information is on the attached flyer.  It would be great to see you there.

 

Regards, Alistair Cruickshank, Chair, Carshalton Lavender

This is a picture of the nicely trimmed hedges in Banstead Road earlier this year! Following our recent request for the now- very-overgrown hedges in Banstead Road and Beeches Avenue, Carshalton Beeches to be attended to, action will take place soon, as is explained in a letter in from the council officer:-

Dear Cllr Pollock

thank you for your enquiries regarding the hedge cutting in Banstead Road and Beeches Avenue. 

We do not start hedge cutting in Parks or on the Highways until the last week of July and it normally takes about two weeks for completion. The reason we do not start hedge cutting before the end of July is that we try to follow the RSPB guide lines (attached);(please click on: Nesting birds) I will ask the Councils verge contractor to prioritise these two roads and to make them the first to be cut.

I hope the above has been of some help and if you have any further quires please do not hesitate to contact me, if you wish to talk to me directly my contact number is 020 8770 4637.

Kind Regards

Mick Ede

Senior Contract Supervising Officer

We have noticed the new cafe at Westmead Corner, as pictured, on Saturday 20th July. 

The Carshalton Central neighbourhood is getting yet more and more cafes!

 

 

A picture below of the century-old Carshalton Library building which is undergoing major refurbishment to become a children’s nursery.

The building was owned by Sutton Council and disposed of by auction as reported previously.  It was originally the office building for Carshalton Urban District Council.

A message is in from local organisation Bioregional about their Community Challenge:-

Dear Sutton Councillors

I work for environmental charity BioRegional and have been running events, workshops and offering presentations to community groups as part of the Community Visions 3 year programme to support the community in improving Sutton’s environment and helping residents to reduce their ecological footprint. 

In January this year we launched the Community Challenge to invite community groups to enter their project proposals that would contribute to a One Planet Sutton.  We had 21 entries and an expert Judging Panel of community leaders have selected eight of these as our semi-finalists.  We have an excellent selection and range of projects who are now up for the public vote (and waiting for your vote!) to gain further support and assistance from BioRegional.

Semi-finalists:

Hackbridge Community Cinema
Establishing a community cinema to reduce isolation and improve social cohesion
Orchard Hill College Green Gym
Developing an outdoor Green Gym for learners at Orchard Hill College and the local BedZED community.
Radical Perspective
A Life Coaching project to signpost the socially excluded to essential services and low carbon living.
The Carshalton Patch
Providing local fresh fruit, vegetable and preserves to the community of Carshalton Beeches and surrounding area.
The Grounds Project
Transforming the underused All Saints Churchyard into a healthy nature garden accessible to all.
Toolbank
A community owned toolbank where tools can be repaired and hired out at low cost.
VineWorks Handyperson Service
A handyperson service for low income residents in Sutton to provide home repairs and energy saving improvements.
Zero Carbon Community Farm
A community energy project to run Sutton Community Farm on renewable power and become carbon positive.

Please go to www.oneplanetsutton.org/communitychallenge to find out more about each project and to cast your vote.  Voting is open to Sutton residents and employees and your name and postcode (home or work) is required to validate the vote.

We want as many Sutton residents and employees as possible to vote in the Community Challenge.  Please help to spread the word and pass on this email to your constituents and colleagues and encourage them to take part.  Votes need to be validated with your name and postcode (home or work as appropriate). 

We are also encouraging voters to make a pledge to reduce their carbon footprint and signposting them to complete BioRegional’s ecological footprint calculator (http://www.oneplanetsutton.org/take-action/sutton-footprint-calculator/).  Make a pledge to play your part and try out the calculator if you haven’t already to see how many planets your lifestyle scores!

For those who cannot or prefer not to vote online, you can attend our Roadshow where we have a display about the eight projects with voting cards and a ballot box.

Roadshow:

Library @ Westcroft Centre  between Saturday 13 July and Tuesday 23 July

Wallington Library between Saturday 13 July and Tuesday 23 July

Sutton Central Library between Tuesday 23 July and Tuesday 30 July

Cheam Library between Tuesday 23 July  and Tuesday 30 July

Worcester Park Library between Tuesday 30 July and Monday 5 August

The Life Centre Library between Tuesday 30 July and Monday 5 Aug

The deadline for voting is midday on Monday 5 August 2013.

The two semi-finalists with the most votes will be declared the winners at the end of the vote and will  be publicly announced at the Carshalton Environmental Fair on 26th August.

Please get in touch if you would like more information.

Many thanks

Stephen

Stephen Edwards,Community Engagement Co-ordinator,BioRegional 

BedZED Centre, 24 Helios Road, Wallington, Surrey, SM6 7BZ, UK.

tel  +44(0)20 8404 4896

email stephen.edwards@bioregional.com

www.bioregional.com

www.oneplanetsutton.org

Registered Charity no. 1041486. 
Solutions for sustainability

Cllrs. Alan Salter, Jill Whitehead and Hamish Pollock took up local residents’ concerns about the state of the pub at the east end of Carshalton High Street.

Please click on: http://carshaltoncentral.mycouncillor.org.uk/2013/03/10/fox-and-hounds-pub-concerns/

It is pleasing that since then the management are undertaking a major refurbishment. There are many pubs of course in Carshalton and we don’t want any of them to be lost in these difficult economic/trading times.

A picture below was taken by Hamish whilst out delivering FOCUS leaflets in the High Street area (and environs).

A letter is in about Freedom Passes to your local councillors Alan, Jill and Hamish from Terry Stacy from the London Councils, a body which represents all 33 London Boroughs in the Greater London Authority area.

Dear all

A number of you have contacted me about people having their freedom pass cancelled for “supposedly” no reason, so I have been doing some digging around and thought I would give you a bit of back ground to the issue and what you need to get your residents to do if they come to you.

As part of the planning process for the 2010 Freedom Pass reissue it was agreed by London councils (cross party) that there should be review of the status of pass holders in 2012/2013 – broadly mid-point in the 5 year validity of the passes which is good practice. This was in response to Councils concerns that by extending the validity period of passes from 2 to 5 years with boroughs would loss the opportunity to check addresses and deceased status as was the previous case.

So since 2010, passes have been issued for 5 years to reduce the impact of repeated renewals on holders with a mid-term review using data matching to identify pass holders who may have passed away or moved out of London.  London Councils use a company called Experian, a credit check agency, to do this.   This review has identified about 7% to date of passes where there is a question.

From the casework that a number of you have sent me, it appears that the pass holder has moved, I have been told that London Councils would have written to both the old and the new address, asking the pass holder to verify their address.   Where the pass holder confirms that they have moved out of London we have cancelled the pass.

For what I hope are obvious reasons, where the pass holder is reported as dead we have not written, but the pass has been cancelled.   In a very small number of cases I have been told, and the reported death is not accurate, and it has come to light as the pass holder informs us that their pass has been cancelled.   I have been assured in these circumstances London Councils will quite rightly, apologise and renew the pass.   In normal circumstances the replacement time from when we have received verification is about 5 working days, rather than weeks.   At our pressing London councils will refund any tickets purchased so long as the pass holder can send us those tickets.

Below is the link to the report that TEC which outlines the midterm review

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/committees/agenda.htm?pk_agenda_items=5289

To get a replacement Freedom Pass people need to phone 0845 275 7054

If you need any more information let me know

Cllr Terry Stacy MBE JP

Political Adviser to the Liberal Democrat Group

Terry.stacy@londoncouncils.gov.uk

London Councils, 59½ Southwark Street, London SE1 0AL. Mobile: 07940 502683

www.londoncouncils.gov.uk

London Councils represents all 32 London boroughs and the City of London.

 

Local councillors Alan, Jill and Hamish attended the meeting of 19th June 2013 and recently received the notes of the meeting re: 229-245 Carshalton Road.

Attendees:     3 shared ownership leaseholders,  2 private owner-occupier neighbours (Carshalton Road & Shorts Road); Councillor Whitehead, Councillor Pollock and Councillor Salter;  Karla Powell – Housing Services Officer Metropolitan, Kimberley Adams- Anti-Social Behaviour Officer Metropolitan, Faran Forghani- Traffic & Highways Works Manager LB Sutton, Marie Pagan- Social Inclusion Delivery Manager LB Sutton

Apologies:     Tyson Bunby- Housing Services Manager Metropolitan, Safer Neighbourhoods team

Background

Marie explained that the meeting had been set up in order to address a number of concerns raised by local residents in relation to the new flats at 229-245 Carshalton Road. The new development had been vigorously opposed by local residents and Marie reminded people that the planning application had been turned down twice by the Council before it went to the Planning Inspectorate on Appeal when permission was granted. It was the Planning Inspector who set the parking conditions, allocating 7 spaces to the Nursery, 14 to the shared ownership flats, 2 for the disabled flats and 6 for the larger family units. All the social rented flats in the scheme had been let to local people on the Council’s Housing Register and the shared ownership flats sold to local people or people with a local connection such as employment. The meeting would hopefully identify any concerns and agree actions that need to occur to resolve them and improve the neighbourhood for all residents.

1.    Shorts Road

Faran advised that the double yellow lines had been approved by Committee following representations from the Police and Fire Brigade. There had been two objections to them whilst others had been in favour. The no parking signage has still to be put up as there has been a delay as the school wall is “Listed”. The residents reported that the yellow lines had helped to improve and defuse the situation.

A resident suggested allowing people to park on the pavement outside 1, 2 & 3 Shorts Road but Faran advised that the pavement was 150mm to narrow to do so.

 2.    Shortage of parking

Faran stated that there was no quick solution to the lack of parking in the area and that it was a borough-wide problem. Sutton has the highest car per household ratio in London at 3.5 cars per h/h. With a growing population, and a high percentage of older people the problem was exacerbated. It was also noted that more companies such as BT expect their drivers to keep their vehicles at home overnight and this too was adding to the parking problems.

Karla explained that Metropolitan is having discussions with the leaseholder of the Nursery about managing access to the 7 car parking spaces between 7pm and 7am weekdays and at the weekend. Residents reported that some parents were using the shared ownership parking spaces.                                Action: Karla to follow up.

Karla advised that vehicle registration details of residents with cars are held by Metropolitan and the cars that were reported as causing parking problems were not amongst that list.

It was noted that people are now parking on Cambridge Road. Residents said that the problem was made worse by people having dropped kerbs to their property frontage which limited parking space on the road. Faran advised that parking on a crossover can only be with the owner’s consent, and that the Police/ Parking Attendants would not enforce action unless the owner complains.

3.    Communal space/Grass Area at 229-245 Carshalton Road

The residents reported that children were kicking balls and throwing bricks around the grass area and subsequently damaging cars. Karla agreed to contact the residents of Denning and Jenning House, reminding them not to allow children to cycle between cars or play football near parked cars, as it is in the Good Neighbours Agreement signed by all residents. Councillor Whitehead suggested giving residents information about local parks.            Action: Karla to send letter to residents.

4.    Exit Barrier

Karla advised that the problem with the barrier to the parking area at 229-245 Carshalton Road would be fixed imminently by the contractor- i.e. the need to use the key to get out and press a button to gain access would be reversed.

5.    Anti-social behaviour

Councillor Whitehead had received a number of complaints from local residents including people parking white vans on a sheltered housing scheme in Rosefield Close. Marie advised that it should be reported to the housing association that manages the scheme.

There had also been a complaint about washing being hung up on balconies or in front of windows. Kimberly advised that whilst it might be unsightly, it was not a breach of tenancy and there was little Metropolitan could do about this.

6.    Carshalton Road Red Route

A resident complained that TFL had carried out roadworks between 9.30pm and 4.00am for 3 days, with no notification to local residents. He was also unable to find any out-of- hours contact details for people to complain about the problem. Faran advised that he attends a Working Group to discuss all planned highway/ roadworks in Sutton. He will raise the matter at the next meeting in two weeks time. Councillor Pollock asked for the Ward Councillors to be notified of the outcome.

It was noted that the quality of the road surface specification had been reduced and that already the re- surface work on Ringstead Road was in a bad condition.

Bus Stops- it was noted that bus stops were moved without notice e.g. Ruskin Road.

A resident complained about speeding traffic in the early hours, plus lorries hitting the kerbs causing a noise nuisance. Faran explained that as Carshalton Road was an “A” road, vertical measures could not be used to calm speeding traffic. The Mayor’s priority is to keep traffic moving and minimise street furniture so it was unlikely that TFL would agree to speed humps He advised that Sutton has the 5^th or 6^th lowest accident rate in London and that accidents/ injuries had reduced by 50% since 1999.

Action: Faran to follow up complaints at the Working group

7.    General Issues @ 229-245 Carshalton Road

Plants are dying and not being looked after and rubbish accumulates at the front of the building. Karla agreed to ask the cleaning contractors to ensure they deal with both issues as part of their once a week visit.            Action: Karla to follow up

Sewage smell outside of 1B Denning House-            Action: Karla to investigate.

The railings and brickwork on the Shorts Road side of the scheme were breaking up.          Action: Karla to investigate

It was noted that the noise of the traffic reverberating off the building had increased for neighbouring households.

8.    Contact Details

Marie handed out contact details for all the relevant people that residents could contact with any further concerns.

Finally it was agreed that there was no need for a follow up meeting providing residents and Ward Councillors were kept informed about the agreed action points.

The external works to form steps and a landscaped area etc. are progressing slowly to the front of the hall. A response is in from the Council Officer following recent complaints from local residents about alleged excessive noise “out-of-hours” coming from Wentworth Hall, 80 Ruskin Road, Carshalton at the corner with Woodstock Road.

Dear Councillor

One of my officers Mark Ross visited Wentworth Hall this afternoon Friday 12 July and discussed the complaint about noise with one of the Board Members who happened to be on site. He was not aware that there had been an issue. Mark was invited in and was able to view the internal layout of the hall and the gentlemen said that although they did not keep the doors open, identified a window at the front of the property that may have  been contributing to an escape of noise.  This window has now been locked shut and will remain so.  My officer was also given two contact numbers should there be further problems.

The council does operate an out of hours noise service so would be able to respond to complaints of late night noise.

Yours sincerely

Jan Gransden, Head of Regulatory Services, Environment and Neighbourhoods, 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton SM5 2JG Tel: 020 8770 5550