A £150,000 clean-up project on the River Wandle will see trout swimming in what is hoped will become London’s cleanest river.

The two-year plan will prevent tonnes of silt from entering a one-kilometre stretch of the Carshalton arm of the Wandle River and make it more habitable for a range of wildlife such as brown trout and kingfishers.

During the first six weeks the Wandle Trust will install three silt traps beneath the road on Denmark Road, Mill Lane and Butter Hill before work on the river itself proceeds.

Toby Hull, Catchment Project Officer for the Wandle Trust which is managing the DEFRA-funded project, said: “This is a very exciting plan which will help the river achieve Good Ecological Potential, the first river in Greater London to reach that status.”

Once the silt traps are in place, work will begin on bringing the Wandle back to a more natural state by removing silty deposits already in the water, narrowing the river to cope with future drought conditions, adding meanders and planting before aiming to re-introduce the trout in 2015.

Burying the silt traps under the roads will cause some traffic disruption and Sutton Council’s highways department and the Wandle Trust have been working very hard to ensure that inconvenience to drivers and residents is kept to an absolute minimum.

The work at Butter Hill and Mill Lane will mean that traffic will have to be regulated using temporary traffic lights at night. Denmark Road, however, will have to be closed for up to two weeks while the dig is completed.

Carshalton Central ward Cllr Jill Whitehead, Chair of Sutton Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee, said: “We know road closures are very frustrating to residents. However, our highways team has worked very hard to organise a schedule which will minimise the impact and keep roads flowing as smoothly as possible.”

The time for planning summer festival events is upon us, and Sutton Council would like to hear from anyone who is organising a community event over the summer so that we can publicise it on our website and in our Take Part Take Pride programme.

This year, there will be lots of great events to enjoy, from the St Helier Festival and Carshalton Carnival on Saturday, June 8th, to the Environmental Fair on Bank Holiday Monday, August 26th.

If you are planning a street party or Playing Out event and need to request for your road to be closed, please follow the guidance on the website and make sure you send in your booking form at least six weeks in advance of your event. For more information on Take Part Take Pride visit www.sutton.gov.uk/takeparttakepride.

To notify Sutton Council of events please email debbie.bacon@sutton.gov.uk

Debbie Bacon, Marketing Manager

Cllr. Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee says: “In order to carry out structural repairs to the underside of the bridge in West Street, Carshalton, Sutton Council intends to make a Traffic Order.”

West Street

Local Cllr. Alan Salter says: “When the structural repair works are taking place and the appropriate traffic signs are displayed the Order will temporarily close West Street, Carshalton, between its junctions with Colston Avenue and Pound Street (A232):-

between 28th May and 31st May 2013 inclusive working 08.00hrs to 17.00hrs; and on the following dates:-

• Sunday 23rd June 2013
• Sunday 30th June 2013
• Sunday 14th July 2013
• Sunday 21st July 2013
• Sunday 4th August 2013

between the hours of 00.00hrs and 04.00hrs (Saturday night and Sunday morning).”

Chair of the Carshalton & Clockhouse Local Committee, Cllr. Hamish Pollock says: “Alternative routes for vehicular traffic including buses will be suitably signed. Vehicle access to properties adjacent to the prohibited lengths of road will be maintained at all times where access is reasonably practicable without interference with the works.”

Borough chiefs will be quizzed later this month as local people get the chance to ask their questions of Sutton’s decision makers.

Senior councillors and others on the panel at Sutton’s Question Time last time

Council leader, Cllr Ruth Dombey, Deputy Leader, Cllr Colin Hall, Sutton Youth MP, Johnoi Joseph, and Chief Executive of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, Matthew Hopkins will be taking part in Sutton’s version of TV’s Question Time.

It is the second public Question Time to take place in the borough with the previous session being well attended. The live audience pose questions directly to the panel who then discuss their answers with guests.

Cllr Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council said: “We want people to come forward with their questions so that we can help them to better understand the business of the council and decisions made here in Sutton.

“This public forum is the ideal opportunity for the people we serve to speak to us and address issues they have. As borough representatives we have a responsibility to be as open and transparent as possible and this is another way in which we are achieving this.”

To take part residents need to come forward in advance and claim one of the limited number of tickets available. To claim a space, email questiontime@sutton.gov.uk and a ticket will be issued or call Simon Bishop on 020 8770 4394 for more information.

The evening will take place at Greenshaw School on Wednesday 22 May 2013 between 7pm and 9pm and be hosted by the head teacher Will Smith.

Residents who aren’t able to attend Sutton Question Time but would still like to take part, can do so on Twitter. Sutton Question Time will be live tweeted throughout, with the opportunity for the panel to hear some of the points raised using #suttonqt

Cllr. Hamish Pollock took some progress photos of the Cedar Close redevelopment on Wednesday, 1st May 2013 whilst out delivering the latest newspaper from Tom Brake.  Cedar Close is off Salisbury Road, a quiet residential road in the southern part of the Carshalton Central neighbourhood.

The planning application for demolition of the original sheltered housing (7 bungalows) at Cedar Close and redevelopment as new mews houses was recently approved by Sutton Council, with enhanced planning conditions to support local residents’ concerns over overlooking over adjacent backgardens in Salisbury Road and an undertaking from the developer that this would not become a gated development.

Cedar Close entrance from Salisbury Road

Foundations of the new mews houses in Cedar Close

Cllr. Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Council’s Environment & Neighbourhoods Committee, says: “The Wandle Trust on behalf of Thames Water will shortly be carrying out some restoration work to the River Wandle by installing pollution-removing silt traps in the river banks in Mill Lane, Butter Hill and Denmark Road. When completed, this work will make the River Wandle one of the cleanest rivers in London, allowing wildlife such as fish and wild birds to thrive and prosper in an urban environment.” 

Cllr. Hamish Pollock, Chair of the Council’s Carshalton & Clockhouse Local Committee says: “These traps will be buried under road drains and should intercept most road run-off pollution. Unfortunately there will need to be some disruption to normal traffic flow in the area during May and June, so that the silt traps can be installed. However, disruption will be kept to a minimum to reduce impact, and the Council has ensured that appropriate traffic lights and diversions will be put in place.”

Butter Hill bridge on a sunny day…!

Cllr. Alan Salter added: “Works in Mill Lane will take place from Monday 13^th May to Saturday 18^th May. Two way traffic signals will be used to manage traffic. Temporary parking suspensions will be put in place in Mill Lane to ease traffic movements. Delays to journeys should not be greater than one minute. Access to Mill Pond Place will temporarily need to be via Butter Hill.” 

Denmark Road works will take place during half term (Monday 20^th May to Monday 3^rd June) and Butter Hill works from Tuesday 4^th to Monday 17^th June. The Denmark Road works will entail temporary closure of the very end of Mill Lane, with diversions in place.  For the Butter Hill works there will again be temporary parking suspensions in Mill Lane, and access for Mill Pond Place will need to be via Mill Lane.

 For questions about the river restoration works contact Toby Hull on 020 8770 6463 or toby.hull@wandletrust.org. For questions about road works contact David Waugh on 020 8770 6431.

Cllr. Hamish Pollock reports as chair of the Carshalton & Clockhouse Local Committee: “We are planning to tackle the problem of speeding on Grosvenor Avenue, residents asked ward councillors and me for a solution that did not involve speed humps and did not cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Finally money has been found for the works in the Council’s Local Implementation Plan.

Grosvenor Avenue Carshalton in quieter times…

Officers have put forward a “traffic calming” scheme (but no humps!) to the LIP (Local Implementation Plan) fund, which will hopefully meet residents approval by introducing road islands at strategic points.

Until now this long running issue has had been tackled by the police’s Safer Neighbourhood Team with Speed Enforcement Operations.  A Carshalton South & Clockhouse ward councillor Lib Dem Peter Fosdike (who used to live in the road for many years) has taken part on these operations and was surprised to to see just how fast people go along the road. 

Grosvenor Avenue is just outside Carshalton Central ward with the boundary at the junction with Park Avenue.

Sutton’s new £11m state-of-the-art leisure centre has been selected as a finalist in the best community building category at a London award’s evening next month. Opened to the public in January, the Westcroft Leisure Centre in Carshalton has been chosen for the LABC London Regional Building Excellence Awards which take place in May at The Guildhall.

The centre – which boasts an 160 station gym, two different sized swimming pools, an eight badminton court sized multi-use sports hall, a day spa, dance and spinning studios, crèche, café and library – has also received ringing endorsements from Olympic and Paralympic stars including four-times Gold medallist David Weir and bronze medal winning gymnast Kristian Thomas.

The award evening also provides Sutton’s representatives with the opportunity to network with some of the industry’s leading professionals as they celebrate the creation of some of London’s most outstanding buildings.

The LABC awards are highly recognised within the construction industry with winning projects automatically qualifying for their National Building Excellence Awards which will take place in November.

Carshalton Central ward Councillor Jill Whitehead, Chair of the Environment and Neighbourhood Committee said: “Recognition for this work that has gone into making Westcroft such an asset to the community is always well received and this just goes to show how highly it is thought of across the whole of London.

“We worked extremely hard to make sure this project lived up to everyone’s expectations and seeing the thousands of people from all over the borough attend in January was testament to this. Although I’m sure the competition will be extremely tough I’m hopeful we can now go on to win this award and showcase the great work being undertaken here in Sutton.”

During its opening weekend (Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 January) over 5,000 people flocked to Carshalton to try the new facilities. For more information about Westcroft Leisure Centre visit www.everyoneactive.com/tabid/1649/default.aspx.

There will be an exhibition of watercolour and ink paintings by local artist Karen Baker. Works will feature current, local scenes and reflections of a by-gone era…

at Honeywood Museum, Honeywood Walk, Carshalton Ponds SM5 3NX. Tel: 020-8770 4297 for details. E-mail: lbshoneywood@btconnect.com.

Admission is always FREE to the Honeywood Museum…!