Cllr. Hamish Pollock was out delivering FOCUS in the roads around Carshalton Park on Monday 1st April and took these photos of the “new” homes being built by Weston Homes at the former Carshalton War Memorial Hospital site, The Park, Carshalton.

The houses are apparently being marketed as Honours Mead and are accessed from Corbould Close.  William Corbould  was the erstwhile Rector of All Saints’ Church, Carshalton from 1919 until 1957 and was suggested a few years ago as a suitable road name by….Cllr. Hamish Pollock.  Corbould was the great improver of the interior of All Saints Church working along side Sir Ninian Comper, architect.

Honours Mead, The Park, Carshalton as seen on 1st April 2013

The development is sympathetically re-using the original hospital buildings and the 13 or so houses are a mix of 2-, 3- and 4-bedroomed properties.

Honours Mead as seen from the rear

Some Events may need prior booking

Thursday 28^th March- Sunday 14^th April (Please note that Museum is closed Good Friday 30th March, and open Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday 2nd April)
Easter Holiday Activities

There will be a programme of artist led workshops and drop in activities themed to the Onam Festival

Honeywood Museum

Wednesday 3^rd April 11am-1pm, Thursday 4^th April 11am-1pm
Make Tiger masks

Wednesday 3^rd April 2-4pm, Thursday 4^th April 2-4pm
Tiger face painting

Wednesday 3^rd April 11am-1pm and 2-4pm, Thursday 4^th April 11am-1pm and 2-4pm
Discover how to play the traditional board game of Carrom

Thursday  11^th April 11am-1pm and 2-4pm, Friday 12^th April 11am-1pm
Make Pookalam, Indian floor artwork

Friday 12^th April 2-4pm
King Mahabali story telling sessions

All these workshops are drop in sessions, and do not require pre-booking – All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult

In addition there will be drop in themed crafts and activities throughout house opening hours including Carrom board game playing and design your own Carrom board. Make a simple King Mahabali puppet and tiger mask and Pookalam colouring sheets

Sunday 14^th April 1.30-4.30pm
Tigers and Saris, an Onam Festival Afternoon

An afternoon of exciting and colourful arts, crafts and activities to accompany the Onam exhibition, with artist led workshops and activities including Tiger face painting, King Mahabali story telling, making decorated Indian door hangings, and an opportunity to learn and play Carrom, a traditional Indian board game. There will also be simple King Mahabali puppet making and Pookalam colouring sheets. Have you ever admired the beautiful fabrics used to make saris? This is your chance to learn how to dress in a sari and try wearing one

Wednesday 17^th April 7.30pm
Springs and Watercourses of Old Carshalton.

An illustrated talk by John Phillips on Carshalton springs and water courses from prehistory to the present
Tickets for this event are £3.50 (£3.00 Friends). Please telephone 020 8770 4297 for bookings

Sunday April 21^st  2.30pm
Carshalton Springs Walk

A guided walk led by John Phillips around some of the past and present springs and watercourses in Carshalton
Tickets for this event are £3.50 (£3.00 Friends). Please telephone 020 8770 4297 for bookings

25th April 7.30pm
Philanthropy in 19th Century Carshalton: an illustrated talk by Cheryl Bailey, local historian and writer.  Cheryl is the author of “Living in Carshalton 1865-1880”
Honeywood Museum – Tickets: £2.50 (£3.50 for non-members) Bookings 020 8773 0185 – a Friends of Honeywood Museum event
 

Friday 10^th May 7.30pm
Wine Tasting

Come in and enjoy the beautiful architecture of Honeywood as we sample a selection of wines from around the Iberian Peninsula. With help from wine experts at Worcester Park’s The Vin Bin, we’ll learn about the different types of wine and the process in which they develop their flavour and have the opportunity to add to your collection

Cheese and Biscuits will be provided – Tickets £10 – Advanced booking is required – Please telephone 020 8770 4297

The Water Tower which can be accessed from the gate on West Street re-opens to the public.
Time – 2.30pm – 5.00pm every Sunday, until the 30th September.
Also the first Opening of the year of the Hermitage 2.30 – 4.30 pm on 7th April.

Councillor Jill Whitehead at The Water Tower

There have been several restoration projects carried out in different parts of the Grade II listed early 18th century Water Tower.  The first that we know of was the work completed after World War II bomb damage.

Since that time The Daughters of the Cross, then the Carshalton Water Tower Trust and now Carshalton Water Tower and Historic Garden Trust have worked on many projects with the assistance of the Friends.

Since the Friends were formed in the early 1990’s this restoration work includes:

• The remains of the Water Wheel in the Pump Chamber
• The restoration of the window in the Robing Room, now the Kitchen area
• Bathroom tile restoration
• Orangery and Saloon windows
• On the Water Tower the stone piers in the Pump Chamber

In addition there is a continual ongoing programme of painting and decorating, including the creation of kitchen and toilet facilities and work in the Grade II listed mid-18th century landscape areas to create the gardens.

In late 2006 the Carshalton Water Tower and Historic Garden Trust signed a lease to have the Folly Bridge and Lake area within their charge. Funding was obtained and the restoration of the Folly Bridge was completed in 2010. In 2011 further restoration work on the Hermitage addressed drainage problems which has been detrimental to the stonework in places with stone replacement and repair undertaken.

Sutton Council has agreed to end the pilot of a food waste collection for 1,500 residences in Carshalton Central ward, amongst other areas of the borough, following a consultation in the pilot area.

Over the last few years the pilot has shown that although nearly half of people in the trial area were using the service, the amount of food waste collected varied greatly.  The pilot also showed that to expand the service to the whole borough would cost an extra £750,000 per year. 

Environment and Neighbourhoods Committee Chair and local Councillor Jill Whitehead said: “We would have liked to have retained the food waste collection service but we cannot afford it. With the council facing substantial funding cuts, residents have told us that although they were happy with the service, they did not want the additional cost of the service to be covered through higher Council Tax or by reducing other services.”

Local Cllr. Alan Salter added: “Feedback from an earlier consultation on waste services also showed that people feel that it is more environmentally friendly to put vegetable matter in their home composters instead of having it collected and taken away for composting”. 

On the basis of that feedback the Council has agreed to encourage more home composting and to bring the pilot in Carshalton and Sutton South to an end.  The service will stop on Monday 8th April 2013 – There will be no change to brown and green bin collections which will stay the same.

Local Cllr. Hamish Pollock said: Home composter bins can be bought from garden centres, supermarkets and online retailers. There’s also lots of information on recycling on the Council website – www.sutton.gov.uk/recycling;

If you don’t want to keep your food waste caddy, just email wastemanagement@sutton.gov.uk or phone 020 8770 5070 and the council will arrange to pick them up.

Sutton Council have received a pair of planning applications from Costa Coffee for the conversion of the former Johnson Dry Cleaners and the former Greengrocers into new Costa Coffee shop at Units A and B 31-33 High Street, Carshalton SM5 3AX.

The following are Sutton Council’s Planning application nos :-

a) C2013/67056/FUL for the use of ground floor of premises as a coffee shop (Mixed A1/A3 use) and provision of an outdoor seating area at front.

b) C2013/67100/ADV is for the display of an internally illuminated fascia letter sign, an internally illuminated double sided projecting sign, a non-illuminated double window poster panel sign and a retractable awning sign.

residents may wish to inspect and comment upon the plans by clicking on the links below:-

http://213.122.180.105/FASTWEB/detail.asp?AltRef=C2013/67056

http://213.122.180.105/FASTWEB/detail.asp?AltRef=C2013/67100 

The Coalition Government has today announced how much Pupil Premium money each school in England will receive in 2013/14. The cash targets extra money to schools depending on the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds they have. The Pupil Premium is a major Liberal Democrat priority that is being delivered by the Coalition Government.  The Pupil Premium will be worth a total of £1.65bn, or £900 per child, in 2013/14. It covers any primary or secondary school pupil that has been registered for Free School Meals in the past six years.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Schools Minister, David Laws said: “Liberal Democrats are building a strong economy and a fair society where everyone can get ahead. Education is absolutely at the heart of that.  “The Pupil Premium is extra support for the children who need it the most, whether it is catch-up classes, one-to-one tuition, extra IT support – whatever the school thinks best.  Helping the most disadvantaged children helps every child. Fewer children falling behind means less disruption in class and a better education for everyone.”

You can find details of how much each local school in England will gain from the Lib Dem Pupil Premium, by visiting this website: http://bit.ly/TyVK6D