Carshalton Gas Leak in West Street

Gas has been detected on West Street, close to the roundabout on Pound Street in the centre of Carshalton.

As of lunchtime today (Sunday, 15/1/23) it had not been found but the gas engineers believe they are close and it will soon be repaired. It will take 2 days for the road surface to be repaired so be prepared for single lane traffic lights (and delays) for the next couple of days.

School Streets Consultation Launches

Consultation on Popular School Streets Schemes Begin Today

Councillors Jake, Jill and Chris are very pleased to see that Lib Dem-run Sutton Council is consulting on reintroducing the popular School Streets programmes at All Saints and St Mary’s-St Philomena’ Schools, with an upgraded enforcement system.

Consultation for the schemes on Rotherfield Road and Shorts Road/Alma Road respectively has been running from the 15th March to the 4th April 2021, asking residents for their views on reintroducing the two schemes that had proven popular when they were run as trials last year. These trials had to be withdrawn due to faulty guidance from the Labour Mayor of London and Conservative Central Government.

Map of the proposed All Saints Carshalton School Street on Rotherfield Road

Both these School Streets schemes have been largely successful, in reducing traffic and parking problems for residents arising from parental travel to school. Jake, Jill and Chris are pleased to report that feedback during the trial was positive and we are particularly grateful for the support shown by residents and parents for the schemes. We were particularly pleased to see volunteers help with the All Saints scheme be as successful as it was.

Map of the proposed St Philomena’s School Street on Shorts Road and Alma Road

We are also very pleased to see that Council officers have listened to resident feedback and included all of Shorts Road and Alma Road in the proposed school street there.

Your Lib Dem council is committed to implementing these schemes where they have been shown to be popular.

The consultation proposals this time around propose replacing these ‘manual’ schemes (which had required volunteers to operate) with automated camera schemes. This will eliminate the need for volunteers to step up to make these schemes successful. More information around implementation dates and consultation feedback will be available in due course.

You can respond to the individual consultations on the St Philomena’s Scheme or the All Saints Scheme here. You can also see the other School Street consultations here.

Low Traffic Update

As your Lib Dem Councillors we are committed to listening to you, and being your voice on Sutton Council.

Following a High Court judgement in a case brought against the Labour Mayor of London – which questioned the guidance London Borough Councils received from the Mayor and the Conservative Government – Sutton Council has paused discussion about expanding the Kings Lane Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme, and potential changes to other LTNs and School Streets.

Prior to that judgment being reached, we had been engaging widely with you around a set of proposals put forward by officers. We were intending to provide feedback from residents directly to officers as a result of the survey we had put out. This coming Thursday, Sutton Council will be recommending that all the LTN and School Street schemes will be removed. This is to ensure any well-running schemes cannot be threatened by the ruling against the advice of the Conservative Government and Labour mayor.

Some schemes, such as the 13 School Street Schemes (including two in Carshalton Central) and the Butter Hill and Worcester Park LTNs will subsequently be brought back, under a new improved process. This process, free from the constraints imposed by the Labour Mayor and Conservative Government on the previous LTN programme will enable full, open consultation right from the start.

We value your feedback, and have asked officers to not include the Kings Lane LTN in these new sets of proposals. 

It was clear from the feedback we recently received from residents that there was little support for the proposed strategies for managing the increased traffic in particular roads – notably Harrow Road. As these schemes did not have sufficient support from local residents and because we were not sure they would improve the situation, we could not agree with the Kings Lane LTN continuing.

We are absolutely committed to reducing traffic and pollution on our residential roads and are continuing to push for 20mph zones in the area, and are fully committed to improving the Shorts Road School Street with an expanded area; better enforcement and better hours of operation. We are also incredibly pleased with the success of the All Saints Carshalton School Street, and so are very much looking forward to this scheme continuing in the future pending consultation.

-Councillors Jake Short, Jill Whitehead and Chris Williams