Banksy on ITV

ITV London have picked up on the Banksy work in Sutton and featured it on the six and ten o'clock news programmes today. You can view the article here: http://www.itv.com/london/artorgraffitti70978/

So far there has been a lot of support for keeping the work with 85% of people who have sent an email to the council saying we should keep it.

The site will close on 31st October, so why not have your say on the Sutton Council email address artorgraffitti@sutton.gov.uk

Is it Banksy – and do you care?

A piece of graffiti thought to be the work of renowned guerrilla artist Banksy has appeared in Sutton – and the council is asking residents what should be done about it.

The graffiti or is it ‘art’ (?), depicts a punk trying to assemble a flat pack from a fictitious shop called ‘IEAK’ apparently reading instructions on how to put together a graffiti slogan. The IKEA chimney’s can be seen behind the graffiti.

The graffiti does look like a Banksy piece and many people have commented online to that effect.

We have dedicated teams in Sutton that remove graffiti on a daily basis. It’s hugely anti-social and something that we work quickly to eradicate.

But I know that people hold strong views on Banksy’s work with some seeing it as art while others view it as vandalism. So, I want to hear what you think. Should it stay or should it go?

For the moment I have asked the Council to keep an open mind on this and I’m looking forward to your feedback before deciding what to do with the wall.

If you want to have your say please email your views to artorgraffiti@sutton.gov.uk

Ever thought of becoming a Councillor?

Credit it where it is due

The excellent work of Council staff often goes unnoticed. So I thought I would record just one little event that cheered me up.

A few days ago when I was walking to school with my son, we noticed that a very large branch had sheared off a tree in St Mary;s Field. The branch had fallen across the pavement and into the road and was making it difficult for pedestrians to get along the path.

So I took a photo of it and phoned it in to the Council’s contact centre for action. By lunchtime the branch had been removed.

If know of other good news stories like this I'd be pleased to hear them.

WALLINGTON GETS £2 MILLION FACELIFT

Wallington town centre will get a £2 million facelift as a result of work that I have been doing with Transport for London (TfL), who will pay for the scheme.

Improvements will begin in the summer 2010 and a major consultation with local residents will start this summer to find out exactly what you would like to see happen to the town centre.

I have been working with TfL for more than eighteen months to pull this project off and I’m delighted that we are now sure of the money. But we haven’t finalised exactly what the work will include and Jayne, Richard and I want to know what you want us to do to make Wallington a nicer place.

Work will start in Woodcote Road and link to the station access improvements that the council has already promised to pay for. But we can do a lot more too. So of the ideas that we have already include widening the footpaths and installing new paving, new cycle parking, getting rid of a lot of the clutter in the street and providing new street furniture and better bus stops… but we really want to know what you think.

If you have any ideas, please leave me a message here or drop me an email to: abetterwallington@yahoo.co.uk

Traffic Lights Woodcote Road

Work has finally started to link traffic lights at the junction of Woodcote Road / Stafford Road and at Beddington Gardens. As a result traffic will move through Wallington more smoothly, reducing pollution and helping to keep the street quieter.

The work, which is being carried out by Transport for London (TfL), has been delayed for three years! According to TfL this was because they had to reorganise their staff and then priority was given to Central and East London. There was then a further delay when TfL suggested that we added the lights south of Woodcote Road by the Public Hall car park and in Stanley Park Road to the scheme - something that we had requested in the first place!

Cabling ducts were completed in April and traffic detector equipment is now being installed in the roads and TfL expect to have the signals linked together and working by October.

But the pedestrian phase that we have asked for on the lights at Woodcote Road / Stafford Road / Stanley Park Road will not be completed yet. In fact it may be necessary to look at the lights at the Public Hall car park, outside the Sainsbury car park in Stafford Road and in Stanley Park Road as an alternative to avoid large queues of cars forming at rush hour.

Wallington in Bloom

It’s great to see the centre of Wallington looking so attractive with new hanging baskets and plants in the flower beds. These new plants have been provided thanks to a multi-million pound investment by Liberal Democrats on Sutton Council.

The Beddington & Wallington Local Committee was given almost £450,000 to spend on improvements such as planting, playground improvements, cycling schemes and other initiatives that local people wanted to see.

If you have any ideas for future improvements please let me know.

Calling Mr Vaughan

In response to your question about leaves... ..... . ...

After the changes to the new waste policy in June last year and the subsequent decision to revert to a free garden waste collection service at point of collection in November, the Council had to introduce a limit of two 120 litre plastic sacks or three 75 litre green jute bags per household. The number of bags is limited to contain the costs involved and to continue to encourage home composting.

The garden waste service will be back again from next month and residents will also be able to buy extra disposable bags at £1 each per collection.

If more of the ‘old’ plastic bags are left out, two of these will be emptied at each collection.

Colin

Wallington Station access to get face lift

Councillors on the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee agree a number of improvements to the area around Wallington Station last night.

The works include new dropping off arrangements outside the station, new cycle storage and planting and also provide much needed lighting improvements and a raised pedestrian crossing in Ross Parade, changes to loading and unloading bays in the town centre and a safer bus stop near Café Nerro as a result

The works which will be paid for from local people’s contributions to Transport for London (TfL) and will cost more than £600k.

Traffic Lights Upgraded – at last

After years of chasing TfL the traffic lights in Woodcote Road are going to be linked together to allow traffic to move though the town more efficiently at long last. Every council in London has to use TfL to make changes to traffic light phasing and they don’t do many each year. I have been pressing TfL on this for 4 years so it is a relief to have it on their programme at long last. Hopefully air quality in the town centre will improve if fewer cars are queuing.

Cycle route gets green light

After a lot of discussion councillors agreed to give the go ahead to the Redford Avenue cycling contraflow scheme at the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee.

The contraflow section will be between Link Lane and Stafford Road and the scheme which was supported by the police, cycling groups and residents at the meeting will be paid for by Transport for London.

The new route is included in a new cycle network that will make cycling between Roundshaw and Wallington easier in future. Councillors were told that TfL have also agreed to fund an extension of the scheme through Mellows Park.