Colin Hall's Blogspot

Making ends meet

2012-02-02T16:05:00.005-01:00

With timesas tough as they are I’m aware that a number of local organisations arestruggling to find the money to organise events. So I thought it might be agood idea to list some of the small grants that are available to Sutton groups.If you need more information please contact the person listed under “Questions”.

Imagine Festival

When does it open and close: Open now and closes on Wednesday 8 February

What for: Groupsinterested in participating in the Imagine Arts Festival

How doI apply: Contact Eirini.kotzaki@sutton.gov.uk

Questions: Eirini.kotzaki@sutton.gov.uk or 020 8770 6986

Community Fund

When does it open and close: Open now and closes on Monday 13 February

What for: Projectsrun by voluntary and community groups that support Sutton Council’s priorities

How do I apply: Sutton Centre for Voluntary Service

Questions: judy@suttoncvs.org.uk or 020 8644 2867

ASSH Small Grants

When does it open and close: Opennow and closes on Friday 30 March

What for: Voluntaryand community organisations supporting vulnerable adults or older people

How do I apply: Follow this link to Sutton Council

Questions: Donna.Lockett@sutton.gov.uk or 020 8770 4525

Summer Festival Fund

When does it open and close: Open by Friday 10 Februaryand closes end March (dates to be set)

What for: Voluntaryand community groups putting on street parties and events to celebrate theOlympics, Paralympics, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and Take Part, Take Pride.

How do I apply: Follow this link to the Summer Festival

Questions: Iqbal.husain@sutton.gov.uk or 020 8770 4414

Local Community and Neighbourhood Groups Fund

When does it open and close: Opens in Summer 2012 (dates to be set)

What for: Smalllocal community and neighbourhood groups working on priorities set by localcommittee areas

How do I apply: This isyet to be decided, but please contact Catherine or me.

Questions: Catherine.Poyner@sutton.gov.uk or 020 8770 5140

Finally,

The Volunteer Centre Sutton is hosting a volunteering conference on 16 and17 March. 16 March is for voluntary and community organisations and 17March is for new and existing volunteers. For more information contactCMingay@vcsutton.org.uk or 020 8661 5909.

Vital work in Shotfield – temporary road and parking changes

2012-01-30T17:39:00.004-01:00

Thames Water needs toinstall two new sewer pipes in Shotfield. As it happens, UK Power Networks are in the area as well, installing new electricity suppliesto the new Health Centre. So to reduce the disruption for local residents from two major projects Sutton Council has encouraged Thames and UK Power Networks to work onsite together. This is more easily said than done!

Unfortunately the work in Shotfield requires a lot of the road to be dug up and cannot be completedwithout temporary changes to parking in BeddingtonGardens and Shotfield.

Bus stands will need to be moved temporarily too and busroutes will be diverted along Beddington Gardens turning out into Boundary Road. Parking will besuspended on the south side of Beddington Gardens so that the buses can movealong the road without causing damage to cars or danger to pedestrians andcyclists.

From 13 February vehicleswill only be able to drive one-way along Shotfield - heading south up the roadfrom the Lidl’s end towards the health centre. The eastern footpath inShotfield will be closed too and it will be necessary to suspend the parkingoutside the church for a few days. HolmwoodGardens will also be made one-way temporarily – heading north – for theduration of the work to help traffic flow more easily.

Fortunately one-way on Holmwood Gardens and parkingsuspension on the south side of Beddington Gardens is only required for the UKPower Networks whilst they cross the road in Beddington Gardens.This is programmed for the 15 and 16 February. Outside of these dates itwill be one-way in Shotfield Road only with parking suspension on one side.

Most of the work will be carried out during half term, butit is possible that it will need to carry on into the following week as well.

The works by the two utility companies are unavoidable butSutton Council will be monitoring progress to ensure that they are completed asquickly as possible.

If you click on theimage you can see the proposals map in more detail.

Likely Strike Action by Sutton Council Staff

2011-11-29T18:29:00.004-01:00

I thought that you might like to have some information about how the public sector strike will be likely to affect Sutton tomorrow.

The number of refuse collection staff on strike will not be known until tomorrow morning. Any bins that are not collected on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday should be left out. Waste collection staff will be working on Saturday to get through any backlog.

Nine of our schools will remain fully open. 26 will be closed and 27 part-closed. I have provided a list of the schools below.

The meals on wheels and care services will run as normal.

We expect Wallington, Cheam and Carshalton libraries to be closed. All other libraries will be open but events may be subject to cancellation so residents should check with their library.

All our leisure centres will remain open.

Children’s Centres will open as normal, except the Tweeddale Centre, which will be closed.

No disruption is expected to the reception at the Civic Offices and the council’s contact centre.

SCHOOL CLOSURES

Open
Abbey Primary
Holy Trinity Junior School
Orchard Hill College
Robin Hood Infants
Spencer Nursery
St Celia’s Catholic Primary
Stanley Park Infants
Thomas Wall Nursery
Camden Junior School

Part closed
All Saints Benhilton
All Saints Carshalton
Any Johnson
Avenue Primary
Beddington Infants
Beddington Park Primary
Brookfield Primary
Carshalton Boys Sports College
Carshalton High School for Girls
Cheam Common Junior School
Cheam High School
Cheam Park Farm Infants
Cheam Park Farm Junior School
Culvers House Primary
Devonshire Primary
Glenthorne High School
Hackbridge Primary

High View Primary
Manor Park Primary
Nonsuch High School for Girls
SCOLA
Sherwood Park
St Dunstan’s Cheam CofE Primary
St Elphege’s RC Infants
St Elphege’s RC Junior School
Sutton Grammar School
Victor Seymour Infants’ School
Wilson’s School

Closed
Bandon Hill Primary
Barrow Hedges Primary
Carew Manor
Cheam Common Infants
Cheam Fields Primary
Dorchester Primary
Foresters Primary
Green Wrythe Primary
Greenshaw High
Muschamp Primary School
Nonsuch Primary School
Overton Grange
Robin Hood Junior School
Rushy Meadow Primary School
St Mary’s RC Infants
St Mary’s RC Junior School
St Philomena’s School
Stanley Park High School
Stanley Park Junior School
The John Fisher School
The Limes College
Tweeddale Primary School
Wallington County Grammar
Wallington High School for Girls
Wandle Valley School
Westbourne Primary School

Digging up the high street - here we go again!

2011-10-18T18:44:00.001-01:00

You may have noticed that Woodcote Road is being dug up - again!

The work is being carried out by UK Power Networks on behalf of EDF to fix another major electricity outage to premises on the east side of the high street. In such circumstances the utility company can and must do the works.

Council Officers met onsite with EDF and UKPN at the end of last week to make sure they fully understand their duty to reinstate the paving, kerbs and road surface with the same materials as we used in the refurbishment earlier this year.

Council staff will continue to supervise the works as they progress, but please let me know how you think things are progressing

IMPORTANT UPDATE II - Sutton and Rioting

2011-08-08T22:44:00.000-01:00

Just a short update before signing off for the night:

* There are still some youths on the street in Sutton, but the numbers have reduced significantly. They are now being dispersed by the police.

* Despite earlier reports that the windows of HMV had been smashed they are intact but they have been vandalised.

* The doors of MacDonalds were similarly attacked but not breached.

Let's hope for a better day tomorrow.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

2011-08-08T20:49:00.002-01:00

I don’t know what you are hearing about what might or might not be happening in Sutton tonight. So I want to provide you with some facts:

* Despite rumours and facebook messages that ASDA, B&Q and M&S are on fire THIS IS NOT TRUE.

* Sutton Station is also open and trains are running.

* The police are out in large numbers in Sutton and are in control of the situation.

I have just been out into Wallington too and apart from a few cars, it is quiet

Further update 23:25
There are some youths in Sutton High Street but no big groups.
Unfortunately the windows of HMV have been smashed and the door of MacDonalds has been broken open (what do these idiots think they are doing - stealing burgers?) but the police remain in control of the situation.

Thameslink Campaign update

2011-07-11T21:00:00.004-01:00

Next Monday evening (18 July), my colleague Councillor Simon Wales will bring a Motion on our campaign to save the Thameslink Loop line route* to Sutton Council for debate.

The Motion will ask the Council to resolve to lobby the Department for Transport to secure a through route for the Thameslink loop line after 2016 and enlist the support of all elected representatives in the affected boroughs, including the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson in our campaign to help local commuters by ensuring the future of the route.

Tom Brake MP for Carshalton & Wallington has pledged his support to our campaign and has agreed to bring it to the attention of the All Party Thameslink Group in the House of Commons.

If you care about the future of this vital train service for Sutton commuters, please let me know by leaving a comment here or turn up next Monday to show your support. The meeting will be held in the Europa Gallery at the Civic Offices and this item is likely to be later in the evening – possibly after 9pm. Timings will be clearer by the end of the week.

SIGN OUR PETITION TO PRESERVE THE THAMESLINK LOOP LINE SERVICE HERE

*Under Network Rail's plans the current route from Sutton to St Albans which passes through Farringdon, St Pancras International and Luton Airport will be forced to terminate at Blackfriars to allow other new services to use the tunnel under the River Thames.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 21

2011-07-03T17:02:00.003-01:00

Just a few photos of Woodcote Road now that the integrated transport improvements have been completed

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 20

2011-07-03T16:37:00.000-01:00

Finishing touches

As the work to improve or town centre drew to a close on 30 June a few last minute finishing touches like installing the skirts on the bus shelters and placing the arbour resin around the tree pits in Beddington Gardens were being completed. We hope that you will agree that the town centre looks much nicer as a result and hope that you will encourage your friends and relations to come and shop.

The work has been completed on time and on budget and we would like to thank the residents, traders and other volunteers who have worked so hard to make the project a success and to make Wallington a more attractive place to shop and to do business in the 21st century.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 19

2011-06-17T14:26:00.003-01:00

30 minutes free parking in the Library Car Park

You can now park for free for 30 minutes in the Library Car Park in Shotfield. Please remember that you will need to pick up a free ticket from the machines in the car park.

There are now 84 spaces available for free for 30 minutes - a massive increase on just 14 in the high street before the improvements. Free parking was suggested by residents and traders who are members of the Members and Stakeholders Group that is overseeing the improvements before the work began.

And cyclists in town

It is good to see cyclists in Wallington now, in fact I have just seen my first cyclist using the new cycle lane in Beddington Gardens and managed to get a snap....

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 18

2011-06-17T14:07:00.000-01:00

Looking good on a rainy day

Despite the rainy weather, Wallington was looking really good this afternoon when I popped in to see how the last stages of the works are going.

Walking down from the Old Town Hall to the Post Office the new seating, street lights and tree seats have made a real dfference to how our town feels. Even on such a wet afternoon people were taking time to chat and I got some great feedback from shoppers.

A few noisy nights ...

The overnight work to resurface Woodcote Road is almost complete now. We are really sorry that this has meant a few disturbed nights for residents who live above the shops. Next week the anti skid road surfacing will be installed but this should be much less disruptive. Once that is done there will be no more work at night.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 17

2011-05-11T14:49:00.000-01:00

Stupid drivers – part one

I accept that it is difficult to park safely in the highstreet at present and we are working as quickly as possible to get the work on the pavements finished,but some drivers beggar belief!

These photos shows a Kingsmill bread lorry driver backing his vehicle on to the pavement in Woodcote Road at 9:45 this morning. The pavement was full of pedestrians at the time. When I asked him to get off the pavement he told me the law was changing and he could do it!

I wonder what his boss thinks?

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 16

2011-05-10T16:37:00.000-01:00

Bus Shelters and Street Furniture arriving soon

The new bus shelters – one on each side of Woodcote Road – should arrive within the next week. Once they have been installed new Countdown displays will be fitted to show when buses are due. The new shelters were chosen by the Stakeholders Group and the choice of model has saved £10,000 - money that can now be spent elsewhere in Wallington.

New street furniture – also selected by the Stakeholder Group - will begin to arrive in the next few days as well. This will be positioned in a way that will discourage people from parking on the pavement. Parking enforcement will also be used to stop people parking where they shouldn’t.

CCTV installation
The new CCTV column is now in place near Barclays Bank. The old one will be disconected by Virgin Media next week and the new one will go live at the same time. The new CCTV column is taller and the camera will have a better view up and down the road and into the car park and rear of the Old Town Hall.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 15

2011-05-10T16:33:00.000-01:00

Shared surfaces completed at SCOLA and Orchard Hill College

The new paving has now been completed at the entrance and exit to SCOLA and Orchard Hill College. This work was delayed until the two colleges were on their easter break to avoid disruption to their students many of those attending Orchad Hill College arriving by taxi.

Before the works were complete

After the new shared surface has gone in

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 14

2011-05-10T16:22:00.000-01:00

The last of the new soakaways has now been completed in Ross Parade and the road was reopened on schedule – just in time for the downpour at the end of April.

Work has now moved across the road to the last major phase of the project in Beddington Gardens. Due to the mount of space available in Beddington Gardens there will be some disruption for businesses and shoppers as a result but this will be kept to an absolute minimum.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 13

2011-04-10T11:18:00.000-01:00

New Soakaways

The temporary traffic light controlled one-way system in Woodcote Road will be finished this week and work on the last of the new soakaways to prevent flooding will begin on 12 April.

The last of the new soakaways will be excavated in Ross Parade and the road will need to be closed where it joins Woodcote Road until the work is completed.

It will still be possible to park in Ross Parade but access will only be possible from Clarenden Road and Ross Road.

WE CAN SAVE THE THAMESLINK LOOP LINE SERVICE

2011-03-29T12:24:00.000-01:00

Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group Acts

As Chairman of the Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group I have just written to Theresa Villiers, Minister of State for Transport. In my letter I have asked her to clarify a statement that she made last year that no decision has yet been made on the way Wimbledon loop services will operate after the completion of the Thameslink Programme.

The Loop Line through service is a long established service that is used daily by hundreds of Sutton commuters and it would be a huge loss if this service was cut. People from Sutton and elsewhere in South London use the service to get to work in the City and central London, to catch the Eurostar and to join domestic rail services at St. Pancras and Kings Cross, as well as getting to Luton Airport and other destinations on the route. If the route is cut we will also lose our direct connection to the proposed CrossRail station at Farringdon when this is completed – a real slap in the face for Sutton residents who will see hundreds of thousands of pounds siphoned off from planning developments in our area to pay for CrossRail!

Misled by Network Rail

Despite consulting local people on the South London Route Utilisation Strategy in 2008 the final version of Network Rail’s consultation report didn’t explicitly contain proposals to cut our direct route to Luton Airport off at Blackfriars. These came out of the blue in the final report.

Time to act is now

There are mixed messages about the future of the Loop Line coming from Network Rail and the Government. Theresa Villiers MP, Minister of State for Transport has said that no decision has yet been made on the way Wimbledon loop services will operate after the completion of the Thameslink Programme. But Network Rail say that the route will cease after the Thameslink upgrade is completed in 2016, What is really clear is that we need to fight to keep the route now!

But is there an alternative?

Yes there is. It is my understanding that this proposal has been made for operational reasons due to the track re-configuration at Blackfriars, but that it will still be technically possible to run through trains from the Loop Line.

What is the Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group?

The Thameslink Loop Line Campaign Group is a new lobby group that has formed to represent the interests of passengers using the Sutton / Wimbledon Loop Line of the Thameslink network. The group is made up of passenger groups, Councillors, local MPs and GLA Members as well as senior officers of the London Boroughs on the Loop Line.

The primary aim of the group is to campaign to retain cross-London services on the Loop Line after the completion of the Thameslink Programme. We are extremely worried by the proposals to cut off our Loop Line services at London Blackfriars and London Bridge after 2016.

Useful links:

Sutton Guardian

Network Rail

Hansard

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 12

2011-03-19T12:46:00.000-01:00

Crossing now open

The new crossing in Woodcote Road between HSBC and NatWest is now open and working.

There are some concerns about how drivers, queuing in the road to get past the one-way working under the railway bridge might behave if these lights go red when the temporary ones are green. The fear is that they will jump the lights and endanger pedestrians.

I stood in the sun in Woodcote Road and watched drivers at the junction for 15 minutes today and everyone was being sensible and there didn’t seem to be a problem. So I think we will need to see how the next few days go and if drivers do start to jump the lights it may be sensible to turn the permanent lights off for a few weeks - but I hope this will not be necessary.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 11

2011-03-19T12:30:00.002-01:00

Helping Hendfield Court

Beddington Gardens has now been one-way (eastbound) for a couple of weeks by the parade of shops near Woodcote Road. Drivers who have come down the road from Carshalton and not realised that they will not be able to get out on to Woodcote Road have to turn around and head back to Shotfield. Quite a few people have been using the entrance to Hendfield Court to turn round and this has caused difficulties for people who live there and need to get out in their cars.

At the Stakeholder meeting* on Thursday this week we discussed how we might be able to help reduce the problem. Residents from Hendfield Court felt that repainting the Keep Clear markings on the road might help. The Keep Clear was repainted on Friday – less than 24 hours later.

A temporary Keep Clear was installed in Woodcote Road at the same time to help drivers who want to enter Beddington Gardens from Woodcote Road.

* The Statkeholder group oversees the Wallington Integrated Transport Package work and is made up of residents’ associations, local businesses, the police, friends of the library and local councillors.

Road closed - hole in Clifton Road

2011-03-18T08:16:00.001-01:00

At present Clifton Road at the junction with Bridge Road is closed. The road has collapsed at a sewer. The council have been called out and will be on site soon. In the meantime the police have closed the one-way part of Clifton Road and have a squad car sat at the junction to stop people driving into the hole.

UPDATE

Despite looking quite small on the surface the hole turned out to be 1.5m by 1;5m and 600mm deep on closer inspection. Council contractors went straight to site after the hole was reported at 7:57 this morning and dug the hole out to solid ground. They then filled the hole with concrete and finished the surface with tarmac. The road was open again by midday.

Thames Water was contacted to ask them to put a camera down the sewer line to try to identify the cause of the damage but they did not turn up. Unfortunately I have been told that this is often the case.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 10

2011-03-16T12:45:00.002-01:00

Work to install the new puffin crossing outside HSBC should finish tomorrow.

Once complete it will be possible to switch the traffic lights on. But there is some concern about how these lights will affect traffic flow through the temporary lights (see Update 9) under the railway bridge so they may not be switched on yet.

This will be discussed at the Stakeholder Group tomorrow evening. If you have a view about whether the lights should be switched on now, or if you have an experience to share, please leave a comment below.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 9

2011-03-16T12:41:00.001-01:00

Drainage works under the railway bridge

Work started today (Wednesday 16 March) to refurbish two existing soakaways and to construct a new 6.5 metre deep soakaway under the railway bridge in Woodcote Road.

To allow this work to be carried out the northbound side of Woodcote Road has been closed to traffic. There are temporary traffic signals in place and one-way working will be necessary for the next few weeks. This is being reported regularly on Radio Jackie's traffic news to alert drivers to possible delays.

The traffic light controlled crossing near the Melbourne pub and Canon Court (the old Canon House building) has been suspended for the time being. This is because of the temporary lights being in place so please take care when crossing at this point

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 8

2011-03-15T16:44:00.002-01:00

Why start paving at the bottom of a hill?

A couple of people have asked me why the paving contractors started at Ross Parade - at the bottom of the hill - and worked uphill towards Boots and Sainsburys?

It is good practice to pave ‘uphill’ to ensure a tight, even bond between the paving slabs. When paving downhill the slabs can slip slightly and that can result in uneven transverse joints. By working uphill the slabs lean on the ones that have already been placed and bond back into them avoiding gaps.

So as each section of work is started contractors will begin at the lowest point and work uphill.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 7

2011-03-15T16:39:00.001-01:00

Crossing to reopen on Thursday

The signals outside HSBC were removed on 23 February - just under 3 weeks ago to allow Transport for London (TfL) to remove the island in the middle of Woodcote Road and dismantle the lights that are no longer needed for Beddington Gardens.

TfL are installing the new puffin crossing equipment now and this should be completed by Thursday. TfL and Sutton Council staff will monitor performance of the new crossing and make adjustments to it if necessary.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 6

2011-03-15T16:16:00.000-01:00

Joining up paving with Railway Approach

Paving work under the bridge will start tomorrow on the north west side of Woodcote Road. Access to the station from each side of the bridge will remain open.

As I have mentioned before the contractors will need to close the west pavement under the bridge for a short spell to repave it. This is because the pavement is very narrow.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 5

2011-03-15T16:13:00.003-01:00

Good News - Beddington Gardens will not close for drainage works

The drainage contractor installing the new soakaway in Beddington Gardens has been able to make a connection to the sewer without closing the road.

This is excellent news and Beddington Gardens will not now close on 18 March although it will be one-way as planned.

In preparation for the closure warning signs have been installed on each side of the railway bridge to tell people to avoid Beddington Gardens. These will be removed as quickly as possible. Radio Jackie may also mention the closure on their traffic bulletins.

Wallington public transport improvements - Update 4

2011-03-11T19:10:00.001-01:00

Beddington Gardens temporary closure

On 18 March Beddington Gardens will be closed to all vehicles for a few days to allow the new soakaway to be connected to the rainwater sewer. The junction with Woodcote Road will be reopened as soon as possible.

The soakaway will be the third to be added in the area close to the railway bridge – the others are in Railway Approach – and it will help avoid the kinds of flash flooding that we have had in Wallington ever since the road was lowered to allow double-decker buses along the road many years ago.

Joining up paving with Railway Approach
Paving work will start on the north west section of high street between the railway bridge and Lloyds Bank at the end of next week (around 17 March). The pavement is very narrow at the point that it goes under the bridge, so it will need to be closed to pedestrians for a couple days. Access to the station from each side of the bridge will remain open.

The work on this section of the high street will join up with work done around the station a year ago. The work is likely to take 3 to 4 weeks to comlete because the pavement is wider and there are more services to deal with.

New crossing
The new pedestrian crossing in Woodcote Road between HSBC and NatWest will open on 14 March. The audible alarm on the crossing will be installed later. So for now please take extra care if you have a sight impairment.

Bus shelters
The old bus shelters were removed this week by Transport for London. The new shelters have been ordered and they will be installed as soon as possible.

Wallington public transport improvements – Update 3

2011-03-03T22:46:00.001-01:00

At the Stakeholders Meeting last night we discussed progress to date on the Wallington Integrated Transport Project and planned work for the next two weeks. We also considered three options for the new bus shelters in Woodcote Road. The group agreed to order two of Transport for London’s new shelters and electronic ‘Countdown’ equipment to show the expected arrival time of buses. These shelters will be £10,000 cheaper than the ones that were originally proposed and we hope to use the money that has been saved on a surface treatment for the new paving to make more resistant to dirt and chewing gum.

Two members of the group raised concerns about the way people are ignoring the one-way system at the eastern end of Beddington Gardens and about people parking in Hendfield Court.

The Stakeholders Group (pictured above) include representatives of residents association, local businesses, councillors, SCOLA and Orchard Hill Colleges, the police, the Friends of Wallington Library amongst others.

Wallington public transport improvements – Update 2

2011-03-02T14:07:00.004-01:00

We are now in the third week of the Wallington Integrated Transport Project and good progress is being made to widen the pavements, move services and install new drainage.

I am aware that it is tricky for people to cross Woodcote Road at present. With just one traffic light controlled crossing point outside Wallington Square lots of people are taking a chance and still crossing near HSBC. A new crossing with pedestrian control will be in place between HSBC and NatWest by 14 March. The new pavements outside HSBC will not have been completed by this date, so there will be some barriers around the crossing but we will have a second safe place to cross.

The temporary bus stops are operating well, but there have been a few problems with loading and unloading. This is difficult for the traders but the council will be patrolling to ensure that the bus stops are not being used dangerously.

As the work outside the Old Town Hall progresses the CCTV pole will be disconnected and new, improved CCTV will be located in a better location outside Barclays on the same day. The police prefer this spot because it allows monitoring of Woodcote Road and the access to the car park.

Moving further north in Woodcote Road 5 trees will need to be removed because they will be too close to the new kerbs. They will be replaced with 6 trees in new locations and most of the existing trees will be transplanted into parks - although two are diseased.

Beddington Gardens

Work on a new 4.5 metre deep soak away in Beddingon Gardens will start in the next couple of days. The soakaway will take rainwater from Beddington Gardens and Shotfield and help to alleviate the kind of flooding we have had under the railway bridge in the past. Similar soak aways were installed in Railway Aproach last year. The work will take approximately three weeks to complete.

Finally one bit of bad news. A few people have ignored the new one-way access into Beddington Gardens and continue to use this as a way out into Woodcote Road. Clearly this is very dangerous and the police will be involved if necessary.

Old BT phonebox out - and Spectrum soon I hope!

2011-03-02T13:53:00.005-01:00

A derelict BT phone box will be removed from Beddington Gardens in the next few days. The phone box does not work and BT have agreed that it can be scrapped ahead of works to improve pavements, lighting and stopping arrangements in Beddington Gardens.

The council will also relocate two BT phone boxes that are near Boots to a new spot further south in Woodcote Road.

Two more derelict and broken phone boxes close to Barclays Bank are proving to be more tricky to remove. Despite being an eyesore and not working the owners, Spectrum are digging in their heels and asking for compensation for them! We've had problems with a similar company called Interphone in the past and I successfully got their broken phone box removed from outside Chicken Cottage. I think the Council should remove the Spectrum boxes and put them into storage for Spectrum to collect. I’d be interested to know what you think about this idea?

Air Quality Monitoring Station

2011-03-02T13:48:00.002-01:00

You have probably noticed the large lavender covered air quality monitoring station outside Iceland (middle of photo). This has been in situ for some years now and provides important information about pollution in the air in Wallington.

The box needs to be moved to allow the pavements to be widened and this has given us an opportunity. As with many things the technology for air quality monitoring has improved over time and it is now possible to do the same work with a much smaller unit. So the old box will be removed and a smaller box will be installed a few metres away next to new seating.

The old box will be sold to another local authority.

Pedestrian Crossing Wallington Square

2011-03-02T13:43:00.004-01:00

A number of people have contacted me to raise concerns about the traffic lights in Woodcote Road adjacent to Wallington Square.

These lights have not been working properly and people have had to wait a long time for a pedestrian ‘green man’ to allow them to cross the road. Transport for London fixed the problem yesterday and the lights are now working as they should. The lights were previously connected to the set that have been removed from the junction with Beddington Gardens, but they had not been reprogrammed to take account of the changes.

They seem to be working fine today.

Adventurous Fox sets a record

2011-02-25T07:55:00.005-01:00

The Riverside Animal Centre in Beddington Park has a new resident – a fox callled Romeo. His previous home was at the top of the 288 metre tall Shard building that is being built at London Bridge station!

Apparently the fox had climbed to the top of the building searching for food and became accustomed to living the high life on the builders food scraps for a couple of weeks. He was eventually rescued by Southwark Council when he became trapped on the 72nd floor.

He is now being looked after by the team at the Riverside Animal Centre part of the London Wildcare Trust before being released to return to his adventures.

Wallington public transport improvements – Update 1

2011-02-23T10:24:00.003-01:00

Work on the Wallington Integrated Transport Project is progressing well. The first phase to install new paving and realign the curb from Ross Parade round the Post Office and into Woodcote Road is in and being levelled. As work progresses up Woodcote Road the pavement will be widened too.

The traffic lights in Woodcote Road at the junction with Beddington Gardens are being removed this morning – so please take care when crossing. Over the last few years many people have told us that these lights are not needed. A new pedestrian crossing will be in place within four weeks but for now use other crossings.

Changes to Beddington Gardens to make part of it one-way are happening today too. Vehicles will be able to turn in to Beddington Gardens from Woodcote Road but will not be able to exit from Beddington Gardens in to Woodcote Road from midday. The new one-way section will be quite short – extending to the end of the HSBC – but this will reduce traffic in the road and make it better for pedestrians, cyclists and bus users. Signs to tell drivers about the changes have been put up around Wallington to let drivers know what is happening.

The new one-way section of Beddington Gardens was included in the public consultation and strongly supported by residents groups that attend the Stakeholder’s Steering Group. The pavements and lighting in Beddington Gardens will be replaced over the next few weeks and there will be new disabled and car club parking next to the bus stop.

Old Town Hall wall and railings – decision deferred

2011-01-27T15:40:00.004-01:00

Councillors Monica Coleman, Jayne McCoy and I have received a number of letters and email from people who are concerned about the proposals to reduce the height of the wall between the Old Town Hall ( Orchard Hill College and SCOLA) and the alley besides Barclays Bank.

This was due to be considered by the Council’s Planning Committee last night but we asked for it to be postponed to allow further discussions to take place. There will now be a meeting with representatives of the Friends of Wallington Library and of the Farmers’ Market who are the main objectors.

Detail of proposals: D2010/63700 Orchard Hill College Old Town Hall WOODCOTE ROAD Reduction in height of wall at side to 1 metre, topped with 1.8 metre high railings and dismantling pillar opposite northern entrance and reconstruct up to 1.5 metres back from existing position.

It could be worse....

2010-12-22T17:09:00.002-01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPmFyboozEs&feature=player_embedded

Icy weather in Spokane and no gritting leads to a little local difficulty

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR TONIGHT AND THE WEEKEND?

2010-12-03T17:54:00.002-01:00

Sleet showers are forecast for tonight – these are expected to turn to heavy rain which will clear by Saturday morning. So icy conditions will be around tonight and tomorrow. Then on Saturday it is likely to drizzle and temperatures will rise to about 4 degrees in the daytime. Sunday is set to be overcast and this should mean much of the snow will have thawed by Monday. Let’s hope!

As I hope you have discovered by now, Southern Railways are asking all passengers to commence their journeys by 7.30pm latest. They are operating a revised timetable but the two trains that I have caught today have at least been on time (to that timetable).

Local buses remain disrupted so please check on the TfL website if you’re travelling by bus. London Underground lines are reporting a good services, but the Overground is hit and miss on the Dalston Junction to West Croydon line. There are 8 trains an hour from Dalston Junction with 4 trains to New Cross and 4 to New Cross Gate, two of which continue to West Croydon . There is no service to Crystal Palace. In my experience this is a little worse than normal but not very different!

Are you facing gas price increases? Read on..

2010-12-02T11:08:00.003-01:00

Did you know that you can say no to the gas price increases? No, neither did I. Read this article on the Yahoo Finance pages and save some money if you are willing to switch suppliers.....

Unfortunately Blogger's link manager is down again today, so you will have to cut and paste the link into your browser

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/The-secret-trick-use-against-yahoofinanceuk-2836013597.html

MORE SNOW OVERNIGHT

2010-12-02T05:38:00.003-01:00

Here in Sutton we have had more snow overnight. Gritters have been out all through the night gritting the main roads, but many side roads are icy with a fresh coat of snow on top. So it is slippy out there.

Travelling is going to take a lot longer than normal and trains are not running.

TRAIN TRAVEL DIFFICULT TODAY

According to the BBC “There will be no Southern services running south of East Croydon until further notice, while a limited service will begin in the "London Metro" area at 1000 GMT.” There are no replacement bus services and Southern are advising commuters not to attempt to travel.

And it doesn’t look much better for Southeastern trains, that run out of London Victoria and Charing Cross either because they are operating an emergency timetable.

To get up to date info on how train services are running have a look at the National Rail Enquiries – Service Disruption web page.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/today.html

It also shows you how to set up alerts so that you receive text messages on your mobile phone with any issues on your regular journeys.

UPDATE ON IMPACT OF BAD WEATHER

2010-12-01T14:01:00.002-01:00

The Met Office forecasts that snow showers will continue today and tha more snow will settle up to 5 cm in places. The low temperatures will keep the snow frozen or turn it to ice making pavements very difficult to walk on.

Local roads and red routes were gritted all through the night and all main roads were reached. The Council has used more than 150 tonnes of grit since Monday evening and has more than 1000 tonnes left in stock. Street cleaning and parks staff are gritting and targeting schools, shops, hospitals and care homes for special attention.

Traffic levels were pretty low this morning and moving much more easily than last night. But traffic levels are expected to increase as the day goes on and we hit rush hour. Gritting will continue throughout the day and evening.

There is a good service reported on most London Underground lines but the Overground is closed between Dalston Junction and West Croydon. Southern rail services have been pretty hit and miss and operating to a limited timetable.

The Royal Mail has stopped guaranteeing that it can get Special Delivery items to people on time if they were posted today.

The council has mainly operated business as usual today but many schools are closed

AND LATER….?

The Met Office forecast that tonight will be very cold and cloudy with further, mostly light snow at times, but some of the snow could still be heavy at times over Kent, Sussex and Surrey and the temperature is likely to drop well below 0 °C tonight.

It looks like the snow showers should ease during Thursday and, by Friday it looks as if we should be free of snow.

SERVICE STATUS TODAY
Refuse collection is operational today and beginning to catch up from yesterday where possible

Street Cleaning are clearing pavements, filling grit bins and acting as a reactive grit team

Parks teams are also clearing pavements, filling grit bins and acting as a reactive grit team

The leisure centres at Westcroft, Cheam, Sutton Arena and the Phoenix Centre are all open today

All of the Libraries are open as usual

Day centres are not open

SCOLA centres will be closed today (Wednesday) and this evening

THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED:

• Abbey Primary
• All Saints Carshalton
• Amy Johnson Primary
• Avenue Primary
• Bandon Hill Primary
• Barrow Hedges
• Beddington Infants
• Beddington Park Primary
• Brookfield Primary
• Camden Junior
• Carshalton Boys
• Carshalton High School for Girls
• Cheam High
• Cheam Park Farm Junior
• Culvers House Primary
• Devonshire Primary
• Foresters Primary
• Greenshaw High
• Green Wrythe Primary
• Hackbridge Primary
• Holy Trinity
• Muschamp Primary
• Nonsuch High School
• Overton Grange
• Robin Hood Infants
• Robin Hood Junior
• Rushy Meadow Primary
• St. Cecelia’s Primary
• St. Elpheges Infants
• St. Elpheges Junior
• St. Mary’s Infants
• St. Mary’s Junior
• Spencer Nursery
• Stanley Park High
• Stanley Park Infants
• Stanley Park Juniors
• STARS
• Thomas Wall Nursery
• Tweeddale Primary & Children’s Centre
• Victor Seymour Infants
• Wallington High School for Girls
• Wandle Valley
• Westbourne Primary
• Wilsons

Please use the grit in the grit bins

2010-12-01T07:38:00.002-01:00

I've just had an email from a friend, asking if it is OK to use the grit that is in the grit bins on the side of the streets in Sutton? The answer is yes, absolutely. The grit is there for the public and council staff to use and it will be topped up as necessary.

If you notice that a grit bin is getting low, please tell me and I will pass this on.

To find a grit bin near you please cut and paste the following link into your browser:
http://213.122.180.105/serviceviewer/Default.aspx

The select Grit Bin Locations on the right of the screen.

Good Advice on How to Drive in the Snow

2010-12-01T07:32:00.003-01:00

I've just read a very good article on how to drive in the snow on the BBC website. It all seems so obvious, but I thought the link might be useful anyway. Good luck travelling today.

Unfortunately the lik tool won't work on Blogger this morning, so please cut and paste the following link to your browser:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8443690.stm

WHAT’S IN STORE FOR TUESDAY?

2010-11-30T15:28:00.002-01:00

I am starting to hear about schools that have already decided to close tomorrow, Tuesday 1 December. More information will be posted on the Sutton Council website www.sutton.gov.uk as it becomes available, but for now:

Westbourne Primary have posted a closure notice for tomorrow

Bandon Hill School and nursery will be closed tomorrow

Foresters Primary will be closed tomorrow

STARS (Sutton Tuition and Reintegration Service) will be tomorrow and expects to re-open on Thursday.

ANOTHER UPDATE ON HOW THE WEATHER IS AFFECTING SUTTON

2010-11-30T13:32:00.000-01:00

I thought it would be useful to provide another update as the snow continues to fall.

Day Care centres – closed after lunch today

Registry Office – will close at 15.30 today

SCOLA – I understand that they will be closing the Sutton, Wallington, Carshalton Girls and Greenshaw centres from 17:00.

Sutton Housing Partnership – the office is closing at 17.00 today

Libraries – Carshalton Library and the library at the Life Centre will both close at 17.00. The Phoenix Centre Library will continue self issue at 17.00 and the Mobile Library will return to base at 17.00

HOW IS THE WEATHER AFFECTING US IN SUTTON?

2010-11-30T12:38:00.000-01:00

Despite the poor weather the council is mostly operating business as usual today. The street cleaning and parks teams are all working to clear snow to make the borough safer. Gritting teams have been out throughout the night and continue to grit the roads but transport by road is now very problematic across the borough and refuse collection has stopped for the rest of the day.

There have been reports that several buses have been returned to their depot, diverted or halted. And Epsom and St Helier hospitals are on alert for more visits from people who have had falls in the bad weather.

SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED OR CLOSING EARLY AS FOLLOWS:

Wallington High School for Girls – Closed at 12.20 today

Wandle Valley Special School – Closed at 13.00 today

Sherwood Park Special School – Closed at 13.00 today

Nonsuch High – Closed at 13.00 today

Stanley Park Infants – Closed at 13.00 today

Carshalton Girls - Closed at 13.00 today

Amy Johnson Primary – Closed at 13.15

Stanley Park Junior – Closed at 13.20

Wallington County Grammar – Closing at 13.30 today

Carshalton Boys school – Closing at 14.00

Greenshaw - Closing at 14.10

Wilson’s School – Closing at “lunch time” today

St. Philomena’s – “Closing early”

Another opportunity to collect your free grit

2010-11-29T14:53:00.001-01:00

Free grit will again be available this Saturday and Sunday, 4 and 5 December, at two collection points - Woodcote Green Garden Centre & Nurseries on Woodmansterne Lane, Wallington and Kimpton Park Way Reuse and Recycle Centre on Kimpton Park Way, Sutton.

You will be able to collect the grit from 10pm to 5pm on Saturday 4 December. On Sunday 5 December, it will be available from 10.30am to 4.30pm at Woodcote Green Garden Centre and from 10am until 2pm at Kimpton Park Way Reuse and Recycling Centre.

Please bring your own bag or sack to collect the grit from Kimpton – your garden waste sack or blue bin would be ideal, or a large plastic container. If you pick it up from Woodcote Green Nurseries it will already be in bags.

You will need a proof of residency in the London Borough of Sutton so please bring a council tax bill or a current utility bill with you.

You can also collect grit on behalf of elderly friends or relatives or residents who don’t have cars – but please remember to bring along a copy of their bill too.

Three Internet Scams to Look Out For

2010-10-30T12:18:00.002-01:00

Have you ever been the victim of malicious software? I have, but not for some years. It was time consuming but fortunately not costly to fix, but I learnt my lesson as a result.

I've posted a couple of warnings about conmen in the Wallington area recently and this kind of thing happens online too of course. So here is some good advice about online scams care of Webroot who make software to help you avoid such things online.

Scam #1: Your computer is infected! The biggest criminal enterprise is the rogue antivirus product. It tries to convince you that your computer is infected so you hand over money for "antivirus protection" - which is not actually protection at all. The minute you see a fake alert, stop everything you're doing, kill the browser, and perform a full scan with the legitimate antivirus product of your choice.

Scam #2: Check out this cool link! Your friend's email or Facebook account is hijacked, and you receive a brief message with a short URL to watch a video or check out something equally "cool." The link actually leads to a malicious page with a malware download. Most shortlink services have a feature that lets you preview where the shortlink will go; use it. If you've never heard of the Web site, check the true destination domain against a reputation service, such as Webroot's Brightcloud. And don't be the first one among your friends to click a link.

Scam #3: John Doe wants to be your friend. In this one, the scammers usually duplicate the message format of popular social network sites. Instead of linking to "friend request," it takes you to a malicious page instead. To avoid this one, without clicking anything, move the mouse over the link in your email message, then look at the Status Bar to see exactly where the link leads. If the message claims to come from one company, but the URL points to a domain you've never heard of, don't click the link.

Hackbridge Road Bridge Closure this weekend

2010-10-20T11:27:00.000-01:00

As part of the work to replace the road bridge in Hackbridge the main road will be closed this weekend.

The A237 London Road will be shut from 11pm on Friday (22 October), until 6am on Monday (25 October) as part of the £4m scheme to replace the 150-year-old London Road bridge.

Diversions will be put in place so drivers can avoid the area.

This closure is needed to allow huge support beams to be swung into place. The project should be finished on time and to budget on 24 December.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

2010-10-19T10:16:00.003-01:00

..... Well on the way back from it actually.

I was Chairing a meeting if the Recycle for London Steering Group in City Hall this morning. At the end of the morning it being such a nice day I decided to walk to my next appointment near Charing Cross. I was wandering past HMS Belfast when I noticed quite a crowd had gathered. Unpeturbed I walked through the crowd and past the small group if police officers on my way to Hays Galleria ..... and almost bumped in HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as he got out of his Ranger Rover!

By the time I got my camera out he was walking up the gang plank on to the ship to greet some veterans who were assembled to meet him on the deck.

Last time I was that close to HRH DoE he was presenting m Gold Badge in 1979!

You can just make back of his head out in this picture.

Ross Parade Accident

2010-10-18T11:00:00.003-01:00

Earlier this morning a car went out of control in Ross Parade and crashed through bollards on the pavement and then the window of the Shanghai Chinese Restaurant ending up facing the road on the pavement.

The police are on site now, but Ross Parade is currently closed to vehicles (midday 18 October).

Helping people cope in the winter snow

2010-10-14T07:46:00.002-01:00

Here in Sutton we have just announced that every household can collect 10kg of grit from the council for free to help them cope with what is expected to be another very cold and possibly snowy winter.

People who can't get out easily can have their grit collected for them by a friend or neighbour - on production of that person's proof of address, or the council will deliver it to people who are on the assisted wheelie bin collections scheme.

There are a number of places around the borough to collect grit from and these will be listed on the Sutton website.

Sutton's Lib Dem Council have introduced this new service to help people to help themselves. The council will still grit road and pavements, and schools will now help to clear the pavements outside the school thanks to a free supply of grit from Sutton too.

BBC Story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11534622

Sutton Council
http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=8639

Witness Appeal - Distraction Burglary

2010-09-09T16:28:00.001-01:00

Police are appealing for witnesses after an 81-year-old woman had £110 stolen when she opened her front door to a man and woman posing as officials from Age Concern. The couple called at the woman’s home in Crispin Close, Beddington, yesterday (Sunday 5th Sept) at around 2.00pm. The resident who had been watching TV put the chain on the door and asked who was calling. The couple said they were from Age Concern and flashed some ID.

On being allowed in, the female suspect asked to go to the toilet and for a cup of water leaving the other suspect alone in the living room. The male suspect told the resident that they were going to arrange for a new lock on her living room door as there was a lot of paint on it.
After the suspects had left the woman noticed her handbag was open. Her brown purse with the word ‘Malta’ on the front, which was the last gift her late husband had bought her, was missing. A total of £110 in cash, some keys and stamps were taken.

Marion Harper, Director of Age Concern Sutton, said that Age Concern staff do not undertake unsolicited visits. “When looking to make a visit, our staff would always make an appointment in advance. If someone calls and says they are from Age Concern and haven’t made a prior appointment, then don’t let them in.” Marion added: “Even though a knock at the door would be welcomed by most older people, please don’t respond unless you know who is calling.”

PC Pat Simcox, of Sutton’s Crime Prevention Team, reassured residents that crimes like this are rare in the borough. Pat reiterated the advice not to allow in any callers you don’t know or aren’t expecting. “If in doubt, keep them out - and call police immediately,” she said.

The callers are both described as white and around 20 years old. The woman is described as about 5ft 8in tall with straight, black, shoulder length hair. She wore a short, light coloured top. The man is described as about 5ft 5in tall with fair short hair. He wore a blue checked shirt.

If you can help police with their enquiries into this incident please call Sutton CID on 020 8649 0747. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

'Half our carbon emissions come from existing buildings': ePolitix.com

2010-06-10T16:12:00.000-01:00

'Half our carbon emissions come from existing buildings': ePolitix.com

That's why here in Sutton we are working hard to help local people retrofit their homes to make them more energy efficient. So far our PAYS scheme, operated in partnership with B&Q has been hugely popular and oversubscribed. I hope we can start a new phase of the scheme soon.

Gardens are not the place to build houses. Try the countryside | Ross Clark - Times Online

2010-06-10T15:56:00.000-01:00

Gardens are not the place to build houses. Try the countryside Ross Clark - Times Online

Photo competition

2010-05-23T20:40:00.005-01:00

I'd like to see your election themed photos. A prize for the best entry. Entries must be received by 1st June 2010.

A Week’s A Long Time In Politics

2010-05-13T16:26:00.004-01:00

I don’t think there can have been a longer political week than the one we have just been through.

In my last blog entry before the election, I highlighted how senior Labour politicians were encouraging their supporters to vote Lib Dem to keep the Tories out. To some extend this must have happened here in Sutton. Tom Brake was re-elected with a fantastic 5000+ majority and Paul Burstow sent Tory A-lister, Phillipa Stroud packing. And the Lib Dems were returned to run the Council with a massive majority, sweeping the Tories aside to win 43 out of the 54 seats.

Amazingly, we now have a Tory-Lib Dem coalition in Government with Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and other senior Lib Dems in the Cabinet and about to take up senior posts in the new administration. It’s a strange old world.

Looking back just a few days, no-one could argue that Labour didn’t lose the parliamentary election resoundingly. They could never have credibly led the country for another four or five years – especially with a rainbow alliance of other parties – but it is strange indeed that my Westminster colleagues are now working with the Cons.

I’ll reserve judgement on the Westminster line up (after all, you never know who’s looking over your shoulder in this world of virtual digital CCTV), but I will make you a promise…

Here in Sutton, I will be keeping my feet on the ground, challenging and exposing the Tories when they are wrong and giving them credit when it is due. They ran a dishonest campaign in Carshalton & Wallington, trying to mislead local people into voting for them out of fear and I for one won’t forget that in a hurry. Don’t be fooled, they are still the same old nasty party. They just have new suits!

Vote Lib Dem says The Mirror

2010-05-04T06:07:00.002-01:00

Breaking with its more traditional Labour support, The Mirror is encouraging readers to vote tactically for the Lib Dems in seats like Carshalton & Wallington to keep David Cameron’s Tories out.

The article says: “This is a Labour paper with a long tradition of supporting Gordon Browns party, but we are urging some of you to vote Lib Dem this time.”

And the paper carries a guide to how to vote – including a recommendation that Labour supporters vote tactically for Tom Brake on Thursday

Meanwhile, two senior Labour politicians, Ed Balls and Peter Hain have got pretty close to encouraging their supporters to vote Lib Dem where that will keep the Tories out. On Radio Four today Peter Hain called for “intelligent voting” (from Labour supporters) to beat the Tories.

The Guardian now supports the Lib Dems

2010-05-02T08:33:00.003-01:00

Headlines from The Guardian yesterday

"General election 2010: The liberal moment has come
If the Guardian had a vote it would be cast enthusiastically for the Liberal Democrats."

"After the campaign that the Liberal Democrats have waged over this past month, for which considerable personal credit goes to Nick Clegg, the election presents the British people with a huge opportunity: the reform of the electoral system itself. Though Labour has enjoyed a deathbed conversion to aspects of the cause of reform, it is the Liberal Democrats who have most consistently argued that cause in the round and who, after the exhaustion of the old politics, reflect and lead an overwhelming national mood for real change."

"Nick Clegg has seldom had the chance to shine. Released into the daylight of equal debate, he has given the other two parties the fright of their lives.

"A newspaper that is proudly rooted in the liberal as well as the labour tradition – and whose advocacy of constitutional reform stretches back to the debates of 1831-32 – cannot ignore such a record. If not now, when? The answer is clear and proud. Now."

Extracts from The Guardian 1st May 2010

2010-04-24T16:41:00.004-01:00

Our election broadcast many of the promises that successive Labour and Tory governments have made and then broken. It is time for promises to be kept. A vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote for honesty in politics and promises kept.

What the newspapers say today…

2010-04-23T09:25:00.003-01:00

“The instant verdict on the debate reflected the national polls – it’s a two-horse race between Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg..” The Daily Telegraph

“If either Labour or the Conservatives were hoping that the second party leaders' debate in Bristol last night would see the Liberal Democrat genie forced back into the bottle, it was soon obvious they were destined to be disappointed.” The Independent

“An hour after the end of the debate, a Guardian/ICM poll of 504 voters who watched the broadcast gave Clegg a narrow win, with the Lib Dem leader on 33% and Cameron and Brown on 29% each.” The Guardian

“Nick Clegg confirmed the impression that he gave last week. He is a fluent and credible presence in British politics who, by force of his televisual appeal, is making a political realignment a genuine possibility.” The Times

“.. where the Liberal Democrats' policies are liberal, democratic, and fiscally responsible, they should be applauded. And where their leader urges an open-minded, co-operative approach to Britain's relations with the wider world, he deserves the full-voiced support of those who share those values.” The Independent

Old Tory Party, Old Dirty Tricks

2010-04-23T09:22:00.002-01:00

The old parties, notably the Conservatives are allegedly up to their old dirty tricks. Radio and TV reports yesterday said that the Cons had carried out smear briefings against Nick Clegg in time for the morning papers. Seems that they must be pretty worried - this was going to be Cameron's positive campaign!

“The vested interests of British politics are fighting back. The Liberal Democrats' remarkable surge in the opinion polls has provoked a deluge of attacks and smears on the party from those who would like to preserve the traditional two-party status quo.” The Independent

Tory Press Wades In

Under the headline 'Sun' censored poll that showed support for Lib Dems. Andrew Grice, Political Editor of The Independent alleges that Rupert Murdoch’s media machine buried a YouGov poll for The Sun that showed that voters fear a Liberal Democrat government less than they do a Conservative or Labour one.

The antidote to this is to vote Lib Dem.

Vote Lib Dem, get Lib Dem!!

Lib Dems could grab third of London's councils says Evening Standard

2010-04-22T21:37:00.002-01:00

According to an article in today's Evening Standard Lib Dems could take control of one third of London's councils in two weeks time.

City Hall Editor, Pippa Crerar says: "Local government experts predict that "yellow fever" could spread to up to 11 councils at next month's local elections, to be held on the same day as the general election."

The article goes on to suggest that the Lib Dems are expected to hang on to Sutton, Richmond and Kingston , take overall control of Southwark and Camden, which are run in coalition, and push back the threat from Labour in Islington. The other councils that are targetted are Brent, Waltham Forest, Lewisham, Haringey and Lambeth.

2 out of 3 polls say Clegg won again

2010-04-22T21:26:00.002-01:00

Tonight's Leaders' Debate on Sky was more edgy and more challenging than the one last week. It was a bit more boring too!! At times each of the Leaders landed punches, but overall, the verdicts in the instant polls suggest that Nick won again:

Angus Reid - Clegg 35%, Cameron 33%, Brown 23%
ComRes - Clegg 33%, Cameron 30%, Brown 30%
YouGov - Clegg 32%, Cameron 36%, Brown 29%

The Tory and Labour slogan tonight was more likley to be "I disagree with Nick" - but I'm happy with that personally!

The Sun Says

2010-04-19T13:23:00.003-01:00

According to a poll by YouGov for the Sun the Lib Dems have taken the lead in the General Election polls for the first time with 33% of the vote. The Tories are following with 32% and Labour back at 26%

Campaigning yesterday in Sutton Nick Clegg said: "The opportunity is immense. A growing number are starting to hope, starting to believe a little door has opened."

He added: "The old parties, when they feel things aren't going their way, they start lashing out." So I guess we have that to look forward to!

Here's Nick's speech to young people in Manor Park:

What a difference a week makes!

2010-04-19T13:01:00.005-01:00

I'm sure that many of you will have watched or heard about the ITV Political Party Leaders' debate last Thursday night.

It was genuinely history-making in a couple of ways. For a start off, it was the first televised debate between the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Leaders and secondly it was possibly the first time that many people had heard Nick Clegg, Leader of the Lib Dems speak.

And the public verdict according to the poll by ComRes straight after the debate was that Nick Clegg won the arguments resoundingly. Another poll for the Times said that 61% of people felt Nick won the debate, with only 22% backing David Cameron and 17% supporting Gordon Brown.

The saying of the night was "I agree with Nick".

If you haven't seen the debate you can watch it here

HOW YOUR LIB DEM TEAM HAS GOT THINGS DONE

2010-04-09T18:24:00.003-01:00

We have a had a busy few years in Wallington South. As a team, Jayne McCoy, Richard Bailey and I have worked hard to make our town a better, cleaner and safer place to live. Recently we have been lucky to have been joined by Monica Coleman who is standing for election this time with me and Jayne.

If you want to get an idea about some of the things that we have done, just take a look at the map image here. It is quite a large file, so it might take a few moments to load.

LIB DEMS REALLY DO GET THINGS DONE!

AND WE’RE OFF!

2010-04-09T17:48:00.002-01:00

At last the General Election – the worst kept secret of the year has been announced. And surprise, surprise, it will be on Thursday 6th May along with the Council Election.

So there will be an election for all 18 wards of Sutton Council and the General Election that Thursday. Polls will be open from 7am until 10pm.

Registering to vote

To vote at the borough (council) or parliamentary (general) election you must be on the register of electors. The deadline for registering to vote for the borough election is Tuesday 20 April 2010. To register please contact the Council’s Electoral Registration Office by calling 020 8770 5000 or let me know and I will follow it up for you.

Banksy on ITV

2009-10-06T22:46:00.003-01:00

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?

2009-09-28T22:19:00.007-01:00

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?

2009-07-11T19:07:00.002-01:00

Credit it where it is due

2009-07-11T17:35:00.003-01:00

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

2009-06-30T12:58:00.001-01:00

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

2009-06-30T12:42:00.005-01:00

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

2009-05-28T16:39:00.001-01:00

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

2009-03-20T15:08:00.000-01:00

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

2009-02-27T18:48:00.004-01:00

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

2009-02-27T18:23:00.001-01:00

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.

Woodcote Road update

2009-02-23T00:08:00.004-01:00

Work started on Sunday night to carry out essential resurfacing in Woodcote Road between the railway bridge and Sainsbury's.

As a direct result of my meeting with the Council's engineers to discuss the disruption that this work could cause the main work has been compressed to take place on two nights - Sunday and Monday. There will be some disruption to parking in Beddington Gardens, Shotfield and Ross Parade as a result of diverted traffic.

Work will also start in Woodcote Road south of the cross roads with Stanley Park Road and Stafford Road shortly.

Woodcote Road Resurfacing Work

2009-02-08T20:01:00.002-01:00

I have learnt this weekend that Woodcote Road will be resurfaced between Beddington Gardens and Stafford Road starting on Sunday 22nd February. The work is likely to take up to 6 days to complete.

As a result of the work plans have been drawn up to send vehicles down Beddington Gardens, Shotfield and Stanley Park Road or Stafford Road, Clyde Road and Ross Road as an alternative route. I understand that with Woodcote Road closed it will also be necessary to close Ross Parade and Beddington Gardens from the junction with Shotfield.

As your ward councillors Jayne McCoy, Richard Bailey and I are concerned about the potential disruption that this will cause and we are seeking an urgent meeting with transport staff at the Council to find a way to minimise the disruption that this work will cause.

More news on this to follow shortly.

Refuse collections restarted

2009-02-05T08:51:00.002-01:00

Waste and recycling services resumed in Sutton on Wednesday 4 February. Refuse and recycling crews started on roads with Monday collections and are working throughout the week and on Saturday to catch up. It may take some time for collections to return to normal across the borough so please bear with us as we work to clear the backlog.

The Reuse and Recycling Centre at Kimpton Park Way is open to members of the public. People can take all household waste and recycling materials to the site.

Street cleaners are continuing to clear snow and grit from pavements around schools and town centres throughout the day.

Green Guardian Awards

2008-09-30T14:49:00.004-01:00

I've been judging the first round of Sutton's entries for the Green Guardian Awards today.

The quality of the entries from businesses to households and schools to green champions, has been incredible and my fellow judges and I had a really tough job picking the best entries in each category.

All the winners from each borough will be invited to the gala evening at the Queen’s Stand, Epsom Racecourse on November 21 when the regional Green Guardian winners will be announced.

Thank you everyone who entered or nominated someone.

http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/green/greenawards/awards2008/

Smart and safe at school

2008-09-29T12:14:00.002-01:00

I’m fortunate enough to meet people who are making a real difference in our community as part of my job as Deputy Leader of the Council.

Today was no exception. I met Liz Wilson, Head Teacher at Sutton High Junior School and we talked about how she is working with children and parents and the Council’s parking team to make the roads safer for children on their way to and from school.

Mrs Wilson has welcomed the council’s high-tech smart car as a deterrent to dangerous parking. The car is fitted with a CCTV camera and it patrols the roads near Sutton High Junior School and other schools in the borough, monitors parking on zig-zags or yellow lines.

Over the past 18 months anyone that caught parking dangerously on camera has then been sent a warning explaining that his or her parking is dangerous. But from 1 October people parking in this way may get a £100 fine.

To help parents the Council has provided a number of special ‘park and stride’ bays in nearby roads to encourage parents to park a little further from the school gates.

This and other driver friendly ideas in Sutton led to the Council issuing the lowest number of parking tickets in London last year, and receiving the fewest appeals according to figures release by London Councils in August.

Tory changes announced

2008-09-29T11:34:00.005-01:00

Senior Tory Opposition Councillors have confirmed that they have appointed a new Shadow Finance Councillor. Tim Crowley will take over from Terry Faulds who had himself recently replaced his predecessor.

To date Sutton’s Tory opposition have refused to prepare any kind of annual budget and hidden behind excuses that it isn’t their job to say what they would do with the borough.

I find this hard to understand. If they want local people to take them seriously they need to say what they stand for – but then their national Leader seems to be having a similar problem at present too - so perhaps it’s catching!

Let’s hope Councillor Crowley will take Sutton’s residents more seriously than his predecessors and let them know what his party stands for by preparing a budget for the council – but I won’t be holding my breath.

EDF to improve services

2008-09-25T17:27:00.004-01:00

We have had a lot of power cuts in the borough in the last year. Wallington and Carshalton have been most badly affected by these with some of these power cuts lasting for to 20 hours and some areas suffering from repeated cuts.

I asked EDF Energy's Head of Customer Operations, Colin Barden to meet me to discuss what they are doing about this and I met with Mr Barden today.

Mr Barden apologised to local people on behalf of EDF for the cuts and explained that they had been down to a mix of problems with their high voltage supply, which had led to parts of Carshalton and Wallington being 'islanded' (cut off from the power network) and to a number of substations failing.

A lot of work has been done to upgrade the power network as a result, including major rerouting of power cables down Bridges Lane in Beddington. And I got a commitment to EDF completing an upgrade of all of the affected substations within the next 12 months.

I also pressed Mr Barden on whether EDF will sign the new Service Level Agreement that has been drafted by OFGEM the energy regulator and I am pleased to report that they will now do this.

And I have asked EDF to work with the Council on its sustainability policies and get involved in the Emergency Planning exercises that the Council carries out regularly with partners such as the police and health. More on these and the future of UK energy and EDF's role in this in a future blog.

Sutton is highest performing council in the capital

2008-09-19T13:38:00.002-01:00

A report by respected consulting firm PriceWaterhouse Coopers found that Sutton is the highest-performing borough in London. The report looked at performance data from 2007-08 and compared Sutton Council’s performance with that of other boroughs. The draft report also found that Sutton is top of the league when all unitary authorities outside London – the big cities and mainly urban areas – are included.

This is good news especially considering the financial pressures under which we have to operate. But my colleagues and I are not complacent and we are determined to continue to offer you good services in future.

GARDEN WASTE COLLECTION CHANGES PROPOSED

2008-09-12T15:54:00.004-01:00

I chaired the Waste Collection Advisory Group today. This was our first meeting after the summer and a very important one because we discussed the results of the consultation meetings that the council has been carrying out across the borough over the summer about the changes to our waste collection services. It was our job to review the details of the consultation and make a recommendation to the Council’s Executive about changes to the service.

On the whole the new waste collection policies are supported by local people and the amount of waste going to landfill is down by over 8 per cent and glass recycling is up by over 60%. But the new garden waste collection charge was very unpopular.

My colleague Councillor John Drage proposed a number of changes to the scheme on behalf of the Liberal Democrat’s on the Council including scrapping the £35 charge per bag for garden waste collection. This change is supported by an overwhelming majority of local people who responded to the consultation and in the current financial climate with rising food and fuel prices putting so much pressure on family budgets we feel that this is the wrong approach.

In brief the new proposals are:

A. To retain all of the changes introduced in June except the Garden Waste charge of £35 per bag.

B. To make the following changes to the garden waste collection arrangements:

* To wind up the current charging scheme at the end of October;
* To give an appropriate refund to those who have bought jute sacks;
* To return to a ‘free’ fortnightly collection for November and December, but with a limit for each household of two 120-litre plastic sacks, or three 75-litre jute sacks;
* To introduce a ‘free’ fortnightly collection from April to December each year with a limit of two 120-litre plastic sacks, or three 75-litre jute sacks for each household;
* From April ’09 households wanting to dispose of more garden waste than the free service limit will be able to buy extra sacks for £1 per bag per collection.

We are grateful to everyone who has taken the time to respond to our consultation. Here in Sutton we all have a proud record in recycling but sometimes we can get things wrong and when we do it is important to say so and listen to you and take action. We hope that you will agree that this is the best way to respond to the wishes of local people.

One Planet Bournemouth

2008-07-02T10:17:00.005-01:00

I caught the 08:12 from Clapham Junction this morning on my way to the LGA Conference in Bournemouth. It was my good fortune to run into Sue Riddlestone and two of her colleagues from Bio-Regional - who are based at BedZed in Hackbridge – on the platform and we got talking about the challenges to creating a zero carbon community.

Bio-Regional are Sutton Council's partner on the Sustainable Suburb project in Hackbridge. They have been doing an excellent job carrying our home energy audits to help local people to identify ways to save energy. The audits are a little different to what you might expect, being based on the principles of One Planet Living.

Anyway, Sue and her colleagues were off to B&Q's Southampton HQ to continue their excellent work on the development of what is already a substantial range of One Planet Living products.

Having worked for Sainsbury's for almost 20 years, during the time they owned Homebase, I have to say that I'm impressed by B&Q's business acumen and by how seriously they take their Corporate Social Responsibility. They have committed to reducing their carbon footprint by 90%. Other major retailers would be well advised to follow their lead - they'd have better control over their energy costs, a healthier and happier workforce and be in consumers’ good books.

The train came in on time and we went our separate ways. It's always refreshing to talk to Sue and we have agreed to meet up soon.

BioRegional One Planet Living

http://www.bioregional.com/programme_projects/opl_prog/opl_programme.htm

Sutton's Sustainable Suburb

http://www.bioregional.com/media_centre/press_releases/117_Hackbridge_Week_Launches.doc

Can you catch the easyBus?

2008-06-28T12:14:00.004-01:00

Like me you have probably seen the bright orange branding of the Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easyBus as it plies its trade up and down the Woodcote Road on route between London Victoria station and Gatwick airport.

At peak times the service runs every 20 minutes and off peak every 30 minute for much of the way – but you try to catch it! Unfortunately the bus just passes through Wallington on its way to the airport or to London. But it does stop in Coulsdon and in Streatham High Road.

I think there’s a hidden demand for this fast and reliable bus service from local residents who want to get to the airport without having to take their own car and hire a cab, so I’ve written to the man at the top – Stelios – to ask him to consider adding a stop in Wallington. I’m looking forward to his reply.

TRAINS OF THOUGHT (2)

2008-06-27T18:49:00.002-01:00

On Thursday afternoon I met Peter Hendy at Sutton Station for his second visit to Sutton in 8 months and took him and his team to visit some of the highlights of the Smarter Travel Sutton Project.

Our first stop, just outside the station was to speak to the folks from Streetcar, an innovative car sharing club that now has over 120 members in Sutton. Then we moved on to have a look at one of the three new Smart Columns that have been installed in Sutton. The Smart Columns have interactive touch screens which offer easy access to a wealth of services and travel information from rail operators and Transport for London, including Journey Planner, travel updates, taxi finder and you can even print out maps, while broadcast screens show live train departures and the BBC.

Then we were off to meet Paul Cawthorne of Sutton Chamber of Commerce and colleagues from Reed Business Information (RBI) at their sustainable travel event at Quadrant House. RBI is Europe’s biggest online and offline publisher and one of Sutton’s largest employers. The company is clearly committed to the environment and has an environmental management system in place, as well as progressive policies to promote Smarter Travel – such as home working, flexi-working and tele-working, interest free bike loans. They have even reduced their car parking capacity to encourage more sustainable travel choices.

We spent too long at RBI – because they had so many interesting things to tell us – but we soon made up time on our way to our final destination, Wandle Valley School aboard one of Sutton Community Transport’s excellent Optare Aleros buses. The buses run on a biodiesel fuel mix and have extremely low emissions and they were paid for by a grant from STS.

At the school we were met by Head Teacher Doug Bone. Doug and his team run a truly inspirational school for young people who have experienced some behavioural difficulties in mainstream schools. I was really impressed to see how the school has embraced school travel planning and how the young people are really living the principles of sustainable travel. Doug was very welcoming and inspiring.

After that it was a quick trip back to Sutton Station to see Peter and the team off to London again after what was, I hope, a very useful visit.

Streetcar http://www.streetcar.co.uk/

Reed Business Information http://www.reedbusiness.co.uk/rb2_home/rb2_home.htm

Sutton Chamber of Commerce http://www.suttonchamber.biz

Sutton Community Transport http://www.suttonct.co.uk/

Wandle Valley School http://www.suttonlea.org/pages/dirinfo.asp?dfee=7005

TRAINS OF THOUGHT (1)

2008-06-23T21:21:00.005-01:00

I think the theme of the week is going to be transport. I chaired Sutton Council’s Public Transport Liaison Group today and tomorrow I have a meeting with Peter Hendy, Transport Commissioner in Victoria Street to discuss the new Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy amongst other things. Then on Thursday Peter is paying a visit to Sutton to see the progress we have been making with Smarter Travel Sutton.

CHANGES AHEAD
Today we spent some time talking about the impact of Network Rail’s South London Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS). The strategy has some good news and some bad news for us here in Sutton.

On the good news side I was very pleased to see that my concerns about overcrowding and the time it takes to travel from Sutton, Carshalton Beeches and Wallington have been addressed:

We will be getting longer trains on the Victoria services from Sutton, staring with 10 cars by 2010/11 and 12 cars by 2015;
We will have a faster service to London Bridge via Wallington from 2010/11. They will stop at Waddon, West Croydon and Norwood Junction but then run non stop to London Bridge;
There will be more morning peak Thameslink trains from Sutton via Hackbridge;
And for those of you who hate Clapham Junction, the station will undergo major improvements by 2015 – at last I hear you cry!

On the other hand I was very disappointed to hear that Network Rail proposes to make changes to the existing Thameslink service from Bedford which will mean that the service will not come through Sutton.

I will be taking this up with Network Rail along with the depressing news that our new direct service to St Pancras International will also stop before sometime between 2011 and 2015 in favour of a service that requires us to change trains at London Bridge.

USEFUL LINKS:

Smarter Travel Sutton
http://www.smartertravelsutton.org/news

South London Route Utilisation Strategy

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browseDirectory.aspx?root=%5CRUS%20Documents%5CRoute%20Utilisation%20Strategies&pageid=4449&dir=%5CRUS%20Documents%5CRoute%20Utilisation%20Strategies%5CSouth%20London

And finally ....

2008-06-22T21:10:00.004-01:00

.... for tonight at least, a visit to Bergen County, New Jersey.

Thank you Louise for your posting.

According to Wikipedia Wallington was created as a borough on January 2, 1895 (based on a referendum held on December 31, 1894), at the height of the Boroughitis fever then sweeping through Bergen County. The borough was formed from area taken from Bergen Township and Saddle River Township. Sections of Wallington were ceded to Garfield in 1898.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallington%2C_New_Jersey

Wallington in Victoria

2008-06-22T21:04:00.003-01:00

Thanks for this one from Australia too.

Wallingon near Geelong in Victoria. It was almost as sunny here in the UK today!

2008-06-22T20:38:00.003-01:00

The first of the 'other Wallington's' is in - thanks Jackson.

The ancient seat of the Trevelyan family in Northumberland. http://www.ejr.ndo.co.uk/wallington.html

Dating from 1688, Wallington House was home to many generations of the Blackett and Trevelyan families, who have all left their mark over the centuries. The restrained Palladian exterior gives way to the magnificent rococo plasterwork of the interior which houses collections of ceramics, 19thC painting and wallpaper and early 20thC dolls' houses. The house is set in delightful grounds comprising lawns, lakes and woodland, as well as a beautiful walled garden containing many species of unusual plants and shrubs and a conservatory housing a wide variety of fuschia.

Wallington not Springfield

2008-06-21T14:49:00.002-01:00

According to the BBC – and Simpson’s fans no doubt – there are 14 towns in the US called Springfield.

That got me thinking. Do you know how many other Wallington’s there are out there beyond our one here in Surrey - and have you visited any of them?

Please leave a comment and a photo if you have one and I will post them.

Conservative candidate in Henley under fire for claiming to support hospital campaign

2008-06-19T20:12:00.000-01:00

Organisers of the campaign to save a local hospital in Henley say they have not heard of Conservative by-election candidate John Howell, despite his claims to have supported their campaign.

The information came to light after John Howell claimed to have supported the campaign to save Townlands Hospital in Henley in his election literature.Commenting, Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats, Lord Rennard said:“Mr Howell claims to have supported a campaign to save a local hospital. But the chair of the hospital campaign says that they hadn’t heard of him and is unaware of any contribution that he has made to the campaign.“This is further evidence that the Conservatives have blundered over their choice of candidate.“People want an MP that they can trust.”

Stephen Kearney for Henley

2008-06-19T19:08:00.003-01:00

Just a few days to go in the Henley by election following the resignation of Boris Johnson on being elected as Mayor of London.

Investing in Wallington

2008-06-19T12:36:00.003-01:00

For some months I've been working with the Council and Transport for London - trying to squeeze more money out of TfL to improve the centre of Wallington for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

The good news is that SWELTRAC, a transport partnership covering South & West London, has agreed to fund access improvements to the railway station and I will be talking to Peter Hendy, London's Transport Commissioner about the importance of providing funds to support this project on 24th June.

CHANGE IS GOOD
I think it’s good to see new buildings like the one Caffé Nero, Tesco and Specsavers making a positive improvement to our town. And the new Shotfield Health Centre will be very welcome too, but we need to do something to upgrade the street scene. Ideally we need to improve the pavements and remove some of the street clutter - and we definately need to do something about the traffic. Worringly, we have the worst air quality in the borough in Woodcote Road.

But the improvements must be popular to be successful. They need to be designed jointly by professionals and by the community. That means ensuring that local residents, businesses and resident and tenant associations are involved in the work to design them from the very start.

I will keep you updated on progress, but if we can convince TfL to shell out some money, consultation work should start early in 2009.

Have I Got News For You?

2008-05-10T10:07:00.003-01:00

I'm just back from a meeting with Boris Johnson at City Hall. The meeting with Leaders or Deputy Leaders of all the London Councils was called at short notice at his initiative.

Boris promised to work closely with the boroughs - not just the inner London ones - and announced that he will develop a charter for working with the boroughs in the next week or so.

If he is serious, as I hope he is, I look forward to:

a shake up of Transport for London, who are a law to themselves. We should see more spending on things we want to do here in Sutton rather than just carrying out the Mayor's plans;
The London Development Agency buying a map and learning where Sutton is - and investing some of our £millions locally;
new planning policies being drawn up to stop inappropriate back garden development - see my previous post.

I'll believe it when I see it, but I have to say that I can't remember Ken ever doing anything like it.

TORY MAYOR BACKS LIB DEM CAMPAIGN AGAINST BACK GARDEN DEVELOPMENT

2008-05-08T10:12:00.002-01:00

It’s vital that we protect our gardens and green spaces from unscrupulous developers. They are the lungs of the city and have an essential role in dealing with rainwater.

But the London Plan, the planning bible for the capital, counts back gardens as ‘brownfield’ land and this makes them a soft a target for developers with hardly a day going by without a new planning application coming in. This is why we have opposed the proposals in the Plan for so long with huge public support.

I’m pleased to see that London’s new Mayor has offered his support to the local Lib Dem’s “Hands Off Our Back Gardens” campaign. We will be making sure that he sticks to his pledge.

You can sign our petition here: http://www.tombrake.co.uk/pages/backgardens.html

Not so high

2008-05-08T07:37:00.005-01:00

In the week that Gordon Brown has decided to recommend that cannabis is recategorised as a class B drug, my colleague Jayne McCoy and I are looking into ways to protect young people from a new shop in Wallington.

“Your High” in Stafford Road has cannabis leaf images on its shop banner and windows and according to its website stocks “herbal highs, bongs, pipes, smoking paraphernalia”. Shops like this are commonplace in Camden Town but not in Wallington and we are worried that the shop, which is on route to Bandon Hill primary School for many children, may be seen as glamourising drug taking.