Would you like to use trams in Sutton? Tell us what you think

Would you like to see trams running in our borough? Well, now's your chance to have your say.

Starting this week the Council wants to know your views about bringing the tram to our borough, linking Sutton Town Centre directly to Wimbledon via Morden. 

The aim of the consultation is to gather evidence about the level of borough-wide support from businesses, residents and stakeholders for a tram to Sutton. You can find the questionnaire here. Please respond by 17 August. 

The results of the consultation will be shared with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and will strengthen the case for a tram to serve Sutton residents, nearly two decades after the idea was first considered.

We think that there are some very good reasons to bring London Tramlink to Sutton: Extending the Tramlink network to Sutton would help unlock growth and regeneration in the Sutton and in Merton.

By improving the quality and capacity of transport links to surrounding areas, it would show that our area is weathering austerity well and attracting business, commercial, leisure and residential developments to boost the local economy.

The extension would enable local residents to access public services, opportunities for employment, housing, shopping and recreation more easily.

It could particularly benefit deprived neighbourhoods along the line of the route.

And the Tramlink extension would reduce Sutton’s transport carbon footprint in line with the One Planet Sutton policy and would make a significant contribution towards developing the Council’s Sustainable Transport Strategy.

Watch out for the short questionnaire that will be dropping through your letterbox or fill it in here and take a look at the council’s tram website too. 

Wallington’s new bandstand is open

Our new bandstand was officially opened in the library gardens today by Sutton’s new Mayor, Cllr Arthur Hookway. 

Hundreds of people attending the monthly Farmer’s Market enjoyed live music from The Bards – and a special cake – as the bandstand was put straight to work.

The bandstand was the brainchild of local resident, Colin Wadeson who worked tirelessly to get it built. Our thanks go to CoIin for his vision and determination to see the project through .The bandstand has been paid for with support  from the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee.

Photo(L-R): Cllr Jayne McCoy, Colin Wadeson, The Mayor Cllr Arthur Hookway and me

More free parking in Beddington Gardens

Jayne, Monica, Muhammad and I have arranged for some additional free Limited Time parking bay parking bays to be provided outside number 7 – 9 Beddington Gardens.

This has been made possible by removing the Car Club parking bay which is not required now that car club cars are able to be parked in streets around Wallington and the rest of the borough.

We hope that this additional short term parking for visitors to the nearby shops will be welcome. 

POST OFFICE DECISON

I am sure that you will be as disappointed as I am with today’s news that the Post Office have announced their decision to close the Crown Office in Ross Parade.

Councillor Jayne McCoy, Tom Brake MP and I held a public meeting with the postal workers union CWU on 20^th November to discuss the plans with local people. Everyone who attended the meeting was strongly opposed to the proposals but despite this and efforts that the council has made to help the Post Office find an alternative solution the changes will be going ahead.

Post Offices services will now be provided from a branch located inside WH Smiths in Woodcote Road. The new branch will be operated by WH Smiths not by the Post Office themselves.

Don’t forget to collect your free grit

Yes it’s that time of year again…. The nights are drawing in, the first frost is on the grass in the morning, and you might have started to buy your Christmas presents too!!!

But don’t forget to pick up some free grit from the council. You can pick the grit up over the next three weekends from various locations around the borough. Enlarge the flyer on the left of this page for details.

Check before you drive in Manor Road and Woodcote Road today

If you are planning to drive up or down Manor Road or Woodcote Road in the town centre this lunchtime my advice is DON'T!

The police have closed off Manor Road between Belmont Road an Clifton Road and cars are being diverted. As you can imagine there are very long tail backs north on Woodcote Road and south on Manor Road.

NEW PRIMARY SCHOOL IN WALLINGTON SOUTH NEEDS A CROSSING

Sutton Council is proposing to install a new Pelican signal controlled crossing in Stanley Park Road outside Bandon Hill Primary, Woodfield School (the site of the old Stanley Park High School). The location of the crossing was agreed at the Beddington & Wallington Local Committee and with Transport for London.

The Pelican signal controlled crossing has been designed to provide a safe crossing point on Stanley Park Road outside the school for pedestrians, particularly primary aged pupils and parents attending the school which is due to open in September this year. Proposals for yellow lines are being put forward to prevent obstructive parking outside the school.

The proposal is to:

1. install a Pelican signal controlled crossing in Stanley Park Road outside the school (see the drawing on this article) along with zig-zag markings where parking, loading and unloading will be prohibited;

2. introduce and amend existing double yellow line ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions; and

3. introduce single yellow line waiting restrictions operating 8.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. Mondays to Fridays inclusive.

Local residents in Stanley Park Road who live close to the school will receive a consultation letter asking for their views about the proposals.

A copy of the statutory Notice of Proposal can be viewed by clicking this link under Reference No. WL943 or T20110. Copies will also be displayed in Stanley Park Road relevant to where the restrictions and signal controlled crossing are being proposed.

If you wish to make any representations on the proposals please write to Caroline McGlynn, Highways, Transport and Smarter Travel , 24 Denmark Road, CARSHALTON, Surrey, SM5 2JG by Thursday 4 July 2013; quoting the Reference No. WL943 and T20110.  Alternatively you can email the council at traffic.postbook@sutton.gov.uk. You will need to give your postal address for your views to be considered. All correspondence we receive will be acknowledged. 

Let’s bring Trams to Sutton

If we want to bring trams to Sutton we will need support from local residents and businesses. So I was really pleased that our campaign to bring an extension of Tramlink to the borough received a massive boost recently as key local businesses rallied round to offer their support.

Over 100 guests, including Norman Baker, Parliamentary Under Secretary for theDepartment for Transport, attended an event in Sutton town centre to demonstrate the progress made by the borough’s economic growth programme “Opportunity Sutton”.

During the evening I explained the benefits an extension of the Tramlink service would have for Sutton, our  residents and businesses.

We have made huge progress in recent months to assess the economic benefits of extending Tramlink from Wimbledon to Sutton via St Helier

I confidently expect that the extension will improve access to the transport interchanges at Wimbledon and Croydon, whilst reducing journey times to central London by around 20 minutes.

The evidence shows us that bringing the tram to Sutton would connect people with jobs, bring more customers to local businesses and greater prosperity to our area. It would literally put Sutton on the London travel map.

Norman Baker, Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Department for Transport gave the proposals his positive endorsement adding: “I’m encouraged by the work taking place to build on Sutton’s success. Transport is a vital part of every local community; it can be good for economic growth and good for the environment. 

Over the next few weeks I will post more information about how you can get involved in bringing trams to Sutton.