Sutton Independent Residents

Monday 21st October, the London Borough of Sutton held a full Council meeting at their Civic Offices. On the agenda that evening were three motions for debate:

a) Motion: England’s Councils in Crisis: Key Asks from the New Government
b) Motion: Concerns Over Delays in the Sutton New Hospital Redevelopment and Upgrades Amid National Review
c) Motion: Mitigating the impact of Incineration and a plan to step away from dependency on it

As we approached the motion that impacted the health and welfare of the residents of Hackbridge, Beddington and the wider community – the motion about the incinerator – a Constitutional stroke was pulled by Cllr Barry Lewis Leader of the Council, by allowing the proposer and seconder (Cllrs Dave Tchil and Sheldon Vestey) to speak and for the vote to be taken immediately after their opening addresses.

Why?

In simple terms, the Ruling Liberal Democrats and the Administration do not want the issue debated and furthermore, we are denied the opportunity for a similar motion to be considered in the next 6 months.

In the next few days, there was a fallout in the media and amongst opposition Councillors of every persuasion but then there were a couple of things that brought the whole issue into sharp local focus.

The first was news of the first of what turned out to be two outages for the SDEN heating system – residents of the New Mill Quarter are obliged to use the Council’s heat network for their heat and hot water. The development of this system was a major rationale for the incinerator, which would provide the energy for the system.

But it doesn’t – the heat comes from landfill gas engines on the Beddington Farmlands, sold by Viridor to Valencia Land Management. There are no confirmed dates for the connection of the incinerator to the SDEN pipeline but that has not stopped Sutton Council from pushing a development by Clarion Homes to take SDEN heat, nor prevented the Council from renegotiating the long term loan to SDEN

Meanwhile, Viridor has found the time and energy to apply for variations to the Environment Agency taking the volume of waste they can burn first to 347,000 tonnes to a possible 382,000 tonnes! Coincidentally, the South London Waste Plan was voted in with a tonnage quoted at 279,696 tonnes when the application for the latest increase was already live but the Administration refused to delay it adoption.

So are we a green borough?

The second thing that brought this all into focus was a diligent email from Viridor telling the Community Liaison Group “The Beddington ERF will undertake a period of maintenance this evening (Friday) and Saturday to repair processing equipment on one of the ERF lines. This will require the ERF to stop processing waste on one line for a number of hours and will necessitate a shut down in a controlled manner.”

And there was a dawning realisation that repair and maintenance (as well as failure) seemed to be a regular occurrence so we looked back and to put this into perspective – there have been seven such shutdowns in 2024 and nine in 2023. 2023 included a major incident when there was failure from UKPN and the incinerator failed to go into “island mode” and the whole operation shut down and there was a clear environmental hazard as a result.

Interestingly on that occasion, it was Cllr Tchil who alerted the Environment Agency and not Viridor but no measurement of the environmental damage could be taken because of the total failure.

There are two primary schools close to the incinerator and a huge number of residents in Hackbridge, Beddington and Croydon potentially impacted by the incinerator.

The Liberal Democrats and the Administration do the entire population of our Borough a disservice for not debating the issues and allowing an American owned commercial entity to have such a potentially negative impact on all our lives.

I expect tomorrow’s  meeting could be noisy and full of interested members of the public and I don’t find that daunting because local people are getting involved and voicing their thoughts and concerns.

However, it is to my eternal regret that the current political system has marginalised the voting public and has failed to involve them on daily issues that really affect their lives.

We celebrated as the Bank of England reduced the interest rate by 0.25% but back in April, the Council increased your Council tax by 4.9% and that was before Sadiq Khan took his own little bite out of your pocket.  So, you would think people would ask where their money went – you work hard to earn it, politicians and their administrative machinery don’t, and therefore we should be holding them to account at the ballot box!

At the recent Strategy & Resource Committee for the Council, elements of underestimated budgets on different projects were identified that the Council, on delegated authority, agreed to fund.

For example, Oru Space in Sutton High Street had drainage works and an additional staircase to safeguard fire escape routes – this work had incurred an additional cost of £103,808.  They also identified additional costs incurred of £220,850 which the Council met on the basis of it being funded by increased rental payments but will be funded by borrowing.

Businessmen have to think about cash flow, Council’s don’t.

On a greater scale, Wilmot Dixon stated that cost increases on their project for the Council in Coomber Way had, including a 6% contingency, required an additional £669,000 which will be funded by the Council increasing our – that’s yours and mine – borrowing costs by £53,000 per annum.

When I raised concerns at Committee, the rather weak response was that the capital budget is £55 million so these are only small amounts – I think residents who fund the Council may have a different view over the scale of these amounts.

We had another example of profligacy with a proposal for a 20 mph limit in what was referred to as the Morton Gardens Area. This included a large section of Beddington all of which already have a lot of traffic calming road humps.  A “public consultation” garnered just 4 replies but with the support of Liberal Democrat Councillors the objections of Beddington’s Independent Councillors could not prevent the go ahead at a cost of £120,000 for the signage!

And they cannot get rid of our heritage quick enough – that same committee meeting agreed the sale of the Russettings in Sutton, where so many people have married and has been the base for the Registrar.  Weddings will move to the Civic Centre which of course will, in time relocate to the St Nicholas Centre – can we expect Leader of the Council to be doing Elvis impersonations in Sutton’s Chapel of Love?

And in the face of the Council’s own wholly owned building company, Sutton Living, unable to convert The Old Rectory in Carshalton, The project is said to be uneconomic so we are going to offer that for sale as well.  How are they going to balance the budgets when they have sold all the assets.

My old Grandma always said look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves – the Liberal Democrat Council happily waste money on badly managed glamour projects and then moan about the need to cut services forgetting who we are elected to serve.

Like the McDonalds Planning, get involved people!

Six weeks of media coverage, six weeks of politicians seeking attention and it will all boil down to whether you vote tomorrow or not.

The first thing to remember is that modern politicians love a low turnout – they don’t have to work so hard and it means that a pot of money or influence from a trades union, a fat cat millionaire or a special interest group can make the difference between winning and losing.

High turnouts may not give the decision you want, but is it proper democracy – look at the bloody nose that a high turnout in France gave Monsieur Macron and the ensuing panic in the political classes. Let’s shake up the establishment and get back what we have lost.

Sutton Independents’ great campaigner, Cllr Nick Mattey has already been expressing local concerns about the Liberal Democrat candidate selection. Like many of the main political parties, whether a MP is resident in their constituency and truly committed to their local area seems an irrelevance.

In Carshalton and Wallington, we have one genuine local candidate, born, bred and educated in the Borough – Elliot Colburn – but he’s attacked for being Conservative!

Better Labour’s Hersh Thaker? With an election record of 6th place and failure to get elected as even a Councillor on Leicester City Council – what was wrong with someone like committed local Labour Councillor Dave Tchil from Hackbridge – at least he truly understands local issues.

And let’s just look at Elliot’s Liberal Democrat opponent – “this is my home” his latest leaflet states yet in 2019 Ladywell Live in the Lewisham Deptford area had this quote from him

Bobby says: “I’m honoured to be selected to stand in Lewisham Deptford once again. …..Lewisham residents demand better on the economy, health, crime and education. The Liberal Democrats are the party ready to deliver.”

Local? Really?

If the polls are to be believed, then Labour are a shoe in to be the next Government – those of us around to see Neil Kinnock’s triumphalism fall flat against a very grey John Major know there is no guarantee. But if you accept that the next Government is not likely to see Rishi Sunak or Sir Ed Davey in Downing Street, think about your LOCAL area.

We need a pair of MP’s who will hold the local authority to account, we need to buck the trend and elect genuinely local people to represent us in Westminster.

A very personal refection from Councillor Jillian Green

As I sit looking across the garden I decided to look back over the last year.  Re-elected by the wonderful residents of Beddington ward in May 2022 I was optimistic that the next four years would be less politics and more working together for the good of the people of Sutton.

How wrong can one be!!  For Councillor David Bartolucci, Chair of Housing, Economics and Business Committee, to say Tim Foster didn’t care about residents of Sutton, and by inference neither did Nick or I, was the ultimate insult and no apology was given despite the Mayor asking him to modify his language.  Still as my old dad used to say “when they start throwing insults you know they have lost the argument”.  Our Beddington residents know how hard we work on their behalf and will continue to do so for the next three and a half years.  We may not have the firepower of the ruling party but by heck we do hold our own in challenging decisions and asking the right questions.

One of the decisions we challenged on was the building of the new Carew Academy on the old Sheen Way playing fields.  We lost this one and on 9 May the building of the new school began. 

The carpet of buttercups, daisies and clover has gone as have the butterflies, bees, bats, foxes and birds (a whole colony of goldfinches once so prolific seems to have dwindled).  The line of hedgerows that provided homes for the wildlife have been dug up and tossed aside and residents can no longer pick the blackberries which was an annual event for some.  The Sheen Way Strollers who met on Wednesdays in the summer for a chat and amble cannot continue as the open space left is no bigger than a medium sized garden.  It is so sad when one considers the Liberal Democrats boast about their green credentials!! 

No green space is safe under the ruling party or indeed any party in my opinion.  There seems to be huge encouragement to use fields for solar panels and possibly more onshore wind farms.  Can anyone tell me how we are going to grow our own food if farmland is decommissioned for green energy?  Are we going to import cheap food which travels around the world increasing the UK’s carbon footprint thus negating the green energy.  

On 29 August the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, implemented the much hated ULEZ scheme.  I find it hard to contain my anger that so many who have non-compliant cars and are still struggling to pay off debts incurred during covid are going to have to pay £12.50 a day just to do their jobs to earn money to enable them to feed their families and pay the ever increasing bills. 

As a Councillor I have access to information about helplines for struggling families but ULEZ is not helping and I cannot understand why the major political parties are just letting Mr Khan get away with destroying people’s lives. 

Again another politician resorting to insults by calling people racists, nazis and covid deniers.  I have grave concerns that the suicide rate may rise because people are in such despair.  If cleaner air is what the Mayor aspires to, why were the cameras erected near hospitals where people suffering lung problems go to be treated.  I hear today that there is a possibility that cancer patients will get refunds.  It is my considered view that these cameras should not have been put up in those positions in the first place, nor indeed anywhere.

Also why just cancer patients getting refunds, why not all patients, whether they have physical or mental problems?  What about those attending GP appointments?  What about the night shift workers having to pay twice – once on the way in and once on the way home?

It beggars belief that this is acceptable to all politicians whatever their party colours.  It certainly is not acceptable to me but then I’m not a politician with a big “P”.  I’m just someone who cares about people and will do anything I can to assist them with their problems.  What will happen when businesses go bust because they cannot afford ULEZ, LEZ and the congestion charge?  Where will Mr Khan and local authorities get business rates from when shops stand empty.  How will this impact what seems to be a nation dream of 15 minute cities – George Orwell was right “big brother is watching”?  Are we to be fined for “stepping outside our zone”?  I wish the Government and the opposition (of all parties) would come clean and tell us what they mean by this and what the rationale is behind it.  

I turn now to a favourite topic of mine “democracy”.  Not something the Liberal Democrats in Sutton know a lot about.  You will all recall that when Labour won 3 seats last year, we the 3 Independents for Beddington, were told we had to share seats on the strategic committees with them.  How can it be that a party with a majority of 3 have the same amount of seats on committees they had before the election?  I’ll tell you why – because they interpret the constitution as it suits them. 

With a general election looming next year I would like to suggest that the politicians with a big “P” start listening to the majority of the population.  They will no longer stay silent and will speak out loud and long about the way they feel about being taxed to the hilt, not being able to recover their way of life because of the cost of living crisis, not being able to afford a compliant car because let’s face it two grand goes nowhere.

I would finish this “rant” by pleading with you all to make sure you are registered to vote next year, look into the ID requirement and make your voices count. I realise it is difficult to know who to vote for but wait and see who makes the candidate list and look into their records before deciding.   Are they really local or bussed in to appear local – are they telling you what you want to hear or what they are really going to do – make your vote count.

I hope you have all enjoyed your summer whether you stayed at home, went out for days or holidayed in the UK or abroad.  Look out for a new Sutton Independent leaflet coming in the autumn to Beddington.

It’s the Lib Demcrats isn’t it? They got the most seats, don’t they run it?  Yes they got the most seats in the May 2022 election but a very narrow majority.

That was potentially bad news for the officers – the Directors of Sutton Council and their myriad of wholly owned companies. Running budgets and borrowing money to fund projects depends on certainties and tiny majorities don’t do that.

Legal guidelines are clear, the proportion of seats on committees must reflect the proportion of seats on the Council – however, officers proposed to Council that even though the Liberal Democrats had just 52.725% of the Council seats, they would be allocated 60.1% of the Committee seats giving them a two-seat majority on every Committee.

Why did they want that – well the Committee system allows substitutes – so even if a member is sick, on holiday or has another reason for absence, the Liberal Democrats always have their majority.

At Council, there are no substitutes so there is always a risk – illness or even a train strike could cause absences and the risk of losing a vote.

That is why you will see a total absence of meaningful Council business at Full Council – everything is decided at Committee! The only way to bring important matters to Council is by requisition of Committee decisions, but the officers dismissed clear guidance of the Constitution and blocked a recent important requisition.

There was a petition raised by concerned residents about this and we are not sure it got the traction it deserved – anyone impacted by lousy decisions – SEN parents, SDEN customers, Environment issues, Housing issues ULEZ – you should sign the petition because this needs to change!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3EfyC90FHzZTbgKWPqCW0flDWRxHmPZqP4amEq7Edhc4ZTA/viewform

This Council does not want to engage or listen.

SDEN, the Council’s heating system had yet another outage recently – this is the system that was part of the rationale to grant planning for the incinerator.  The system is not even connected to Viridor and last year they sold their landfill interests, including Beddington Farmlands to another company – so the landfill gas engines that currently power SDEN are not even owned by Viridor!

An independent report by CIPFRA talked of optimism bias at the inception of SDEN and the finances came in for heavy criticism – was anyone held to blame – what do you think? 

Yet officers are still trying to sell the concept of SDEN to a prospective developer close to New Mill Quarter.

Let’s try an anagram of SDEN and look at another Sutton Council claim – “Ambitious for SEND” – that is the provision of special needs education managed by another of Sutton’s wholly owned companies COGNUS.  

Are parents wrong when they say that they are treated badly when they apply for an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) for their child – the full year statistics for EHCP Tribunals for 2021 tell the story:

Visit or dial into Council  on 6^th March when the Budget is presented and see just how much money is being spent on SEND and ask why we are not doing better. 

At the same time watch the increase in Councillor allowances, the ballooning debt and the increase in your Council Tax and wonder where all that money goes.

And if you think the increase in the Council build at Beech Tree Place – the £30 million budget grew to £44.2 million – is a bit daft. Consider if you will, how two other Council owned companies Sutton Housing Partnership and Sutton Living – these companies transact with one another on property – yet share the same Board Chair.  Impartial?

We need to have a Council that listens to residents – by the same token, just as the voices against ULEZ have been heard, residents need to ask questions.  Your friends in Croydon will be counting the cost of the chaos that has transpired there – don’t wait for the same to happen here, GET INVOLVED!

Less austerity, peace on earth and love for one another – I hope – but as we approach Christmas and the New Year I thought I would write a blog to round off the year.

Nick, Tim and I were so grateful that the wonderful residents of Beddington re-elected us to represent them with the London Borough of Sutton – we thank you for giving us your trust.  Our strapline “Residents first, always” is as relevant now as it has ever been – with the undemocratic actions of the Administration in Sutton, probably more so.

What have we been up to since re-election in May 2022?   Well, we have continued to challenge the proposed building of a new SEN school on the small Sheen Way Playing Field.  The sticking point for the last 18 months has been the construction logistics plan which lays out the plans to bring a 12 metre articulated trailer plus a lorry cab around the narrow corners of the High View Estate. 

At  the start of all this in 2018 it was suggested that a “trial run” would be done but the Project Manager from the Department for Education has recently confirmed categorically that they will not do this. 

They are all relying on something called a swept path analyses – computer generated plans – but as has recently been the case at the Stafford Road/Sandy Lane South traffic lights these analyses are not always correct.  We are very concerned about this and are trying to establish a web of responsibility.  If something goes wrong we will know who to hold to account.

The people of the Highview Estate cannot be accused of nimbyism – just look at it from the children’s point of view.  They will be moved from a beautiful 33 hectare site with green spaces and trees (good for soaking up CO2 which emits from the incinerator).  They can improve their life skills by using the cafe in the park, walk safely to Hackbridge railway station or Croydon Road for buses, to access public transport and use the park for nature studies and recreation. 

There will be no cafe nearby unless they walk the Stafford Road to Morrisons and they will have to cross the Fiveways junction to walk to Waddon station. 

The roads to access the High View Estate are always busy, Croydon Road/Plough Lane/Stafford Road are frequently jammed and the school travel plan has yet to be submitted.  Journeys for the mini buses will take longer, that is inevitable. 

The site of the proposed new school will have very little room for an allotment as they have now, there is certainly going to be no room for car boot sales and the area will definitely not take car parking should there be a Christmas Fayre held on the premises.  If the school wishes to have a car boot sale as they do now they will have to pay to hire Beddington Park like every organisation does.  These special needs children deserve a new school in an area not surrounded by industrial estate, houses and a railway line (14 trains an hour). 

The Sheen Way Playing Field has been recognised by the London Borough of Sutton as a surface water flood plain and residents are rightly concerned that concreting over it will increase their risks of flooding.  Every document I have read about this in relation to the school says the school building will be protected but what about residents?  Flood enough, and you can’t get flood insurance so who will pay to protect them?

On another tack I have served on the Conservation Access Management Committee for the last four years.  It is this committee that is tasked with working with Viridor and others to complete the Beddington Farmlands Nature Reserve.  I was re-elected to serve on the Committee at the AGM in July 2022. 

Imagine my surprise when, via a third party, I learned that Sutton Council through its Committee Services Department have chucked me off so they can bring in a Councillor from the ruling Liberal Democrats who does not live in the ward and has no connection with residents or their views.

Since being elected in 2018, I have never treated anyone I come into contact with – Residents, Councillors or Officers – disrespectfully and I do not expect them to treat me any differently. 

I wish to stress here and now that Tim Foster as Chair of the CAMC continues to hold those who appear to be delaying the process accountable.  It has been an honour to serve alongside Tim as well as local residents and others as a Councillor on the CAMC and if the Restoration is not complete by 31st December 2023 it will not be down to that Committee but rather a lack of commitment by some major players – after all the CAMC was established in 2013 what actually happened in the first 5 years?

Other aspects of my work as a Councillor include dealing with residents’ problems and trying to get satisfactory solutions for them.  This is my bread and butter work which I take seriously and I hope residents recognise that I always do my best. 

If anyone is worrying about the cost of living crisis and heating their homes there is a lot of information on the Sutton Council website.  If you can’t access this please contact me :

Email me: jillian.green@sutton.gov.uk ,

Message through Facebook

Or call me on 020 8770 4978.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Jillian

After the May election, Sutton Liberal Democrats decided to marginalise residents in the North and East of the Borough, those  most radically hit by the effects of the Viridor Incinerator, who dared to elect Independent or Labour Councillors. 

Irrespective of their own reduced vote and an overall 3 seat majority, they set about ensuring that every Standing Committees had a 2 seat Liberal Democrat majority and that Labour and Independents should share one seat on all except Strategy & Resources.

The Conservative majority opposition group voted against this but Committee  Services endorsed its unfair application.

But surely the Constitution will protect the people of Sutton and ensure proper scrutiny – after all, on the Council website  it states:

The Constitution includes “the rules that the Council must follow”

The Housing Economy and Business Committee (HEB) had approved the redevelopment of the Beech Tree Place site on St Nicholas Way budgeted at £30 million. It had passed Planning Committee but then a hiccup appeared in the guise of full tenders for the work.

It necessitated a meeting of the Urgency Committee – a properly constituted committee consisting of just two Liberal Democrats, the Leader and Deputy Leader and one Conservative member.  In the event, a second Conservative member, a member of the HEB Committee was allowed to attend to ask questions but not to vote.

What was the hiccup?  Well rather than the £30 million projected cost, the meeting was to approve an increase of expenditure to a whopping £44.2 million – very close to a 50% increase.  The Urgency Committee approved the increase.

The Independents have no representation on HEB and therefore no oversight, Cllr Vestey for Labour is on HEB but had no invitation to pose questions to the Urgency Committee.  Concerned when the residents of Sutton, like those round the country, are facing tough economic times, Labour and the Independents looked to the Constitution and thought they had found the answer in section 23.4 which states very clearly:

Definitive action on any decision of any Council committee (except in relation to planning) will be delayed if any four members of the Council give notice in writing to the Chief Executive before 10:00am on the third working day following the meeting that they want to requisition that decision. The written notice must also state:-

• the reason the decision is being requisitioned;
• to which Council body the requisitioners wish the matter to be referred, i.e. either the Full Council, committee, panel, forum, or working party; and
• the outcome the members are seeking from this action.

We complied with the terms of that section and our suggested outcome was that the matter be debated at Full Council as the only area where Labour and Independent Councillors are able to contribute and awaited confirmation.

You guessed it – the Monitoring Officer has rejected the requisition.

It is strange because a requisition is, as you will note, not a request to be considered, but four elected Councillors requisitioning a decision.

Of course, whether you are an elected Liberal Democrat Councillor or  someone who voted for  them, you may like the idea of spending an additional £14.2 million in these straightened times – after all, it isn’t real money it is borrowed. 

And if you think building 93 flats in Sutton represents good value in a housing crisis, that same budget would buy 130 flats on the market today.  In fact the unit price of the accommodation will preclude any idea of shared ownership – they can only be rented and 50 years of rent  will not pay down the debt!

We asked for scrutiny, we asked for possible deferment within our requisition but the Monitoring Officer said no.  He added that the decision was not political and conveniently the Chief Executive is on vacation.

It makes a nonsense of democracy, it makes a nonsense of the Constitution and it makes fools of residents of the London Borough of Sutton.

I hope everyone is coping with this heat whether you are on holiday, sunning yourselves in the garden or sitting indoors with curtains drawn and lights off. 

What a mess the country seems to be in with the rising cost of living and energy bills, now we have been told officially about drought conditions and with the threat of a ULEZ scheme being brought in by Sadiq Khan the Mayor of London there could be great hardship to many, not least residents of the London Borough of Sutton and Beddington Ward. 

Fear not about the ULEZ, Councillor Barry Lewis, Chair of Environment and Sustainable Transport Committee has written to the Mayor of London saying the Council cannot back the proposed ULEZ expansion to Sutton as currently proposed.  He does say the Council welcomes initiatives which may improve air quality and people’s health (that’s rich coming from an administration that voted for the incinerator which is breaking air quality targets on a regular basis made worse by granting Planning Permission for Viridor to install a new tank that will be used to house dirty diesel for use in firing up the boilers). 

Councillor Lewis says in his letter “any expansion of the ULEZ must be accompanied by significant investment in public transport, better cycling and walking infrastructure, a fair and comprehensive scrappage scheme and extension of the planned implementation date”. 

At least he has written but whether a Mayor under such financial pressure will take notice is another matter especially as Sutton has always been at the bottom of the list when dishing out financial support and grants to London Boroughs.

In a Councillor Briefing issued to us last Friday we were told that residents will receive flyers with information about a range of support available through various agencies in Sutton as well as the ways residents can help others. 

I thought the Council meant they might just be looking at ways they could reduce various financial payments residents pay to the Borough including Council tax, rents and parking fines perhaps.  Someone will tell me that they can’t do this legally but as Sutton has one of the highest Council tax rates of all London Boroughs, a small cut might be a help.

Before anyone official gets on their high horse about my suggestions we have to do something to help those struggling in our Borough.  The saying goes ”for evil to prosper good men need do nothing”.

Complaints from us Councilors to the Council about the crisis that is Beddington Lane prompted a meeting with very senior officers from the Council.  It allowed Nick, Tim and myself to express our views on the total shambles that exists for residents and businesses alike. 

As Councillor Foster put it there was a great fanfare from the Council at the opening of the road and within 24 hours there were traffic queues because the roundabout is not being used properly and, yes, you’ve guessed it, another set of temporary traffic lights.

We expressed the view that the residents of Beddington (and indeed Hackbridge ward) are treated like third class citizens because in demonstrating their democratic right to vote for who they want to represent them they feel like they are being punished by the ruling administration.

The senior officers said this was not the case but we drew their attention to:

• Parking on Beddington Lane restricting the road in parts to single lane – the Officers have committed to a process to introduce double yellow lines from the Village to the Beddington Tram Stop.  Legally, this involves a 6-week consultation period and I would encourage all residents to participate.
• The dust and aggregate covering the road and houses – officers agreed to look into this and the permissions granted for the businesses causing the dust.  It was acknowledged that the hedgerows need attention as does the street cleaning to make the cycle ways and pedestrian paths safer.
• Therapia Lane – we once more focused on the rationale for the Council to properly adopt Therapia Lane – there were the normal platitudes about finance but it is just over a month since they announced the next £902,000 from the GLA grant to be spent on the Sutton Works Project in Sutton High Street.  We pointed out the £3+ million in Business Rates generated by this ward and also Section 106 monies – it is a matter of will not a matter of money.
• HGV ban: 4 ½ years ago, officers talked of an HGV ban in Beddington Village and we are still waiting. Croydon continue to object and it could finish up as a legal process.

Beddington and Hackbridge continue to be denied a proper voice on the Standing Committees in spite of cross-party efforts from ourselves, Labour and Conservatives. We understand that there will soon be a petition from residents looking to raise the matter once more at Council.

The Liberal Democrats have an overall majority of 3 yet have demanded – and been supported by officers – a 2 seat majority on every Statutory Committee and shared the representation that Independents had in the last Council between Labour and ourselves.  It is unfair and undemocratic and denies Beddington and Hackbridge residents a voice on these Committees.

Please support the petition when it is introduced.

Finally, I wish everyone all the best for the rest of the summer and to parents and pupils, all the best for the new school year.

Please accept my apologies for the long overdue blog. Firstly, thanks go to all our Independent supporters in Beddington who voted Nick, Tim and I back in to serve as your Ward Councillors for the next four years.  As our motto says “Residents first, always” and we will adhere to this to the letter.

It has been a very disappointing start to the Council year.  As most of you will know the Liberal Democrats have managed to maintain control of the Council by the skin of their teeth with a tiny majority of 3,

At Council meetings, this becomes a majority of 2 because the Mayor only has a casting vote and routinely abstains. 

However, with the collusion of Officers, they have sought to marginalise both Independent Councillors and the three newly elected Labour Councillors.  In the 2018-2022, through proportional representation, we Independent Councillors were represented on every standing Committee. 

What the ruling Group have done is to claim a two-seat majority on every standing Committee and share our positions on Standing Committees between ourselves and Labour

So, as it stands, I have no opportunity to speak out for you, dear resident, because I am allocated a seat on Licensing and Scrutiny neither of which have much to do with residents’ problems. 

To say I am angry about this is an understatement.  It will be of no surprise to those of you who follow local politics that the Liberal Democrats rejected the two proposals, one from the Conservatives and one from Labour backed up by the Independents to extend the membership of some of the Committees which would enable true democratic representation. 

We accept that the Liberal Democrats should have a majority on each Committee but the Conservative proposal offered a majority of one on each Committee but with representation by Labour and Independent and involvement in every debate – that is what the residents of the North East of the Borough voted for.

As usual they quote the Constitution.  This increasingly worthless document was written when they had a huge majority in a two party Council –  there is now representation by four distinct groups and we have asked the Monitoring Officer to recognise that but  there is little interest in change.

Democracy in Sutton died the night of 5 May 2022.

We will fight on – challenging where we can and holding the administration to account for some of the dreadful statements they make publicly. 

In their manifesto which only few will have seen, they say to make walking and cycling easier they are going to look at restricting HGV’s in residential areas.  Wonder how that works as for 60 months or more the High View Estate is going to be inundated with heavy goods lorries and an 80ft crane being manoeuvred round roads that are narrow and were built nearly 100 years ago. 

Councillor Dombey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats actually admitted to residents who were in attendance at a meeting in 2017 that access to the Sheen Way playing fields would be very difficult. 

And as if to reinforce these contradictions, planning permission has been granted for Social  Housing on Beddington Lan when the promised HGV ban in Beddington Village looks unlikely to happen any time soon.

Funnily enough, at that same Planning Committee, the 6 Liberal Democrat members voted for an increased volume of pollution by supporting Viridor’s application for a new diesel tank which will free off existing storage for a high sulphur content fuel for the incinerator.  Invest in the Cancer Hub in Belmont and cause Cancer in Hackbridge and Beddington!

That is all I have to tell you at the moment but as Colombo says “just one more thing”. 

At some time in the near future the Local Plan is up for review.  I implore you all to keep an eye out for this and any consultations that may come up. 

If the residents of the High View Estate had known earlier about the proposals in the Local Plan and been consulted regarding the destruction of the beautiful Sheen Way Playing Field we might have been able to fight it a lot earlier. 

The Liberal Democrats say they want to keep green spaces so be prepared to put up resistance if they want to take yours – just look what they are destroying on Sheen Way

Well that is the Local Elections over for another 4 years and with the opportunity for change and improvement in the hands of the local residents/electors, it is a real commentary on the state of National and Local politics that over 60% of those eligible to vote in the London Borough of Sutton did not bother to vote.

Is it really any surprise that the political shenanigans in Westminster where the only difference between the Labour and Conservative appears to be the choice of a glass of Chablis or a pint of Durham Bitter.

I think the Independents in Beddington at least proved that Local Elections should be about – service to and involvement with the residents.

An early opportunity to participate directly in change comes next Thursday 19th May at 6.30 pm and the Annual General Meeting of the Beddington North Neighbourhood Forum (BNNF) at The Change Foundation Cricket Ground, Plough Lane, Wallington, SM6 8JQ.

It is the opportunity to elect – or for that matter put yourself forward – for Chair and other officer responsibilities.

The BNNF has a potentially critical part to play in Beddington with development of a Neighbourhood Plan, direct involvement in the planned access to the Beddington Farmlands when it opens to the public after December 2023 and of course a forum for direct briefing by Council officials.

All residents are welcome and it is a real opportunity to make a difference – don’t leave it to others, you may not like the results.

Finally – as someone observed on the local Facebook page – Beddington, especially in the Beddington Lane is getting to be a mess. Let’s try to keep our own little piece tidy and the impact will spread!