Sutton Independent Residents

What do they mean to voters?

One of the features of this election is the impact political funds have had on the attempts of the major parties to fight even a Boroughwide campaign and of course what the fact that 16 Liberal Democrat Councillors not seeking to stand again signalled about the difficulties the establishment parties face.

Paid for deliveries either through the Post Office or leafleteers by the local Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Newspaper wraps of the Sutton & Croydon Guardian and paid for Facebook inserts by the Labour Party.   But most especially an absolute profusion of “paper candidates” by all three major groups.

So, what is meant by the term “paper candidate” – well in local elections, unlike General Elections, there is no financial cost for registering as a candidate.  All that is needed is a proposer, seconder and support from local residents.

That means that a major party can register candidates in a ward that they have no realistic chance of winning but at the same time appear to their traditional voters to offer the opportunity of continued support.

In these straightened times, it also allows them to focus their scarce resources on areas where they have a chance of representation whilst giving the impression of being capable of forming the next administration.

Is that fair to voters? Probably not!

For those of a certain age, remember the song “Paper Roses” and its chorus verse:

Paper roses, paper roses

Oh how real those roses seemed to me

But they’re only imitation

Like your imitation love for me!

For Paper Roses, read Paper Candidates – they aren’t properly canvassing, some don’t even live in the Borough, let alone the ward and if they can’t be bothered to work at that, why are they worth your vote?

When we were elected in 2018, we never realised the hard work needed to do the job properly and there is really no point in standing if you aren’t prepared to do the hard yards. The secret is, we know what is involved and the rewards are heart-warming and that is why we are standing in Beddington and are encouraged by other community minded colleagues standing with us!

Therefore, on Thursday, as your pencil hovers over the choices of three candidates, ask yourself – did I just get a generic paper like the Beddington Champion or the Carshalton and Wallington Gazette on paper as thin as their candidates – or do I think there are three people who are going to work hard for me and my family?

In the Beddington and Wallington – the answer is that if you vote for the three Independents in your ward you will get proper representation at Committees and at Council as well as strong allies to deal with any shortfall in the services you expect from your Council.

Right now, our news bulletins are full of the horrors of war in Ukraine where a people who have known the taste of democracy are fighting to avoid the yolk of dictatorship. 

Watching the news last night, I have to confess tears when the video of a laughing baby was shown against the background of the news that its life had been cut short at 3 months along with the life of its Mother and Grandmother.

It brought to mind the often misquoted “One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic”, but the Father’s reaction of continuing the fight for democracy was a reflection of the importance of the ability to vote for the Government of your choice.

That same news bulletin carried the news of President Macron’s victory in the French election and this morning the bare statistics of that victory are published.  The headlines offer the news that he won with 58.54% of the vote versus Le Pen’s 41.46%.

But the real story is the 28.01% of the voters who did not vote – it means that realistically, President Macron leads one of the most powerful countries in Europe with just 42.14% of the French voters wanting him!

It is the flaw of democracy if people do not get involved – as we approach the Local Elections on May 5^th it becomes very relevant to everyone on a local level.  And for people on the eastern side of the London Borough of Sutton, we only need to look over the border at bankrupt Croydon to understand why we need to think hard about what faces us and who we vote for.

And let’s just analyse the last bit of voting we had locally. That was  at the by election in 2019 for Wallington North where the winning vote represented 38.24% of the votes.  But with a turnout of 31.36%, that winning vote actually represented a shade under 12% of the voters of Wallington North, or put another way, Wallington North is represented by someone that 88% of the voters did not vote for.

Not knocking the individual, that is not the object – it is an electoral system that was established for universal suffrage but one where politicians have set their own agenda thereby creating voter apathy.

Why bother when they all sound the same?

That in turn has allowed us to get to a situation where those same politicians can align themselves with a small, special interest group (sometimes radical) to deliver the small margins that get them elected.

There is only one solution – if you want your opinion to count, use your vote. 

In Sutton, we have had continued rises in Council Tax – the ruling Liberal Democrats blame Central Government but if that were the case, Sutton’s rises in Council Tax would not be the 4^th highest in Greater London, if it was the Government’s fault, we would all be in the same boat!

They praise their initiatives in SDEN, the London Cancer Hub, Sutton Works etc – but it is the residents are underwriting those initiatives to the tune of £100+ million. A great legacy for our children and grandchildren! 

It is a signal that change is needed – the agenda needs to be set by the residents not politicians – but the only way to change that is to use your vote.

You may have noticed a distinct lack of posters and other election paraphernalia – it is because the Ruling Group want you to stay at home so they can get their small number of supporters to deliver their comfortable seats.

Let’s surprise them and turn out in numbers on the 5^th May and VOTE!

Views of an Independent Councillor Jillian Green

I can’t believe it has been 4 years since I was entrusted, along with my fellow Independent Councillors, Tim Foster and Nick Mattey, by the residents of Beddington North Ward to be their elected representatives on the Council. 

It has been a real privilege to serve the residents, not just of Beddington North but Borough wide, who, in accordance with our mantra, we have always put first.  We have listened to problems, taken action to try and get resolutions, spoken up against situations that were unjust and held the Council to account.

What have I learnt? 

Well it has been an eye opener that is for sure.  Full Council meetings have seen proper debate stifled, rarely did a Liberal Democrat Councillor vote against any resolutions or motions that were put before Council by their group but by observing their body language it showed on many occasions the “sheep” were most uncomfortable in voting “yes”, or, “no” if it was an opposition motion. 

I have always voted on resolutions or motions as I felt fit and being an Independent meant I did not have to play party politics.  Those of you who have listened to Council meetings will know my stock sentence has been “Why can’t we work together for the good of the Borough?”  The Liberal Democrats always adopt an attitude of “We know best” and do not really like working cooperatively with other groups – “Our way or no way” is their mantra.

It was a huge disappointment that the building of a SEND school on the old Sheen Way Playing Field is going ahead.  Now don’t get me wrong, not one person on the estate is against a new school for the SEND children, but the small playing field at the end of a cul de sac with only one way in and out is certainly the wrong place. 

Despite a fantastic performance by Tim Foster as a Rule 6 participant at the Planning Enquiry, the Planning Inspector recommended it go ahead and the then Minister of State, Robert Jenrick, agreed.  I have written numerous emails and letters to Ministers for Communities and Education pointing out why the siting of this school is so bad for the SEND pupils. 

To move them from beautiful Beddington Park to a small plot surrounded by railway, houses and industrial units will do very little to enhance their education or wellbeing.  They will have to get up earlier to cope with the increases in traffic jams.  Those of you who know the Croydon Road and Plough Lane can attest to the problems faced.  

Tim and I battle on, and will continue to do so if re-relected, making sure the residents of the High View Estate are treated fairly and the conditions put in place by the Planning Inspector are adhered to. 

One question I ask myself repeatedly was the inclusion of Sheen Way in the Local Plan fair – answer no.  No consultation took place with the residents of High View Estate, in my opinion is was just a case of let’s stick a pin in and that will do.  If the school does get built the residents can expect another 300 traffic movements a day so not only are we dealing with air pollution from the incinerator and the current school traffic but more added by the mini buses and cars from the school travel plan.

The question frequently asked is what will the Council do with Carew Manor?  With the experience of the sale of the Lodge in Beddington Park for a song, one cannot but feel that this glorious local asset is not safe if the current administration retains power after May’s election. 

Let us not forget about that dark shadow over Beddington, the incinerator! Recent events have shown that the current Administration has very little control over those private companies they get into bed with.  Now the landfill has been sold by Viridor and not only were the Council unaware until the last minute of this transaction they have no idea how this is going to impact on the future of the farmlands and surrounding areas. 

One thing that has struck me as I continue working for residents is the fact that not only do ruling parties like low turnouts at elections, so do the Council Officers as this means the current administration is likely to get re-elected and their work just continues as before. 

If you are reading this please vote, it is vital that residents have their say at the ballot box and a low turnout will pretty much leave things as they are.  In addition to Tim, Nick and me there are more Independent candidates standing in the Borough, all with the same philosophy as us. 

This is not about national party politics but about electing Councillors who truly care about the Borough and who want to see it flourish and be a place we can all be proud of.   Does the London Borough of Sutton really deserve another four years of the Liberal Democrats? 

A party who have gone ahead breaking their own policies, for example, a tower block of flats in Sutton High Street of 20 storeys, going against their Local Plan. We are losing green spaces, despite saying they want more; we have had the parking debacle, the low traffic neighbourhoods and school streets (which just throws more traffic onto other roads causing increases in air pollution), the partnership with other Boroughs for waste which is brought into Beddington to be incinerated causing increase in air pollution for residents and the children attending nearby schools. 

Then there is bingate, still ongoing, lack of street cleaning and grass cutting of verges done as the schedule says.  It doesn’t matter if it’s pouring with rain and the grass gets torn out.  The cuttings are then blown into the road and down the drains.  Doesn’t make sense does it?  I have to say common sense and this Administraton does not go hand in hand. 

We have improved communication in the ward, we have supported the Beddington North Neighbourhood Forum, 500+ pieces of “case work” helping individual residents on anything from planning, to housing and schools – we hope we have done enough for you to vote for us again on May 5^th.

There is still so much to do, challenging what is wrong and ensuring that residents of Beddington continue having a voice that will represent their interests and fight for them.  I am more focused than ever on what needs to be done and if change was needed it is now. 

Please vote for the Independents.

2018 was when the last Local Elections were held here in Sutton – and what 4 years it has been.  From a National or International perspective, there has been unprecedented change – a General Election, Brexit, a Pandemic and now a War – change beyond what anyone could have foreseen.

How is the way you vote in these Local Elections going to change those huge issues – truly it will have no impact at all.  

Voting for a particular party to “send a message to Whitehall” – well every Government expects a mid-term downturn so any message will be diluted, excused by media and the politicians alike.

So, what can change with your vote?

What about the way that this Borough treats Special Needs Education (SEN)?  Are we happy with the performance of Cognus, a stand-alone company set up by the current administration to run education services?  Well, the parents of SEN children aren’t, one of the highest rejection rates for EHCP applicants and telling parents that there are not enough therapists to offer one to one Speech Therapy in the Borough but then sell the same services out of Borough!

Then there are the long-term contracts with waste companies, Viridor and Veolia.  Viridor treat this administration as a VERY junior partner in business – selling the Beddington Farmlands without reference and applying to the Environment Agency for an increase in waste volume without consultation.  More traffic, more pollution and does anyone care about Sutton residents – clearly not this administration!

A recent fly tip on Richmond Green reflected the appalling management process – if it was on the south side of Richmond Green, that was parks and idVerde were responsible, on the north side, it would be Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP) and on the roadway, Veolia.  Is it any wonder that the Borough needs volunteer litter pickers to keep it clean!

But when we say SHP, that is a bit of a misnomer, because they have a charge they levy from tenants for bulk disposal!  And on the subject of “Affordable Housing” – that much trumpeted development on Richmond Green is not only charging substantial rents, some of those homes are in Council Tax Band E meaning high payments and denial of access to the £150 contribution to help with rising living costs.

Like so many claims of the current administration – there is a lot of gloss but the substance does not match the rhetoric!

There are six of us Sutton Independents standing in Beddington and Wallington North – but we are not the only ones – there are a total of thirteen independent candidates putting themselves forward on May 5^th.

And there are some strong Labour candidates in Hackbridge and St Helier and some very good Conservatives on the western side of the Borough – all committed residents looking to change the face of this Council.

I have heard the expression “paper candidate” used on a number of occasions this campaign – candidates entered with no intention of winning or, in some cases, even campaigning. They are not worth your vote!

Certainly, the level of commitment needed for an Independent means that you can be certain that an Independent candidate is here to do a job.  We have shown in Beddington that three Independents can do a great job.

Make sure you are voting on local issues – they are the ones that matter to every resident.

It is an old quotation that in a war, that truth is the first casualty and whilst one hopes that analogising the May local elections to a war is an overstatement, the current Liberal Democrat administration fired the first shots of their campaign at this week’s Council meeting.

With a proposed motion entitled “Council recognises the significant achievements of this council in recent years……” – the leader of the Conservative group had questioned the Chief Executive and the Monitoring Officer over the legality of using the platform of a Full Council meeting to promote a political message.  That appeal was unsurprisingly rejected and I agreed to present a joint opposition amendment

For the record, the overwhelming majority enjoyed by the Liberal Democrats made their “achievements” a matter of record – I am sure that will be trumpeted somewhere but that is just to underline the current reality.

Because what was presented was an opaque, distorted version of the truth – a claim for credit for initiatives facilitated by the GLA or Central Government while ignoring the shortcomings that have been highlighted by very negative assessments from OFSTED and the Care Quality Commission, “Bingate”, cycle lanes, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods that blocked emergency vehicles and the recent critique of the SDEN business case.

I quote from that CIPFA report : “The basis on which the project was approved was not to the standard it should have been and the governance was not what should have been expected for such a novel project.”

One of the criticisms was that the Council had failed to follow the Treasury guidelines on investment following the “5 Case Business Case Model”.  Because like many Councils, the London Borough of Sutton has borrowed large amounts of Government money – £125+ million so far – to “invest” in order to generate revenue.  But there is a real danger in this easily accessed credit as we have seen from our neighbouring Borough of Croydon.

So to ignore Treasury advice is to risk the same – I asked with a Freedom of Information request, how many other investments from Opportunity Sutton, the London Cancer Hub, COGNUS, Sutton Works or the St Nicholas Centre had been assessed under this recommended “5 Case Business Case Model” and the answer is NONE of them. Yes, that is £125+ million invested without following treasury advice!

And when My London reports on social media about grand plans for Sutton High Street including a roof garden ( which no planning permission has been applied for), consider the response of a senior officer when asked what the plan related, for example, to the St Nicholas Centre investment after acquisition.

It was succinct and to the point “We have no plan….” – like so much of what we as residents have endured over the years, there is an ambitious plan, glossy marketing materials but an inability to manage the opportunity.

But focus on these “ambitious” plans is to FORGET what residents expect of their Council – they expect a Council to listen to the results of consultations and act upon those results, they want clean and safe streets, good education and healthcare. 

They would probably prefer their children to go to a new school rather than see them squashed into existing schools. Parents of SEN children would prefer their children to enjoy the 50+ hectares of Beddington Park than be squashed a school on 2 hectares next to a railway line a site declared at significant flood danger by the Council as far back as 2011.

And when your child is diagnosed as having special needs, do you want to fight for an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) because education services are on a profit target, or do you want your needs considered with empathy and understanding?

Do you want your Council to agree, in partnership with three other boroughs, that your Borough accepts more waste than the rest combined meaning more HGV’s and have twin chimneys sending a toxic flume to poison our children?

NO!

They find multi-million pound investment with slapdash financials a poor return compared with damning reports from OFSTED and the CQC, Bingate and a record number of appearances in Private Eye’s “Rotten Boroughs”.

We hope that the election in May will see a great turnout – low turnouts suit the ruling Liberal Democrats and if you want change, please use your vote. 

But we know some people question politics and politicians.

Well, there are three of us in Beddington – Jillian Green, Nick Mattey and myself – who thought exactly the same and stood as Independents in 2018 punching well above our weight in Council and Committees and if you want to know what that involved or want to do the same in your ward, then contact us.  We are going again in May and would be glad to hear from you.

Our Sutton Independent Residents Group states “Residents First Always” and that isn’t a bad starting point for anyone seeking to properly serve as a Councillor.

Nick Mattey – nickmattey@me.com  – 07860 673458

Jillian Green – jilliann1953@gmail.com – 07599 661 522

Tim Foster    – timfoster53@gmail.com – 07771 847290

At the recent Local Committee meeting, we were introduced to “The Stronger Sutton Conversation” which is a questionnaire/programme about Sutton’s recovery from Covid-19 – or rather asking people for their thoughts and priorities. That follows on from leaflets that have come through our doors from Liberal Democrats and Conservatives asking more questions.  All of a sudden, everyone seems interested in what residents think.

You wouldn’t believe that there was an election coming up next May, would you? 

But the very real concern is that residents have lost faith in anyone taking any notice of what they think – you only have to look at the creative interpretation of the Council’s “consultation” on school streets etc to understand why trust has been lost – figures widely quoted on social media of 92% of residents against their imposition, but still the powers that be plough on! 

But also, you have to stop and wonder about the naivety of a process that structures manifestos on popular responses from research that in turn deliver a set of promises that prove impossible to deliver.

But once a politician gets control of the levers of power, their plans and promises become their very own “Pick ‘n Mix”.

Take the much vaunted “Local Plan” voted for unanimously by the Liberal Democrat majority in 2018.

No building over 8 storeys in Sutton Town Centre – a 20 storey leviathan is proposed to the Planning Committee and all opposition members are joined by a rebellious Liberal Democrat making it a tied 5 for and 5 against – so the Liberal Democrat Chair puts his casting vote in favour of the development.

Already, that decision is being quoted by Planning Inspectors supportive of an appeal for a plan rejected for “over looking” – what chance for future developments.

• 

 That same Local Plan allocated a site at Rose Hill for a new secondary school – much against the wishes of the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in whose ward the site allocation was located.

• 

 Rejected by Liberal Democrats on the Planning Committee on “design grounds” – a decision that cost Sutton taxpayers £3.2 million to accommodate the pupils destined for the school into other schools – but the plan was accepted on appeal. 

Existing secondary schools were then canvassed and the surprising conclusion was reached that Sutton no longer needed a new secondary school as the intakes could be accommodated within the current schools – another £6.4 million cost but no problem as this comes from Central Government (no tax payers in Sutton then?)

To put that into context, the Planning Committee has approved the building of 735 properties since September 2019 when the Rose Hill proposals were first before them – add the Council’s redevelopment plans for Elm Grove in the centre of Sutton where 73 units will become over 230 there is an awful lot of people coming into the Borough – of course the Council can stop them having Parking Permits but not sure they can stop them making babies!

But when a developer looked to be purchasing the leasehold of the St Nicholas Centre, part of their plan was to introduce residential development.  Not part of the plans that the Council has for Sutton Town Centre – really?

When the budget was presented last March, part of the presentation involved the fact that all the debts of the Council and its subsidiary companies had been consolidated into a single £100 million loan.  But as I said at the time, my concern was that this was the first draw down of a £250 million bond and I did not know of a politician of any persuasion who could resist spending the rest.

Well, it didn’t take long for the acquisition of the St Nicholas Centre lease to swallow £27 million and it really brought to mind the article (above) that I read In the Sunday Times way back in May 2018.  That article included the following:

“Unfortunately, the councils playing at fake capitalism are operating under the illusion that their access to cheap money makes them smart buyers.  Council executives believe that tapping financial sources such as the Public Works Loan Board means such high yielding investments will show a net return. The risk, though, is merely being passed on to ratepayers.  The structural threats to low quality retail property posed by online shopping will only intensify, and such back door nationalisation is the refuge of a dying industry.”

Whether you have been troubled by “bingate”, been appalled by the OFSTED report on COGNUS, listened to the overwhelming dissatisfaction of customers of the SDEN heating system in Hackbridge, puzzled where the money invested has gone in SDEN when it is not even connected to the incinerator, wondered how those in charge can withstand a withering report from the Care Quality Commission on their care of the most vulnerable of our young people, perhaps you are questioning how we residents repay £127 million (so far) or maybe remembered the anger at the “consultation” on anything from parking to the imposition of school streets and the joke that was the coned off bike lanes around the borough, then you may be one of those crying out on social media – “VOTE THEM OUT”

But of course, our democracy doesn’t work like that, we have to choose an alternative and it is very important that communities think about the options and make strong choices.

In Beddington North in 2018, residents had already been hit with dubious plans from the ruling group – the incinerator, allocating the only green space in a small housing estate as the site for a SEN school etc – the three of us, Nick Mattey, Jillian Green and myself, Tim Foster, stood as Independents and as Sutton Independent Residents, we will go again next May.

We have to hope that our focus on our residents and holding the Council to account on behalf of those residents has struck a chord. 

And we hope that others may stand up and be counted – if you want to stand as an Independent, we would be glad to help – but equally, we would like to see some representation from others – Labour has a seemingly natural home in some of the borough as do the current main opposition Conservatives – and some Greens to put some of the faux environmentalists of the ruling group in their place would not go amiss.

We will be putting out our Beddington North Autumn/Winter Newsletter very soon.  As our new logo shows – there will be a single focus for us next May and if you are a Sutton resident, you won’t need to ask what is needed!

Thanks for reading.

Wednesday 3^rd August was a red-letter day for me – Planning Committee was set as a proper “live” meeting after 18 months of virtual meetings which, especially at full Council have been truly farcical.  Good to be “back to normal” – if only we lived in a normal Borough.

When I made the decision back in early 2018 to stand as a Councillor, I had a certain perception as to how “the system” worked – after all, I have been a resident in the borough and in this ward since 1979, seen two children through local schools and on to University, built an extension on our house and paid my dues in Council tax, the odd parking fine and of course the garden waste bill.

Many of us in the Borough will have recently received a questionnaire from their local Liberal Democrat Focus team – same document but with different faces on the front – it isn’t the local team, it is the Sutton party looking to create a strategy for the local elections next May.

I’m a Councillor, but still a resident and I spend time in the ward chatting to people on my dog walks and helping them out with council issues and, importantly, listening.  When you do that, you don’t need a questionnaire to understand what people see as important.

Like them, I still suffer the frustrations of missed bin collections, overgrown paths, potholes and I was even a victim of crime with the theft of a catalytic converter.  But I have, at least, attended enough Committees (87 to date) as well as meetings with officers of the Council to begin to fathom out where the gaps are and why they have appeared.

And the reality is that a huge gulf exists – it is the distance between political manifestos and what is actually delivered in terms of service to the community which is after all what most residents feel they pay for.

Every Sutton Committee paper (not including the Planning Committee) is prefaced by elements that are derived from the epithet “Ambitious for Sutton”.  That apparently involves a number of outcome areas:-

Being Active – Making Informed Choices – Living Well Independently – Keeping People Safe – Smarter Ways of Working

Since the adoption of these, the Council has achieved regular entries in the Private Eye’s “Rotten Boroughs” column – but residents really don’t need a subscription to that publication or the judgement of others.

We have had “bingate” then there is the Council owned education company, COGNUS, pilloried by OFSTED and featured on Panorama – factors totally coincidental with a change of Chief Executive and a corporate re-allocation of shareholdings? 

That the parents of the most vulnerable of the Borough’s children felt the need to form an EHCP Action Group to give their kids a chance for their best start in life is testament to the ongoing issues surrounding COGNUS and SEN education.

A Council owned company SDEN was established to run a “district heating system” connecting the ERF (incinerator to anyone outside the ruling group) and local building developments.  There is about to be an independent enquiry into alleged irregularities into the business – one that is still some distance, literally and financially, away from connecting up to the incinerator!

Then there are schools – just how much of the Council’s money has been wasted in the past few years?  There is the Passivhaus Primary School at Hackbridge – great positioning within 800 metres of the incinerator.

But then there was the debacle of the first developer’s failure and the Council, having wasted time and money, having to pay a replacement developer to put it right!

A refusal of Planning Permission on a site at Rose Hill on design grounds and a failure to determine the application on Sheen Way has meant around £250,000 in legal costs, £3 million plus to accommodate the bulge year of 2020 pupils in existing schools and the Lib Dems are still lobbying for the school to be stopped at Rose Hill!

But they can only afford to clear the gullies in your street every two years because of Tory cuts! 

And cuts is all you hear about when you get to Council – like so many other Councils, Sutton has looked to “shared services” with other Councils, external contractors and establishment of wholly owned companies like COGNUS and SDEN.  Then of course, there are “investments” to create revenues to compensate for those “cuts”.

Like many residents, I look at my Council Tax bill and then look at what can only be described as the general dilapidation of our Borough served by these companies and think there needs to be a root and branch review.

Or put another way – it is not just the creation of an unmanageable organisation and the clear deterioration of service, this administration have established a position of eye watering debt, that is currently in excess of £100 million!

That will have to be repaid sometime! 

Desperate for revenue, they are ploughing ahead with Controlled Parking Zones, Parking Permit Areas and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods / School Streets. 

But the services still don’t get better – the only areas that sees improvement are where local volunteers – let’s call them residents like you and me – get involved. 

Regular litter picking locally and in Beddington Park makes a small dent and also in Beddington North we had a local business owner, unable to operate her hairdressers in the pandemic, turn her energies into running it as a food hub.

And therein lies the truth that the politicians do not want to admit – Councils should be facilitators for their residents – not attempt to be their rulers in some sort of paternalistic “we know better” way.

In Beddington North, three real, long-term residents – Jillian Green, Nick Mattey and myself, Tim Foster sit as Independent Councillors and have an unashamed singular focus on the residents of our ward and the services they deserve.

We’ve been fighting for residents of Highview along with present and future pupils of Carew Manor against the crazy and thoughtless idea of relocating their school to a tiny patch of green, approached through a narrow residential cul de sac and next to a busy railway.

After the ineffectual efforts of the previous Lib Dem Councillor who represented the ward on the Farmlands Conservation and Access Management Committee, we have gained the involvement of both the Beddington and Hackbridge communities and are pushing for an additional east/west cycle route as part of the development. Scant compensation but always residents first!

And in the absence of support from their own ward Councillors, Nick Mattey has even supported the residents of New Mill Quarter in their battles with the Council owned SDEN over outages and outrageous costs. Rather contrary to the original statements that the system’s aims included the intent to “Reduce fuel poverty and increase fuel security”.

We do it because we live here and we want to have pride in where we live.

Perhaps members of the ruling group and their supporters should look around and ask themselves – can we be proud of the state of our Borough, is there pride in passing on enormous debt to the next generation, is there pride in gullies clogged by cuttings from verges, potholes, is there pride in our Borough accepting more waste than the other four members of the South London Waste Partnership put together, are you looking forward to the 20-storey block on Throwley Way casting shadows over your High Street – have our ambitions been fulfilled by this administration?

I will leave you with that thought – I know that many will want to answer on your behalf.

The dust has barely settled from the controversy of LTN’s and School Streets implemented in past months and a recent Social Media posting about a Focus leaflet distributed in Carshalton Central brought wider attention to a live consultation on the Council website for  the school streets scheme for All Saints School in Rotherfield Road.

One questions the wisdom a graphical representation to show the Labour Party’s position when the same graph serves to contradict the usual “Liberal Democrats Winning Here” but then none of the content of these leaflets survives careful examination!

Apparently local residents have also received letters about the consultation.

However, those with school age children will know that school allocation is not always “round the corner” and they have to travel around the borough to get their kids to school. 

So I thought I would check out what other consultations are happening on school streets and the list on the Council website is extensive.  Log on to https://www.sutton.gov.uk/schoolconsultation and you will see a list that looks like this:

All Saints’ Carshalton Church of England Primary School (Rotherfield Road)

Bandon Hill Primary School and Sherwood Hill School (Beddington Gardens)

Carshalton Boys Sports College (Winchcombe Road)

Cheam Common Infants’ and Junior Academy (Kingsmead Avenue)

Cheam Fields Primary Academy (Stoughton Avenue)

Cheam Park Farm Junior Academy (Kingston Avenue)

St Elpheges Catholic Infants and Juniors (Roe Way)

Harris Junior Academy, Carshalton (Camden Road)

St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls & St Mary’s Catholic Juniors (Shorts Road)

Muschamp Primary (Muschamp Road)

Robin Hood Junior School (Thorncroft Road)

The concerning thing is that the consultation period is 15^th March – 4^th April.  They say that there will be a statutory consultation in the summer with a view to approved schemes going liove in Autumn 2021.

PLEASE if this affects you, make your voice heard, complete the consultation before 4th April

Tim, Nick and I have been eager to send out a newsletter to let you know what we have been doing on your behalf but in light of the Covid restrictions we have adhered to the rules and have not delivered any leaflets. This is why we have used social media to keep in contact as much as we can.

Yes, I know, my constant cry at Council meetings is how do we engage with those who do not do social media, have computers etc but at this time it is about as much as we can do. We do rely on you, our residents, to keep us informed of any problems or concerns you are experiencing. However as restrictions will be lifted shortly please look out for our newsletter in the coming weeks.

There are several things I want to mention.

• Community Food Hub I would like to pay tribute to everybody who helped out during lockdown, especially Katie Travers, her family and team for their hard work in establishing and manning the Community Food Hub. Well done to all of you and what you have achieved. As Katie said at the weekend this has now closed and I would therefore like to ask you as residents if you think we should establish a food bank in Beddington North Ward. If you do please respond to my facebook post in the comments section. Depending on the majority view I will then look into how to go about setting one up and the most important question – where?
• Parking Consultation – we urge you all to look at the maps and put your thoughts to the Council, again I am afraid via the Sutton Council’s website or write to Parking Strategy, Highways and Transport, London Borough of Sutton, 24 Denmark, Road, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 2JG. If you go on the Council’s website put in Parking Strategy and look at area 3 and respond where indicated at the bottom of the page.

I know in parts of the ward there are serious issues with the amount and length of proposed double yellow lines. These double yellow lines will obviously see the removal of a large number of parking spaces so please put in your fourpence, as the saying goes. I can confirm that I have heard from the Highways Officers that no-one can park on a double yellow line at any time, not even if it goes over the dropped kerb in front of their property. You will be ticketed. However if there is a single yellow line over a dropped kerb you can park over the dropped kerb in front of your property once it is outside the time restrictions. I can also confirm that residents of the property with a dropped kerb and no yellow lines can park over their own driveways.

The closing date for consultations is 18th March – please make Beddington North the busiest response page of the whole Borough!

• Beddington Park Conservation Area Consultation. Again, this can be found on the Council’s website and, as I understand it from Officers, residents affected by this have received letters. The areas involved are Beddington Park, Carew Manor and Church Lane, please make sure you have your say. The consultation webpage can found at www.sutton.gov.uk/heritage or sutton.citizenspace.com. Views can also be sent to planningpolicy@sutton.gov.uk or in writing to Strategic Planning Environment, Housing and Regeneration 24 Denmark Road Carshalton SM5 4JG. Consultation ends on 25 March 2021.

• Sustainable Transport Strategy: To quote “a strategy focused upon providing more opportunities for local residents to walk, cycle and use public transport as their preferred options for journeys, within and beyond the Borough”. The consultation webpage can be visited at www.sutton.gov.uk/drafsts. A questionnaire can be completed on Citizenspace or you can send your views to planningpolicy@sutton.gov.uk or write to Strategic Planning Environment, Housing and Regeneration, 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton SM5 4JG. Consultation ends on 25 March 2021

I sit on the Environment and Sustainable Transport Committee (previously known as Environment and Neighbourhood Committee). I am sorry that the word “neighbourhood” has been dropped as in my opinion neighbourhood and neighbourliness are such an important part of life. The recent meetings have been very difficult because of the lack of consultation on the implementation of low traffic neighbourhoods and safer school streets. These have now been removed until proper consultation can be undertaken with residents.  I suggested that a cross party group be formed to decide on the questions that should be included in the consultation.  This suggestion does not seem to have found favour with Cllr Abellan, the Chair of the E&ST Committee (why am I not surprised) but wouldn’t it be great if it did.

Finally, the month of May will be the third anniversary of Tim Foster, Nick Mattey and me being elected to serve the residents of Beddington North ward as their Independent Councillors. It has been an interesting three years, sitting on committees and listening to the political wrangling that goes on.

Why is it that Councillors cannot put aside party politics and all work together for the good of the Borough?

I know why because for some it is political ambition, for others a way of supplementing an income and for some, like us, it is a way of giving something back to the community they serve. So residents of Beddington North for the coming 14 months or so we will continue to fight your corner, and hope, with your support, to continue serving after May 2022.

Best wishes to you all Jillian

When I joined Jillian Green and Nick Mattey to fight in the Local Elections of May 2018, I stood because I had the impression that residents in my ward were being poorly served and had little say in what happened around them.

I saw examples in the “Stop the Incinerator” campaign, the clearance of the retired residents of Richmond Green from what were serviceable homes and the imposition of a Local Plan that among it pages had a proposal to build on the last remaining Open space on the Highview Estate.

What I have found is that the reality of local Government, certainly in the London Borough of Sutton, effectively disenfranchises the ordinary resident because at every level the Ruling Group imposes its will with a robotic acceptance by its elected Councillors of anything that is put in front of them.

In the past 3 years, the only time I saw any break ranks was when Extinction Rebellion prompted a vote on a Zero Carbon Sutton by 2030 – but their rebel tendencies were shown to be transparent when the Liberal Democrats put a motion forward for a Zero Carbon Sutton by 2045 which all Lib Dems present voted for.  To compound the infantile nature of the debate and process, a Councillor called the Chief Executive for clarification – which was it, 2030 or 2045 – and the answer came “BOTH!” Reflective of poor executive direction.

The “Rule Book” that we are supposed to play by is the Constitution – I had questioned elements of that document and when there was talk of reform, I volunteered my time to contribute.  I spent time with a Consultant brought in to make recommendations and early in 2020, I had a meeting with Lord Kerslake whose wisdom and experience was to be leant upon.  The result – so far, no change. 

Yet this Constitution is used to manage and manipulate the agenda of Council – at the end of November, the South London Waste Plan that runs until 2031 was due for debate – it went through undebated because Council “ran out of time”.  It is a plan that will see Sutton (and Beddington in particular) take 70%+ of the cumulative waste of the four Boroughs of Kingston, Merton, Croydon and Sutton.

More examples are there with the Parking Strategy, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, cycle lanes – if they get consulted on at all, it is through the Committee system and the shambolic LBS website.  Petitions with thousands of signatures are “noted” which is a euphemism for ignored.

But for all the protestations on Facebook pages and demands for change – the only agents for change are people who have had enough – residents like Jillian, Nick and myself from 2018.

Because there is one thing that the Liberal Democrats in Sutton are good at and that is getting their vote out – and leafletting.

Instinctively, at election times, we look for the familiar – Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat and others like Greens or whatever the party Nigel Farage is promoting.

Interestingly, the Beddington North ballot paper in 2018 had every party represented on it, so Independent can be a very valid choice. But tactical voting which I have seen advocated in some quarters is ineffective individually.  This is an area where “opposition” parties need to talk to each other.

National and local politicians have one overwhelming handicap – they truly believe that theirs is the right answer – for the most part, it isn’t and, most especially at a local level, we need to have a Council that is properly representative of the residents who live in the Borough.  That means balance and consideration of the legacy that whoever leads the Council into 2022 will need to deal with – consider what the Lib Dems will leave:

• An accumulated debt of £100 million for “investments”.
• A failed heating system, SDEN, which is operationally flawed and the capital investment of which cannot possibly be repaid.
• A waste plan that sees over 1 million tonnes of waste that needs to get to Beddington via the Borough’s roads.
• A top heavy (in terms of remuneration) senior management and overblown Councillor allowances
• The London Cancer Hub whose sole investor to date have been LBS and GLA grants
• A discredited and poorly functioning education service COGNUS, operating as a wholly owned company “independent” of the Council.
• COGNUS is just one of a panoply of wholly owned companies running services on behalf of the Council, with the most labyrinthine organisation chart you will ever see
• The perverse contradiction of the South London Waste Plan with the Incinerator and a commitment to a zero carbon Borough

So, start the conversation – representing your fellow residents is rewarding, it is bloody hard work, but if you put in the effort, the sense of achievement is profound.  Too often Local Government is the first step on the escalator into National politics – ambitious young Councillors confusing political ideals with practical realities and making poor decisions. Recent cycle lanes are an apt example. 

Back to balance, we need some practical pragmatic voices in Council – but it is not easy, change is uncomfortable but we need change in Sutton and you all have just over 12 months to set the template for a new Borough.

A senior officer of the Council recently remarked during a briefing that in his experience, Independent Councillors work harder because there is no support in place to lead them through the system.

If you think that standing as an Independent is a realistic ambition, then be reassured that there are three people in Beddington that can offer some guidance and support.