Saturday 19th July 11.30am

Wallington Day Fair

This wonderful event was organised by the Friends of Wallington Library with the aim of celebrating Wallington and its library. The library and gardens truly feel that they are the ‘hub’ of Wallington, and with the popular farmer’s market held monthly in the grounds it has become a focal point for the community. The small band of Friends has done so much for the library and gardens to make it into the attractive area it is. The weather was kind to us on the day and although showers threatened it remained dry. The Fair was opened to the sound of bell-ringing and the Mayor gave a speech. We were also treated to singing by local school choirs and country dancing by the area’s May Queens and attendants.

 

Also very active in the community are Scola and Orchard Hill College, both residents of the Old Town Hall in the ‘civic quarter’ of Wallington, which includes the library. Both organisations had stalls at the fair, as did the local Girl Guides – desperately seeking new leaders. I was very impressed by the quality of the work of the local Woodcote Art Group, and could not resist purchasing a painting by one of their members. When I have more leisure time available I think I would like to join an art group, however it would take me a very long time to reach the standard of the Woodcote Group members.

 

As the weather was fine I stayed & had lunch at the Library Café, to the accompaniment of the Scola Woodwind Ensemble. What a blissful way to spend a Saturday.

 

I appreciate the preparation and organisation that went into putting on the fair, but I do hope that the Friends will consider a repeat performance next year.

Thursday 17th July 6.30pm

Waste Consultation & Beddington & Wallington Local Committee Meeting

The waste consultation was meant to be a drop-in, whereby residents have the opportunity to talk to councillors or waste officers individually, ask questions, and fill in a consultation document. However when I arrived there were about sixty residents in place, sat in a circle around a couple of tables, obviously expecting something a little more formal. However despite my somewhat garbled introduction not aiding the situation (I was still a little breathless from my efforts to get to the meeting) once we all settled in and started chatting it proved to be quite a pleasant & informative exercise. It was really helpful to talk face to face with residents and find out which parts of the waste strategy changes they were happy with and what the problems were. It was also an opportunity to explain the rationale behind the scheme and what ideas were being considered to improve it. Whilst the residents I spoke to were generally supportive of efforts to reduce the waste we as a borough produce, they explained a number of practical difficulties they were experiencing with the garden waste collection specifically. These ranged from the size of the bags, not having a car, and gardens too small for composters. I encouraged them to write all these things down on the form to help with the review. There were only two residents I encountered who were not willing to engage. One was so angry she could barely look at me and refused to listen to any suggestion of putting her concerns in writing. They had come wanting to have their say in an open arena and were not prepared to consider any other way of getting their views across. This was a shame as I feel that shouting at someone isn’t the best way of getting them to see your point of view. I had much more sympathy with the residents who wanted to discuss the issues with me and highlight their concerns that way. I was surprised to bump into Councillor Scully as the informal session drew to a close, as his local committee is Carshalton & Clockhouse. I can only guess at his motivation for skulking around this meeting. He must have been disappointed to see that rather than being lynched Cllr. Hall was in friendly discourse with local community representatives.

 

The Local Committee meeting started on time and I was pleased to see some new members of the public attending to hear more about the proposals for Franklin House. Some useful questions were asked from the audience and we were pleased to hear that the local community would continue to be involved in shaping the project.

As I had expected the Wallington Station access scheme provoked some discussion. It was interesting to hear the thoughts of local people (and councillors) on some of the proposals and it became clear that local understanding of the area showed that some of the ideas, whilst OK on paper, may not be workable in practical terms. In view of this it was agreed that there needed to be informal consultation on the scheme to allow this local knowledge to be taken into consideration. An event is expected to be arranged for August/September and all interested parties are encouraged to attend.

 

Because of the time spent discussing this item Malcolm Barker had to run through his Public Realm update very quickly. He had obtained some figures for new schemes for approval at short notice and these had to be tabled at the meeting. Some concern was expressed about the high costings of public realm projects previously considered. I admit that when I first became a councillor I was surprised at some of the figures I came across. Having obtained more detailed breakdowns I have been more reassured, however it is obvious to me as someone who has worked in the private business sector that the layers of beaurocracy required to safeguard the public purse can also ratchet up the costs of implementation. We have been promised more detailed breakdown of the costs.

 

We ended with a brief report on the new tree strategy that is undergoing consultation until the end of October and the appointment of Robert Brown as the committee representative to the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Committee looking at reducing excessive packaging by local retailers and proposals for the delivery of street scene services.

 

A sound recording of this meeting is available at:

http://www.sutton.gov.uk/councilanddemocracy/Commitee+Agenda+and+Minutes

+Library/Beddington+and+Wallington+Local+Committee.htm

 

Wednesday 16th July 1pm

Meeting with Cllr. Ruth Dombey

It had been agreed that Ruth would propose and I would second the motion to lower the voting age to 16 which was to be put to full Council on Monday 21^st  July. Ruth and I had arranged to meet to discuss the issues we wanted to raise & co-ordinate our speeches. The Sutton Youth Parliament had requested the opportunity to make a presentation at the meeting as they and the British Youth Council are actively campaigning on the issue, and the motion had been put off until this council meeting to accommodate them.

 

When Ruth arrived she was very cross. For council meetings the leadership & the opposition take turns to decide the order of debate of motions. This time it was the Conservatives’ choice. In consideration of the attendance by the Youth Parliament Ruth had kindly requested that Votes at 16 be the first of the three motions on the agenda to be debated. She had just learnt that the Tories had refused this request, which meant that either the members of the Youth Parliament presentation would have to wait through what we expected to be a long debate on the no confidence motion before making their presentation, or the presentation would have to come at the beginning of the meeting but the debate would not naturally follow on. We both agreed that it came across as extreme bad manners on the part of the Tories.

Tuesday 15th July 6.30pm

Safer Neighbourhoods Team Community Event

This event was specific to Carew Road and Ross Road in Wallington. The Wallington South Safer Neighbourhoods Team had organised this as the first of what hoped to be a number of engagement events targeting specific areas of the ward. Despite leafleting the area there was a low turnout of residents. However we had some interesting discussions with those who did drop in. One resident with teenage children was concerned about media reports of knife crime. Sergeant LeShirley was able to reassure them that Wallington had a very low incidence of knife crime, and Sutton was one of the safest London boroughs for any crime. I was interested to talk to the teenagers themselves about how they preferred to spend their time in the evenings. The eldest said that when younger they had ‘hung out’ on the street because there was little for them to do. When I enquired whether they would have attended a youth club had there been one locally they said no, it was not considered ‘hip’ and would have been avoided by them & their friends. When I asked what sort of things they would like to see an event similar to the Carshalton Festival was suggested, but aimed at younger people. It could provide aspiring bands with the opportunity to perform in public and could also promote positive messages. I found this an interesting suggestion and will see if it is possible to follow it up for more consideration.

Monday 14th July 11.30am

Carers Partnership Board

This meeting proved to be one of the most interesting Carers Partnership Board meetings to date. A great deal of discussion took place, which resulted in an overrun of 45 minutes, but I felt it was worth it. I am not sure whether the discourse was the result of the new format agenda, or the subject matter, whichever, it was a productive meeting.

 

The decision of the PCT board to agree to the closure of Malvern ward was the first talking point. Concern was expressed about the resulting lack of residential respite care places and it was agreed that I should write to the PCT on behalf of the Board on this issue.

 

A sub-committee was formed of six volunteers to work on the Gold Standard for Carers with the aim of formulating measurable outcomes against which local services could be evaluated.

 

There was a request from the Sutton Adults Partnership Board for us to consider how the issues of smoking and obesity were relevant to carers which provoked a good discussion. It was agreed that both these problems could prove to be an issue for the carer as a result of the great amount of stress they often suffered. There could also be an impact on the carer if the cared for smoked – in the form of passive smoking, or if the cared for is overweight this can have implications for the carer’s health if they need to lift them or push a heavy wheelchair.

 

There was also a lot of discussion around funding carers’ expenses when they attend meetings or conferences as a ‘user-group’. It was agreed that there needed to be clarity about which body the carer was representing & funding sought accordingly.

Monday 14th July 9.30am

Chair’s Briefing

Beddington & Wallington Local Committee

I met with officers to discuss details of how the meeting would run on Thursday. Malcolm was still waiting on some final figures for his Public Realm update, and Jo updated me on questions submitted from the public. We clarified who would be attending the meeting to present reports and respond to questions. We also looked at possible changes to the recommendations about the Wallington Station Access scheme depending upon the discussions at the meeting.

We also agreed on who would make Powerpoint presentations and discussed the technicalities of this.

Thursday 10th July 9.30am

Wallington Community Coffee Morning for Take Part Take Pride Week

Cllr. Richard Bailey & I spent the first hour putting up gazebos in front of the Old Town Hall whilst staff from Scola humped out chairs and tables for us. Richard’s wife Susan was enormously helpful too: she had brought along biscuits she had made, and had also brought all the supplies of tea, coffee and squash. She then stayed throughout the event helping to serve refreshments so a huge thank you to Susan for giving up her time for us. Students from Orchard Hill College came out both to sample our refreshments and help serve them. Colin Hall also joined us to serve cakes & talk to the locals.

 

Our custom ebbed & flowed. At one stage all the tables were all full of folk happily chatting to each other. We were very lucky with the weather as it was the one day of the week that it didn’t rain.

 

I was pleased that my own cakes went down quite well, having fully satiated my ‘domestic goddess’ baking all the previous day. Now I don’t need to go back in the kitchen for another year! My chocolate brownies soon disappeared and the chocolate beetroot cake proved a novelty – particularly with the staff from the Your Move Estate Agents over the road.

 

The scepticism from passers by when told that refreshments were free was quite amusing. I think they suspected us of recruiting them into some religious cult, or worse still – trying to sell them double glazing. Of those who did stop for a drink all said that they thought it was a great idea to try to get people talking to each other again – it’s what makes a place feel like a community.

 

I certainly enjoyed chatting to different people during the event. Graham Willins, the Council’s Economic & Regeneration Manager, happened to be visiting Scola at that time so we took the opportunity to talk shop on the lawn – much more pleasant than a stuffy office, and very continental.

Tuesday 8th July 11.30am

Carers Partnership Board Chair’s Briefing

I met with Simon Latham the executive head with responsibility for carers services and Julie Wilson who heads up the LBS Carers Development Unit to discuss the agenda for the forthcoming meeting on 14^th July. Ken Fish the Vice Chair was unable to attend as he had a prior commitment. Simon requested that the Board provide some guidance on preparing a new Service Improvement Plan for carers as the current one was coming to its expiry date.

 

Following this meeting I had a spontaneous meeting with Rachael MacLeod the CE of the Carers Centre in Sutton about the agenda and she came up with some good ideas about amending the format of the agenda (and meeting) in order to make it clearer what the aims of each item were. We also revisited the plans for agenda setting meetings in the light of the timing of the Adults Partnership Board meetings and the Sutton Partnership Board meetings, which are of direct relevance to our board. We have therefore decided to try to have agenda setting meetings 3 weeks prior to the Carers Partnership Board meeting and have obtained agreement with relevant members of the board.

Thursday 3rd July 7.30pm

Merton, Sutton & Surrey Joint Health Scrutiny Committee

This committee is an amalgamation of the Better Healthcare Closer to Home (BHCH) Joint Scrutiny Committee and the Epsom & St Helier Financial Recovery Plan Committee.

 

The committee was to receive an update on the BHCH programme and discuss the Outline Business Case. However some members of the committee had not received copies of the detailed report until shortly before the meeting and it was agreed that in the circumstances they were at a disadvantage to discussing the papers. The committee therefore did not look at the report but arranged for an informal meeting with Bill Gillespie, Chief Executive of Sutton & Merton PCT to discuss the business plan then.

 

The committee also received information on the progress of the Review of Women and Children Services and the pre-consultation engagement. I ascertained that the Midwife-Led Unit proposed to be established alongside the labour suite at St Helier was going ahead on its own merits and was not considered part of the consultation.

 

The trust has a dedicated website providing key documents and information on the review: www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk/women&children’s/.

 

Minutes of this meeting will be available on the Sutton website at: http://sutton.moderngov.co.uk/ieListMeetings.asp?CId=383&Year=2008&J=3

Open letter to leader of Sutton’s Tory Opposition

Remind you of someone?

I have just posted this letter on the website of the local paper in response to a recent story published there recording that Cllr. Paul Scully, leader of the opposition, has submitted a vote of no confidence in Cllr. Hall’s position as Lead Member for Environment & Leisure. I can also advise that the local paper’s reporting of support among Liberal Democrat members for the motion is grossly inaccurate.

Open letter to Councillor Scully:

I have just learned of your proposed vote of no confidence and wanted to express how appalled I am that you have stooped to using personal scapegoating in order to further your own party’s political aspirations. It is truly a despicable and unjustified measure. Cllr Hall’s far-sightedness during his time as lead member for environment has ensured that Sutton is at the forefront in reducing the impact our residents have on the planet; meanwhile the Tory party were still arguing about whether climate change is real or not. If anyone is to take the blame for the failure of the green waste collection scheme it is you for whipping up the public’s negative feelings about the change and encouraging flytipping, instead of supporting the underlying principle of waste minimisation and its beneficial effect on council tax rates. I think your approach is an example of the lowest form of political manoeuvring and you and those of your colleagues who support this motion should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves. Be in no doubt that I will be expressing these views in the council chamber on 21^st July.

 

Councillor Jayne McCoy

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wallington South