Tuesday 30th June 10am

Carers and Personalisation Conference

This conference took place in the conference suite at the Oval Cricket Ground.

The focus of the conference was to look at the impact of the move towards personal budgets for users of social services on the unpaid carers of those users.

Whilst the move to a more person-centred approach for social care has been widely welcomed there is a perception amongst carers that it may increase their own burden of care.

There were presentations and discussion around balancing the needs of both the carers and cared for and ensuring that both parties benefited from the change in focus.

Workshops were held to encourage local partners to work together to implement the changes smoothly and also to inform on areas of specific interest.

I thought that it was a good reflection of our strong partnership working in Sutton that our conference representatives included the council: (the Carers Development Unit and Transforming Social Care programme); the Voluntary Sector (The Sutton Carers Centre), the PCT and myself as an elected member.

Homeless Man in Wallington Square

Regulars in Wallington town centre will have noticed that a homeless man has taken up residence in Wallington Square. Local police are aware of him and have contacted homeless agencies to offer him assistance. However this man is voluntarily homeless and has refused offers of temporary accommodation and other assistance from those agencies. Unless the man commits a crime the powers of the police and council are limited.

The man himself is relatively inoffensive, however it is the company he attracts that is more of a problem. His presence attracts those who like to drink on the street and when done excessively leads to anti-social behaviour. This puts off shoppers from using the square and makes the area look run down. The police are investigating whether they can make the square a no drinking zone which would give them powers to move on anyone drinking in the square.

It is interesting that it may be the generosity and charitable nature of the local people which makes the square an attractive base for this homeless man. As long as this place proves profitable for him he will be inclined to stay.

Tuesday 23rd June 7pm

Wallington South Safer Neighbourhood Team Ward Panel Meeting

I attended this quarterly meeting together with Cllr. Colin Hall and we gave the panel an update on environmental issues in the ward, including the lighting plans for the Ross Parade alleyway, issues around the recent flooding under the railway bridge and action to be taken following the mugging in Beddington Gardens.

Sgt. Peter LeShirley reported on progress by the Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) in meeting the last quarter’s priorities and the panel set the next three month’s priorities as follows:

1. Address the use of drugs and associated crime in and around the Shirley Road area.

 2. Target ASB, especially by youths, in and around the ‘High Street’ – to the west the area formed by Woodcote Road, Beddington Gardens, Shotfield and Stafford Road – to the east the rectangle formed by Ross Road, Clyde Road, Carew Road and Demesne Road

 3. Target theft of and theft from motor vehicles within the ‘eastern rectangle’ of roads as in 2, viz. Ross Road, Clyde Road, Carew Road and Demesne Road.

Tuesday 23rd June 9.30am

Shadowing the Youth Offending Team

I spent a fascinating morning in the Sutton Youth Court in Wallington observing the work of the Youth Offending Team.  Three councillors & two special advisors to the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Committee had the opportunity to sit in on a number of cases of young people being tried or sentenced in the youth courts. We were briefed on the list of 32 possible sentences that could be handed out to those found guilty of various crimes, and I was impressed by the appropriateness of the rulings made by the magistrates during the course of the morning. Note was taken of any reports from the Youth Offending Team where they had previous contact with the young person under consideration. Despite being less formal than the adult courts I still found the youth court intimidating and despite the bravado displayed by some of the young people facing the magistrates their underlying fear of the potential consequences was obvious in their body language, particularly in the case of one young man facing a possible custodial sentence.

At the end of the morning session we had the opportunity to speak to the three magistrates from the court and ask them about their work and the thinking behind the sentences they had just ruled on.

In the afternoon we visited the Youth Offending Team headquarters in Wallington and spoke to some of the caseworkers. I was allowed to sit in on a session with a young person undergoing a referral order before I needed to leave.

The day was an invaluable insight into the ‘business end’ of the justice system and the work of the Youth Offending Team.

Wednesday 17th June 2009 7.30pm

Development Control Committee

This was my first time sitting on the decision making side of this committee. This committee makes decisions on larger or more controversial planning applications. The extent of the committee’s powers is quite narrow and largely confined to issues where judgement is called for. The committee has to operate within planning regulations set by the Council itself, and those regulations have to be within the parameters set by the London Mayor. Committee members cannot refuse an application just because they don’t like it. The applicant has the option to appeal against the decision of the committee and then the final decision on the application will be made by a planning inspector – an independent person from outside the council, appointed by the Planning Inspectorate. The inspector will consider whether the decision made was reasonable and in accordance with the various planning guidelines. If reasonable then the appeal will be dismissed. If the decision is found not to have been reasonable in the light of the current guidance then the appeal will be upheld and costs awarded against the council.

 The first application to be considered was 10 Dorset Road, Belmont. We were advised that the dedelegation by the ward councillor had been withdrawn and so the application was granted in accordance with the recommendation of planning officers.

The application for 74-108 and 79-113 Sydney Road regarding the part-provision of parking spaces as a stage of construction had been completed had been withdrawn so there was no need to consider it.

Land rear of 1-7 Elm Way, Worcester Park was next and was more controversial. The application had previously been given approval back in 1996 and this was simply a renewal of the application. I had visited the plot earlier in the week. The site consisted of a plot of garden land to the rear of no 1 Elm Way, and part of the rear gardens of numbers 3, 5 and 7 Elm Way, still in the ownership of those householders. This was obviously back garden development and something I take a dislike to for a number of reasons, however as the application had previously been agreed and questioning uncovered no changes to the situation which could be useful, the committee had no planning grounds on which to refuse the application, so renewal was granted. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for an application which I would have been inclined to refuse on its original presentation so I chose to abstain. The chair offered some consolation to the objectors to the application, who were also the owners of the plots in question: that as long as they refused to sell their garden land this application had no chance of being put into operation. They truly were in charge of their own fate in this matter.

 Next up was a retrospective application for the new trading hut on the Stanley Road Allotments site in Carshalton. I had been lucky to gain access to the site and was shown the building and surrounding area by a site ‘caretaker’. The only objection to the application had come from the owners of a flat which was directly behind the new hut on the basis that it ruined the view from the property. It was established that the owners rented the flat out and no objection had been received from the current occupants of the flat, or any of the immediate neighbours. I questioned the owners’ argument about loss of view as the back of the hut was almost entirely obscured by a hedge or thick climbing plant that covered the inside of the fence to the rear of the garden. I also highlighted that the hut was positioned right next to the old hut, and that this was the most convenient location for it to permit access to the public without causing damage to the rest of the allotment site. The application was passed unanimously.

 The final application for discussion was in respect of Tooting and Mitcham Football Club, Imperial Fields Morden. The committee had been asked previously to comment on the application as it was on the immediate border of Sutton and impacted on residences and open space in Sutton. A number of objections had been noted by the committee about the significant impact certain proposed activities would have on our residents. The Merton Planning Committee had included all Sutton’s objections as conditions on the application. The application was now back with us again for consultation as the applicant wanted to vary many of the conditions that had been imposed. Questions highlighted that no good reasons for lifting the conditions had been made by the applicant, and it seemed to be purely that the applicant found them to be ‘inconvenient’. Many of the conditions concerned hour of operation. Cllr. Richard Butt commented that this committee had no power to ensure enforcement of the conditions as the matter was entirely down to Merton. The chair noted that it was indeed a ‘consultation’. Cllr. Butt took the view that it was therefore not worth commenting. I was quite angry at this attitude and argued that as elected representatives of our residents we had a duty to stand up for their interests. As Merton had listened to our objections before I saw no reason why they should not do so again. To just ‘give in’ to the pressure of the applicants struck me as ‘lily-livered’. I argued that we should restate our objections as before as there were no mitigating circumstances to withdraw them. This was agreed by the committee with the exception of the request for the applicants to prepare a Traffic Impact Assessment as this was entirely a matter for Merton to decide.

 The two remaining items were application brought by the Council regarding schools and were passed without further discussion.

Sunday 14th June 3pm

Service of Thanksgiving for members of the Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps.

I was very pleased to have the opportunity to attend this service honouring those women who left their homes and families to work the land or fell trees in place of the men who had left to fight in the second World War.

The service took place in St Nicholas Church, Sutton and was conducted by the Reverend Sarah Mullally DBE in the presence of the Mayor of Sutton Cllr. Margaret Court and her Deputy Mayor Cllr. John Leach.

I met a number of lovely ladies who recounted their experience of life in the Land Army. One told me of getting up at 4am every day to milk the cows. She had brought along her original dungarees which were still in remarkably good condition. Another recounted the heavy and dangerous work she did helping with the threshing. She told me of the many scars she had as a result of working with heavy machinery and how some of her fellow labourers had lost limbs to the threshing machine. The women I chatted to had all signed up willingly, and most treasured the friendships they had made during the experience.

A cake had been specially made and was distributed among the congregation along with tea & coffee.

Ex members chatting to Air Vice Marshal Clive Evans

Wednesday 3rd June 6pm

Cross Culture Mission Charity Launch

I was invited to attend this official launch of a new charity based on the Roundshaw Estate in Wallington. The aim of the charity is to divert young people away from gun and knife crime. Their motto is unity in diversity. Our local MP Tom Brake had also been invited to the launch and we had the opportunity to speak to the founder of the charity about its work. The charity had been operating for six months and encouraged young people to become involved in creative activities particularly music. Instrument sessions were made available to those who were interested in practising their drumming, guitar or keyboard skills. The charity also holds a monthly youth café based at the Amy Johnson school which was proving very popular with young people on the estate.

 We were then treated to a talent show showcasing performances from a number of young people from the area, together with special guests from Brixton. The performances were of high quality and it proved an entertaining evening.

 I then had the opportunity to speak to some of the young people who had become involved with the charity projects and who were also keen skateboarders. This was useful for me to discuss the Local Committee’s plans for a skatepark on the estate and to solicit ideas about the kind of equipment they would like.

I also chatted to some of the charity volunteers about their work and plans for the future.

In its first six months the charity has evidently had some success engaging local young people and I hope it will continue.

 The mission has a website with more information: www.crossculturemission.co.uk