Once again we had a well-attended and useful meeting, with discussions on a range of issues.  One of the valuable items is public question time, where residents raise any questions relevant to the Council.  We had questions on:

• What is the Council doing about rough sleepers in parks? – reductions in police numbers have made this difficult. The Council works with Spear, an outreach organisation, to assess rough sleepers and guide them towards support agencies
• Why does it take so long to get traffic signs repaired? – lack of resources.  Also the need to work with other agencies such as TfL
• Will the Council now put the All Weather pitch back into parks use? – we need to see whether the government put in an appeal.
• With the cost overrun of HS2, will there be money for Tramlink? – we already know there is not enough money for Tramlink
• What has happened to the bin at the end of Benhilton Gardens? – this will be chased up

Steve Penneck told the meeting about Sutton Town Centre Heritage week including the activities on the High St on Sat 21 Sept and the guided walks on the Sunday.

TfL gave us an update on the Go Sutton on-demand bus service.  This has been very successful and has been expanded to North Cheam and Wallington.  There are more than 200 journeys a day and satisfaction is more than 95%.  Users spoke positively of the service and raised a number of issues:

• They feel safe using it
• But they cannot book as a group
• Waiting times have increased since the extension
• Why charge for children?
• Problems in registering the Freedom pass – you need to use the number on the back not that on the front

This is a pilot service running until next April.  The feedback will be taken into account.  The service will need to be seen to be a success for it to continue.

Neighbourhood services told us about the current position with the waste collection, street sweeping and parks.  Questions raised by residents included:

• What do you do about neighbours who leave their bins on the pavement all the time – they shouldn’t do this.  Please report it, but some people do not have an option
• Access for drain cleaning.  Every road is done every two years and residents are required to move cars
• Parked cars prevent street sweeping
• When will performance data for the Veolia contract be published – there is currently a dispute on these data, but will be done by the end of the year.
• Why don’t we prosecute flytippers – we do.  250 prosecuted last quarter
• Concern about neighbours who concrete over their gardens
• Problems of litter around Greenshaw – ward councillors regularly raise this issue with the school

Committee agreed to include a scheme to improve the Oakhill Road/ High St junction in a list of improvements for approval by TfL for next year.  The problem here is that the pedestrian island in Oakhill Road is so far from the junction that many people cross nearer to the High St.  It’s not an easy problem to solve as the S1 bus needs room to turn.

The loading bay outside the Dolphin will be subject to a Traffic Management Order consultation in October with the work being done early in the New Year.

Funding was approved for a replacement street tree in Greenhill.  Events supported by the Local Committee recently include the successful Sutton Green Fayre which raised over £100 for the Mayor’s charity, and the Civic Society’s Treasure Hunt for children.

All in all a very useful meeting.  Why not come to the next one?  7pm on 14 November at Holy Family Church Hall, Sorrento Road.

Ruth, Marlene and Steve