by Paul Scully | Nov 20, 2008 | News |
Cheam Conservative councillors have expressed their deep concern at yet another six months slipping by for the much needed improvements in accommodation standards for the elderly residents of Elizabeth House, and adjoining properties, in the heart of Cheam.
I visited Elizabeth House and met around forty members of the Action Group that consists of residents and neighbours to see the considerable upset caused by the presentation of the plans for myself. I am glad that the Council are now reopening the matter to investigate the best option for residents.
Local councillor Graham Whitham’s letter to the Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Adult Social Services and Housing has raised concerns that decision makers, local people, and residents did not have access to costed proposals spelling out both the case for rebuilding the site and refurbishment.
Councillor Whitham has unearthed evidence that the Lib Dem-run Council carried out a costed assessment of the case for refurbishment only four years ago. The Council has thus far insisted in all recent reports that refurbishment is simply not an option.
In his letter Councillor Whitham has spelt out his concern and dismay that an earlier lack of available information has caused a further delay over the much-needed improvements. He also questioned an earmarked £18,000 for consultants on information the Council already substantially holds, from the exercise carried out in 2004 which addressed the cost of refurbishment.
Commenting Graham Whitham said: “I think everyone involved shares the view that the existing standard of accommodation at Elizabeth House is frankly unacceptable. 90-year-old residents should not be sharing bathrooms in the 21st Century.
“What we’re looking for is a cost effective scheme which meets current and future needs of residents, and most importantly a scheme which causes as little disruption and distress to existing residents. I’d like to thank the Elizabeth House Action Group for raising the profile of their concerns which has made the Council revisit an option it had discarded, enabling me to unearth information that was not readily available.”
Councillor Jonathan Pritchard, who also represents Cheam, concluded: “As it now seems – after six months – the Council has accepted refurbishment should be considered as an option. It is now vital that the Council gets a move on and delivers the standard of accommodation that residents deserve.”
by Paul Scully | Nov 19, 2008 | News |
Much of my work as a ward councillor and group leader doesn’t merit a great long article. Some of it doesn’t even merit comment at all. However the main reason that I started blogging in 2006 was to allow people to keep up to date with what I am doing. I would venture that most people don’t know what their councillor does.
Twitter is a mini-blog based on text messaging. As an experiment, I’ll try to keep my page (which is replicated in the top right hand corner of this blog) up to date with the various meetings and events. Let me know what you think. If you’re that keen you can even “follow me” when you will get text message updates. Instructions for new users can be found here. Having said that, I can’t imagine too many people that desperate to know what happened in Sutton’s Pension Fund Working Party and suchlike.
Oh well, here’s the leap into the unknown.
by Paul Scully | Nov 19, 2008 | News |
The Telegraph reports that Gosport District Council has banned doormats from some of their properties on the grounds that people might trip on them, especially in an emergency.
Residents have been threatened with legal action and eviction if they are not removed.
Residents have been quick to point out the obvious charge that surely the LibDem run council has more important things to do. The Council says that the risks are more acute because the corridors are too narrow. Is it helpful to threaten residents with eviction as an indirect consequence of the poor standard of housing in this area?
The LibDem parliamentary candidate for Gosport at the last General Election was Sutton Councillor, Roger Roberts. Maybe the two Local Authorities could exchange notes on superfluous bans.
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by Paul Scully | Nov 10, 2008 | News |
An excellent new website has come on line recently, encouraging people in Sutton to share their views. Adrian Short, a regular poster on this site has set up Sutton Chat, to publicise local events and allow residents to exchange opinions about everything from developing local businesses to politicians, ahem.
As I have found out in the years that I have been doing this blog, it is much more fun and meaningful if you are not just talking to yourself. This site doesn’t have an agenda beyond getting Sutton residents to talk to each other about shared interests and that is to be welcomed and encouraged. Go along, register and make your voice heard. There is plenty of room for all of us.
by Paul Scully | Nov 9, 2008 | News |
Sutton Guardian, London Tonight and the Daily Telegraph have made the link between Remembrance Sunday and the sale of the Carshalton War Memorial land for housing. Another terrific turnout at the War Memorial by the ponds where locals, joined by the Civic party comprising of the Mayor, MPs, councillors an dcouncil officers, showed the lasting respect that Carshalton residents have for those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. The Hospital is a lasting legacy left by those who paid for it to be built for the treatment of local people and especially those who had returned from the frontline.
For people in the area now, the depth of feeling lasts longer than a single weekend. Selling off the family silver means that this site will never be able to be used for healthcare again. So many plots of land have gone the same way. How can we cope with ever-changing theories and fashions in healthcare? It operated on the same basis as a cottage hospital. These were largely closed over many years but are starting to make a comeback. Unfortunately for Sutton residents, they are mainly coming back in Merton thanks to a lot of postage stamps bought by the local MP using taxpayers’ money. The Telegraph reports that the NHS changed their mind on Intermediate Care because they would treat people in their homes. This skips over the fact that they have a 53 page report on their website explaining how they are going to site the Intermediate care that was considered for Carshalton, in Wilsons Hospital. This is a building that I have been blissfully unaware of the existence of for the near quarter of a century that I have lived in Carshalton.
Looking back, I first posted about the hospital two years ago. At that time it was out of frustration after waiting eight months to get an answer as to what was happening on the site. It took a further twenty four months to get that answer. If a single piece of correspondence takes that long, I wonder how long the proposed changes in local healthcare take to implement.
Cheam Conservative councillors have expressed their deep concern at yet another six months slipping by for the much needed improvements in accommodation standards for the elderly residents of Elizabeth House, and adjoining properties, in the heart of Cheam.
