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by Paul Scully | Mar 12, 2007 | Carshalton Central, News |
Work is finally getting underway on the long awaited 20mph zone in West Street. Construction was due to start on 26th February to build virtual traffic calming.
This isn’t quite as space-age as it might sound at first. You may remember that this proposal has been knocking around for some years but was fraught with problems. The narrow pavements and the shallow foundations of the buildings along the road prevented the use of speed humps so another solution was sought.
Three sets of speed cushions will be placed along the northern part of West Street starting just before the Colston Avenue roundabout and a flat-topped hump will be positioned near the Water Tower.
Four “virtual” flat-topped humps will be positioned at the entrances to Carshalton Station, Sycamore Close, West Street Lane and Old Swan Yard. Lines and markings will be painted on the road to give the impression to a speeding motorist that they are approaching a speed hump. The idea is that it slows down traffic without the associated vibrations and noise that come from normal speed humps. Signs including speed-activated digital signs will show the beginning and end of the zone.
Eric and Paul welcome the innovation in the scheme. The Council so often look to speed humps as their first and only choice. This scheme may or may not work but a little more imagination can help protect our Borough from the overzealous use of speed humps whilst still making our roads safer.
What do you think? When the system starts, do let us know if it has had any effect on the speed of the traffic. Leave a comment below or you can write to Paul and Eric at London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA.
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by Paul Scully | Jan 19, 2007 | Carshalton Central, News |
Though the London Plane tree next to the Ecology Centre may have survived the battering over the last week, other trees and as a result cars, did not fare so well.
Last Thursday as well as the incredibly poignant funeral service of Jo Pollock, high winds brought a tree down in Carshalton Place flattening two cars and narrowly missing two people.
This week Carshalton Park took some damage but another tree fell onto the road opposite the old Texaco Petrol station resulting in someone having to be cut out of their car.
My colleague, Tim Crowley who was travelling through the ward yesterday spoke to Environmental Services. The trees appeared to be maintained but such wet windy conditions made the accidents unavoidable.
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by Paul Scully | Dec 17, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
The second plan rejected by councillors to demolish four houses next to All Saints School in Rotherfield Road and replace them with nineteen flats for sheltered accommodation was allowed on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.
I was a member of the committee that rejected this application. Four attractive houses are going to be torn down to be replaced by a soulless development in an area that suffers from parking and traffic problems with the school and High Street putting pressure on the surrounding roads. We have pushed to get Rotherfield Road included in the conservation area but to no avail and so the well organised residents’ committee (CRAG) who have battled to protect their road have to suffer the thin end of the wedge as the first development of this kind comes to this part of the village. The residents are looking to fight on and I wish them the best. With a lack of support coming from planning policy in this council, from the Mayor and certainly from national government, it is up to local residents to stand up to these pressures and ensure that they can continue to live in the area that they want to live in rather than being dictated to from a distance.
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by Paul Scully | Dec 17, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
The hospital opposite Carshalton Park has been closed for sometime now. I have been contacted by several constituents asking about what is planned for the site. We have all heard about the financial problems of the Primary Care Trust so residents are rightly worried about the prospect of the land being sold off for housing.
I have found it impossible in eight months to contact anyone in the PCT that can tell me anything so I was pleased when I saw that the Wallington Forum was being updated on the situation. I have to get what I can take as I couldn’t fathom why it wasn’t to the Carshalton Forum that they presented their report since the three ward councillors sit on this body and not the Wallington Forum.
I left the meeting with some optimism. The plan is to use the site as a “Post Acute Intermediate Care Unit”. Essentially this is for people that still need a hospital bed but are going through physiotherapy or such like. Carshalton would provide the beds for recuperation but in very different surroundings to a typical hospital. This fits in with the “Better Healthcare, Closer To Home” government initiative. The PCT project manager is due to produce the business plan in order to get the funding within six months.
The building on the site will not be kept. They left the meeting fully versed with the fact that it was a Memorial Site and so should be treated sympathetically. There is a possibility that the facade of the building would be kept. To my mind, I would rather see it used as a small cottage hospital of any sort even with changes to the building, than an overdeveloped housing estate. Now I have made a contact at the PCT, I am keen to keep a close eye on this site.
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by Paul Scully | Dec 17, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
We had an update on what was happening to the buildings on Ruskin Road between Rotherfield Road and Acre Lane and the answer was … not a lot.
The large house on the corner is locked up whereas the small bungalows are still being used as temporary accommodation. They are due to be redeveloped but their future is linked to the Durand Close regeneration project in the Wrythe. This is a massive project involving the controversial valuations of residents’ flats in a Compulsory Purchase Order exercise and the relocation of several families, so little will be happening in the coming months. When it does, rest assured you’ll hear it here first.
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by Paul Scully | Dec 17, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
I have been contacted by constituents about the application to convert a house in Brookfield Avenue into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) with staff quarters (Ref. C2006/56621).
There is no information in the application as to who might be living there. Staff accommodation suggests considerably more than simple bedsits.
I have been in contact with the planning department to clarify the position. The planning officer has requested further information from the applicant, specifically to find out more about who is to be living in the property. The applicant has 21 days to respond. If he does, the planning department will give neighbours another opportunity for consultation and to raise objections on the fuller facts. If he does not respond, the planning officer can judge the application on the information to hand. Commonsense would suggest that he would find it difficult to approve of the application if he does not have all of the information.
My usual “without prejudice” clause for talking about live planning applications applies (See Coleridge Avenue below).
Work is finally getting underway on the long awaited 20mph zone in West Street. Construction was due to start on 26th February to build virtual traffic calming.
