by Paul Scully | Sep 9, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
I forgot to post a quick mention of the Environmental Fair held in Carshalton Park last week. Contrast the coat in this photo with the short sleeve t-shirt in the last article. Well what do you expect? The children were still off school then, hence the rain. Back to School, back to sun. Hey ho!
Several bands in the Hog Pit entertained plenty of punters. I’m afraid I only dashed around the fair in between showers. I don’t consider myself a fair weather environmentalist, only a fair weather fair-goer. (yes, I did pick up the cup in the photo and throw it away.)
by Paul Scully | Sep 9, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
Eric & I spent the morning in the crush of people beating a path to our door for our Councillors’ Surgery. OK, maybe a slight exaggeration as no-one actually turned up. Either we have 7500 happy campers or we’re not advertising it widely enough. I’ll try harder.
After this I wandered home via the Carshalton Charter Fair in the Square. This is an event promoted by the Carshalton Society. The first fair dates back to 1259 in “Kersaulton” as it was then known. The Society has resurrected the idea and held successful events since 1983.
Stalls selling jam, bric-a-brac and books raised money for a varierty of organisations, music and facepainting entertained young and old. Some stallholders expressed the concern that the event was not as well attended as previous events, commenting that more advertising along the High Street may have helped. It certainly was perfect weather for such an event. I will endeavour to do what I can next year to give the event a little more publicity, so I hope that you will join me in putting this weekend in your diary for next year.
by Paul Scully | Sep 7, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
Just got back from a long planning meeting. Several residents turned up to object to this application. Eric spoke well about the level of local discontent. As a committee member I treat each application very seriously retaining an open mind as is expected of me. I voted against the application for the same reason that I did the last. It is too big, does nothing for the streetscape and will affect an already busy road. I felt that the developers had barely moved from their last rejected application. The second application is currently on appeal.
Two other planning matters. I joined the other councillors in rejecting the proposed flats on the Texaco site, mainly because of the oddity of retaining half a house, perfectly bisected with a false chimney added looking down West Street. This doesn’t sit well in a conservation area. Not a bad application but more work needed.
Finally I have just read the Guardian where an article says that another application is coming for the Wentworth Hall mosque on Woodstock Road. Watch out for developments.
![How to keep everyone happy]()
by Paul Scully | Jul 9, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
Sorry, don’t read any further if you actually think the answer will be contained within. You will be surely disappointed. I had my first Council surgery yesterday with one taker which was a bonus since it hadn’t been advertised. The issue raised was the long awaited 20mph zone in West Street, Carshalton. This has been on the agenda for a number of years but has failed to materialise. I noticed that on the list of items that Sutton Council produce each year to bid for funding, the 20mph zone had disappeared. It was confirmed that this was because the funding was there so no more excuses.
The existing plan, however contains speed bumps to help slow the traffic. These are all situated outside houses that are very close to the road so you can imagine those residents are not happy. There has been one fatal accident and one near-fatal accident in the last few years so something needs to be done. There is agreement in this but not in the method.
West Street is very narrow but is nonetheless an arterial road out of Carshalton. The £150k disaster of the speed bumps in Woodmansterne Road should teach us something. There are alternatives. Flashing signs, speed cameras, signals, something but let’s not just get the navvies in to dump their excess tarmac without giving it just a little thought and, surprise us, just a little consultation. I shall certainly be asking everyone what they want. (Feel free to leave a comment here, though it would help to state if you were a resident or not.) Anyway, I have started you off with alternatives in my suggested sign above.
by Paul Scully | Jun 30, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
Paul Scully and the Conservatives voted to approve the planning application to convert Paul’s Cash & Carry into residential use at Wednesday’s Development Control meeting bringing an end to the perennial problem of large lorries parking in Carshalton Grove.
Eric Howell said “In the lead up to the election, several residents in Carshalton Grove complained about the lorries and wondered why a previous application had been refused. I am pleased that the road can return to a peaceful state.”
Paul said “I first became aware of the problem whilst speaking to residents back in 2002. Having heard the submissions and examined the plan it was apparent that this helped both the owner of the business and the residents. I asked for assurances that there would be no site fires during construction and checked that a condition would be imposed restricting the hours that the builders could work as it would be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire with food lorries being replaced by night time building trucks.”
Let us know what you think.
by Paul Scully | Jun 1, 2006 | Carshalton Central, News |
Not sure why the photo has purple writing. It didn’t when it left my PC. Maybe it’s the away logo. Anyway, Eric and I had a meeting last night with the board of directors of Carshalton Athletic and we were both impressed by the positive message that we were given. Relations between the club and its neighbours have been strained to say the least over the last few years. This boiled over when the last chairman submitted plans for a £12m redevelopment of the ground driving a road through a park next to a girls’ school, opening out onto a dangerous road and covering allotments with astroturf for floodlit pitches. Suffice to say, the Conservatives sided with the residents. The development never happened and the chairman at the time threatened to liquidate the club’s assets. Shortly after this, a new board was formed made up primarily of genuine local Robins fans. I went to the meeting when it was announced that the last chairman was off and I was optimistic about what I heard from the supporters and their intentions to bring the club back to being a local team rather than a rich man’s plaything. Their actions since have borne out this optimism. Regular meetings with residents have kept them in the loop and dealt with any complaints and misgivings quickly. There will always be a divergence of opinions between what is good for residents living on the club’s doorstep and the club itself but it is a matter of give and take. As the club has been on this ground since 1926, there can’t be too many residents that didn’t know that it was there. On the other hand, the residents should be able to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the Poet’s Estate and expect the club and supporters to respect this. It seems that this difficult balance has now been reached and long may it remain. Eric will be in regular contact with the club as Conservative Spokesman for Sport as well as ward councillor and we are often in touch with the residents in Brookfield Avenue, Mead Crescent and Shirley Avenue. Do let us know if any problems arise or if you have any questions. The chairman, Harry Driver, has offered to meet residents at anytime to tackle issues as they arise.
I forgot to post a quick mention of the Environmental Fair held in Carshalton Park last week. Contrast the coat in this photo with the short sleeve t-shirt in the last article. Well what do you expect? The children were still off school then, hence the rain. Back to School, back to sun. Hey ho!
