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by Paul Scully | Apr 4, 2007 | News |
A BMW car dealership and 27 light industrial units have been given the green light after a unanimous decision by Sutton Council’s Development Control Committee.
Two local residents spoke very well sharing their reservations over the detail of the application whilst welcoming the regeneration of the site which has been empty for two years. They addressed issues such as construction materials, noise, security and sewage
Alongside my colleague Tony Shields I pushed Officers to tackle these and other issues, receiving assurances that the site would not be able to be accessed via Willoughby Avenue without a further planning application being heard and approved by the Council.
Parliamentary Candidate for the Conservatives, Ken Andrew said afterwards, “I’m pleased that the Tory councillors were able to ensure that the Planning Officers dealt directly to reassure the residents. Of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating but residents will be happier knowing that the site will not lay derelict for much longer.”
The Greater London Authority has had fourteen days to review the decision. The Mayor can direct a refusal but since the GLA have contributed a lot to the report by the planning officers including insisting on a contribution of £90,000 from the developers to improve the road and bus stop approaching the site, he is unlikely to take further steps.
by Paul Scully | Mar 22, 2007 | News |
Calm down, it’s symbolic already! I share his views on the viability of ID cards but diverge slightly on his choice of cereal toppings. Watch and enjoy.
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by Paul Scully | Mar 22, 2007 | News |
Yesterday Gordon Brown doubled the tax rate of the poorest to pay for a tax cut for everyone else. He increased the tax burden on the small businesses that make up the majority of companies and employ much of the population in order to cut corporation tax for the biggest City firms. It’s worth looking back to Gordon’s formative years growing up in the country.
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Young Gordon bought a donkey from an old farmer for £100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day, but when the farmer drove up he said, “Sorry son, but I have some bad news… the donkey is on my truck, but unfortunately he’s dead.” Gordon replied, “Well then, just give me my money back.” The farmer said, “I can’t do that, because I’ve spent it already.” Gordon said, “OK then, well just unload the donkey anyway.” The farmer asked, “What are you going to do with him?” Gordon answered, “I’m going to raffle him off,” to which the farmer exclaimed, “Surely you can’t raffle off a dead donkey!” But Gordon, with a wicked smile on his face said, “Of course I can, I just won’t bother to tell anybody that he’s dead.”
A month later the farmer met up with Gordon and asked, “What happened with that dead donkey?” Gordon said, “I raffled him off, sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece, and made a huge, fat profit!!” Totally amazed, the farmer asked, “Didn’t anyone complain that you had stolen their money because you lied about the donkey being dead?” Gordon replied, “The only guy who found out about the donkey being dead was the raffle winner when he came to claim his prize. So I gave him his £2 raffle ticket money back plus an extra £200, which as you know is double the going rate for a donkey, so he thought I was a great guy!”
Gordon grew up and eventually became the Chancellor of the Exchequer,and no matter how many times he spun the truth, or how much money he stole from the British voters, as long as he gave them back some of the stolen money, many of them, unfortunately, still thought he was a great guy.
The moral of this story is that, if you think Gordon is playing fair and doing something for the everyday people of the country for once in his life, think again, because you’ll be better off flogging a dead donkey.
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by Paul Scully | Mar 22, 2007 | News |
Last Monday, I became Conservative Group Leader on Sutton Council and Tony Shields was elected Deputy Leader. I’m grateful for the trust that my colleagues have put in me and know that it’ll be a steep learning curve having only been on the Council for 10 months.
I have met with colleagues and officers of the council and will continue to do so over the coming few days, but of course, I am most keen to speak with as many residents as possible. It is you who look to us to put your views across and it is you who will judge us on our performance. I am confident that with the talented group of councillors that we have in the Conservative group, we will be able to build on our success, taking the ruling LibDems to task, detailing the areas where we feel improvements can be made and ultimately taking control in 2010 to implement these changes and acheive better services at a realistic cost to all of us.
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by Paul Scully | Mar 22, 2007 | News |
I went to Brussels last weekend with my friend Andy, staying in a hotel just yards (not metres, obviously!) from this building, the Barlaymont, home to the European Commission until it was found to be riddled with asbestos.
Anyway, Andy has an electric wheelchair which is far too heavy to lift. The hotel had a step up to the entrance and could not supply a ramp. Neither Andy or I are precious about access rights (it’s all swings and roundabouts since the only wheelchair spaces in Eurotunnel are in first class) but the irony was not lost that despite the fact that we were in the shadow of the building that pumps out oppresive regulation for the whole of Europe, the Belgians ignored them.
We borrowed a couple of planks of wood to make an extra step. The following day the Eurotunnel was cancelled for 24 hours and so they had to put us up in a Hotel Ibis. This was not as salubrious as the first hotel but was easy to access, the rooms were big with an accessible bathroom. So, they’ll get any future business. You can regulate to your heart’s content. It only builds up resentment and the free market will win through in the end.
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by Paul Scully | Mar 12, 2007 | Carshalton Central, News |
Plans to install an awning and outdoor heaters at the Butterchurn pub were overwhelmingly turned down at the Council Development Control Committee.
I addressed the committee, joining residents in condemning the proposal. He explained to the committee some of the long-running problems of noise and anti-social behaviour that might increase should the plans be approved.
The Butterchurn has joined other pubs in looking for a workaround to the smoking ban due to start in the summer. The awning would have enabled more people to stay outside the pub with the heaters allowing noise to disturb neighbours beyond the warm summer months.
The permanent outdoor heaters do not fit in with Sutton’s cleaner, greener image but amazingly, Sutton does not have a planning policy to cover this.
The Safer Neighbourhood Police Team have had to devote a lot of time and resources to the problems surrounding the establishment. Whilst the management of the pub is still so transient, it is not appropriate to make changes that may make the situation worse. Eric and Paul are pleased that the majority of the committee agreed with the residents that felt strongly enough to come to the committee meeting and voted against the application. The options available to the Butterchurn are to appeal against the decision, submit a new altered application or scrap the whole idea.
A BMW car dealership and 27 light industrial units have been given the green light after a unanimous decision by Sutton Council’s Development Control Committee.
