• Welcome to the LOSRA Website

    Welcome to the LOSRA Website

    The Lower Sunbury Residents' Association Read More
  • Become a Member

    Become a Member

    We invite anybody interested in the issues facing Lower Sunbury to subscribe Read More
  • View Our Newletters

    View Our Newletters

    You can find all the recent LOSRA Newsletter available to download Read More
  • LOSRA's Aims

    LOSRA's Aims

    To optimise and enhance the quality of life for Lower Sunbury residents by all appropriate means Read More
  • Sunbury As It Was

    Sunbury As It Was

    Visit the LOSRA Gallery for images past and Present Read More
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Welcome to the LOSRA Website

As with any other local neighbourhood, the policies and actions which affect the character and future of Lower Sunbury are generally framed and implemented by a combination of local and national government, along with the vested interests and market forces which operate within those frameworks. Lower Sunbury is by no means unique in being under threat from a creaking infrastructure brought about by rapid urban development, the growth of traffic, and other pressures affecting the quality of life and the character of the area.

Working with the local authorities, we see it as the responsibility of residents’ and amenity groups such as LOSRA to address the underlying issues which fundamentally affect their members’ lives, as well as the minutiae of everyday life with which such groups are often concerned.

Please sign up to receive our regular e-bulletins by subscribing via the facility at the top left hand of this page. It goes without saying that, without your continued support we would cease to function so we urge you to join, or renew your membership now Subscriptions (£5 per household) for 2024 are now payable.

Monday, 16 January 2017 12:00

Kempton Park, Please join Facebook Group

During the weeks and months ahead we will be keeping you informed about the proposed developments at Kempton Park (see articles below).
 
However, our perspectives will necessarily be mainly limited to local concerns. For a more widespread or national commentary, please join the newly formed group on Facebook which, at the time of writing has 2,300 followers:

http://facebook.com/groups/330579294008040/

The next Sunday Lunchtime Jazz presentation at Sunbury Cricket Club falls on Sunday 22nd January, when the Club welcomes the Rebel Yell Jazz Orchestra for a debut appearance at the Club. They are a 16-piece big band which celebrates the music of the Kenny Clarke–Francy Boland Big Band, the renowned British ensemble of the ‘60s, which featured not only great musicians but exciting and innovative arrangements. Led by clarinetist and sax player William Symington, the RYJO is drawn from the cream of West London’s jazz community including local bass player, Roger Harding. We can look forward to a top class show.

A bistro lunch menu will be available at very reasonable cost. The bar is open from 12 noon, with food available from 12.30 to about 2.30. The music starts around 1.15, with two sets plus an interval through to about 3.30.

Click here to see flier for the event

Thursday, 12 January 2017 14:31

Council responds to proposals by Kempton Park

Further to the article published immediately below, Spelthorne Council has published the following response:

Spelthorne Borough Council is preparing a new local plan for the Borough which will need to balance many competing demands including protecting areas of importance.

As part of this work it has recently issued a ‘call for sites’ enabling those who have ideas of where development might go to put them forward. This is a statutory requirement. In response to this Kempton Park Racecourse and Redrow Homes have jointly proposed the closure of the Racecourse and building of 3000 homes.

To clarify, the Council does not own the site and has no part in the proposal brought forward by its owners. A planning application has not been submitted.

Cllr Ian Harvey, Leader of the Council, said: “I am fully aware of the views of local residents and have consistently made clear my strong opposition to development of this site and my determination to protect the Green Belt in Spelthorne. I made my position absolutely clear in an open letter which I wrote to Redrow homes in April 2016. Nothing has changed. The Council’s finances are very robust and any suggestion that it needs money from new development is completely groundless.”

It will be for the Council, through its new Local Plan, to decide how much development is needed in the future and the most sustainable locations for it to go. It is not bound by any particular proposals that are put forward by developers.

The Council expects its Local Plan to be adopted in 2020. 

As part of the Local Planning Review, the Council is obliged to call for sites with submissions by the middle of January. Amongst others received by the Council the response by Redrow Homes is particularly controversial and has already been the subject of considerable debate. It has also been widely reported in the national and local news media. Whilst Redrow's intentions have been reported both on this site and by Keep Kempton Green (see: https://keepkemptongreen.com) what was not known until today is that demolition of the racecourse itself is part of the scheme.

The following is the formal emailed notification to LOSRA by the Agents for Redrow Homes:

"I am writing to update you and the wider LOSRA membership on the latest position in respect of the Kempton Park site. Redrow Homes has today submitted representations to the Council’s call for sites exercise relating to the entirety of the land at Kempton Park, including the operational areas of the racecourse and other associated buildings.  

Redrow reached an agreement with the Jockey Club in January 2017 to extend the land within their agreement, after concluding that some development would be better placed on the previously developed section of the site, which is close to the existing urban centre and benefits from greater proximity to the railway station and the future Crossrail 2 route. The total gross developable area now stands at approximately 230 acres and Redrow’s initial capacity studies indicate that the site could provide for circa 3,000 new homes. Redrow wish to make it absolutely clear that it is not suggesting that the entire site is built on and this move could allow for the retention of a significant area of Green Belt, alongside the provision of other publically accessible on-site open space.

The Jockey Club fully supports this move as an enabling measure, facilitating comprehensive re-investment in its other UK racing facilities for the betterment of the horseracing industry. It is intended to relocate some races to other land in Jockey Club ownership in Surrey.

Although we are acutely aware of the sensitivities surrounding this site, we hope that this latest development may be seen as an opportunity for Spelthorne to provide a substantial element of its residual housing need on one site, which includes brownfield land and allows for the retention of a significant area of the Green Belt in this location.

The increase in unit numbers will make a significant contribution towards meeting the local housing need, delivering around four years of the Borough’s housing need on one site and supporting the local community in this respect. A development of this size can support its own infrastructure from developer contributions and increase funding to Spelthorne Borough Council through the Deed of Rent Charge.

In addition to housing, the site could deliver significant improvements to the local road network, particularly at Sunbury Cross and has the potential to deliver a new school, health facilities, shops and other community facilities. We hope you see this as a positive move by Redrow and an opportunity for a high quality residential-led development providing a long-term defensible boundary to the retained Green Belt with continued separation between urban areas.

I hope you have found this update useful. In the meantime if you would like to contact me please feel free to do so on 0207 399 2753. Alternatively, you can email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Best wishes,

 

Sarah

Sarah Wardle, Associate Director"

The minutes of the latest Health Centre's PPG Core Group meeting are available to view by clicking here

Tuesday, 10 January 2017 18:46

Staines Fire Station – public meeting

The following self-explanatory press release has been received from Spelthorne Council:

"In response to comments received from residents about the planned closure of Staines Fire Station, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Spelthorne Borough Council has arranged a meeting to discuss Surrey County Council’s proposals for the Fire Service in Spelthorne.

Residents and interested parties from the local area are invited to attend the public meeting being held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 7 February in the Council Chamber at the Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames.

The meeting will be chaired by Councillor Colin Davis from Spelthorne Borough Council. Representatives of Surrey County Council will be in attendance including Councillor Richard Walsh, Cabinet Member for Localities and Community Wellbeing and Councillor Kay Hammond, Cabinet Associate responsible for Community Safety Services, and from the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, Russell Pearson and Clive Whitethread.

Residents who would like to ask a question at the meeting should email it in advance to the Committee Manager, Gillian Hobbs, atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 27 January. Alternatively, post your question to Gillian Hobbs, Committee Manager, Spelthorne Borough Council, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames TW18 1XB by the same date, 27 January. Due to the high number of questions expected there will only be time available to hear questions which have been submitted in advance.

Cllr Colin Davis, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said: “This is an important issue of natural concern to local residents. The meeting will provide an opportunity for residents to express their concerns and the County Council Cabinet Members to explain the logistical background to what is obviously a controversial proposal.”

Louise King

PR and Communications Officer

 

Spelthorne Borough Council,

Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines-upon-Thames, TW18 1XB

Tel: 01784 444260

Page 48 of 109

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