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 2023 are now payable.
Emergency Alerts
The UK government have launched an Emergency Alerts system and a test will be sent to all residents in the early evening of Sunday 23 April.
For further details, click here
LOSRA Spring 2023 Newsletter Out Now
Our Spring newsletter is currently with the printers and should be available for distribution from the weekend 25/26th March.
Guitarist, Paul Stead Joins Terence Collie Trio at the RAC on 2nd April
With over twenty years playing experience, Paul has worked with numerous ensembles and as a solo performer in a variety of musical scenarios. Confident playing in a wide variety of genres spanning Jazz, Classical, Flamenco, Blues and Rock, Paul has become an in-demand freelance guitarist.
Picking up the guitar at the age of eleven, initially self taught Paul started performing with his first band at fourteen. After completing a BA in Jazz studies at the prestigious Leeds College of Music in 2001 he went on to work as a freelance musician and guitar teacher
Re-locating to London in 2009 and recently completing an MA in Film and TV Composition, he currently divides his time as a performer, music educator and media composer.
Currently Paul is working with many established musicians and singers on the London Jazz scene, playing at many of London's prestigious venues.
Anti-social Behaviour, Make Your Views Known
The Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend is asking for residents’ views on anti-social behaviour in Surrey.
It comes as the county’s partnership including her office, Surrey Police, Surrey County Council, housing providers and various support charities look to boost the service that is provided when residents report an issue or need help.
Getting tough on anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a key part of the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan, that outlines the priorities for Surrey Police.
Have your say now: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/GQZJN3/
ASB takes many forms, ranging from rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour to antisocial driving and criminal damage. It can significantly increase the risk to an individual’s health and is often connected with the bigger picture of community safety.
But reducing anti-social behaviour is complex and requires coordinated support from partners in areas such as housing, care, and mental health as well as policing.
The survey is an important way of making sure residents’ views remain at the heart of the work of the partnership and capture a fresh picture of the problems that communities in Surrey are facing in 2023.
Charity ASB help are supporting the launch of the survey and will be working with the Commissioner’s office and Surrey Police to analyse the feedback in the spring. The results of the survey and focus groups will then help the partnership to improve services and raise awareness of the different routes for reporting ASB and the support that is available.
Commissioner Lisa Townsend said it was a topic that is regularly raised by residents in Surrey, but that ASB could not be ‘solved’ by police alone.
She said: “Anti-social behaviour is often described as a ‘low level’ crime but I don’t agree – it can have a lasting and devastating impact on people’s lives.
“I regularly hear from residents affected by ASB and they often feel there is no escape. It is happening where they are and may repeat weekly or even daily.
“Making sure our communities feel safe is a key part of my Police and Crime Plan for Surrey and I’m proud that we have a strong partnership tackling ASB in Surrey.
“There is more to do. Your views are really important for us to be able to raise more awareness of the ways you can report different problems and access help.”
The online survey will run until Friday, 31 March.
Anyone affected by ASB in Surrey can find out which agency to contact for different problems at healthysurrey.org.uk/community-safety/asb/who-deals-with-it
Support is available if you experience persistent ASB in Surrey. Visit the Mediation Surrey website for more information about mediation and coaching, or visit the Community Trigger page to find out what to do if you have reported the same problem on multiple occasions but are not satisfied with the actions taken to resolve it.
The Mysterious Affair of Mr Mears - a murder mystery by Will Hardy to be performed at the Riverside Arts Centre on 31st March and 1st April
When hotel management have a guest who has overstayed his welcome, what can they do? Put an ad in The Times asking if anybody knows this secretive person, of course!
When a number of visitors subsequently arrive at the hotel and a brutal murder takes place, who could have done it and why?
Can you solve the case and get the murderer locked up? Come and have a go!
Tickets price includes:
- Friday 31st March 2023 at 7:30pm – A two-course meal
- Saturday 1st April 2023 at 2.30pm – Afternoon tea
- Saturday 1st April 2023 at 7.30pm – Evening nibbles
A fully licenced bar will be open for drinks purchases during all performances.
To see poster with booking details, click here
All Welcome at the Mayor's Charity Night at SCC on 10th March
The next Music Night at Sunbury Cricket Club is our annual Mayor’s Charity Night featuring THE CHAIN GANG on Friday 10th March.
It’s become something of a tradition that we devote one of the Club's Music Nights to a special event to support the Mayor of Spelthorne’s charities, and they have proved extremely successful evenings, so we are delighted to be able to put one on this year. This year’s Mayor of Spelthorne is Cllr. Doran, a Stanwell councillor, who is a great supporter of the Club. The Mayor’s charities are the Spelthorne Mental Health Association and Stanwell Family Centre, two vital services in these difficult times.
We have assembled the usual suspects from the great and good of Sunbury’s music fraternity to play under the name of The Chain Gang in honour of the Mayor’s chain of office. The musicians will be giving their services free, so all the door money will go to the charities. It will be a great night of classic rock ‘n’ roll, blues, ‘60s R&B, rock and country.
The line-up features Gerry Cook (Matrix), Mark Doyle (Marshall Taylor Band) and Tim Renton (3AM) on guitars; Martin House (Matrix) and Roger Harding (ex-East of Eden) on bass, Stephane Booroff (Sky High, The Escorts and ex-Edison Lighthouse) and Alan Hall (Matrix) on drums, Geoff Forester (who has played with Taj Mahal, Mississippi Fred McDowell and others) and Paul Watts on vocals and guitar. We’re delighted to say that Karl Green, original and long-time member of Herman’s Hermits, who was expecting to be in the USA on this date, is now available to join us and will be featured on several songs on vocals and guitar.
It’s all for a great cause and will be a fun community night, so please put it in your diary.
Admission is £10.00 on the door, payable by cash or card. Hot food, prepared by the expert chefs from our resident caterers from the community food distribution organisation Surplus To Supper, will be available from 7pm. We look forward to seeing you there.
More...
Changes to on-street parking in Spelthorne
In January 2023, Surrey County Council announced that they have agreed a new seven year parking and traffic enforcement contract with Marston Holdings Ltd. The contract will mean that parking and traffic enforcement will be operated in partnership between Surrey County Council and Marston.
From 1 April 2023, Spelthorne Borough Council will no longer be responsible for our on-street parking. This will include:
- the collection of parking payments
- parking permits
- parking bay suspensions and enquiries
For further information, click here
Spelthorne Council Reports a Sustainable Balanced Budget
At a meeting of full Council on 23 February 2023, Councillors agreed a revenue budget and capital programme for the coming financial year.
For further details, click here
Voter ID Roadshows
Spelthorne will be holding events in the Borough to help residents apply for their free Voter Authority Certificate (Voter ID) if needed.
The following notice has been issued by the Council
Development Application at Hazelwood Drive, Ref: 23/00070/FUL
Under the emerging Local Plan the Site on Hazelwood Drive is proposed for removal from the Green Belt and identified as suitable for residential development.
The draft allocation is for approximately 67 residential units (a figure confirmed in the application) and should deliver the dwellings between years 1-5. The Council is therefore reliant on the site being delivered to meet its housing requirement.
Paragraph 48 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) outlines that great weight can be applied to policies where the Council is at an advanced stage in the local plan process.
Given that the Council have published the Pre-Submission version of the Local Plan and this was submitted for Examination in November 2022, weight can be applied to the Site’s draft allocation which identifies this Site for release form the Green Belt to deliver new housing.
For further information and to make representations, click here, quoting application number 23/00070/FUL
Potholes a Real Problem - Please Report
The curse of potholes for cyclists and motorists seems to be particularly bad this year.
Beyond grumbling about them, please be sure to send specific details to Surrey County Council who have been very efficient in attending to repairs once reported.
Go to: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/
Eco Park Stays in Operation Until 2029
Following resolution of a legal dispute which saw both parties entering into a Settlement Agreement, the County Council’s current waste contractor, SUEZ, will continue to operate the Eco Park in Spelthorne and run a number of waste disposal services across the county until 2029.
Saxophonist, Jo Fooks Joins Terence Collie Trio at the RAC on 5th March
Jo Fooks, born in Edinburgh, began learning the saxophone at 15. In 1992 she won 'The Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year'. Inspired and encouraged by local Edinburgh musicians, Jo went on to study saxophone at the Guildhall School of music in London (1995-99).
She also studied at the Berklee School of music in Boston after receiving a full fee scholarship for the summer jazz programme.
After recording her debut album "Here and Now!", the legendary British trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton invited her to join his eight-piece band. With whom she toured and performed in some of the most amazing theatres and venues in Britain. Humph's fun filled and melodic approach to music was to be a huge influence. And through performing in his band Jo also recorded and worked with Acker Bilk and played alongside Tina May, Joe Temperley, Scott Hamilton, Elkie Brooks,and many others.
Jo's other influences include Illinois Jacquet, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gorden, Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans. Her mellow tone is often compared to Stan Getz and Zoot Simms.
Jo began to compose her own music in 2004 after learning and analysing a wide variety of Jazz standards. She currently gigs in and around the London area and her teaching positions have included tutoring the RAF bands men (2000-2006).
A performance of the FOUR QUARTETS by T.S. ELIOT at St. Mary's Church, 2nd March, 7pm
This will be a dramatic reading of the poetry by six voices, plus piano and flute. The music will include short extracts from Schumann, Chopin, Mendelssohn and Debussy on the piano, and short improvised and original interludes on the flute.
The Four Quartets has been arranged and directed by Rev. Canon Robin Morrison, who is himself a published author and poet.
TS Eliot received the Nobel Prize for poetry in 1948 and it has been said that the Quartets may well include the most profound poetry of the 20 th century.
Peter Ackroyd CBE, FRSL biographer, novelist and cultural critic wrote, "The Four Quartets are poems about a nation and about a culture which is very severely under threat, and in a sense, you could describe them as a poem of memory, but not the memory of one individual but the memory of a whole civilization."
Tickets are £10 and all proceeds will go to the St Saviour’s Community Food Bank. We look forward to seeing you.
This reading is by kind permission of the TS Eliot Estate, via Faber & Faber Limite.
Ticket bookings at www.stmarys-sunbury.org/eliot or by ringing 01932 785448 Tues-Thurs 10.00am – 2.00pm
