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.
The Santa Trail – free family event
LOSRA has received this press release from Spelthorne Council:
Calling all good boys and girls - join us on a fun and free interactive walk. Come along on an adventure where you will meet lots of famous characters from Christmas tales and help find Santa Claus before it’s too late.
Children are encouraged to come in festive fancy dress and there will be a prize for the best one. To buy a Santa suit for £3 (cash only) come to the reception area at the Council Offices any week day between 10am and 4pm. Come soon as stock is limited.
The dates and time for the walks are:
- Saturday 7 December at 2pm - Meeting point: Sunbury Clock (opposite parade of shops on the north side of Staines road west), Sunbury Cross roundabout
- Sunday 15 December at 11am - Meeting Point: Manor Park car park, Church Road, Shepperton
- Sunday 15 December at 2pm - Meeting point: Fordbridge Park car park, Kingston Road, Ashford
Cllr Penny Forbes-Forsyth, Cabinet Member for Young People and Leisure said: “This is lovely festive event for families. It’s free to attend so why not come along and get into the Christmas spirit.”
Kempton Park - an Uncertain Future?
Some residents will have received a letter from Kempton Park through their letterboxes - click here to view. We are grateful to Kempton Park for making a first response to residents’ deep concerns, expressed in the recent LOSRA Autumn newsletter, regarding the possibility of a housing development on Green Belt on the Kempton Park estate. There is no doubt that debate on this subject is set to continue.
The Kempton Park letter touches on a number of points which we highlighted in the LOSRA newsletter, including:
- the backlog in the Council’s plans for affordable housing;
- the Covenant on the land of which the Council is a beneficiary, and about which discussions have been taking place;
- developments plans for other parts of The Jockey Club’s business.
There are also other questions and issues which will be the subject of further discussion and enquiry:
- the role of the Council Steering Group, which comprises members of the Planning Committee, representatives of The Jockey Club, and Council officials;
- the extensive preparatory modelling work which has already been completed with respect to redeveloping the road layout and traffic management arrangements at Sunbury Cross roundabout;
- how and when Green Belt, and particularly this bit of Green Belt, came to be identified as the site of a possible new housing estate of substantial proportions, thereby flying in the face of the planning Core Strategy which governs development in the Borough.
No doubt other questions will arise in future.
A who's who of the principal participants in the discussions may be be viewed by clicking here
Further updates will be published as and when we have more news.
Protest March to Save Spelthorne Fire Stations, Saturday, 7th December
As most residents will have heard, Surrey County Council plan to cut the Fire and Rescue Service in Spelthorne in half.
There will be a March to Save the Spelthorne Fire Stations on Saturday 7 December, starting at 11:30 am at the Fire Station near Sunbury Cross, and finishing at the Fire Station near Ashford Hospital. All welcome. Bring your own placards, banners and Fireman Sam outfits.
To view the letter from Paul Couchman, of Save Our Services in Surrey, click here
Carols in the Meadow and Christmas Market.12th December
Lower Sunbury celebrates Advent with its annual community carols event, Carols in the Meadow, which takes place this year on Thursday 12th December at 6.30 in Orchard Meadow on Thames Street. This is always a popular and well-attended start to the Christmas season, with music led by the Salvation Army Band, and Father Christmas putting in an appearance for the children. Mulled wine will also be on offer for a donation and buckets will be passed around to help defray the costs of putting on the event.
This year, once again, the event coincides with the Christmas Market (5pm – 9pm) outside the shops in Avenue Parade which is organised by the Lower Sunbury Business Community. There will be 20 stalls offering arts and crafts, food sampling, presents, jewellery and accessories. A real reindeer and a community raffle run by Laura at the hairdressers completes the attractions; so all are welcome to join in the fun and get into the festive spirit.
Charlton Lane Incinerator - a Last Throw of the Dice
In case you missed the earlier article, please scroll down to read the entry for Tuesday 5th November.
SITA needs to change the incineration technology because the original manufacturer went bankrupt. This means big changes... which require a new full planning application, so to avoid further delays SITA is sneaking these big changes through as 'minor amendments' under what is known as a Section 73 procedure. This procedure allows for minor amendments to an earlier approved application; but it is our contention that the proposed changes are not minor by any definition. Surrey County Council are simply using S.73 in order that the extant application can be rubber stamped without further delay.
You are urged to register your objection to this; and to find out more about the changes being proposed and how you can go about it please click here: http://satep.co.uk/
Hampton Based Venice Red at Sunbury Cricket Club, 29th November
The Cricket Club is delighted to welcome the excellent Hampton-based Venice Red, led by guitarist, harmonica player and vocalist Chris Allard, a great supporter of the music nights and a former colleague of Karl Green and Kevin Welling before the formation of Dave's Not Here. Before he headed for London, Chris's career goes back to the '60s with Hades and Nottinghams's top prog rock outfit Dawn Trader, who opened for Def Leppard, Krokus and Saxon over the years. Some readers will know vocalist Sarah Burley from when she ran the excellent music venue, the Duke's Head in Hampton, and the line-up is completed by Graham Reed on alto sax, Paul Chaplin on tenor sax, Nick Taimitarha (keyboards), Pete Horsnell (bass) and Chris Kerrigan (drums).
They play an eclectic mix of rock, soul and R&B classics, and it will be an entertaining evening in the true Sunbury Music Night mould.
More...
Crest Nicholson's Plans for London Irish Site at The Avenue
On Friday, 8th November, Crest Nicholson, the developers of The Avenue London Irish site held a drop-in event for all those residents living nearby and most likely to be affected by the housing project.
If you were unable to attend or would like to view the display boards used to illustrate the plans, please click here
Night Work on Bridge this Week
Roads around Walton Bridge will be closed for five nights this week to enable road surfacing on either side of the new crossing to take place.
Costain Ltd will be carrying out work along Walton Bridge Road to complete the road surfacing at the new Walton Lane roundabout on the Shepperton side and at the traffic-signalled junction of New Zealand Avenue and Oatlands Drive.
The Callender-Hamilton bridge has now been completely removed and the last parts of the fifth crossing will be taken down at the end of this week and work has now started on constructing the permanent cafe on the Cowey Sale side of the river, which was displaced during the build.
Rogue Traders in Sunbury
A resident has been receiving calls from various companies offering PPI refunds - the latest claimed they were from Trading Standards and offered a substantial refund in connection to her late husband. They asked for an address saying the cheque could be delivered that afternoon. Needless to say this was NOT us and she didn't divulge any personal information and reported it!
There seems to be an influx of cold callers in the Sunbury area offering energy saving surveys that are supposedly connected with a government scheme.
Think before you open the door or agree to anything and, above all, do not let strangers into your home!
Further reports of alarm sales. These follow unsolicited calls to elderly residents who are then subjected to pressure sales and even persuaded to change their already installed and more than suitable community alarm for the traders expensive contract version!
NB These are sometimes sold as 'free' but actually come with an expensive and lengthy maintenance contract.
Please look out for friends, family and neighbours!
Surrey County Council Presses Ahead with Deeply Unpopular Incinerator
As the saying goes, if you put lipstick and a frock on a pig, it is still a pig. Whereas an earlier application for the installation of a gasifier was approved by SCC last year, by cunning sleight of hand, SCC are now seeking to vary that approval for the installation of an incinerator. The two are very different but the County Council, in defiance of independent definition, insist that the revised installation at Charlton lane is still a 'gasifier'. This is of course nonsense but SCC cannot admit this for, to do so, would imply a new application rather than a variation to that already approved.
LOSRA and the Shepperton Against The Eco Park (SATEP) have campaigned long and hard to prevent this untested and unproven installation being situated so close to a residential population but it seems that SCC are determined to press ahead in defiance of the local residents' wishes and their legitimate fears.
As time passes, more and more reports are published clearly stating that incinerators are the cause of increased cancer rates. By the very nature of the incipient progression of these diseases it is only now that these long term studies are revealing the truth.
The following is the conclusion of an in-depth accredited Spanish study which involved a significant amount of sampling work in support of that conclusion:
5. Conclusion "Our results support the hypothesis of a statistically significant higher risk, among men and women alike, of dying from all cancer in towns situated near incinerators and hazardous waste treatment plants, and specifically, a higher excess risk in respect of tumors in the stomach, liver, pleura, kidney, and ovary. Furthermore, this is one of the first studies to analyse the risk of dying of cancer related with specific industrial activities in this sector at a national level, and to highlight the excess risk observed in the vicinity of incinerators and installations for the recycling of scrap metal and scrapping of ELVs, regeneration of spent baths, and treatment of oil and oily waste." The full report may be viewed by clicking here:
http://news.newclear.server279.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/1-s2-0-S0160412012002279-mainIncindeaths.pdf
All residents are urged to make their representations by 28th November to Surrey County Council by writing to Alan Stones, Planning Development Control Team Manager, (ref.SP13/01553/SCC), Planning and Development Group, Surrey County Council, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DY. Alternatively by email to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The application itself may be viewed by clicking here: www.sita.co.uk/your-environment/our-plans
Sunbury & Shepperton Arts Association Announces Its 2013/14 Programme
The Sunbury & Shepperton Arts Association is pleased to announce the 2013/14 programme of Saturday morning classical Coffee Concerts which will take place at the Riverside Arts Centre, 59 Thames Street, Sunbury-on-Thames.
Tickets, priced at £7.50, include coffee and croissant. Doors open for coffee and croissants at 10.15 am and the hour-long concerts commence at 11.00 am.
Saturday November 23rd is the date for the first concert in the series, when Markella Vandoros, violin, and Emma Abbate, piano, will perform a programme comprising Mozart’s Sonata in G major, Schubert’s Sonata in A major and Debussy’s Sonata in G minor.
Markella plays with the Mediterranea Trio and is currently studying for a PhD in the Music Department, Kings College, London. Emma Abbate, is professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Subsequent concerts are scheduled for Saturday 8 February, 2014 when The Gelachter Wind Trio will perform, and Saturday 22 March sees the return of the excellent pianist Joseph Tong. The final concert in the series is on Saturday 26 April featuring David Gaster, violin, and Linda Marley, piano.
Tickets are available from the box office on 01932 782 788 or on the door immediately prior to the performance. To see leaflet, click here
Downliners Sect Comes to Sunbury Cricket Club, 15th November
The next Music Night is in eleven days’ time on Friday 15th November, when the SCC welcomes back The Downliners Sect, one of the legendary names of '60s R&B from the days of the original Eel Pie Club, where they vied with likes of The Rolling Stones, Pretty Things and The Yardbirds in their EMI days. With an evolving line-up over the years, built around their original founder Don Craine, they have stood the test of time as one of the best exponents of classic R&B and blues. Still led by Don Craine (guitar/vocals), and including long-time stalwart Keith Grant (bass/vocals), the line-up also includes on harmonica and vocals John O’Leary, Savoy Brown Blues Band founder member and one of the godfathers of British blues harmonica, who has played at the Club with his own band. The line-up is completed by Del Dwyer (guitar/vocals) and Mark Freeman (drums).
They regularly feature at the current incarnation of Twickenham’s celebrated Eel Pie Club, and they gave us a really brilliant night last year – they are pretty much the archetypal Sunbury Music Night band – if you’ve enjoyed gigs at the Club but have never seen Downliners Sect, we can guarantee you’ll enjoy them as well. There is full info at www.downlinersect.com, and you can find loads of Downliners Sect video on YouTube. I am sure it will be another great night, so we look forward to seeing you there.
Environment Agency Revised Flood Warning Drop-In
In our autumn newsletter, residents will have been advised of the Environment Agency's Drop-in session at the Embroidery Gallery on Wednesday 13th November. This notice serves as a reminder - especially to those who received telephoned alerts from the EA last winter when there was no apparent risk to their properties. To view, click here
Photo Exhibition at Sunbury Library, 9th November
Sunbury & Shepperton Local History Society - Exhibition of Sunbury Historical Photos
On Saturday 9th November 2013 between 10am and 4pm, The Friends of Sunbury Library have invited the Sunbury & Shepperton Local History Society to put on a photo display on the ground floor at Sunbury Library.
This is a one day FREE event.
Come and see more photos of Sunbury from the extensive archives of the Local History Society.
Please bring your old photos and memories of Sunbury to share with the volunteers.
There will also be local history books for sale including:
- The latest publication of Sunbury & Shepperton Local History Society
- ‘The History of Walton Bridge’ (60 pages in colour) by Nick Pollard - £7 or £6 to members!
More information about the Local History Society can be found on their website: sslhs.org.uk
Sunbury Library, The Parade, Staines Road West, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middx, TW16 7AB
