Courier Scam:

A Surrey Resident recently received an unsolicited telephone call from a male stating he was from a courier company.The caller explained that the resident was due a delivery and was ringing to confirm the resident would be at home to receive it.

About an hour later a man arrived with basket of flowers and a bottle of wine.The delivery man explained that there was a £3.50 delivery charge and could not accept cash. The resident produced a debit card and the delivery man swiped the card in a mobile card machine and the resident entered their PIN number. The machine produced a receipt for £3.50 so all appeared legitimate.

The following day a total of £4,000 had been withdrawn from the residents account, by means of charges and ATM withdrawals.

Other residents in Surrey have fallen victim to this scam.

Solution: Be wary of accepting surprise gifts at the door and do not use you a credit or debit card for payment.

Please report these or similar instances to us via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05 06.

Nottingham Knockers:

Ourselves and the Police refer to these types of fraudsters as 'Nottingham Knockers', because that's where the scam originated.

A team are usually bussed into a locality and dropped off to cold call residents, to flog them overpriced dusters, ironing board covers, etc, supposedly because they've been enrolled in some sort of offender rehabilitation scheme.

Their opening line is usually akin to: "Good morning, sir, my name is Tom and although I've been a bit of a bad lad in the past, I'm now trying to straighten myself out. Would you like to buy some of my goods?"

They may apply pressure to easily swayed residents and display signs of aggression to get them to buy their dodgy goods.

Moreover, requests for glasses of water and to use toilet facilities are sometimes used as a pretext for getting into the properties with a view to distraction burglary.

Back in June Linden Homes held an information day exhibiting some early thoughts and plans for the development of the Environment Agency site in Fordbridge Road. They took on board the feedback given at the time and, since then, the steering group (see below) has been working to develop the plans further.

The steering group has been working to the following set of principles:

• Separate access – one for residents, one for the Environment Agency to allow them to continue their vital maintenance work on the river
• 2 storeys as the preferred height across the development, with the option of considering accommodation in the roof (i.e. 2.5 storeys) subject to the agreement of the steering group and the local community
• Density – no more than 50 dwellings on the whole site
• A desire to see as many family homes on the site as possible, subject to the agreement of the local authority and the community
• A commitment to ensure the development is of high quality and fits well within the lower Sunbury community
• A workshop is part of the development and needs to meet the operational needs of the Environment Agency and take account of the needs and concerns of current and future residents and the wider community
• All the parking for the development to be accommodated within the site
• The footpath giving pedestrian access to the Island for Wheatley’s Eyot residents to be retained
  
  

Linden Homes will be holding another exhibition this Saturday (24 November ) where you will be able to see the latest plans, talk to steering group members about them and have your say.

The exhibition will be held at the Riverside Arts Centre on Thames Street in Sunbury and will run from 10am to 4pm.

If you are unable to make the exhibition but would like to be sent some information on the plans, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call Peter Gilheany on 020 7403 2230.

The Riverside Works Steering Group:

• Jenny Grant, community representative from CAROD
• John Hirsh, community representative from LOSRA
• Chris Wills, community representative from LOSRA
• Helen Hancock, Environment Agency
• Martin Bryan, Environment Agency
• Ben Johnson, Linden Homes

The Planning Inspector’s decision with regard to the appeal by Linden Homes against the refusal of their 44-unit plan has been made public. She allowed the Appeal.

Nevertheless, in this week’s Surrey Herald, Linden Homes say that, notwithstanding the decision of the Planning Inspector, they intend to proceed with the construction of the 28-unit plan. “We are currently working up the details for implementation of the 28-unit scheme. Demolition of the existing building will commence shortly.”

We are glad to hear that that is Linden Homes intention. After a year of campaigning, two Spelthorne planning committee meetings and the four-day public enquiry for the appeal, we have reached a conclusion satisfactory to the residents and the developer.

Apart from considerable time and effort, the process has cost just over £4700. It is not too late to contribute to help defray this cost. We would be grateful for any donations, no matter how small. Whilst this particular development concerns one corner of Lower Sunbury we believe the threat of over-development affects everyone.

 If you would like to contribute, please forward a cheque, indicating that it is for the Linden Homes Appeal, made out to LOSRA, (Lower Sunbury Residents Association), to:

Mrs Colleen Cuthbert, The Secretary, LOSRA, 8 Maryland Way, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, TW16 6HR

Contributions can also be made via PayPal on this website

Our grateful thanks to those who have contributed a total of £1130 so far.

Further to our autumn 2012 newsletter which may be viewed by clicking 'LOSRA newsletters' at the top of the Home Page and the article published on 25th October (see previous page), CEMEX UK has now made formal application to Surrey County Council for the extraction of gravel from land at Watersplash Farm, Fordbridge Road.

The application includes the erection of processing plant and associated mineral infrastructure, the provision of a new access from Gaston Bridge Road/Green Lane roundabout; restoration involving the importation of inert restoration materials to agriculture, flood meadows, lake and reed beds with public access on the site of 28 hectares; and a temporary diversion of public footpath 53 for the duration of operations.

As a statutory consultee, Spelthorne Council are inviting residents to comment and any representation may be made through the planning portal of the Council Website: http://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/ quoting reference 12/01487/SCC.

The following email has been received from the Head of Planning Policy at Spelthorne Council. The Hon. Chairman, LOSRA was present at the meeting to which he refers and now urges residents to participate in the consultation which closes on 24th December:

At the respective quarterly meetings with residents associations and planning agents held last month we said that the government was expected to start consulting shortly on proposed changes to permitted development levels for home owners and businesses. We said we would let you know as soon as we heard anything.

Yesterday a consultation document was published giving 6 weeks to comment with a closing date of 24 December. The link to the relevant page on the DCLG web site is: communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/extendingpdrconsultation

The planning system has always allowed small extension and alterations to be made without the need for planning permission – hence the term ‘permitted development’. The key proposed change is the raising of the limit when planning permission is required for a single story rear extensions from 4 metres in length for a detached house (or otherwise 3 metres) to 8 metres for a detached house (or otherwise 6 metres). The consultation also asks for views about other changes in permitted development rules.

At the recent quarterly meetings there appeared to be unanimous concern from those present about the extent of the additional freedoms being suggested by the government. You may wish to take the opportunity to make your own response to the government.

If we can assist in clarifying anything in the consultation we will as always be pleased to do our best to assist. If you do make a response we would be interested to receive a copy so we can follow the particular points that are made.

Finally we can always advise residents when planning permission is needed and recommend this is always done. There is further information on the planning pages on our web site: spelthorne.gov.uk/article/587/Planning

Following a recent exchange of correspondence between LOSRA and Surrey Trading Standards, this Website will be publishing the periodic newsletters produced by Surrey TS, the first of which may be viewed by clicking here.

We will also be publishing the occasional alerts which originate from TS and which can therefore be regarded as authentic and timely.

The first of these involves an Ofcom Text scam:

Issue: Be aware of a text message scam. Some mobile customers have received text messages claiming to be from Ofcom. It asks consumers to click on a website address and then enter their personal details. The text message claims to be from the “Ofcom Communications Team” and mobile phone number of the sender is six digits in length. This is a scam. If you receive the text message then do not click on the website

Solution: You can report the scam to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or via the website www.actionfraud.police.uk/

If you are concerned that you may have submitted your personal details then contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via the website www.ico.gov.uk/