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.
Renowned Double Bass Player Comes to the RAC on 4th September
Matt Ridley is a freelance double bassist, bass guitarist, educator and composer bandleader based in London.
He has a performing career spanning more than 2 decades.
He makes his debut at the Riverside Arts Centre with the Terence Collie trio on Sunday 4th September.
For further details, click here
Walled Garden Awarded Green Flag for 12th Year Running
The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.
The historic Walled Garden in Sunbury Park was built in the early part of the 18th Century. Following years of neglect, Spelthorne Council embarked on a restoration project of the two-acre garden in 1985. Now home to dozens of varieties of clematis, this 'hidden gem' provides a tranquil spot all year round.
Sunbury Regatta on Saturday 13th August
After a long absence the Sunbury Regatta returns to Rivermead Island on Saturday 13th August.
A great day out for the family is in prospect..
Brecon London Day Jazz Festival
A full evening of jazz to enjoy at the Riverside Arts Centre on Sunday 21st August.
The Band, Sky High to Play at the SCC on 12th August
The next Music Night at Sunbury Cricket Club is on Friday 12th August, when the Club presents SKY HIGH, who are a new name to the Club, although the group members are familiar faces to most of you. Guitarist Roland Le Roc and Allen Bis are former members of The Mersey Legends, and drummer Stephane Booroff is a member of our house charity band The Chain Gang as well as being in The Escorts and leading his own jazz quartet The Blues Notes — he is also a former member of Edison Lighthouse.
SKY HIGH specialise in a much-ignored area of repertoire, playing pop and rock hits from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and they have developed a strong following performing regularly around the country at Warner Hotels and other venues, and their music makes for a great party night.
Sunbury Regatta (at which LOSRA will have a stall) takes place the following day, which is always a big day in the village, and which has been absent for a couple of years, so we’re getting the weekend’s fun under way early with a Music Night on the Friday.
Food will be available from 7pm. There will be overflow car parking available in the Paddock area on the other side of the bowls green from the main car park, accessed through a gate further along the river road.
Nigel Price to Perform With the Terence Collie Trio at the RAC on 7th August
Over a career spanning more than 25 years, award winning jazz guitarist Nigel Price has become widely acknowledged as one of the hardest working musicians in the business.
Musically, his blend of flowing bebop lines, deep blues sensibility and his mastery of chording continue to delight audiences and fellow musicians alike. His career highlights include a support show for Gladys Knight at The Royal Albert Hall and an appearance on Van Morrison’s recent album Keep Me Singing.
Starting his professional career in his early 20s, Nigel toured Europe with various reggae and funk bands before settling on a solo guitar career and turning his attention to jazz. Citing early influences as Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Nigel honed his craft by attending gigs and sitting in with the players of the time.
Nigel is a regular performer at London’s Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club where he has made more than 500 appearances.
More...
Local Plan Consultation
Residents who received the recent Council Bulletin will already be aware of the consultation on the proposed Local Plan.
It is now just over a month since its publication and we have until 5th September to take part.
Phase 2 Benwell House Redevelopment Consultation
Spelthorne's consultation about the second phase of the redevelopment at Benwell House has now opened.
To take part, please click here
Music Festival and Family Day at London Irish, 9th July
London Irish Amateur RFC announces a family friendly event with something for all the family located in Hazelwood, Sunbury, TW16 6QU - Great music, beers, food & fun!
Event profits will go to London Irish Amateur Rugby Football Club & LIARFC U12 Dublin Tour.
For further information, click here
Patrick Clahar Appears with the Terence Collie Trio at the RAC on 10th July
Patrick Clahar is one of the leading Saxophonists of his generation, and the cream of British Jazz. His sound on the tenor sax is without equal. It has a modern clearness, but is rooted in the soulful, raw sound of Coltrane.
Patrick has worked with the Jazz Warriors, Jazz Jamaica, Julian Joseph Big Band, Julian Joseph and Jason Rebello quartets, Incognito, London Metropolitan Orchestra, Lou Reed, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks, Stevie Wonder, Basia, Jocelyn Brown, James Brown, Dina Carroll, Desiré, Mica Paris, Lulu, Sister Sledge, Omar, Pete Townsend, Dave Stewart, Carleen Anderson, Beverly Knight, Diana Ross and Bobby Womack.
A great evening is in prospect!
AGM - Chairman's Report, Minutes and Annual Accounts
For those who were unable to attend our AGM at the Riverside Arts Centre on 22nd June, you may view:
Music Night at the SCC on 1st July, in aid of British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal
The next Music Night at Sunbury Cricket Club falls on Friday 1st July, and it’s a special event at which two of the bands who are close associates of the Club and supply members of our Chain Gang charity collective are putting on their own free entry charity night to raise money for The British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
The two bands are MATRIX and THE MARSHALL TAYLOR BAND – they will play one set each, with both of them drawing their repertoire from across the rock spectrum.
MATRIX comprise Chain Gang regulars Chris Allard (guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Gerry Cook (guitar) and Martin House (bass), plus singer Des Desmond and drummer Alan Hall. THE MARSHALL TAYLOR BAND are Chain Gang members Mark Doyle(guitar) and Phil Miller-Tate (bass) along with Mike Farrell (lead vocals, guitar, Richard Blanford (drums).
It’s free to come in, but we will be requesting donations to the charity either in cash or to a Just Giving page which has been set up at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-watts31
You can make a Just Giving donation at any time, not just at the time of the gig, although there will be a QR code available on the night to access the Just Giving page.
It will be a great evening of top quality rock, so please come along and support the bands by making your donations - the Ukraine emergency may have gone off people’s radar a bit but the crisis deepens by the day, so events like this continue to be hugely important.
Food will be available from 7pm. There will be overflow car parking available in the Paddock area on the other side of the bowls green from the main car park, accessed through a gate further along the river road.
Riverside Players to Put on Thunder Rock at the RAC, 30th June - 2nd July
Robert Ardrey initially conceived of Thunder Rock while on an extended honeymoon on the edge of the North Atlantic, on the island of Nantucket. Across that ocean the European crisis was escalating; the major powers had just signed the Munich Agreement, acceding to Nazi Germany’s annexation of swaths of Czechoslovakia.
To Ardrey the agreement—which would indeed turn out to be a failed gesture of appeasement—was a sure harbinger of war.
Ardrey, who was committed to a socially engaged theater and viewed the looming conflict as a possible social catastrophe of unprecedented dimension, knew he had to write a call to arms to try to rouse the largely isolationist American public to action, but he was at a loss as to how.
Then one day, during a performance of Swan Lake, the play appeared to him.
Trees in The Avenue - Update on Progress
Further to the article published on this site (scroll down to 9th May), the Planning Enforcement Officer at SBC has forwarded the following update:
"I can confirm to date we have had:
- 15 positive responses confirming that missing trees have been replanted.
- 3 negative responses refusing to replant for various reasons
- 180 is the total number of trees protected under TPO30
- 62 trees identified as missing
I will be doing another survey to confirm the above status and will then be following up on those that either have not responded or have refused to replant. I will keep you updated of our progress.
As to enforcement, she continues: "....we prioritise in terms of the harm caused (similar in all these cases) and the likelihood of successful prosecution. I will update you further once we have carried out the survey to confirm."
