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.
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
Robin Bibi Band to Debut at SCC on 10th February
The next Music Night at Sunbury CC is on Friday 10th February, when the Club welcomes THE ROBIN BIBI BAND for the first time, although Robin has played here several times with other bands, most notably The ‘60s All Stars.
Robin is one of the UK’s most respected blues/rock performers, and something of a legend on the club and festival circuit, as a guitarist/singer/songwriter who has played with the likes of The Pretty Things, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and Ben E. King, and has shared the bill with B.B. King, Van Morrison and Chuck Berry. He has released a dozen critically acclaimed albums since 1997, and plays with his band all over Europe, as well as also performing as a member of The ‘60s All Stars and The Eel Pie All Stars.
He is joined for this gig by Tony Marten, formerly with George Michael, on bass, and drummer Wez Johnson, a colleague of contemporary US blues rockers Kirk Fletcher and Ariel Posen. We can guarantee that it will be a top class night of blues/rock in the classic tradition of Sunbury Music Nights.
There’s more information at https://robinbibiband.co.uk/, including links to some great videos on YouTube.
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.
Corporate Peer Challenge
At the end of November, Spelthorne Borough Council invited a team of senior officers and councillors to undertake a comprehensive Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge. The team conducted more than 40 meetings involving over 125 people, including a range of Council employees and councillors as well as external stakeholders and partners.
Whilst containing some positive elements it will make uncomfortable reading for some.
Guitarist, Alban Claret Joins the Terence Collie Trio at the RAC on 5th Feb
Alban Claret was born in Perpignan (France) in 1987. He took his first guitar lessons at eight years old and discovered his passion and dedication for music making as a teenager which later made him study intensively.
In 2004, he was accepted as a student of the Musicology Faculty at the Conservatoire of Montpellier to broaden his knowledge about music styles. He also studied at the Jazz department of the Conservatoire of Perpignan with the brilliant French Jazz Guitarist Serge Lazarevitch. During this period Alban composed his first music and led several bands and played his first concerts.
Upon his arrival in the Netherlands in 2008, he was accepted in the Jazz department at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague and cooperated with musicians like John Ruocco and Eric Ineke also studying with Martijn van Iterson.
In 2017, Alban decided to move to London and settle as a full time musician and since performed in numerous Jazz clubs in London and the UK.
Spelthorne residents need photo ID to vote at elections in May
Residents are being urged to make sure they are ready to vote in May by checking they have an accepted form of ID.
For further details click here
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London Irish Mini Rugby Parking Difficulties
London Irish Mini Rugby organiser has notified the Association that a number of busy weekends are coming up which will result in higher than usual on-street parking whilst the Club is experiencing difficulties with its overflow car park.
How residents can be prepared for emergencies
Spelthorne Council has produced a document residents can download to ensure they are appropriately prepared in the event of an emergency:
There is a range of compost bins available all with a third off the normal price
Surrey residents can now buy a range of reduced-price compost bins, hot composters, food waste digesters and other composting products courtesy of a subsidy provided by the Surrey Environment Partnership.
There are a range of compost bins available all with a third off the normal price. You can use them to compost all your garden waste, and even some food waste such as vegetable peelings, eggshells and coffee grounds. If you would like a product that can take all your food and garden waste, then you can buy the Green Johanna hot composter for just £74.99 (reduced from £129.99).
As well as making a saving yourself, you will be helping your local council save money. When residents compost their food and garden waste at home, money that would usually be spent running that service can be spent on other essential services across Surrey. Composting is also the most environmentally friendly method of disposing of your food and garden waste, helping you to do your bit for the planet.
To buy a discounted compost bin, visit the compost bin sale section of the SEP website now.
Panto Season is Here! Cinderella at the RAC 19th - 22nd January
Happy New Year! Nashville Teens at the Sunbury Cricket Club on 6th January
The first Music Night of the New Year at Sunbury CC is on Friday 6th January, when the Club welcomes back THE NASHVILLE TEENS in their traditional January slot to blow away the January blues – this gig is actually a week or two earlier than might have been chosen, but the band have dates booked in at holiday camps on subsequent weekends.
THE NASHVILLE TEENS are one of the great names from the ‘60s who had two memorable Top Ten hits in 1964 with “Tobacco Road” and “Google Eye”, and have played storming gigs for the Club over many years, so we’re delighted to have them back again. The line-up features their original lead singer Ray Phillips, who has had an unbroken half-century career with the band, as well as making solo records and performing with other line-ups like the British Invasion All-Stars with members of The Yardbirds, Creation and Downliners Sect. With him in the current Nashville Teens is a line-up of seasoned performers, including on bass Colin Pattenden, member of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band when they had their big hits back in the 70s with Simon Spratley of The Ian Campbell Blues Band on keyboards, Ken Osborn from Levee Camp Moan on guitar and Adrian ‘Spud’ Metcalf on drums. It will be another night of classic ‘60s R&B, featuring in Ray one of the great voices of the beat era. There’s more information at www.Nashville-Teens.com.
Food will be available as usual, so we hope you can make it down to get this year’s Music Nights off to a cracking start. In the meantime, the Club wishes you all the best for 2023 and will try to make sure there’s some fine entertainment at the Cricket Club during the year.
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 redistribution organisation Surplus To Supper, will be available from 7pm.
Karen Sharp on Saxophone Joins Terence Collie Trio on 8th January at the RAC
A prominent figure on the UK Jazz scene since 2000, Karen is well known and admired for her melodic, full-toned saxophone playing, winning the British Jazz Awards for best tenor saxophonist on numerous occasions and appearing as a nominee in the rising star category of the Downbeat Critics Poll for baritone sax in 2018 and 2019.
Karen joins the Terence Collie Trio at the Riverside Arts Centre, Thames Street on Sunday 8th January.
For further details, click here
Planning inspector appointed to examine Spelthorne’s new Local Plan
The following Council press release will be of interest to those who have been following the years long development of the Local Plan for Spelthorne:
An independent inspector has now been appointed to examine the Spelthorne Local Plan, following submission to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 25 November 2022. The Plan will guide future development in the Borough over the next 15 years.
This is another positive step forward to progress the Local Plan through to adoption. It has taken over six years to reach this stage and having an out-of-date Local Plan and without a five-year supply of housing has counted against Spelthorne at appeal on developments the Council has refused. There are also other significant benefits the Local Plan will deliver, including family homes with gardens, affordable housing, local infrastructure, sports and recreation enhancements, a new sixth form college and greater protection for our urban open spaces.
The appointed inspector, Jameson Bridgwater DipTP MRTPI, will now contact Spelthorne through the Programme Officer to make arrangements for the examination. The Programme Officer provides the channel of communication between the inspector, the Council and those involved in the examination as the inspector can’t be spoken to directly in order to maintain impartiality.
It was announced recently by the Secretary of State, Michael Gove MP, that changes to national planning policy and guidance are expected to be announced before Christmas for consultation. The changes could have implications for Spelthorne’s Local Plan in terms of the number of homes that should be planned for and where development takes place, such as through releasing Green Belt and intensifying use of urban sites. Once the detail has been considered, there will be a Local Plan Task Group meeting followed by an Extraordinary Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting on 31 January 2023 to review the changes and what they mean for the Local Plan, plus options for how the Council can choose to proceed with the examination and respond to any updated Government policies.
However, just last Thursday the Housing Minister allowed a development of 970 houses on Green Belt in York. This scheme represents more than all the proposed Green Belt development for Spelthorne in its Submission Version of the Local Plan.
Cllr Ian Beardsmore, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said: “We are pleased to have been appointed our inspector and can progress the Local Plan through to examination but the very mixed messages about changes to the planning system are seemingly contradictory. We are waiting for the detail before making any decisions and will be looking at all the options available to us. We know that our residents want a Local Plan adopted without further delay. However, if there are updates to policy that do offer us opportunities to make positive changes to our Plan, we still have that option.”
The Liverpool Echoes to Appear at SCC on 9th December
For Sunbury Cricket Club's last Music Night of 2022 on Friday 9th December, the Club returns to its traditional tried and tested party formula as it welcomes THE LIVERPOOL ECHOES. They are a new name to the Club, but they are led by Yanni Tsamplakos, who is a great supporter of the Club's Music Nights and has appeared at many Christmas party shows with his band The Mersey Legends; and we are delighted to have him back with his new line-up.
As always, they will give us a rip-roaring evening, performing a non-stop selection of wall-to-wall beat era classics, with Yanni on guitar and vocals, Billy Allan on guitar, John Joce on bass and Rick Daniow on drums. We can guarantee that it will be a great party night to kick off the festive season in style, so get a gang of friends together and come along for a proper rave-up.
There’s more info at www.liverpoolechoes.co.uk.
It's £10.00 on the door payable by cash or cards. Hot food will be available as usual from about 7pm.
