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.
Third Sunbury CC Player to be Selected for International Duty
Residents will wish to congratulate former Sunbury CC Colt and 1st XI player Stuart Poynter who is currently playing in the inaugural Test match between Ireland and Afghanistan in Dehradun in the Himalayan foothils of Utterakhand in northern India.
Stuey, a wicketkeeper/batsman (pictured), is no stranger to representative cricket having played for Ireland and Middlesex age groups and for Ireland in One Day Internationals and in the T/20 format. He also played for Middlesex before gaining a more secure place with Durham.
He already enjoys a footnote in history when he won a recent T20 match for Ireland against Netherlands when he hit a six off the last ball of the match with 9 wickets down providing a winning margin of just one run. To do that for your country is every schoolboy's dream - and not just a few misty eyed old fogeys as well, no doubt.
Stuey is the third Sunbury Colt to play Test cricket, following in the footsteps of England's Richard Johnson and Toby Roland-Jones. We wish him well - and hope to see him playing in the Test match between England and Ireland at Lords in July.
Letter of Objection to Proposed Development at Rear of 79 Thames Street
Further to the article posted here (scroll down to 4th March) regarding the proposal to develop the garden at the rear of 79 Thames Street, the Association has now submitted a letter of objection, which may be viewed by clicking here
Sunbury and Shepperton Rotary Invite You to Their Charity Fair on 16th March
“What makes our area such a happy place to live? Come and talk to our many local charities and discover what they do. Refreshments available, entrance free.”
The event will be held on Saturday 16th March between 10am – 1pm at Shepperton Village Hall, High Street, Shepperton TW17 9AU.
Click here to see poster for further details
Free Open Event at Nuffield Health on Saturday 16th March
On 16th March, Nuffield Health, Sunbury will be hosting a free open event to the public hosting a range of 1 day activities to include additional group exercise classes, personal training taster sessions, mini health MOTs, food and beverage offers and many more.
Police to Hold Public Engagement Event, 11th April at The Greeno Centre
The ‘Policing Your Community’ events are an opportunity for residents to come and speak to Surrey Police’s Temporary Chief Constable Gavin Stephens and Police and Crime Commissioner David Munro as well as hear from their local Borough Commander.
The Chief Constable will give an update on the current challenges for policing and future plans for the service in Surrey whilst local Borough Commanders will update on the policing priorities and community issues in your area.
This is your chance to ask questions, hear about, and comment on, the future of policing in Surrey including an outline of plans for the 100 extra officers, operational staff and Police Community Support Officers to come from additional council tax funding.
The event for Spelthorne will be held on 11th April at The Greeno Centre, Glebeland Gardens, Shepperton at 7pm.
Night time fire cover consultation
Surrey County Council are consulting on night time fire cover, have your say by 26 May.
To take part, click here for questionnaire
More...
Application to Build 3 Houses on Land To The Rear Of 79 Thames Street
A highly speculative development proposal in the Conservation Area of Lower Sunbury is the subject of application No. 19/00226/FUL. Click here to view the application.
The artist’s impression taken from the applicant’s Design & Access Statement, features the elevations facing the Old Rope Walk and Orchard Meadow. Unsurprisingly, the proposal has generated a great deal of anxiety within our membership and we will be submitting a representation to the planning officer to urge refusal.
The point of this notice is to alert residents to the existence of the application and to encourage representations to be made before the deadline on 20th March. These can be made online through the Planning portal and searching: 19/00226/FUL.
LoSRA’s letter of objection will be published on this site in due course. In the meantime, readers may wish to consider the effect of this proposal on the Conservation Area and whether the architecture will be in keeping with the character of the area; the limited access to the properties (by footpath only) and disregard of the Council’s parking standards.
SCC Advises that the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 Ballot is Now Open
The following is an extract from the latest edition of Surrey Matters:
The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 mile cycle ride is the shorter distance alternative to the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 mile route. The ride is on traffic-free roads and is a great way for newer and younger cyclists to have a go at their first mass-participation event. If you've never cycled on closed roads it's a great experience, and to do this through London and Surrey is an opportunity not to be missed.
About 5,000 riders are expected to set off on Sunday 4 August from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London. The 46 mile ride starts immediately after the last wave of Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 riders have started and follows the same route for the first 27 miles. Then riders take a new two-mile route to link up with the last 17 miles of the 100 through London to finish on The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.
Entry by ballot
There is a public ballot entry system for the 2019 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 which is now open and closes when 18,000 riders have registered or at 5pm on Friday 10 May 2019, whichever is the earlier. The cost of entry is £46. To register and find out more about the event go to Prudential RideLondon events 46.
Ali Maas & Micky Moody Band Return to SCC on Friday 8th March
The next Music Night at the Cricket Club is on Friday 8th March when the Club is delighted to welcome back the ALI MAAS & MICKY MOODY BAND, featuring the great rock and blues guitarist Micky Moody with the excellent and dynamic singer Ali Maas.
Micky is, of course, best-known as a long-time member of the hugely successful rock band Whitesnake alongside former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale , enjoying worldwide chart success on both singles and albums - he co-wrote one of their biggest hits “Fool For Your Loving”. Before that he was a member of other influential and successful bands Juicy Lucy, Snafu and Frankie Miller's Full House. Since then he has played with Chris Farlowe, Roger Chapman, Moody Marsden Band, Company Of Snakes and Snakecharmer, as well as performing alongside many big names, both on stage and in the studio, in a career spanning almost fifty years. He is also an author.
These days he is primarily concentrating on his own band along with the fine singer Ali Maas, who wrote all the material for indie rock band McQueen before immersing herself in the blues with her own band alongside harmonica ace Alan Glen. The band is a five-piece, featuring top musicians with a long history working with major names. They are looking forward to coming back to perform the music that Micky and his band all share a love for - rocking blues with a twist of swampy, sultry soul and Americana. We are fortunate indeed to have an artist of Micky’s stature and illustrious musical heritage playing at the Club. There’s lots more fascinating background on Micky at www.mickymoody.com
Food will be available as usual.
A Tribute to Hank Mobley Featuring Vasilis Xenopoulos at the RAC on 3rd March
Saxophonist and composer Vasilis Xenopoulos is one of the most accomplished Greek jazz musicians of his generation.
London became his permanent home after graduating from the famous Berklee College of Music, and gradually established himself as one of London’s up and coming jazz saxophonists.
He has worked with some of the best musicians in the British jazz scene, such as Jim Mullen, Steve Waterman, Alan Barnes, Derek Nash, Bruce Adams, Martin Shaw, Nigel Price, Ray Gelato, and many others. On an international level, he has appeared with a variety of top performers such as sensational pianists Hiromi, and Jason Lindner.
On Sunday 3rd March he will be performing with the excellent Terence Collie trio at the Riverside Arts Centre, 59, Thames Street, Sunbury.
Crime Report from Borough Commander for Spelthorne
Heathrow Expansion Process - Spelthorne Council's concerns
Cllr John Boughtflower, Chair of Spelthorne's Heathrow Expansion Working Group, made the following recent announcement:
"Today we are registering some major concerns with the expansion process that threatens the scheme's credibility and timely deliverability. These concerns have been flagged over a prolonged period with HAL [Heathrow Airport Limited] and we remain surprised that such shortcomings should exist at all in such an important scheme.
With only a handful of months before the formal statutory stage commences, we are taking this opportunity to urge colleagues at HAL to immediately remedy these significant shortfalls. Failure to do so will risk the underlying support our communities and businesses have in the airport's expansion."
Cllr Ian Harvey, Leader of the Council, said:
"This multi-billion pound construction project has the prospect of delivering significant economic benefit to both national and local economies. The scale of opportunity requires the commitment of all parties to genuinely work together to deliver these extraordinary opportunities whilst safeguarding the interests of the airport's neighbours for generations to come.
We remain committed to engaging with HAL at strategic and operational levels to get this process right and that is why we have taken this unprecedented step to highlight publicly the major shortcomings that potentially jeopardise the very credentials of a successful expansion process. We trust HAL will take affirmative steps to address the highlighted concerns."
Spelthorne's five expansion process concerns
1) Be honest with communities
Recent HAL 'targeted community engagement' events have barely referenced construction, and where they did, it purely related to the 3rd runway and not the airport's physical expansion. The portrayal of schematic 'cartoon' drawings and cross-sections misrepresented the massing and scale of what parking might be built. Along with various other 'engagement' shortcomings, Spelthorne (yet again) finds itself in the position of having to urge HAL, on behalf of our communities, to be more transparent with them about the potential impacts that could change the area close to their homes beyond recognition. Without open and meaningful consultation, our communities continue to be kept in the dark.
2) Get serious about sustainability
Spelthorne desires a successful and sustainable expansion for local and national economic interests. The Council fully understands that Heathrow's expansion is a hugely complex project that is challenging to grapple with and demands an extraordinary level of scrutiny and assessment to safeguard local community and business interests. Spelthorne has worked hard over the last year to foster a number of development proposals that would secure the delivery of a successful expansion without ratcheting costs and major displacement. Spelthorne asks HAL to become much more receptive to proposals - including our Southern Light Rail scheme - that would make expansion more cost-effective, sustainable and critically less impactful upon the Borough whilst meeting National Policy Statement objectives set by the Government for expansion.
3) Plenty of pain - where's the gain?
Despite highlighting a number of actions that need early implementation to safeguard community interests, HAL has constantly resisted and refused to be party to the commissioning or timely consideration of these measures. Spelthorne urges HAL to recognise that the best time to have started planning for community safeguarding measures was a year ago when Spelthorne first raised them. The second best time is now!
4) No public subsidy
As Cllr John Boughtflower, Cabinet lead for Heathrow has said, "this is no ordinary development; it is an extraordinary scheme of national importance" and that is why he has chaired the Council's dedicated Heathrow expansion team for over a year, working on robustly scrutinising emerging expansion proposals. However, contrary to assertions made by the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Transport and HAL's own Chief Executive, expansion is far from being advanced at "no cost to the British taxpayer". Our scrutiny costs are not insignificant. Spelthorne Borough Council does not want taxpayers to subsidise HAL's expansion process. Spelthorne will continue to seek HAL's financial commitment to meeting this locally crucial work without recourse to local taxpayers or impinging community services.
5) Enough expansion 'smoke and mirrors'
Recently, HAL has suggested that it can shave £2.5 billion and deliver 'expansion' for £14.7 billion, though there is no clarity whatsoever as to what will this sum actually delivers beyond the 3rd runway. With the cost of the 3rd runway estimated at circa £300 million, that leaves an outlay of £14.4 billion that is unknown. Spelthorne asks that HAL publicly declare the 'true' cost and scale of expansion alongside the phasing of terminal campus construction, transport and parking provision and passenger throughput per year. In the absence of this clarity, all stakeholders - from communities to airlines - will continue to be hampered in properly assessing the long-term impact, affordability and value-for-money of the proposed scheme.
HAL's post-Brexit expansion plans
Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL) is a £2.9 billion turnover business. In 2018 it paid £500 million in dividends to its predominantly overseas shareholders. Its largest shareholder, Spanish-owned infrastructure specialist Ferrovial, moved its international headquarters from the UK to Amsterdam following the Brexit referendum. Because HAL operates an aviation-hub monopoly, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulates its asset base.
Heathrow remains the busiest UK airport. From currently serving 80 million passengers with 480,000 flights per year, Heathrow expansion plans are to serve 130 million passengers with 700,000 flights per year. Expansion is wholly reliant on securing planning permission in the form of a Development Consent Order. As probably the largest privately financed infrastructure project anywhere in the world at present, HAL has a £260 million budget approved by the CAA to spend on securing its expansion development consent.
HAL's expansion infrastructure and cost
Infrastructure to support expansion is reliant on a 3rd runway as well as a new terminal (T6), together with expanded and refurbished existing terminal capacity encompassing T2, extended along its length and connected with three further new pier buildings. The expansion construction timeline extends to 2038 and beyond.
HAL's expansion was originally stated to cost £31 billion: made up of a £17.6 billion 'scheme capex' and a £13.4 billion 'core capex'. The two are interdependent, as HAL would not build new terminals without a new 3rd runway and vice-versa. Additionally, HAL also planned a separate £16.5 billion sum for 'asset replacement' to maintain their asset base. In total a planned £47.5 billion spend by 2048.
Increase in Council tax for Extra Police Resources Approved by Police and Crime Panel
Further to articles posted on 7th January and 2nd February we forward the following report sent on behalf of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey:
The decision will mean the policing element of a Band D Council Tax bill will increase by £2 a month – the equivalent of around 10% across all bands.
In return, the PCC has pledged to increase the number of officers and PCSOs in the county by 100 by April 2020.
Surrey Police plan to double the number of officers in the dedicated neighbourhood teams supporting area policing teams across the county while also investing in specialist officers to tackle serious organised crime gangs and drug dealers in our communities.
The rise, which will come into effect from April this year, was unanimously approved by the Panel during a meeting at County Hall in Kingston-upon-Thames yesterday (4 February 2019).
It means the cost for the policing part of the council tax for the financial year 2019/20 has been set at £260.57 for a Band D property.
In December, the Home Office gave PCCs across the country the flexibility to increase the amount residents pay in council tax for policing, known as the precept, by a maximum extra £24 a year on a Band D property.
The PCC’s office carried out a public consultation throughout January in which approaching 6,000 people answered a survey with their views on the proposed rise. Over 75% of those who responded were in support of the increase with 25% against.
PCC David Munro said: “Setting the policing element of the council tax is one of the most important decisions I have to make as the Police and Crime Commissioner for this county so I would like to thank all those members of the public who took the time to fill in the survey and give us their views.
“More than three quarters of those who responded agreed with my proposal and this helped inform what was an extremely tough decision which I am pleased has now been approved by the Police and Crime Panel.
“Asking the public for more money is never an easy option and I have thought long and hard about what is the right thing for the people of Surrey. We must of course make sure we provide the very best value for money possible and in addition to the precept I have instigated an efficiency review within the Force, including my own office, which will look at ensuring we are making every pound count.
“I believe the government settlement this year provides a real opportunity to help put more officers back into our communities which, from talking to residents across the county, is what I believe the public of Surrey want to see.
“We want to put more officers and PCSOs in local neighbourhoods to prevent crime and provide that visible reassurance that residents rightly value. Our consultation included around 4,000 comments from people who responded with their views on policing and I am aware that issues such as police visibility continues to concern residents.
“I will be reading each and every comment we have received and will discuss those issues raised with the Force to see how we can work together to address them.
“Following the approval of my proposal today, I will now be speaking to the Chief Officer team at Surrey Police to carefully plan both this extra uplift of officers and engagement events across every borough in the county to involve the Surrey public in that process.”
Soft Play Busy B's Café Opens at Sunbury Cricket Club
Sunbury Cricket Club welcomes the move of a new soft play operation to the Club from next Monday 11th February. Its presence provides welcome revenue for the Club - and much needed respite for parents and grandparents of pre-school children!
Busy B's Café is a buzzing brand new play café offering a safe and fun place where babies to pre-schoolers can explore and make friends whilst grown ups relax. Busy B's offer a tasty and healthy selection of food and drinks for everyone to enjoy; even the busiest of B's!
Previously based elsewhere in the borough the move to the Club provides Busy B's with more space and the opportunity to be open every weekday between 9:00am and 3:00pm.
Busy B's will also be offering a play venue for children's parties organised around the Club's match schedules.
More information, and plenty of photographs, are on Busy B's Facebook account at www.facebook.com/busybscafe
