Welcome to the LOSRA Website
Like any local community, the policies and decisions shaping the character and future of Lower Sunbury are influenced by a combination of local and national government initiatives, alongside market forces and vested interests operating within these frameworks. As with many areas, Lower Sunbury faces challenges stemming from an aging infrastructure, rapid urban development, increasing traffic congestion, and other pressures that impact both quality of life and the distinctive character of the neighbourhood.
In collaboration with local authorities, other residents’ associations and amenity groups, LOSRA plays a vital role in addressing fundamental issues that affect its members' lives. This organisation not only engages with broader strategic concerns but also focuses on the everyday matters that shape community well-being.
To stay informed, we encourage you to subscribe to our regular e-bulletins via the link at the top left of this page. Your continued support is essential to our efforts, and we urge you to join or renew your membership. Subscriptions for 2026 are now payable at £5 per household. Donations are also welcome.
Local Residents Secure Tree Preservation Orders at Stratton Road Green Belt
The following notice has been issued by Spelthorne Council following an application by local residents to secure Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) on the Green Belt land at Stratton Road:
Town and Country Planning Act 1990,Town and Country Planning (Tree Preservation) (England) Regulations 2012.
Tree Preservation Order – TPO304/2025- Land To The East Of Bishop Wand Church Of England School And To The North Of Hawkedale County First School Bounded By Stratton Road,Sunbury-on-Thames.
On 09 July 2025 we made the above Area Tree Preservation Order and sent you a copy.
The Council has considered whether or not the Order should be confirmed.
After careful consideration, it was agreed on 11 September 2025 that all the trees of whatever species within Land To The West Of Bishop Wand Church Of England School And East Of Halliford Park, Sunbury-on-Thames, to be included in the Area Tree Preservation Order. Consequently, it was resolved to confirm the Order without modification. The effect of the decision is that the trees within the subject land are now permanently protected and any work to them will normally require the prior written consent of this Council.
A win for local residents. Well done!
The Green Flag Award for Sunbury Park - Judges Comments
The following notice was published on Facebook by The Friends of Sunbury Park: Sunbury BESS – STOP PRESS!
In a frankly inexplicable turn of events, the third iteration of the planning application (24/01112/FUL) by Sunbury BESS Limited for a Battery Energy Storage System installation off Charlton Lane in Shepperton has been put on the agenda for the Spelthorne BC Planning Committee meeting on 17 September, with a planning officer’s recommendation for approval.
In his 34-page report on the application (available on the SBC planning portal), the planning officer repeats many of the reasons previously given as to why it must be considered as ‘inappropriate development in the Green Belt and is consequently harmful’. But then the report, which unfortunately contains a number of inaccuracies, inconsistencies and contradictions, goes on to claim that this harm is outweighed by ‘the environmental benefits of the proposal in aiding the transition to the delivery of renewable and low carbon energy to mitigate climate change and to aid the transition to increased dependency on renewable energy’. This is extraordinary! The proposed scheme has been halved in size in terms of its electrical capability compared to the two previous applications that were recommended for refusal, and yet it is now claimed that somehow its contribution to ‘the transition to increased dependency on renewable energy’ has magically increased to the point where the application can be approved; how can this be?
Also unexplained are the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive’s lack of objections to the scheme, in spite of the fact that the design is required to allow for a ‘realistic worst-case scenario’ in safety terms, namely a lithium battery ‘thermal runaway’ fire event. For instance, the scheme is required to include onsite storage of 225,000 litres of water, sufficient to fight a fire for an initial two hours – but there is no indication as to what steps would be taken to prevent this water, once used and toxic, from entering the water table.
For these and many other reasons, LOSRA continues to be adamantly opposed to this development, as do the other Residents’ Associations around the site. It is be hoped that councillors on the SBC planning committee will recognise the extent of this opposition and vote against approval. If they do not, then the inhabitants of Charlton Village, Shepperton and Sunbury will surely be regretting that decision for the next 40 years. Residents can apply to attend the planning committee meeting at 7pm on 17 September by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; let us hope that sense will prevail!
A Fun Day at the Hazelwood Centre on 30th August
We have just received the following notice from the Administrator at the Hazelwood Centre and are pleased to reproduce it here:
The Riverside Players of Sunbury to Bring Steel Magnolias to the RAC. Book Now!
To book, go to: https://www.ticketsource.co.
Sunbury BESS – The Saga Continues…
Those with the stamina to keep up with this long-running story will recall from our web article on 13 June that Sunbury BESS Limited (SBL) had submitted some further revisions to its Battery Energy Storage System proposals for the site off Charlton Lane. These included almost halving the extent of the batteries installation and providing a Ground Investigation Report in response to the Environment Agency’s (EA) earlier objections to the proposed infiltration drainage system on this former landfill site.
Since then the EA has reacted to the Report by providing a response which disagrees with some of its conclusions and maintains its objections to the proposals. The applicant has in turn submitted just two additional documents, published on the planning portal on 28 July. The first of these is a ‘Statement of Community Involvement’ covering the various interactions between SBL and local residents’ groups and other stakeholders.
The second document is titled ‘Drainage Assessment’ and appears to be an attempt by the EcoDev Group (of which Sunbury BESS Limited is part) to overcome the EA’s objections by requesting the agreement of it and Spelthorne Borough Council to a conceptual approach to the drainage design at this stage; in return EcoDev would commit to a series of detailed conditions attached to a planning approval - presumably in lieu of providing a definitive revised drainage scheme as part of the application itself.
LOSRA remains fundamentally opposed to this latest iteration of the BESS proposal and has submitted new objections to Spelthorne Council. These have just been published on the planning portal and can be viewed from the documents list here.
More...
A Reading - The Search for Anne Frank by Geoff Buckingham
4th August at 7.30pm, The Studio, Riverside Arts Centre, Thames Street
Written by local playwright, this is a powerful story of Anne Frank, her family and others caught in the horror of Nazi occupied Amsterdam.
This is a free event, with tea and biscuits available.
Geoff would appreciate some advance notice if you intend to be there so that he can plan casting and ensure there are enough copies of the script.
Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Another Green Flag Award!
We are so pleased to announce that Sunbury Park and Orchard Meadow, together with the Sunbury Walled Garden, have been awarded Green Flags for 2025. In previous years this award has been granted in respect of the Walled Garden only; so it's particularly gratifying to see the inclusion of Sunbury Park and Orchard Meadow for the 2025/2026 award.Closure of the A308 in Hampton – A Further Update
At the time of writing there are fewer than 12 hours to go before the scheduled closure of the westbound A308 in Hampton. Over the last 48 hours some residents in Lower Sunbury have finally received a letter from Thames Water advising of the closure, which for many will have been the first official information they have received about the project.
The Thames Water letter includes some brief details of what is to be expected, including the timeframe (7 July to ‘the end of October’, so now 17 weeks) and the fact that there will be ‘diversion routes’ in place for westbound A308 traffic – although details of these are not given in the letter. We know though from elsewhere that the agreed diversion route is through Hampton and Hampton Hill, which is – unlike the A308 – within the London ULEZ zone and includes a night-time and weekend HGV ban. The letter refers to these points by noting:
‘ULEZ and weight limit restrictions: We are currently liaising with both TFL and London Councils on this to ensure that no one receives any fines using the agreed diversion route. We will be aiming to come back and provide with an update a definite response soon via our webpage: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/hampton-barrier ’
There are currently no such updates on the TW webpage, so we have to assume that the closure may well start without any confirmation on those ULEZ and HGV assurances, which is unfortunate. Richmond Council published a brief news item on the closure on 3 July; it gave just few details and a link to the Thames Water webpage for more information! Surrey Council’s ‘Major utility company roadworks’ information page does not include the A308 closure at all, although it does suggest a link to a third-party database (the Causeway one network map) that does include the references of the closure notice (last updated in February) - and a link back to Richmond Council’s homepage!
So, as LOSRA has pointed out in previous articles, there is basically no indication that the implications for traffic through Lower Sunbury of this nearly four-month closure have been considered by any of the authorities involved. At this late stage we can only hope that the majority of motorists take note of the illuminated signs that have recently been put up asking them to ‘avoid the area’ for the duration of the closure. Needless to say, it is a request with which many of us cannot comply – simply because we live here and therefore have no choice now but to face the consequences of this ill-prepared scheme.
A Letter from Sahara Andrews - PCSO Lower Sunbury
PCSO Sahara Andrews, the designated Officer for Lower Sunbury, and her colleague Connor attended the LOSRA AGM, but were called away on a ‘shout’. Click here for the report on their local activities they would have presented had they been able to do so. Callers at the Walled Garden café yesterday may also have seen them having a ‘Cuppa with a Copper’!
Closure of the A308 in Hampton – An Update
Since writing our web and Sunbury Matters articles two weeks ago, we have been trying to establish more information on the 15-week closure of the westbound A308 that is claimed to be needed to allow Thames Water to install a crash barrier between the road and the Grand Junction reservoir. Although we have had contact with Richmond Council’s highways department and Thames Water, we still have key questions unresolved with only a week to go before the closure is due to start on 7 July. What is depressingly apparent is that little or no thought seems to have been given by any of the relevant authorities to the potential impact of the closure on Lower Sunbury, nor indeed did they consider it even necessary to communicate it to our residents.
We have though had the benefit of two representatives - from Thames Water and from its traffic consultant Hatton Traffic Management - attending LOSRA’s Annual General Meeting last Wednesday 25 June, giving us an opportunity to quiz them directly on the closure. We asked them to provide answers to a number of questions; we are giving some of their answers here:
Q1: Has it been agreed that drivers of non-ULEZ-compliant vehicles will be neither charged nor fined for driving round the designated diversion through the ULEZ zone?
Thames Water have escalated this as a priority with Transport for London, Richmond and Wandsworth council and they are supporting the delivery on this. We are currently awaiting the response and will confirm as soon as we have it.
Q2: Is it confirmed that the permanent ban on HGVs in the Hampton section of the designated diversion, which is in force at night time and at weekends, will be temporarily suspended for the full duration of the project?
This has been agreed.
Note: we do not know with whom it has been agreed or how it will be implemented, but it is vital to avoid HGVs coming down the Lower Sunbury Road instead without realising that there is an even more severe 7.5 tonne limit through Lower Sunbury.
Q3: Will a full-time manned ‘stop/go’ traffic control be in place at the junction of the A308 and Church Street in Hampton to allow diverting westbound traffic to cross over oncoming eastbound traffic?
This has been confirmed to help mitigate the delays following the road closure and diversion, this will be implemented when and where required.
Q4: Will some ‘not suitable for diversion traffic’ signs be installed to deter motorists from attempting to divert through Lower Sunbury?
This has been forwarded to our project team and Hatton Traffic Management; we will notify you once we have an update.
From these responses it is clear that the analysis and preparatory work that should have been done and communicated weeks ago has still not been completed. It gives us no confidence that Lower Sunbury will avoid the chaos created by drivers attempting to find an alternative to the queues and the lengthy designated diversion around Hampton. In less than a fortnight we will know just how bad that chaos will be.
Hazelwood Centre - Forthcoming Events
The following notice has been received by LOSRA from the London Irish Amateur RFC and we are pleased to reproduce it here.
"We want to keep you updated with some of the events that we have coming up in July at Hazelwood. We hope that you can share it with the community so that they feel welcome to join in the fun that our sporting facility offers. Some are open to the public to enjoy and others we feel its best that the community is aware they are taking place.
2nd July - Quiz night all are, welcome to come down. Quiz starts at 8pm and enjoy the fun at our regular quiz night on the 1st Wednesday of every month. Come and enjoy this fun event and bring the family.
3-6th July - We are excited to be hosting this amazing event again in 2025. There will be around 4000 children of various ages playing across the whole facility over the four days.
We understand that the neighbours may worry about this volume of people and parking. We can assure them that there will be parking teams on every day to make sure that things run smoothly. Please let them know to ring the office should anything come to light. 01932- 750190. This number will be check at regular intervals throughout the days. Parking is being shared with various school around the area to help lighten the load and we are grateful that they have stepped up to help out.
Saturdays 12th, 19th and 26th July – Vitality Park Run 08:45am – Calling all you Sunbury local runners why not pop down and enjoy a lovely run around our beautiful grounds on a Saturday morning and then enjoy a lovely coffee and bacon bap in our café afterwards. home | Hazelwood parkrun | Hazelwood parkrun
Saturday 19th 22nd July and 2nd August - A lovely brunch"
AGM and Chairman's Report to Members
Forthcoming Road Works in Green Street & Church Street
Residents should be aware of road works in the key thoroughfares of Green Street and Church Street during the week commencing 30th June. It is intended that the works, which are described in the attached notice, will be effective between 8pm - 6am.
