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.
Please Support Mayor’s Chain Gang Charity Music Night, 10th March
This year’s Mayor of Spelthorne is Cllr. Alfred Friday, a Sunbury East councillor and local resident, who is a great supporter of the music nights at Sunbury Cricket Club and the Club is delighted to continue its tradition and stage a music night in aid of his charities.
The Club has assembled the usual suspects from Sunbury’s music fraternity to play under the name of The Chain Gang in honour of the Mayor’s chain of office. His charities are Parkinson’s UK (Spelthorne Branch); One-to-One, which organises social activities for adults with learning difficulties; and Home Start Spelthorne, which supports struggling young families with children.
The musicians will be giving their services free, so all the door money will go to the charities. The line-up will include guitarists Gerry Cook (The Saxons), Tim Renton (3AM), Mark Doyle (Marshall Taylor Band), Chris Allard (Little Hampton Band); bassists Colin Pattenden (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, The Nashville Teens), Roger Harding (East of Eden), Martin House (Life and Soul); keyboard player Kevin Welling (Stan Bland Band); harmonica ace Geoff Forester (just back from a blues cruise playing with the likes of Taj Mahal and Walter Trout) and Alan Worrell (drums) plus music night host and organiser, Paul Watts (vocals and guitar). Karl Green (Herman’s Hermits) is hoping to be in the UK to join in.
It will be a great night of top class rock ‘n’ roll, ‘60s R&B rock and country. It’s all for great causes and will be a fun community night, so please support it. Doors 8.00pm £10.
Sunday, 5th March, Lunchtime Jazz at Sunbury Cricket Club stars top jazz saxophonist Simon Spillett
.jpg)
The next Sunday Lunchtime Jazz event at Sunbury Cricket Club falls on Sunday March 5th at 1pm, and is a special occasion, as it marks the return to the Club of one of the UKs’ top tenor saxophonists, who came a couple of years back for a gig to celebrate what would have been Tubby Hayes 80th birthday.
Simon is an award-winning saxophonist and noted jazz writer, and is the leading exponent of Tubby’s style and repertoire, as well as being the author of Tubby’s biography. His shows are always hugely exciting and entertaining as he glides effortlessly through complex solos at breakneck speed. There’s more info at www.simonspillett.com, and lots of videos of him on YouTube.
His quartet for this gig is a stellar line-up, with John Horler on piano, Tim Wells on bass and Trevor Tomkins on drums. John Horler was first pianist for Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine for many years, and was in bands with Tommy Whittle, Tony Coe and Jimmie Hastings, and has appeared at the club several times in Tony Kinsey’s quartet and big band. Tim Wells is an American who moved to Europe in the 80s to play with top names there, before settling in London, working with The London Jazz Orchestra and Ronnie Scott Legacy Quartet among others, as is regular collaborator or with Trevor Tomkins. Trevor Tomkins was with Don Rendell in the 60s and then with ground-breaking bands like Ian Carr’s Nucleus during the ‘70s – he is now resident drummer and host at the Monday jazz nights at the Red Lion Isleworth. This will undoubtedly be a top class show.
A bistro lunch menu is available, and the music gets under way soon after 1pm. For more info contact Paul Watts at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Patients' Participation Group, Sunbury Health Centre, Open Meeting on Monday 27th February
All patients of the Sunbury Health Centre are invited to attend an open meeting of the Patients’ Participation Group (PPG) on Monday 27th February, 6.30 - 7.30pm.
Your Support is Now Needed More than Ever
It's a truism that public indifference is the willing accomplice of the well-resourced developer and LOSRA's history will demonstrate that we have never been such a willing accomplice.
Most readers will be aware that the Council is in the process of revising its Local Plan and has already met its legal requirement to call in potential sites for development. At the time of writing, we are aware of several green belt sites which have been proposed by their owners, most notably, Kempton Park. In the coming months the Council will publish for public consultation a comprehensive document showing all the potential sites.
It is now all the more important that existing members renew their 2017 memberships and that those residents who have not already done so, join now. Our 15 member Committee give their time voluntarily and our expenses are kept to an absolute minimum. However, we cannot be expected to function adequately in the difficult months ahead without your support.
Please take a moment to click on the secure subscription button at the top of the Home Page where you can pay the £5 annual membership. Alternatively, leave your remittance in an envelope marked 'LOSRA' together with your name, email and postal address at either Skinner's Post Office in the Avenue or at Twirltours in Green Street.
Fire Station Public Meeting on 7th February Cancelled
Following the announcement that Surrey County Council has agreed to keep Staines fire station open until the new Fordbridge station is up and running, the public meeting planned for the 7th February has now been cancelled (See item of 26th January).
Pete French and Leaf Hound to Debut at SCC on 10th February
The next Music Night at Sunbury Cricket Club falls on Friday 10th February, and the Club is delighted to extend a long-overdue welcome to the great rock singer Peter French with his band Leaf Hound for what will be an evening of top class rock.
Leaf Hound, with Pete French as lead singer, morphed out of the late ‘60s blues band Black Cat Bones, of whom Free’s Paul Kossof and Simon Kirke were early members, and made an album for Decca called “Growers Of Mushrooms”, which has since become a cult classic. Pete moved on to achieve success with Atomic Rooster, Big Bertha and then Cactus during the ‘70s, before pursuing a solo career, as well as writing songs for other artists including Beck, Bogert and Appice.
“Growers Of Mushrooms” was re-issued on CD and when interest began to (apologies) mushroom to the extent that vinyl copies were changing hands for huge sums, Pete re-formed Leaf Hound in 2004, and has been working with them ever since, with a settled line-up of Luke Rayner (guitar), Peter Herbert (bass) and Jimmy Rowland (drums). As well as performing material from their classic album, they have made new recordings, with Kerrang! magazine hailing their 2007 CD “Unleashed” as “as good a rock album as you could hope to hear."
Pete has recently re-formed Atomic Rooster with original organist Vincent Crane to do high profile gigs, but his work with Leaf Hound continues – they played the rock and R&B festival at Skegness last weekend, and are regulars at the Eel Pie Club in Twickenham, where Pete has been a stalwart of the house bands for many years.
If you Google Leaf Hound, you’ll get their Wikipedia page and current Facebook page, plus some great images from the ‘70s, and if you go to YouTube, you can listen to the complete “Growers Of Mushrooms” and “Unleashed” albums, plus some ‘live’ videos. “Barricades” from “Unleashed” in particular, is worth hearing.
It’s great to be able to bring artists of this quality to the Club for the first time, so it's hoped you will give them a nice big crowd to play to.The new caterers are now firmly in place, and everyone enjoyed the menu at their first Music Night service.
More...
The Music of Horace Silver at the RAC on Sunday 12th February
For more than fifty years Silver has simply written some of the most enduring tunes in jazz.
See his music recreated by: Graeme Flowers - trumpet; Vasilis X - saxophone; Terence Collie - piano; Paul Michael - Bass; Chris Draper - drums
This event promises to be yet another welcome session for what is proving to be a great success for the monthly Sunday jazz in Sunbury.
Starts 7.30pm, Sunday 12th February, at the Riverside Arts Centre, 59, Thames Street, TW16 5QF.
£10 on the door or, in advance, £8 by visiting: moodindigoevents.co.uk
Fire Station meeting - change of venue
Further to the article of 10th January, please note that the venue for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee public meeting on the planned closure of Staines Fire Station, taking place at 7.30pm on 7 February, has changed to:
Spelthorne Leisure Centre,
Knowle Green, TW18 1AJ.
Second Application for Controversial Sports Hub Approved by Elmbridge Council
A second application for the controversial £19 million Walton Sports Hub has been approved the day after a High Court judge quashed the original bid in which Elmbridge Council had made and approved the application to itself.
Members of a full Planning Committee, perhaps unsurprisingly, voted by a majority that the Waterside Drive project was 'not an inappropriate development within the green belt'. (See previous articles of 12th December and 16th January).
Amongst others, two important conditions have been attached to the plan's approval and these will doubtlessly be scrutinised by residents to ensure absolute compliance:
Condition 15
NOISE MANAGEMENT PLAN A detailed noise management plan (NMP) shall be submitted to, and approved by the planning authority prior to the first use of the site. The NMP should be written in conjunction with a suitably qualified acoustic consultant and shall cover all potential sources of noise and set in place appropriate control measures. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved NMP which shall be adhered to by all users of the site at all times. Any departure should be agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Reason: To avoid adverse impacts on health and quality of life from noise in accordance with paragraph 123 of the National Planning Policy Framework and the Noise Policy Statement for England.
Condition 16
LIGHTING STRATEGY Prior to first use of the development, a lighting strategy to strictly control (or avoid) light spill from the site shall be submitted to and approved by the Local Planning Authority, in consultation with Natural England, Surrey Wildlife Trust and Surrey Bat Group. The lighting strategy shall include the recommended limitation that there shall be no floodlighting between 22:00 and 07:00 except for the car park which should be limited between 22:30 and 07:00. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved lighting strategy. Reason: To limit the impact of light pollution from artificial light on the character and amenity of the area and wildlife with particular reference to birds and foraging bats, in accordance with paragraph 125 of the National Planning Policy Framework and Policy DM5 of the Elmbridge Development Management Plan 2015.
Save Our Thames Side - Planning Application to be Heard on 17th January
Further to the article published here on 7th November and 12th December, the campaign group 'Save our Thames Side' expects to receive the judgement of the High Court judicial review today, Monday 16th January.
The planning application by Willmott Dixon will be heard at the Civic Centre in Esher on Tuesday 17th January at 7pm.
It is interesting to note that, on this occasion, Spelthorne Council has submitted a formal objection.
We apologise for the late notification but the group and LOSRA will be grateful for any support they can get at the hearing.
Kempton Park, Please join Facebook Group
Sunday Lunchtime Jazz at the SCC with the Rebel Yell Jazz Orchestra
The next Sunday Lunchtime Jazz presentation at Sunbury Cricket Club falls on Sunday 22nd January, when the Club welcomes the Rebel Yell Jazz Orchestra for a debut appearance at the Club. They are a 16-piece big band which celebrates the music of the Kenny Clarke–Francy Boland Big Band, the renowned British ensemble of the ‘60s, which featured not only great musicians but exciting and innovative arrangements. Led by clarinetist and sax player William Symington, the RYJO is drawn from the cream of West London’s jazz community including local bass player, Roger Harding. We can look forward to a top class show.
A bistro lunch menu will be available at very reasonable cost. The bar is open from 12 noon, with food available from 12.30 to about 2.30. The music starts around 1.15, with two sets plus an interval through to about 3.30.
Council responds to proposals by Kempton Park
Further to the article published immediately below, Spelthorne Council has published the following response:
Spelthorne Borough Council is preparing a new local plan for the Borough which will need to balance many competing demands including protecting areas of importance.
As part of this work it has recently issued a ‘call for sites’ enabling those who have ideas of where development might go to put them forward. This is a statutory requirement. In response to this Kempton Park Racecourse and Redrow Homes have jointly proposed the closure of the Racecourse and building of 3000 homes.
To clarify, the Council does not own the site and has no part in the proposal brought forward by its owners. A planning application has not been submitted.
Cllr Ian Harvey, Leader of the Council, said: “I am fully aware of the views of local residents and have consistently made clear my strong opposition to development of this site and my determination to protect the Green Belt in Spelthorne. I made my position absolutely clear in an open letter which I wrote to Redrow homes in April 2016. Nothing has changed. The Council’s finances are very robust and any suggestion that it needs money from new development is completely groundless.”
It will be for the Council, through its new Local Plan, to decide how much development is needed in the future and the most sustainable locations for it to go. It is not bound by any particular proposals that are put forward by developers.
The Council expects its Local Plan to be adopted in 2020.
Redrow Homes Respond to 'Call for Sites' by Proposing Development of Kempton Park
As part of the Local Planning Review, the Council is obliged to call for sites with submissions by the middle of January. Amongst others received by the Council the response by Redrow Homes is particularly controversial and has already been the subject of considerable debate. It has also been widely reported in the national and local news media. Whilst Redrow's intentions have been reported both on this site and by Keep Kempton Green (see: https://keepkemptongreen.com) what was not known until today is that demolition of the racecourse itself is part of the scheme.
The following is the formal emailed notification to LOSRA by the Agents for Redrow Homes:
"I am writing to update you and the wider LOSRA membership on the latest position in respect of the Kempton Park site. Redrow Homes has today submitted representations to the Council’s call for sites exercise relating to the entirety of the land at Kempton Park, including the operational areas of the racecourse and other associated buildings.
Redrow reached an agreement with the Jockey Club in January 2017 to extend the land within their agreement, after concluding that some development would be better placed on the previously developed section of the site, which is close to the existing urban centre and benefits from greater proximity to the railway station and the future Crossrail 2 route. The total gross developable area now stands at approximately 230 acres and Redrow’s initial capacity studies indicate that the site could provide for circa 3,000 new homes. Redrow wish to make it absolutely clear that it is not suggesting that the entire site is built on and this move could allow for the retention of a significant area of Green Belt, alongside the provision of other publically accessible on-site open space.
The Jockey Club fully supports this move as an enabling measure, facilitating comprehensive re-investment in its other UK racing facilities for the betterment of the horseracing industry. It is intended to relocate some races to other land in Jockey Club ownership in Surrey.
Although we are acutely aware of the sensitivities surrounding this site, we hope that this latest development may be seen as an opportunity for Spelthorne to provide a substantial element of its residual housing need on one site, which includes brownfield land and allows for the retention of a significant area of the Green Belt in this location.
The increase in unit numbers will make a significant contribution towards meeting the local housing need, delivering around four years of the Borough’s housing need on one site and supporting the local community in this respect. A development of this size can support its own infrastructure from developer contributions and increase funding to Spelthorne Borough Council through the Deed of Rent Charge.
In addition to housing, the site could deliver significant improvements to the local road network, particularly at Sunbury Cross and has the potential to deliver a new school, health facilities, shops and other community facilities. We hope you see this as a positive move by Redrow and an opportunity for a high quality residential-led development providing a long-term defensible boundary to the retained Green Belt with continued separation between urban areas.
I hope you have found this update useful. In the meantime if you would like to contact me please feel free to do so on 0207 399 2753. Alternatively, you can email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Best wishes,
Sarah
Sarah Wardle, Associate Director"
