This year’s Sunbury Christmas Market, organized by the Lower Sunbury Business Community (LSBC). is being held on Thursday 7th December between 5pm and 8.00pm on Avenue Parade (outside the shops) in Lower Sunbury.

It's one of the highlights of the social calendar and always well attended. It promises gift and food stalls, meet Santa (5pm - 7pm) and carols with the Salvation Army (6:30pm).
 
The road will be closed to traffic during the event and the money raised will be used for the Sunbury community. As in previous years, LOSRA will have a stall at the market so do feel free to pay us a visit!
 
It will be a most enjoyable evening for both adults and children judging from previous successful years!

The following link, if true, reveals a very worrying description of the Environment Agency and its failure to discharge many of its core functions in relation to the river Thames.

It is emphasised that the account comes from one anonymised whistle-blower only and, at the time of writing, the EA has not responded.

Click here to view the article

Alex Garnett has been one of the leading saxophonists in the UK and Mainland Europe for over two decades, being instantly recognized by his dark, husky sound. A versatile musician and first call sideman, he has enjoyed success as both a jazz artist, composer and arranger, and an in demand session, studio and commercial saxophonist, having racked up countless recording credits along the way.

A ubiquitous performer with many of Europe’s leading bands from underground to pop, he’s a regular sideman of choice for many visiting American artists when touring in Europe, and has performed in over 30 countries worldwide appearing at such venues as the Blue Note, Birdland, as well as the Perugia, North Sea, Vittoria, Montreax, and Oslo Jazz Festivals to name but a few, with varied and diverse artists across the spectrum such as Sir John Dankworth, Wynton Marsalis, Pete King, Humphrey Littleton, Scott Hamilton, Van Morrison, Evan Parker and The Rolling Stones, as well as with his contemporaries Gareth Lockrane, Seamus Blake, Phil Robson, Michael Janisch, Joel Frahm, and more.

Alex will be joining the Terence Collie Trio on Sunday, 5th November at the Riverside Arts Centre.

For venue and booking details, click here

The following email has been forwarded to LoSRA and we are pleased to reproduce it here:

Surrey County Council will be designing proposals to improve the streets in Lower Sunbury. 

Proposals will be developed that can make streets safer, healthier and more attractive, with lower traffic speed limits and improved facilities for walking, wheeling and cycling.

We want to hear from people who live, work, travel through and spend time in the Lower Sunbury area. We are interested in hearing what the key local transport issues are and what could be changed to improve the streets in Lower Sunbury. The views of local stakeholders are important to us and so it would be very much appreciated if you could share this with members within your organisation who may be interested in providing their views. The views of individuals as well as those on the behalf of schools, organisations and businesses are being gathered at this early stage before any plans are developed.

Find out more and tell us what you think online at https://lowersunbury.commonplace.is/

The Project Team will be hosting two engagement sessions to answer any questions and gather views.

Both events will be held in the Sunbury Adult Learning Centre, The Avenue, Sunbury-on-Thames, TW16 5DZ on the following dates: 

• Thursday 19 October 2023 from 1:30pm until 6pm.
• Saturday 28 October 2023 from 10am until 1pm. 
   

The engagement period closes on 31 October 2023.

To see poster, click here

The Mustangs put on a fantastic show to a full room a couple of weeks ago to get the music season off to a flying start at the Sunbury Cricket Club.

The next Music Night is a week on Friday, 13^th October, when the Club welcome's back SKY HIGH, who played at the Club last summer and attracted a packed house. They put on a great show that was extremely well-received, with plenty of people dancing.

The band members are all familiar faces to you, as guitarist Roland Le Roc and bass player 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 perform regularly around the country at Warner Hotels and other venues, playing pop and rock hits from a much-ignored era, the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and it makes for great party night.

Tickets are £10 on the door. The bar is open from 6pm and hot food will be available from around 6.30. It promises to be a great night and we look forward to seeing you there.

The shows are starting  a bit earlier these days as everyone seems to be there by about 8.30, so expect the band to be on stage by 8.45 at the latest.

Please note also that the website where Music Night information is carried is now www.sunburysports.org/music-club/ 

Despite her repeated denials, it is suspected that the Leader of the Council had always intended that the third option to be debated at the Extraordinary Council Meeting on 14th September, namely; to "Withdraw the Local Plan from examination and prepare a new Local Plan" would win the day.

However, at the 11th hour, The Minister of State intervened by exercising The Secretary of State's powers under Section 27, Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 directing that the Council should not take any step to withdraw the plan from examination (currently paused by Council) and report monthly to her officials on the progress with the examination.

In her letter she states: "The last Local Plan was adopted in 2009, it should have been reviewed and updated many years ago. Withdrawing the Plan at this advanced stage of preparation will extend the already unacceptable period in which the Council has had no up-to-date local plan in place."

The Minister concludes the letter: "Should a significant delay occur to progressing the examination and should you fail to comply with the directions in this letter, I will consider taking further intervention action to ensure that an up-to-date plan is in place."

LOSRA has long campaigned for the plan's eventual adoption (despite its unpopular provisions) as the best defence against unplanned predatory developments and, in this regard only, we welcomed the Secretary of State's intervention.

It was the second option that was voted through, namely: to seek a further pause in the Examination timetable until the proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) have been published (expected in the Autumn) before agreeing next steps; and to take legal advice on the viability of challenging the Minister's decision.

It's reasonable to suppose this to be a further delaying tactic as it's difficult to imagine what within the revised NPPF is likely to make a material difference to the status quo.

Residents have no option but to observe how this highly divisive saga rumbles on and on until its eventual denouement.

Steve Fishwick is widely considered to be one of the best jazz trumpet players ever to come from the UK, and is rapidly gaining a global reputation thanks to his flawless technique and his beautifully flowing, harmonically rich improvisations.

Steve will be appearing with the Terence Collie Trio at the Riverside Arts Centre on Sunday 1st October.

To see poster for venue and booking details, click here