On the following dates over the Christmas period, the visitors' car park at the front of the Council Offices in Knowle Green will be open and free of charge for parking.

• Saturdays - 6, 13 and 20 December
• Sundays - 7, 14 and 21 December

Just a 10 minute walk takes you into the Staines-upon-Thames town centre.

For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01784 451499.

The UK Parliamentary Election and Spelthorne Borough Council Elections are scheduled for 7 May 2015. Make sure you are registered now so that you can vote at these elections.

We published the Electoral Register on 1 December 2014 but if you have recently moved, make sure you register on-line at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Alternatively, you can request a form from the Council but it is simple and quick to register online.

Anyone who wishes to check that their name is shown on the Register may check in person at the Council Offices, by phoning Electoral Services on 01784 444218 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please note that the last day for applications to register to vote at these elections is 17 April 2015 and the last day for new applications to vote by post for the elections is 20 April 2015.

Contact Electoral Services by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01784 444218.

Cycling for Health is a scheme which encourages residents to improve their health and well-being by taking up cycling.

It is free and aimed at adults, offering guided rides led by trained volunteers of around 7-12 miles during the week. Please note, the rides are designed for adults only and are not suitable for children.

To book a place on our next ride contact Leisure Services on 01784 446433, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.spelthorne.gov.uk/cyclingforhealth

LOSRA is very pleased to publicise this event in aid of the Mayor's Charity fundraiser. In addition to the Mayor's Secretary, Bhanu at the Indian Zest restaurant in Thames Street will also be acting as box office for the event to sell tickets on the Mayor's behalf.

The following is an edited version of an email received from the Environment Agency:

From the beginning of December 2014 we will be working with our contractors, OPUS International, to undertake some investigations at Sunbury Weir. The investigations will take place between 1 and 19 December 2014.

As part of the River Thames Scheme, capacity improvements are needed to the weirs at Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington. These investigations are needed to provide information on the land around the weirs, which will help us plan and design the capacity improvements. More information on the River Thames Scheme can be found online at www.gov.uk (search for River Thames Scheme)

The investigations may vary slightly across the different locations of the weir area, but will involve our contractors using equipment to drill small boreholes into isolated pieces of land around the weir to investigate the ground. Most of the boreholes are located on the weir area’s themselves and the remainder on the towpath immediately adjacent to the weir with some located on Sunbury Lock Ait. The equipment needed to drill the boreholes will be towed on the back of a LandRover, so heavy goods vehicles/plant will not be required to undertake this work.

It will take our contractor around 7 to10 days to undertake the work at both Teddington and Sunbury Weirs. We will try to make sure the boreholes are positioned so that they will cause the least disturbance wherever possible, ensuring that traffic and people can easily pass by. The working areas themselves will be fenced off and protected during construction, and then fully reinstated afterwards.

All drilling fluids, mud and oils will be removed from the site on completion of the works, with nothing being discharged into adjacent drains, watercourses or land. All the works will be supervised by a trained and fully experienced engineer. There may be some low level noise caused by the drilling of the boreholes but this will not last long. Investigations will be conducted in working hours between 8:00am and 6:00pm, but are likely to be restricted to daylight times.

During the time the work is undertaken, up to two small mobile units may be located adjacent to the weirs. These will be used for storage of the data and information being collected from the boreholes and as facilities for the contractors undertaking the work.

Sunbury weir will be accessed from the riverside road off Waterside Drive. Where any disturbance does occur, the land will be reinstated back to its original condition prior to the investigations.

For further information please contact the River Thames Scheme team at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

John Cooper - Community Engagement Project Manager - River Thames Scheme

Tel: 01491 828478 | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

"Just look at the caller ID display – it’s the same number as your bank, so the call must be genuine, right? Wrong!" - an excerpt from the latest Trading Standards Alert. For further details, click here.

Legislation on dogs has proved hazardous ground for politicians from the Dog Licence to the Dangerous Dogs Act. When the British love of dogs comes up against our law makers, problems usually ensue.

There is, however, clearly a problem with some dogs, and more specifically some dog owners, and their impact on neighbours and wider communities. A few cases are immeasurably worse and, as we have seen on several occasions recently, dogs can kill.

Additional powers were granted to the police and local authorities last month under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, designed to give them greater flexibility when dealing with irresponsible dog owners and incidents involving dogs. These powers include acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs), community protection notices (CPNs) and public spaces protection orders (PSPOs). 

All are designed to give greater flexibility in tackling irresponsible dog owners and incidents involving dogs. The Act also amended Part 7 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to extend the offence of a dog being “dangerously out of control” to all places, including private property where the dog has the right to be and to make explicit that an attack on an assistance dog is an aggravated (more serious) offence. 

These powers (see below) should not pose a problem for responsible dog owners and it's important to note that ABCs are not legally binding and non-statutory; that CPNs can only be imposed where behaviour is unreasonable and persistent; and that PSPOs are not considered as being capable of applying to the normal activities of working dogs.

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs)

These are not legally binding and non-statutory agreements which are designed to enable local authorities to address problems associated with dogs and to try and persuade an irresponsible owner to reform. The guidance suggests that ABCs can be used where behaviour could escalate into more serious incident but does not does not currently meet any statutory thresholds for formal powers.

Community Protection Notices (CPNs) 

These are designed for “low-level” incidents including failing to control a dog and includes causing nuisance to other people or animals. However, such behaviour has to “be having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality; be both “persistent and continuing” and “be unreasonable”. A written warning must be issued before a CPN is issued. This is to allow the owner of the dog the opportunity to address any concerns before a CPN is issued. Breach of a CPN is a criminal offence.

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs)

PSPOS will replace and allow for similar restrictions as Dog Control Orders. They can be used to exclude dogs from certain areas or require dogs to be on leads etc. The guidance on these new powers states that “having a reasonable excuse is a defence for failing to comply with a PSPO”; that “ PSPOs are not intended to restrict the normal activities of working dogs” and that “these activities are not envisaged to meet the threshold for the making of a PSPO.

The next Music Night at SCC falls on Friday 28th November when the Club welcomes back SKELETON CREW, who gave us a brilliant night just over a year ago. Their members will be familiar to many of you, as two of the stalwarts are former Sunbury residents who have played in the area many times over the years. The band’s leader is Paul King, playing guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and squeezebox. He was an original member of Mungo Jerry, and went on to be voted the Evening Standard pub entertainer of the year several years in a row - he was a founder member of the King Earl Boogie Band.

With him is bass player Colin Pattenden, original member of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in their hit-making days, and now also with Jackie Lynton and the Nashville Teens. Both Paul and Colin were regulars in the Magpie and Phoenix for many years on Christmas Day playing jug band carols along with Colin Earl of King Earl Boogie Band.

On guitar is Chris Bryant, who long-time owner of Bryant’s Musical Instruments in Tin Pan Alley - Denmark Street - and on drums is Alan Hitt of Nightshift and the Zen Relics.

As those who came last year will know, Paul is a great entertainer, and we can absolutely guarantee a rollicking evening featuring their distinctive brand of jug band music, blues, skiffle and rock, with fit volunteers needed to bang the zob stick towards the end of the evening. The zob stick is a custom-manufactured instrument comprising a length of wood decorated with small bells and cymbals – an essential adjunct to this kind of music – if you were too shy to get hold of it last year, now’s your chance.

Further to the 'Streets Ahead' article published on 25th September, and in answer to queries raised about the Solid Wall Insulation Grants,,the key details are as follows:

• £3,500 grant
• Subsidised Green Deal assessment (GDAR) to access grant - £49+vat (usually approx £99)
• Additional Energy Company obligation (ECO) grant – this varies but is currently approximately £500 - £600 (roughly based on 3 bed semi-detached properties currently going through the process)
• Access to Green Deal finance loan – Optional Finance assisting residents with some of the remaining installation costs and is paid back through the savings on the energy bills.

There are 6 residents in Spelthorne who have already had a survey and are currently being assisted and the first resident to accept a quote has been awarded an additional £1000 shopping voucher to say thanks.

Solid wall insulation can help make your home:

• Warmer in winter and cooler in summer
• Cheaper to heat
• Have a lower environmental impact
• Potentially more valuable

The grant is only available for 625 properties across Surrey, so we recommended you register your interest as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Contact the Streets Ahead team today on 0333 014 3620 or visit our website at http://www.actionsurrey.org/streetsahead.

A case study may be viewed by clicking here

In addition to the Streets Ahead funding Action Surrey also provide free and impartial advice on other energy efficiency improvements and grants (for example replacing boilers or improving loft insulation) and can assist private home owners and renters/landlords, both those who are receiving benefits and those who are not. Please contact the main Action Surrey project team on 0800 783 2503 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Community Engagement Co-Ordinator - Streets Ahead Project

Tel: 01483 617762 or 0333 014 3620 

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is calling on people to check the food hygiene ratings of restaurants before booking Christmas meals out with family and friends.

A recent poll found that almost half of the UK public (46%) never check food hygiene ratings of places in which they plan to eat.

To read about this and the upsurge of scams targeting small businesses in the latest TS Alert, click here.