The 2013 Street party

Invite to the 2013 party


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Dear Residents,

Welcome to the third newsletter from your committee. We were keen to report on recent progress and more importantly INVITE YOU TO CHRISTMAS DRINKS.

Progress:

There were 3 main areas of concern you asked us to take action on:

 

  1. a.      Resurfacing of local roads, especially St Matthews Avenue which was considered to be in the worst condition.

 

We raised the awareness of the residents’ concerns related to pot holes with the Council via an on line petition and they have duly considered our request. Given limited funds we have been deemed a low priority however they may consider a “skim” which might extend the life of the current road by up to 15 years. We keep you posted as the Council’s thinking evolves.

 

  1. b.      Putting in place Pedestrian Crossings on Kingsdowne and Ditton Roads;

 

As a result of several meetings and pressure from other local Residents’ Associations the Council will put in place the requested crossings as part of a wider investment in traffic controls in the area. The precise date for the completion of works has not been confirmed but as soon as we know we shall put this on the website.

 

  1. c.      Resurfacing of the pavements;

 

The footways in St Matthews Avenue have now been made safe through the resurfacing.

In addition one resident in St Matthews Avenue took the initiative to agree with the Council permission to plant the areas between the pavements and the roads. The digging out cost was borne by the council and the filling of the area with soil and plants was borne by the owner of each house. A great initiative!  The council contact details if you are interested in pursuing this are as follows;

 

Rob Waite
Green Spaces Officer
Green Spaces Team
Environment

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Guildhall 2
High Street
Kingston upon Thames
KT1 1EU
Tel: 020 8547 5329 

 

 

Christmas Drinks

We have booked St Matthews Church rooms on Thursday 6th December between 19:30 and 22:30. We will be using the remaining funds from the association to provide some nibbles and drinks and all are welcome so please do come! It’s a great opportunity to meet some of your neighbours within your street or wider afield. We hope you can make it.

 

 

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November 11th 2012.  We've been made aware that there's been a spate of buglaries in the neighbouring streets and would urge you to be extra vigilant about your own and your neighbours' properties. 

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You are invited to St Matthew's Residents' Association's

Jubilee Street Party!

Please come for Afternoon Tea on Sunday 3rd June at half past two.

To be held on St Matthew's Avenue between the Church and Chamberlain way.

A licence to close this section of the road has been applied for.

Please bring plenty of cheer, food and drinks to share, a table if able, a chair per person, plates and cups.  Charity raffle prize donations would also be welcome!

If you are able to decorate the front of your house with balloons, or bunting that would make it even more special;  especially if you live in the closed off area.

Please RSVP by 12 May 2012

To Tim at 18 St Matthew's Ave or email us at committee@stmatthews.org.uk

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We felt the turnout was great (around 40) for our social event and thankyou for your feedback on the format which people enjoyed.

Yesterday 22nd February alongside other interested groups, we met with Kingston council officers and councillors over the Ditton Road junction with the Ewell Road. It is clear that this was just the first stage of a lengthy consultation and design process and we were pleased that the officers listened to our views and we felt hopeful that a positive outcome will result ultimately.

There is a plan and budget now set to do any changes needed on the Ewell Road in the next 3 years.

The first stage was our meeting on tuesday to involve a small group of interested parties to consider the issues and start to scope out the possible improvements.  The next step is to bring in businesses and schools and at all stages the local community will be involved in consultation.  It's very good that we have come in right at the beginning.
The main aims are :
1) Keep the flow of traffic on Ewell Road as good as possible
2) improvements to make better provision for pedestrians so a crossing in Ditton Road is a key objective
3) encourage cycling and make some easier routes
 
There is a Member (Councillors) /Officer Group overseeing the whole Ewell Road project and at the next meeting they will firm up with us the programme and process.
 
The earliest that works could start would be in the summer of 2013. 
 

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Thank you for your responses to our recent questionnaire over priorities for 2012.

You were in favour of a social / initial meeting, so we invite you to come to the St Matthew's Church Hall on Monday 20th February at 8pm for drinks and a chance to meet and discuss things informally.

69% of you are happy to receive updates / newsletters via email or the website, which we will keep updated - please take a look www.stmatthewsra.org.uk.

Priorities – there were 3 main areas of concern:

  1. Resurfacing of local roads; we have had some success in asking for potholes filled in on St Matthews Avenue. Feel free to contact us if you have any others you feel need to be addressed, as the council are willing to help. Getting the roads re-surfaced (particularly St Matthews Ave) is an issue they are willing to look at in the future but it seems it will not be done this year. We have been advised a petition will help and would be grateful if you could all support this and sign online by going to this webpage:

     http://epetition.kingston.public-i.tv/epetition_core/view/Roadsurface

  2. Putting in place Pedestrian Crossings on Kingsdowne and Ditton Roads; we will be getting together with other local Residents’ Associations to discuss this in the coming weeks.
     
  3. Resurfacing of the pavements; we have had discussions with the Transport Department and they are putting forward a proposal to the local councillors to mend footways in St Matthews Avenue in February. We will update you of the outcome.

We are also pleased to announce 3 new Street Representatives whose support we gratefully accept.

  1. Kenneth Wilkes – Kingsdowne Road;
  2. Trevor Pitts – Upper Brighton Road; and
  3. Avril Mayhew – Ditton Road.

With regard to other matters, we have met with the Chair of the Southborough RA and also Oakhill RA, who we discovered are pursuing the idea of resident association councillors. We are in the process of finding out more about this in order to consult with you.

For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee we will be looking for volunteers to help us arrange an event, please contact us or come to the social on 20th Feb to offer your suggestions/help.