Car park plans anger residents and commuters (From Sutton Guardian)

Once again a biased and superficial "story" in the Sutton Guardian with no credible research and no journalistic integrity. Sure I can find a couple of people in the street and and ask them a question and publish the answers I want the readers to hear. The car park is primarily used by commuters from Surrey using Sutton station - They make little contribution to the local economy Sutton needs to compete with inner London as the flows of wealth and intellectual capital change - To Kay Hevey - Game on!

jackson80 wrote:
Once again a biased and superficial "story" in the Sutton Guardian with no credible research and no journalistic integrity. Sure I can find a couple of people in the street and and ask them a question and publish the answers I want the readers to hear. The car park is primarily used by commuters from Surrey using Sutton station - They make little contribution to the local economy Sutton needs to compete with inner London as the flows of wealth and intellectual capital change - To Kay Hevey - Game on!

Mr Jackson i think youll find that Ms Hevey lives within the London Borough Of Sutton Borders so i suggest you go back to journalism college yourself.
Perhaps we should rename the area the London Borough of Subsea7 that eco friendly offshore oil exploration company that fits in so well with the Lib Dems one planet living agenda!!!!!!

Giles C wrote:

jackson80 wrote:
Once again a biased and superficial "story" in the Sutton Guardian with no credible research and no journalistic integrity. Sure I can find a couple of people in the street and and ask them a question and publish the answers I want the readers to hear. The car park is primarily used by commuters from Surrey using Sutton station - They make little contribution to the local economy Sutton needs to compete with inner London as the flows of wealth and intellectual capital change - To Kay Hevey - Game on!

Mr Jackson i think youll find that Ms Hevey lives within the London Borough Of Sutton Borders so i suggest you go back to journalism college yourself.
Perhaps we should rename the area the London Borough of Subsea7 that eco friendly offshore oil exploration company that fits in so well with the Lib Dems one planet living agenda!!!!!!

I know exactly where miss Hevey lives - It is stated in the article - If you are so concerned about the environment why are you advocating for someone to drive from Carshalton beeches to use a car park less than a mile away? If this was truly about the environment the people of Surrey and surrounding areas would use public transport closer to home.

In the scheme of political priorities the environment is unfortunately at the bottom of the agenda - In the absence of a thriving economy the middle classes will dwindle and secondary issues such as the environment will have no support whatsoever. Do poor people care about the environment? No! Sutton needs to think strategically and long term. This could be a real opportunity for the area. I am sure there are a plethora of declining communities in the uk that would jump at the chance to revive their local economy - To reject this proposal on ideological ideals would be pure insanity.

Jackson 80 – a straightforward question.

Are you in any way connected with Subsea7 or Sutton Council? Either yourself, or your close friends or family?

This appears to be the only subject on The Guardian website that you have any interest in. Ditto for the poster charlesmcg. It is my contention that you are both stooges.

This whole process is not transparent. As the conversion of the green area into a children’s play area was been announced, the Council already knew they were going to sell the site.

The deal appears to have already been done, behind closed doors. Local residents have not been asked about it, and as far as I can see, no proper published report regarding the car parking capacity in Sutton has been produced in relation to this disposal. If it has, it has been done in secret. The only data mentioned by the council was not gathered for this purpose.

I imagine the lengthy contracts have already been drawn up.

And the land will possibly be sold to an offshore company, which is exactly what Subsea7 is – to avoid tax? Of course. If it is NOT being sold to Subsea7, who is it being sold to?

And how much is the site going for? Well, Sutton Council won’t tell us because it’s going for a song, and they will claim that selling OUR assets is ‘commercially sensitive’.

And Cllr McCoy says this will create hundreds of jobs. It won’t – it’s an existing company.

You couldn’t make it up. I feel another appearance in ‘Rotten Boroughs’ coming on.

David7 wrote:
Jackson 80 – a straightforward question.

Are you in any way connected with Subsea7 or Sutton Council? Either yourself, or your close friends or family?

This appears to be the only subject on The Guardian website that you have any interest in. Ditto for the poster charlesmcg. It is my contention that you are both stooges.

This whole process is not transparent. As the conversion of the green area into a children’s play area was been announced, the Council already knew they were going to sell the site.

The deal appears to have already been done, behind closed doors. Local residents have not been asked about it, and as far as I can see, no proper published report regarding the car parking capacity in Sutton has been produced in relation to this disposal. If it has, it has been done in secret. The only data mentioned by the council was not gathered for this purpose.

I imagine the lengthy contracts have already been drawn up.

And the land will possibly be sold to an offshore company, which is exactly what Subsea7 is – to avoid tax? Of course. If it is NOT being sold to Subsea7, who is it being sold to?

And how much is the site going for? Well, Sutton Council won’t tell us because it’s going for a song, and they will claim that selling OUR assets is ‘commercially sensitive’.

And Cllr McCoy says this will create hundreds of jobs. It won’t – it’s an existing company.

You couldn’t make it up. I feel another appearance in ‘Rotten Boroughs’ coming on.

For the record I have commented on several articles in the Sutton Guardian for the past year and have no connection with Subsea7. However I am thinking about contacting their PR department to see how I can assist them.

I happen to be a South Sutton resident, a professional and a home owner with an interest in local politics. You have made a lot ambiguous statements with little evidence to back up your presumptions... are you sure you are not a politician? You "imagine" contracts have already been drawn up! Yes it is true that Subsea7 are already in the Quadrant building but they are looking at expanding.

When you look at the most affluent parts of the UK, namely they are in the South East home counties where at least 70% of the UK's multinational companies are located. If you like I can get you the data for this -

Jackson80, what’s ambiguous?

I am not a politician. Just a local resident totally peed off with a council that ignores its residents and which lies to its residents.

Do you really think this process is transparent? Don’t you think it should be?

Do you really imagine the council would take this to a vote (a vote it cannot lose, by the way) without draft contracts being in place?

It’s a fait accompli.

I challenge you to find out how much the site is being sold for!

There are many other plots that a new building could be constructed on before knocking down something that is actually useful. What is wrong with this council????

Rotten boroughs should become a magazine in its own right. There's so much bad policy and decision making in local council, along with, i suspect somewhere down the line, corruption, that a few columns in Private Eye just isn't enough. When I think of the awfulness that is Sutton Council and all that they've presided over, it would be enough to fill the first issue alone.

Sutton Council made it to Rotten Boroughs in 2008, when changing its communications department. The service was outsourced to Westminster Council but only after Sutton had commissioned an audit and recommendations from... Westminster Council!

Naturally, Westminster recommended themselves to do the job – another nice little fait accompli.

The Westminster team do a very decent job, but still the councillors fibbed: residents were told the new arrangement would not cost 'more than we spend at the moment’. But, said Private Eye at the time, costs actually increased by more than half, up from £379k to £573k.

So our LD councillors have got form for not being transparent and failing to be truthful. Either that or they are incompetent.

Add in the appalling fibs told about the financial viability of Sutton Life Centre, and the High Street refurb debacle, and it’s clear the Council must now think they can get away with anything.

Interesting, I missed that one. I remember reading about the transport/ambulance/
taxis scandal in Croydon a few years ago. This town, this country, this world....it really does stink.

David7 wrote:
Jackson80, what’s ambiguous?

I am not a politician. Just a local resident totally peed off with a council that ignores its residents and which lies to its residents.

Do you really think this process is transparent? Don’t you think it should be?

Do you really imagine the council would take this to a vote (a vote it cannot lose, by the way) without draft contracts being in place?

It’s a fait accompli.

I challenge you to find out how much the site is being sold for!

Quite frankly I do not care what the plot is selling for. The initial capital from the sale will just be spent on non-starters like playgrounds beside busy and squandered by self serving counsellors.

What is important is long term investment strategies that support the economic growth of the local community for the future.

If you really want to gain access to information by all means use the freedom of information Act.

But this is not inward investment – it involves demolishing part of the borough’s infrastructure to rehouse a company that’s already here.

The fact that you do not care what the council does with YOUR property and money speaks volumes.

David7

Regardless whether it is the Lib Dems, the Conservatives or Labour in charge corruption and self serving are the order of the day. Put your political associations aside and think of Sutton's future.

Looking at the stats from the current census the Lib Dems are not doing to bad - low crime, High A and GCSE scores, Low population churn, oh and according to the reputable Sutton Guardian we have the best sex life in London.

It is not enough to just list off a few things that are 'ok' in this borough. This particular issue represents a much bigger problem in our town and the country as a whole. We have people making decisions that do not have popular public support and are often not made with the correct information at hand.

I wouldn't use the census to measure anything with any accuracy in this country. You just know that so many people don't fill them in properly for one reason or another. I'm sure those with sheds in their back garden with people living in them don't write that down etc etc. Not that I'm saying that is happening in Sutton, but I wouldn't be surprised. Government statistics = Mostly Lies.......We think about 16 thousand Poles will come to britain and then over 2 million turn up. Brilliant!

No one has commented so far on the architectural aspects of this, which for me is the most important aspect of all. You see, I want my town to look at as good as it possibly can and multi storey car parks are some of the least attractive buildings in any town. The opportunity to finally see the back of this one and have it replaced by what sounds like an attractive modern building, regardless of political or business issues- which I care little about- can only be a good thing.