On September 24, the Conservative chairman of the local committee for Sutton South, Belmont and Cheam refused to allow a discussion on whether some of the £100,000 surplus in public realm could be spent to protect the elderly from speeding cars in Cavendish Road.
We asked for the issue to be raised because many older residents are scared to cross Cavendish Road, used as a short-cut by speeding drivers between Brighton Road and Carshalton Road.
Our suggestions were supported by a petition I organised which was signed by more than 70 people who live in the road.
They were carefully researched by council officers and subject to extensive consultation.
We had been told there was no council money for safety measures, which is why we'd asked the committee to consider spending their public realm money on the scheme.
We were shocked that, while the chairman did not allow our scheme to be even talked about, he did allow discussions on spending £65,000 on a play area for Overton Park without any evidence or an independent survey of residents or feasibility study, which was put forward by a group called Friends of Overton Park.
This group hasn't even had its first meeting yet. They got the full £65,000. This new organisation is run by the chair's political adviser.
We know teenagers need somewhere to congregate at the weekends and after school and would not be writing if we felt there had been a full and fair discussion on how local residents' tax is spent.
We do not feel we have been treated fairly.
Mrs Kathy O'Reilly and 14 others in Cavendish Road, Sutton
- What do you think? Send your letter to: letters@suttonguardian.co.uk.
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