Welcome to the LOSRA Website
Like any local community, the policies and decisions shaping the character and future of Lower Sunbury are influenced by a combination of local and national government initiatives, alongside market forces and vested interests operating within these frameworks. As with many areas, Lower Sunbury faces challenges stemming from an aging infrastructure, rapid urban development, increasing traffic congestion, and other pressures that impact both quality of life and the distinctive character of the neighbourhood.
In collaboration with local authorities, other residents’ associations and amenity groups, LOSRA plays a vital role in addressing fundamental issues that affect its members' lives. This organisation not only engages with broader strategic concerns but also focuses on the everyday matters that shape community well-being.
To stay informed, we encourage you to subscribe to our regular e-bulletins via the link at the top left of this page. Your continued support is essential to our efforts, and we urge you to join or renew your membership. Subscriptions for 2026 are now payable at £5 per household. Donations are also welcome.
Changes to planning decision-making from 31 October 2026
The following notice has been issued by the Council and we reproduce it here.
New national planning regulations will come into effect across England on 31 October 2026. These changes will affect how planning applications are considered and decided by councils.
We know that planning decisions are important to residents. They can have a significant impact on the places where people live and the future of our communities. Although councils will need to operate within the new national framework, local policies, priorities and community considerations will remain an important part of the planning process.
What is changing?
One of the key changes is that the majority of planning applications, including proposals such as extensions and alterations to existing homes and residential development of less than 10 dwellings, will no longer be able to be referred to a Planning Committee by Councillors. Instead, these applications must be determined by Planning Officers. As a result, all councils will need to make changes to their existing decision-making arrangements and governance processes to ensure they meet the new requirements.
What will remain the same?
While there will be some changes to how applications are dealt with, residents will continue to have an important role in the planning process.
- Planning applications will continue to be assessed by experienced planning officers. Decisions will take account of national planning policies as well as Spelthorne’s local planning policies, including the new Local Plan.
- Residents will continue to have the opportunity to comment. Views submitted on planning applications will continue to be considered as part of the decision-making process. Residents are encouraged to remain involved by submitting their views and signing up for planning alerts so they can be notified about applications in their area. Register here: Weekly List
In addition, direct neighbours will continue to be notified of planning applications through the Council’s normal notification procedure. Comments can also be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01784 451499.
- Councillors will continue to have a key role. Applications that meet certain criteria, primarily “major” proposals, retrospective applications and those associated with Listed Buildings, may still be considered by a Planning Committee. The new rules provide a framework for ensuring that these more significant applications can continue to be brought before Councillors where appropriate.
- Planning Committee: Committee details - Planning Committee - Spelthorne Borough Council
- Your Ward Councillor: Your councillors - Spelthorne Borough Council
Cllr Michele Gibson, Chair of the Planning Committee said, “We recognise that some residents may have concerns about fewer applications being considered by Planning Committees, but they can be assured that their views will continue to play an important part in the planning process. These national changes are intended to ensure that straightforward applications can be dealt with more efficiently, while allowing Councillors to focus their time and expertise on proposals that are more complex or could have a greater impact on our communities. The Government acknowledges that these are significant changes and plans have been put in place a review after 3 years to ensure the new process is working as anticipated.
We will continue to ensure that planning decisions are made fairly, transparently and in the best interests of Spelthorne residents.”
Read the FAQs here Planning changes national regulations FAQs October 2026 | Spelthorne Borough Council
You can keep up to date with all Council news by signing up to our e-newsletter www.spelthorne.
Mayor of Spelthorne Christmas Party - in aid of Charity
The Mayor of Spelthorne, Cllr Sandra Dunn, warmly invites you to join her for the Mayor's Christmas Party at the Hazelwood Centre, the home of London Irish.
Date: Saturday 12 December
Time: 6.30pm until midnight
Ticket Price: £60 per person
Your ticket includes:
- A reception drink on arrival
- A delicious three-course dinner
- Live ABBA tribute singers
- DJ and dancing
- Photobooth
- Professional photographer available throughout the evening to capture formal photographs as a lasting memento of a wonderful night
All proceeds from the evening will support the mayor’s chosen charities:
- The Patient Cancer Support Group
- Holly's Heroes
- East to West
- Home-Start Spelthorne
Whether you attend as a guest, sponsor a package, donate a prize, or simply spread the word, your support will make a real difference to these fantastic local organisations. The evening is not only an opportunity to help raise vital funds for worthy causes, but also a chance to celebrate the festive season, let your hair down, enjoy great entertainment, and spend time with friends, colleagues and fellow supporters in a fun and welcoming atmosphere.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Headline Sponsorship - £1,500
As our principal event sponsor, you will receive:
- 10 tickets for guests of your choice
- Headline sponsorship recognition in local media and the event programme
- Your company brochure placed on every table
- Your company logo displayed on all promotional material before and during the event
Band Sponsorship - £1,000
This package includes:
- 6 tickets for guests of your choice
- Recognition of your sponsorship, including your logo, in the event programme and on promotional material before and during the event
Key Sponsorship - £250+
For sponsorship contributions of £250 or more, you will receive:
- Two tickets for every £250 donated
- Acknowledgement of your sponsorship, including your logo, in the event programme
Other Ways to Support
- Reserve a table of 10 guests for £550
- Book individual places on a shared table for £60 per person
- Donate a prize for the raffle or crystal gift tree
- Make a financial donation if you are unable to attend but would still like to support the Mayor's charities
We would be delighted to welcome you to what promises to be a festive, memorable, and entertaining evening, while helping to raise funds for some truly deserving local causes.
We look forward to celebrating with you.
To book your tickets,
visit: www.spelthorne.gov.uk/MayorEvents
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Call: 01784 446275
LOSRA NEWSLETTERS
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to deliver these. We still have a few roads where we do not have a distributor.
- Anvil Road, Shire Court, Farrier Close (87 drops)
- Greenway, Martingale Close, St Mary’s Close (60)
- Fordbridge Road (45) Cumberland Place (29)
- Staines Road East 62-204, The Chase (64)
- Raphael Court (14) French Street, north of Oakington (88)
- Markway House (4) Riverside (42) Rivermount (9)
- Lower Hampton Road (14)
- Dax Court, Oxford Row, Rivermead House (42)
- Castle Walk, The Butts (21)
If you are able to help, kindly contact Colleen Cuthbert at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 01932 783606. We publish 3 newsletters a year and the next one will be in January.
Blues rock band THE MILK MEN to make welcome return to the SCC on 30th October
Friends of Sunbury Park (FoSP) have circulated details of this exciting project
Sunbury Health Centre Patient Survey Is Open
Sunbury Health Centre uses a variety of ways to monitor performance and improve services using patient feedback. This survey is being carried out by the Patient Participation Group (PPG); a small group of Sunbury Health Centre patients who act in a voluntary capacity to represent the patient population.
It works in partnership with the Practice to help improve patient services, visit www.sunburyhealthcentre-ppg.com for more information.
Click here to take part: Patient Survey - Survey Monkey.
More...
Sunbury Health Centre Patient Survey Now Open
Have your say in the PPG Patient Survey. Share your recent experience with Sunbury Health Centre and help guide meaningful improvements to the care and services we provide.
Have your say on the future of Spelthorne's parks, green spaces and wild places
Spelthorne Borough Council is inviting residents, businesses, community groups, visitors and other key stakeholders to have their say on the future of the borough's parks, green spaces, rivers, woodlands and natural environments.
The survey, which opened on Monday 17 August and closes at 11.59pm on Monday 21 September, will help inform the Council's emerging Green Infrastructure Strategy, a long-term plan which will guide how Spelthorne's network of green and blue spaces is protected, enhanced and expanded in the years ahead.
Green infrastructure includes parks, rivers, reservoirs, lakes, woodlands, allotments, nature reserves, playing fields and walking and cycling routes. These spaces play an important role in supporting health and wellbeing, tackling climate change, improving air quality, reducing flood risk, supporting biodiversity and creating attractive places to live, work and visit.
As the local area develops and grows, the Council wants to ensure that these valuable spaces remain accessible, connected and resilient for future generations.
The Council wants to hear the views from people who live, work, study or spend time in the borough to understand what matters most to them and how the borough's spaces can be improved for future generations. The survey asks participants to:
- identify parks, green spaces, waterways and routes they use and value
- highlight barriers or problems that affect their enjoyment of these spaces
- suggest locations where green and blue infrastructure could be improved or created
- share views on the priorities that should shape the future Green Infrastructure Strategy
Participants can use the interactive map to highlight places and routes that are particularly important to them. No specialist knowledge is required, and the Council wants to learn about people's everyday experiences, ideas and local knowledge.
The survey takes approximately 10 to 12 minutes to complete, with most questions being optional. Anyone interested in the future of Spelthorne's open spaces is encouraged to take part.
To take part in the survey and find out more about the Green Infrastructure Strategy and the consultation, visit the Strategic Planning Engagement Hub here.
The feedback received will help shape the Green Infrastructure Strategy and the future of Spelthorne's parks, green spaces and nature. It will also help ensure the strategy reflects local priorities, supports climate change and nature recovery goals, and enables local communities to continue to benefit from high-quality green spaces as the borough's population grows.
For enquiries, please view the FAQs or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Cllr John Turner, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said: "Spelthorne's parks, rivers, woodlands and other green spaces are among our most valuable assets, providing important benefits for residents, wildlife and the wider environment. As we develop our Green Infrastructure Strategy, it is essential that we hear from the people who use and value these spaces every day. I would encourage everyone who lives, works or spends time in the borough to take a few minutes to complete the survey and share their views. Your feedback will help shape how we protect, enhance and connect our green spaces and rivers for future generations."
You can keep up to date with all Council news by signing up to our e-newsletter www.spelthorne.gov.uk/enews or register for alerts via the Customer Portal.
LOSRA NEEDS HELP
We are reverting to delivering the LOSRA Newsletters by hand and have to build up our distribution network from scratch. The agreement we had with Monica at Sunbury Matters was terminated abruptly by the new owners and we’re unable to afford the commercial rate for delivery. If you are able to assist us, kindly contact Colleen Cuthbert by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone 01932 783606. We publish 3 newsletters a year.
Dave Kelly to Make a Welcome Return to the SCC on 18th September!
LOSRA says…
We at the Lower Sunbury Residents’ Association were extremely disappointed to be told that, contrary to expectation, we will not have the opportunity to contribute to the new Sunbury monthly magazine that is being established following the closure of Monica Jones’s ‘Sunbury Matters’.
LOSRA was a regular contributor to Sunbury Matters for many years, covering a wide range of issues that have been of significance to Lower Sunbury. In this article, which we had originally submitted to TW (the ‘replacement’ publisher) for the first edition of its successor magazine, we are highlighting some of the current challenges that our village faces and which we will continue to review and question on behalf of our residents.
Planning issues inevitably represent a considerable proportion of those challenges, and these increasingly involve threats to the valuable areas of Green Belt land in Sunbury. We fought the application to build a large industrial Battery Energy Storage System off Charlton Lane, only to see Spelthorne Council’s planning refusal overturned on appeal by an appallingly inadequate Planning Inspectorate judgement. Housing is now the main initiator of Green Belt applications, with major proposals for both Kempton Park and Stratton Road; we have already set up a separate LOSRA sub-committee to focus on them.
We also contributed to the Scoping Consultation phase for the new Spelthorne Local Plan. This is not timetabled for submission until March 2028 and will thus transfer to the responsibility of the new West Surrey Council that formally comes into being on 1 April 2027. We support the development of new Neighbourhood Area Committees to ensure that our residents can continue to be key stakeholders in local decision-making, despite the loss of borough councils.
Many of these decisions must focus on the deteriorating quality of our area’s infrastructure. Whilst it is good news that the Lower Sunbury Local Street Improvement Scheme will receive £2.9m of funding from Active Travel England’s Consolidated Active Travel Fund, other threats are coming from both the air and the water that require our ongoing diligence. While Heathrow Airport is now actively developing its plans for a third runway, the use of airspace around the airport for departing and arriving aircraft is also being re-designed. Both of these initiatives will potentially have an adverse effect on Lower Sunbury’s environment.
On the river side the River Thames Scheme for flood relief may currently be in limbo but it has not been stopped. We remain concerned at the impact on river levels in Lower Sunbury and we will continue to monitor this scheme closely. This and the other concerns noted above will certainly continue to feature in future LOSRA articles to come, to be published on our website, e-bulletin and tri-annual printed Newsletters.
Monthly LOSRA articles in Sunbury Matters - RIP
For many years, whilst Monica Jones owned and was editing Sunbury Matters, she generously allowed LOSRA a page each month to keep residents informed and up to date on matters of interest that often required action on their part.
We are sorry to report that the new publishers are not prepared to continue this arrangement; neither are they agreeable to LOSRA utilising the same distribution company to piggy-back distribution of the tri-annual Newsletter, despite LOSRA offering to contribute towards their costs. However, they have agreed to continue to publish monthly articles authored by the Patient Participation Group at Sunbury Health Centre, where c20,000 residents are registered.
LOSRA has approx. 1000 subscribers (free) to our weekly e-bulletin, so we urge you to consider signing up for this now to make sure you don’t miss out on potentially important news – see the box below to the right ‘Join Our Mailing List’. We expect to set up a Facebook page too.
Thank you.
Have your say on the future of Spelthorne's parks, green spaces and wild places
Spelthorne Borough Council is inviting residents, businesses, community groups, visitors and other key stakeholders to have their say on the future of the borough's parks, green spaces, rivers, woodlands and natural environments.
The survey, which opened on Monday 17 August and closes at 11.59pm on Monday 21 September, will help inform the Council's emerging Green Infrastructure Strategy, a long-term plan which will guide how Spelthorne's network of green and blue spaces is protected, enhanced and expanded in the years ahead.
Green infrastructure includes parks, rivers, reservoirs, lakes, woodlands, allotments, nature reserves, playing fields and walking and cycling routes. These spaces play an important role in supporting health and wellbeing, tackling climate change, improving air quality, reducing flood risk, supporting biodiversity and creating attractive places to live, work and visit.
As the local area develops and grows, the Council wants to ensure that these valuable spaces remain accessible, connected and resilient for future generations.
The Council wants to hear the views from people who live, work, study or spend time in the borough to understand what matters most to them and how the borough's spaces can be improved for future generations. The survey asks participants to:
- identify parks, green spaces, waterways and routes they use and value
- highlight barriers or problems that affect their enjoyment of these spaces
- suggest locations where green and blue infrastructure could be improved or created
- share views on the priorities that should shape the future Green Infrastructure Strategy
Participants can use the interactive map to highlight places and routes that are particularly important to them. No specialist knowledge is required, and the Council wants to learn about people's everyday experiences, ideas and local knowledge.
The survey takes approximately 10 to 12 minutes to complete, with most questions being optional. Anyone interested in the future of Spelthorne's open spaces is encouraged to take part.
To take part in the survey and find out more about the Green Infrastructure Strategy and the consultation, visit the Strategic Planning Engagement Hub here.
The feedback received will help shape the Green Infrastructure Strategy and the future of Spelthorne's parks, green spaces and nature. It will also help ensure the strategy reflects local priorities, supports climate change and nature recovery goals, and enables local communities to continue to benefit from high-quality green spaces as the borough's population grows.
For enquiries, please view the FAQs or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Cllr John Turner, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said: "Spelthorne's parks, rivers, woodlands and other green spaces are among our most valuable assets, providing important benefits for residents, wildlife and the wider environment. As we develop our Green Infrastructure Strategy, it is essential that we hear from the people who use and value these spaces every day. I would encourage everyone who lives, works or spends time in the borough to take a few minutes to complete the survey and share their views. Your feedback will help shape how we protect, enhance and connect our green spaces and rivers for future generations."
A Play Based on Jane Austin's Unfinished Novel, The Watsons
Riverside Players of Sunbury are excited to be working on their Autumn Production, The Watsons, and can’t wait to be able to show off this hilarious play to you in October!
