On Thursday 20th June, a local resident was walking with her dog, Jake, in Avenue Parade. The dog, a Lhasa Apso/poodle cross, was attacked by a staffordshire bull terrier that had been left unattended and tied up to a mobile signage outside Budgens. Both the dog and the resident were injured as a result.

The owner of the beige and white coloured terrier was himself apparently very upset by what his dog had done and left his contact number with the manager of the newsagents. Unfortunately when rung this number proved to be incorrect.

There were a number of people in Avenue Parade helping the lady that day, for which she is very grateful, but if anyone knows this man, or has any information to help identify him please get in touch via the 'Contact' button at the top of the Home Page.

St Mary's Church will be holding an Open Day on Saturday 28th June.

"Come and join us for TEA ON THE LAWN (if weather inclement inside the church).

Bring your friends and family between 1.00pm and 4.00pm for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Everyone is welcome."

Riverside residents in Lower Sunbury may be interested to know that Spelthorne Council is stepping up enforcement action to tackle the problems created by boats mooring on the Thames in certain parts of the Borough.

Residents of Ryepeck Meadow and Council owned land near the Red Lion pub in Shepperton have been battling problems caused by boat owners mooring and discharging waste from their boats.

Cost-effective and timely enforcement of unauthorised moorings on the Thames is an issue which the River Thames Alliance and Environment Agency have been grappling with for some time and earlier in the year the Environment Agency completed a six month pilot scheme using specialised contractors to enforce mooring restrictions in Elmbridge and Oxford.

Following the success of this pilot, Spelthorne Council will be the first local authority to take up this new innovative enforcement method. Signage is being introduced to warn boat owners of the mooring restrictions and, following warnings; enforcement action will be taken against those who ignore the conditions.

The following report from Waters Edge is published here to encourage extra vigilance amongst our riverside residents. These thefts may prove to be isolated and opportunistic but experience tells us that, once an area has been identified as profitable for thieves, there is a high risk that they will return.

Between 1am and 5am on Thursday 12th June 2014 offender/s stole a brand new grey Tohatsu 9.9hp marine engine from a boat moored at Lower Sunbury in vicinity of the Lower Hampton Road.

Between 6pm Wednesday 11th and 4pm Thursday 12th June 2014 a gate was broken, a vehicle driven in and a black outboard motor stolen from a boat on the bank of the River. A metal 'A' frame was also previously stolen from this location.

A 4hp outboard engine was also stolen from a shed in Lower Sunbury around the 14th May.

Further to the preceding article (10th June) David Murphy of the Environment Agency addressed concerned residents who flocked to the meeting arranged by Monica Chard of Village Matters on June 6th to hear about plans for the River Thames Scheme. MP Kwasi Kwarteng was also in attendance along with local councillors.

At the conclusion of the meeting David kindly offered to send the slides which he had used for the presentation. These have now been received and may be viewed by clicking here.

We will be following this issue closely in coming months.

Further to the notice published on this Site on 19th May, we await the Environment Agency slides before publishing the details of the meeting held at St. Mary's Church Hall on Friday 6th June and will do so just as soon as these become available to us.

The floods which caused such terrible devastation for the Borough earlier in the year were the topic of discussion at a Community Flood Meeting organised by Spelthorne Council and held on the evening of Thursday 5 June at Spelthorne Leisure Centre.

The public meeting, the first of its kind to be organised by a Surrey council, involved all the key agencies responsible for managing the flood crisis and recovery effort; and was attended by over 800 people. The invited representatives came from a number of organisations including the Environment Agency, Surrey Police, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, Spelthorne Council, Surrey County Council, Thames Water and the National Flood Forum.

The meeting was chaired by Cllr Philippa Broom, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee and, following the initial introductions, Ian Toames from the Environment Agency gave an overview of the cause and scale of the flooding.

This was followed by a question and answer session during which residents asked questions on a very wide range of topics including how to prevent future flooding, flooding of the River Ash, drainage and sewage problems, the impact o5f Sweeps Ditch, the timing of the army deployment and whether the river should be dredged. Over one hundred questions were submitted in advance of the meeting and residents were also able to ask questions on the night.

Prior to the main meeting, a market place event was held to allow residents to speak directly with the agencies and to ask more detailed questions about their personal circumstances.

Cllr Daxa Patel, Cabinet Member for Emergency Planning said: “Community and Accountability are two of the Council’s core values and this meeting was a very real reflection of our commitment to bring all the agencies together and give residents a voice. As with any emergency, there are always valuable lessons to be learned and together with our partner agencies we are looking at which aspects of the crisis were managed well and which areas need to be improved. Thank you to all the residents who came along and to the organisations which took part.” Daxa was also present at the Sunbury meeting the following day.

Spelthorne Chief Executive, Roberto Tambini closed the meeting with a commitment that Spelthorne Council will work with Kwasi Kwarteng MP and Surrey County Council to narrow the short-fall in funding for the River Thames Scheme and to facilitate local flood meetings to allow the affected communities to continue discussions with the key agencies regarding future flood defences.

Not surprisingly, and given the misery suffered by many Staines and Sunbury residents, both events became highly vocal with residents expressing their well-founded frustration and desperation.The Evnironment Agency and other bodies with responsibility for flood prevention and relief cannot fail to have been impressed by the outpouring of well-informed scepticism and challenges to the status quo.

The next Music Night at Sunbury Cricket Club is on Friday week, 20th June, when the Cricket Club welcomes back The Mustangs after quite a lengthy absence. They continue to consolidate their position as one of the most highly-regarded contemporary blues-rock outfits on the UK club and festival circuit, with a high-energy stage show featuring their distinctive brand of blues-inspired original material. Led by dynamic front man Adam Norsworthy and featuring the blues harmonica of Derek Kingaby, they have just featured on the main stage at the Hebden Bridge Blues Festival, and once again have the Cambridge Rock Festival and Swanage Blues Festival on their agenda during the summer and autumn.

They are about to release their first ‘live’ album before going into the studio with top producer Wayne Proctor to record their next album, and visitors will no doubt hear some of their new material that’s destined for that album, along with some familiar material. They always put on a hugely entertaining high-octane show, and if you’ve only started coming to the Club's gigs recently you might not have seen them before, so make sure you don’t miss them. There’s full information, plus lots of music and videos, on their web site at www.themustangs.co.uk, so check them out there. For once, the Club has managed to avoid organising a gig on the night of an England World Cup match, so looks forward to seeing you there.

 The Association's 2014 AGM will be held at the Riverside Arts Centre, Thames Street, on Wednesday 25th June at 8pm.

You will see from the Agenda that the Environment Agency has kindly agreed to give a presentation on flood relief proposals - a highly topical subject given the misery endured by many local residents this winter. All are welcome to attend.

AGENDA

1. Apologies for Absence
2. Minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting
3. Chairman's Report
4. Treasurer's Report
5. To Approve Revised Constitution
6. Election of Officers and Committee
7. Flood Relief Proposals - Presentation by Environment Agency
8. Open Forum
9. Any Other Business

If you have any particular issue you wish to be addressed at the Open Forum (Item 8 above) please notify the Secretary Colleen Cuthbert on 01932 783606 or through the 'Contact LOSRA' button on the Home Page of this Website.

To view the minutes of the 2013 AGM, click here