It seems that news on the criminal substitution of beef products with horsemeat changes by the hour.

For all up-to-date information about the current situation visit the Food Standards Agency website www.food.gov.uk There is also a dedicated telephone helpline 0845 051 8322.

After months of deliberation, and following an unsuccessful appeal to develop 87 units on the EA Fordbridge Road site, a new application (13/00153/FUL) has been submitted by Linden Homes and the Environment Agency for the Riverside works site in Fordbridge Road.

Overall the scheme proposes 37 new houses and flats with associated access, parking, open space and landscaping; and a new workshop, compound and storage facility with associated access for the Environment Agency, following the demolition of all buildings and structures on site (except the substation).

The proposals include the following details:

• The workshop will be on the mainland alongside Willow Way with residential covering the majority of the site
• The density of the scheme will be 27 dwelling per hectare
• 43.2% two beds (flats at the front of the site), 24.3% three beds (houses), 8.2% 4 bed (houses), 24.3% 5 bed (houses) will be provided
• The houses will be 2/2.5 storeys
• A level of affordable housing will be in the flats at the front of the site.
  
  

LOSRA and the Campaign Against Riverside Over-development have been involved from the outset and, as parties to the creation of the eventual plan, are very pleased to endorse this application.

To view the application in full together with associated plans, please click here: www.spelthorne.gov.uk/article/3898/Riverside-Works-Fordbridge-Road-Sunbury

A reminder that the next Coffee Concert at the Riverside Arts Centre will be held on Saturday 9 February.

Joseph Tong (piano) will give an exciting recital of Romantic works, featuring Debussy’s Estampes, Chopin’s Ballade no.3, Rachmaninov’s Etude-Tableau (op.39 no.5) and Schubert’s mighty ‘Wanderer Fantasie’

The Shepperton and Sunbury Arts Association would like you to join them for coffee and croissants from 10.15am. The recital will start at 11am and last approximately an hour.

To book tickets, please call the Box Office on 01932 782788 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The scam drawn to your attention in December is sill doing the rounds. The intended target gets a recorded message saying he/she is due an immediate pension bonus and, as the case is urgent, the target must immediately respond by pressing 5 or sometimes a 9 on the phone's keypad.

Trading standards officers are aware of this scam and say: "The scammers are telephoning and may well say they are from the Pension Helpline and claim that you are due a £1,000 bonus. Callers may even be able to provide you with some personal information such as name and address. Protect yourself and never provide any personal information to these callers or any cold caller."

This scam is aimed at pensioners, but there may well be variations aimed at other age groups.

For the rest of the Trading Standards most recent alert, click here

Following Spelthorne Council’s application for Judicial Review, Surrey County Council and SITA Surrey Ltd have confirmed to the High Court that they will not build the disputed incinerator at the Eco Park at Charlton Lane.

In order to avoid further public expenditure on a costly Judicial Review, Spelthorne Council suggested that the County Council and SITA should give the Court a clear written statement that they would not implement that part of the permit which relates to the disputed gasifier.

Leader of the Council Robert Watts said: "This is an important concession which the Council has won from the Environment Agency, Surrey County Council and SITA. Despite all the explanations which the Environment Agency gave to us, we were still concerned for the safety of our residents. Our legal advice was clear that the permit would potentially allow pollution in excess of that which was legal under European Law. As a new permit is about to be negotiated for a new design of technology, it was important to make this point and stand up for the best interests of Spelthorne residents. We will be fully involved in the negotiation of any new permit to make sure that any new design does not have the same issues which have dogged this application and the failed incinerator at Dargavel in Scotland.”

SITA and the County Council have confirmed that they intend to apply for a variation to the existing permit to allow for a new design of incinerator. This application is expected shortly. The Borough Council will be consulted as part of the process and will be assessing the permit application to make sure it complies with European Law.

Readers of this Site will be aware that LOSRA, in conjunction with SATEP (Shepperton Against the Eco Park). has fought a long and hard battle against the installation of an incinerator of unproven technology in the centre of a populated area. We have together spent £8400 in legal fees and countless hours examining the hundreds of pages of technical specification so that we were able to challenge this project on sound scientific grounds; and to ask questions of SITA which were never satisfactorily answered.

We are very grateful for the support of the Planning Office and Legal Services Department of Spelthorne Borough Council without which the challenge to the Environment Agency permit would not have been affordable or even possible. It must however be emphasised that this success represents a 'round one' victory only and we await a further application by Surrey County Council.

To view the Judicial Review Position Statement, click here

To view the Planning and Permit Position, click here

Sunbury Cricket Club apologies for the late cancellation of the Good Old Boys gig (see article of 8th January) because of the snow. Fortunately, nearly everyone got the message in time.

The next Music Night is on Friday 8th February when the SCC welcomes The Jackie Lynton Band. Jackie is one of the larger-than-life characters of the British music scene, with a colourful career that goes back to the late '50s when he had a residency at the legendary 2is coffee bar in Soho, and was part of the equally legendary Larry Parnes package tours of the day. He had recording deals with Pye, EMI and Decca during the '60s and early'70s but the elusive big hit single never came, despite numerous releases, produced by the likes of Tony Hatch and Mark Wirtz, and featuring the top sessions players of the day - his version of The Beatles' "Little Child" includes a guitar solo by Jimmy Page, and was recently revived on Brian Matthew's "Sound Of The '60s" programme on Radio 2. In between times, he helped decorate John Lennon's Weybridge house!

The '70s saw him joining The Savoy Brown Blues Band, touring the USA with ZZ Top, and while there establishing a relationship with Colin Pattenden, a Sunbury resident who was touring with Manfred Mann's Earth Band, and who now plays bass in Jackie's Band. He also hooked up with Status Quo, for whom he later wrote "Again And Again", and with whom he still occasionally guests during their tours. The '70s also saw him establish The Jackie Lynton Band, with an appearance on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" and at the Reading Festival, and which has been through a variety of incarnations over the years, but has been the vehicle for the development of his highly individual stage act and a string of albums. Jackie is a marvellous raconteur and has written comedy scripts for the likes of Jim Davidson as well as appearing in bit parts on TV shows like "The Bill".

We are guaranteed a thoroughly entertaining evening of rock 'n' roll and lively banter with Jackie and his band, which as well as Colin Pattenden on bass, includes Adrian "Spud" Metcalfe, formerly with The Nashville Teens, on drums, and Mike Windus and Chris Bryant on guitars - Chris runs the renowned guitar shop "Chris Bryant Guitars" in London's Charing Cross Road, so knows a thing or two about the instrument! I do urge you to read the extensive biog under "Who?" on Jackie's web site at www.jackielynton.com - it's very entertaining, and there's some 'live' video there as well. We look forward to seeing you on the 8th Feb.

Following the cancellation of the Good Old Boys, the gig has been re-arranged for Friday 22nd February - it's appreciated that it's a half-term weekend for some people, so apologies if you can't make it - but the band were keen to get it back in the book as soon as possible, and SCC were also keen not to lose an event from the calendar while trying to maximise bar takings before the end of the financial year at the end of March, since, as you can imagine, the terrible weather during the summer meant that a lot of cricket matches were lost, which, like all cricket clubs, has affected their turnover significantly, so your support for the Music Nights is very important to the Club and much appreciated.