SSNA Annual Report 2018
The committee had nine members throughout 2018. We aim to spread the work between us as evenly as possible and to take account of a breadth of views. Mark Randall took on the role of deputy chair with particular responsibility for the area to the south of Crossways / The Downsway. Hannah Witkowska has taken on the role of treasurer and will formally take on those tasks in the year ahead.
We continue to strive towards maintaining the work of the association in those areas that continue to be highlighted by the membership, in particular: the production of the newsletters; the utility of the association in matters of planning, policing and other community issues; working to help community cohesion.
Thelma Isaac, aided in particular by Ann Morton and Anne Wakeham, produces the quarterly newsletter. The newsletter has continued to evolve and develop with the focus on articles of interest to many of our members as well as providing details of events and activities taking place in the locality and the wider area of Sutton. We continue to encourage those members who have email addresses to feel able to give the association their details, as this will not only enable us to pass on event information but also develop the means to highlight issues that arise locally and receive feedback. In receipt of such feedback it would be much easier to gauge feelings and respond appropriately.
The new website was launched during 2018, we aim to keep it up to date and relevant, our thanks go to Steve Morton for all his work on developing the site and its on-going maintenance.
We continue to monitor planning applications within the area and highlight these in the newsletters. We are represented on the local Ward Panels for both Sutton South and Belmont & Cheam which meet regularly to discuss the concerns facing the local community around crime and anti-social behaviour, and help to influence the priorities the local police team will tackle. We also have a seat on the Local Area Committee of the council which comprises ward councillors and community representatives. The councillors have the power to allocate funds related to local issues, take decisions on local public realm matters and we have the ability to influence decisions that the committee takes.
We have continued to be engaged with the adjacent Belmont and South Cheam and Carshalton resident’s associations in the development of a Neighbourhood Plan (introduced in the 2011 Localism Act). For our part this covers a portion of the SSNA area from our southern boundary (Chiltern Road) to the Downsway, Gallop and Crossways corridor. This work will continue throughout 2019 and well in to 2020.
Maintenance of the database and membership continues to be organised by Ann Morton, assisted by Anne Wakeham. The finances of the association are now fairly stable. We continue to maintain careful control of expenditure and have continued to achieve approximately ten years of operating cover at current levels of expenditure. Our costs have now been pared to the minimum and we anticipate either breaking even or producing a small surplus each year. We always need more road reps and Ann Morton has continued to pro-actively approach members to take on this role as the need arises.
We have continued to be involved with Sutton South Hello as this project particularly chimes with one of the stated aims of the association which is to promote neighbourliness and also the continuing concern with community cohesion.
We continue to believe that the need for an association, such as ours, is as great now as it was in the days when it was first founded forty years ago. Issues of community cohesion are frequently mentioned when members discuss the changes that have occurred in this area over the years. We continue to try to connect with an increasingly transient local population. Many members recognise the value of membership and the challenge for us is to continue to maintain our utility to them.