AGM 

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held in the meeting room behind the Raynes Park Library on Wednesday 13^th April, starting at 7.30 pm. 

Do come along. We’ve invited our local MP, Stephen Hammond, and he will be discussing the latest proposals for CrossRail 2, and other local issues. He’s always keen to answer questions from members present. 

There’s also going to be a break from the formal business with some wine, soft drinks, and nibbles.   It’s a relaxed and informative way to spend the evening. 

MERTON BOWLING CLUB 

In the February edition of The Guide I mentioned that the Council was thinking of ceasing to maintain the lawn of the bowling club in the Joseph Hood recreation ground, as it cost too much to keep it in a first class condition. The result would have been that the Club would have had to close.  

I’m very glad to report that the Council has relented after a massive effort by the Club, the community, and local Councillors.  The majority party was impressed by its level of support, as shown by a petition attracting 1000 signatures, with a further 1000 people protesting on-line. The Club had also found an experienced contractor who was able to halve the yearly cost of maintenance. The Club has been given a year’s grace to see if it all works out, but the signs are good. We are told that the publicity has helped the Club to bring in another 20 members so far. 

As we said before, this kind of sporting facility can be used by people of all ages, and helps greatly to keep the more elderly among us in good health. It would be very short sighted to lose it. 

GRAND DRIVE/BUSHEY ROAD TRAFFIC LIGHTS 

We’ve had a good number of comments about our suggestion that a right hand filter be added at these lights to assist traffic coming from the direction of the station up Grand Drive and wanting to turn right to clear the junction. It would mean that traffic coming down Grand Drive or along Bushey Road  would have to be held up for longer. Most of the comments have been supportive of the idea. 

The problem is that while there’s enough room for two cars coming from the station to stand alongside each other, there isn’t enough room for a car and  a lorry, bus, or a large 4 x4. So if one of these wants to turn right, it clogs up the whole road, often right back to the tunnel under the railway.  

It is not possible to widen the road at that point. 

Our Councillors have taken this up with the Council’s transport officer. The lights are actually controlled by Transport for London, whose decision it would be. It is recognised that this junction, during the rush hours, is heavily congested, but the solution is not easy. The Council says that a re-modelling exercise will be undertaken of the sequencing of the lights, to see if anything can be done. We will keep a close eye on its progress.  

CARE IN THE COMMUNITY 

Each year the Council carries out a detailed review of issues and services that affect local people, through a scrutiny panel.  We have suggested that this year they look at the whole issue of care in the community, given the increasing age of the local population.  This would cover such things as day to day physical help and meals for those who are house bound, access, and the inability of hospitals to discharge in - patients back to their homes because of the lack of care for them ( “Bed blocking”) . 

HELP NEEDED!

 While we continue to have a marvellous team of hard working area co-ordinators and road stewards, we do urgently need some fresh blood to help us manage the Association.  We have been looking for an honorary advertising manager for some time, since we can only continue to publish The Guide each month if we get revenue from the advertisements placed in it.