London Borough of Sutton

London Borough of Sutton
—  London borough  —

Coat of arms
Council logo
Sutton shown within Greater London
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region London
Ceremonial county Greater London
Status London borough
Admin HQ Sutton
Incorporated 1 April 1965
Government
 - Type London borough council
 - Body Sutton London Borough Council
 - Leadership Leader & Cabinet (Liberal Democrat)
 - Mayor Councillor Margaret Court
 - MPs Tom Brake
Paul Burstow
 - London Assembly Steve O'Connell AM for Croydon and Sutton
 - EU Parliament London
Area
 - Total 16.9 sq mi (43.85 km2)
Area rank 282nd (of 326)
Population (2008 est.)
 - Total 187,600
 - Rank 88th (of 326)
 - Density 11,080.5/sq mi (4,278.2/km2)
 - Ethnicity[1] 80.0% White British
1.9% White Irish
4.3% Other White
0.8% White & Black Caribbean
0.3% White & Black African
0.8% White & Asian
0.6% Other Mixed
2.7% Indian
0.9% Pakistani
0.4% Bangladeshi
1.8% Other Asian
1.4% Black Caribbean
1.8% Black African
0.3% Other Black
0.8% Chinese
1.2% Other
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
 - Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes {{{postcode_areas}}}
Police force Metropolitan Police
Website sutton.gov.uk

The London Borough of Sutton (pronunciation) is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of 43 km2 (17 sq mi) and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It is one of the southernmost boroughs of London.[2] It is south of the London Borough of Merton, west of the London Borough of Croydon and east of the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.

Contents

History

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Sutton and Cheam with the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington and Carshalton Urban District which had previously been part of Surrey.

Districts

The borough includes the areas:

Parks

Trees linking Cheam Park with Nonsuch Park, in Cheam

Sutton has 89 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, a total area of 1500 acres (6 km²). The main parks are:

Cultural attractions and institutions

Governance

Current seat distribution as of May 2010:

Party Seats
Liberal Democrat 43
Conservative 11
Independent
Total 54

The governance of the borough is by Sutton Council, which is responsible for the administration of Sutton. The borough shares its London Assembly member with neighboring Croydon. It is a safe Conservative seat with the south of Croydon and parts of Sutton traditionally voting towards the Conservatives. The current Assembly Member is Steve O'Connell a local councillor from Croydon who was elected with an increased majority of 43% from Andrew Pelling's time in the seat. Sutton is represented in the European Parliament by the London constituency.

The London Borough of Sutton Council has had a Liberal Democrat administration since 1986. Prior to that it was a Conservatives council. Lord Tope was the Leader of the Council from 1986 to 1999. Councillor Sean Brennan has been the Leader since October 2002. There are two Deputy Leaders on the Council, they are Councillors Ruth Dombey and Colin Hall. The current Conservative Leader of the Opposition is Councillor Paul Scully. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is Councillor Tony Shields.

Following the London local elections, 2010, the Liberal Democrats returned 43 Councillors and the Conservatives 11. The Labour Party lost all of its seats on the council. In 2007 councillors from each of two parties defected to other political parties; one to the United Kingdom Independence Party from the Conservatives, and one to sit as an Independent from the Liberal Democrats.

Sutton is divided into two parliamentary constituencies, Sutton and Cheam and Carshalton and Wallington.

Paul Burstow is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam, replacing Conservative Lady Olga Maitland in the 1997 General Election. He was previously a Liberal Democrat Councillor.

Tom Brake is the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington, replacing Conservative Nigel Forman in the 1997 General Election.

Notable individuals

Notable individuals associated with the borough, are (or have been):

Education

Education is to an extremely high standard in Sutton and the Sutton LEA is regularly in the top 5 of the whole country. There are several primary schools in and around the borough.

List of primary schools

List of secondary schools

  • Overton Grange School
  • St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls
  • Stanley Park High School
  • Sutton Grammar School (boys)
  • Wallington High School for Girls
  • Wallington County Grammar School (boys)
  • Wilson's School (boys)

There are also a number of private schools including Sutton High School for Girls and Collingwood School

Further education colleges

Climate

Sutton has a temperate climate in common with most areas of Great Britain, it is similar to that of Greenwich in Inner London: its Koppen climate classification is Cfb.[3][4] Its mean annual temperature of 9.6 °C is similar to that experienced throughout the Weald, and slightly cooler than nearby areas such as the Sussex coast and Central London.[5] Rainfall is considerably below England's average (1971–2000) level of 838 mm, and every month is drier overall than the England average.[6]

The nearest weather station is at Gatwick Airport.[7][8]

Climate data for London Borough of Sutton
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: Weatherbase [9]

Transport

Sutton is one of only five London Boroughs not to have at least one London Underground station within its boundaries. The main public transport used in the borough are local rail from its various regional stations and local buses. The Sutton Rail Users forum was formed to campaign for the introduction of higher-frequency, regular interval services from Sutton to central London.

National and international travel

Sutton is linked into the national motorway network via the A217 and M25 orbital motorway at Junction 8. The M25 skirts the south of the borough, linking Sutton with other parts London and the surrounding counties. The A24 passes through the north western part of the borough, through North Cheam and onto Epsom, Dorking, Horsham, Worthing, Bognor Regis and Chichester. This follows, in part, the course of Stane Street, an old Roman road linking London and Chichester. The A232 links Sutton with other towns in the borough, also the boroughs of Kingston, Croydon and Bromley.

Sutton railway station

The Sutton and Mole Valley Lines railway route south from Sutton links the borough to Sussex and Surrey to the south, and to Central London to the north: providing direct services to Dorking, Epsom, Horsham, Leatherhead, Wimbledon, Croydon and Wandsworth. Also running through Sutton is the Sutton Loop Thameslink line which links Luton and St Pancras International directly with the stations on the loop. The main station for all these services is Sutton railway station to the south of the town. The station is the largest and busiest in Sutton. Passenger rail services through Croydon are provided by Southern, First Capital Connect and South West Trains.[10] A pilot scheme launched by the Strategic Rail Authority, Transport for London and three train operators is designed to encourage more passengers to travel off-peak. In full partnership with the South London Boroughs which includes Sutton, SWELTRAC, SELTRANS and the transport users group, the scheme promotes the advantages of off-peak travel following improvements to safety, travel connections and upgrading of station facilities. The Thameslink Programme (formerly known as Thameslink 2000), is a £3.5 billion major project to expand the Thameslink network from 51 to 172 stations[11] spreading northwards to Bedford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King's Lynn and southwards to Guildford, Eastbourne, Horsham, Hove to Littlehampton, East Grinstead, Ashford and Dartford. The project includes the lengthening of platforms, station remodelling, new railway infrastructure (e.g. viaduct) and additional rolling stock.

Sutton is located about 15 miles (24 km) from both London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport although neither airport has major direct public transport connections with the borough. Luton Airport, about 40 miles (64 km) to the north, is connected to Sutton by a direct train. Croydon Airport which was partly in the borough of Sutton served as London's main airport in the years prior to the second world war but closed in the 1950s.

Local travel

The hilly topography of Sutton and the lack of underground services in South London is a reason for the extensive suburban and inter-urban railway network. Sutton is in the commuter belt to London as part of suburbia. There are several busy local rail routes running along the borough's towns, connecting it with London Bridge, St. Pancras International and London Victoria. These local routes mainly run on the Sutton Loop and Sutton & Mole Valley Lines. As well as the main station of Sutton, there are several suburban stations at Hackbridge, West Sutton, Carshalton and Cheam and more.

A sizeable bus infrastructure which is part of the London Buses network operates from a main hub on the Sutton one-way system. London General, owned by the Go-Ahead Group, is one of the largest bus operators to serve Sutton along with Metrobus, Abellio London, Transdev London, Quality Line, and National Express London. Unlike other places in the country, London's transport infrastructure is regulated and therefore is not subject to price wars between different companies with TfL setting a standard price for bus services which is currently £1.10 with an Oyster card and free for all under 12's. Services include buses to Central London, Croydon, Wimbledon, Kingston and a number of other civic centres in the south. London Buses route X26, the longest route in London, provides services between Heathrow airport and Croydon via Kingston.

Although hilly, Sutton is compact and has few major trunk roads running through it. It is on one of the National Cycle Network route running around South London.[12] The North Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty popular with both on and off-road cyclists, is so close to Sutton that part of the park lies within the borough boundary, and there are routes into the park almost from the civic centre.

Construction of the first phase of the East London Line Extension to West Croydon is now under way north of the Thames. There were plans to extend the service to Sutton but it was decided that trains would become too busy by the time it reached Croydon, that it was abandoned. Although there are still hopes that Sutton will be connected to the London Overground scheme through Orbirail and TfL's interest in bidding for the South London Lines operated by Southern until 2009 when a new South Central franchise will be awarded.[13] Parliamentary approval to construct a railway line from Wimbledon to Sutton through what were then undeveloped rural areas had been obtained by the Wimbledon and Sutton Railway (W&SR) in 1910. The main supporters of the scheme were the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR), the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) and the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now London Underground's District Line). All held shares in the company and had rights to run trains over the line when built. World War I prevented any work taking place and by the early 1920s continuing financial support from the MDR meant that it had effectively taken control of the company. Through its ownership of the MDR, the London Electric Railway (LER, precursor of London Underground) was able to obtain approval to use part of the route for an extension of the City and South London Railway (C&SLR, now the Northern Line) from Clapham Common through Morden to Sutton. The route would have seen Underground Northern Line trains running on surface tracks from Morden past the nearby Underground depot and on to the Network Rail alignment close to Morden South. The Southern Railway (SR, successor of the L&SWR and the LB&SCR after the 1923 Grouping of railways) objected to this encroachment into its area of operation and the loss of its passenger traffic to a more direct route. The two companies reached an agreement that enabled the C&SLR to extend as far as Morden in exchange for the LER giving up its rights over the W&SR route. The SR subsequently built the line, one of the last to be built in the London area. It opened on 5 January 1930.

Sports facilities and clubs

Football club Sutton United F.C. are based in Sutton, who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division.

Sutton Cricket Club is based in Cheam Road, Sutton, (entrance in Gander Green Lane.) The Club’s 1st XI plays at the highest level of the sport available to it, the England & Wales Cricket Board’s, ‘Surrey Championship Premier Division.’ The club’s 2nd and 3rd teams also play at the highest level available to them, the, ‘Surrey Championship 2nd XI and 3rd XI Premier Divisions.’ Sutton Cricket Club also provide league cricket for 4th and 5th XIs on Saturdays and for three XI’s on Sundays, two of which are dedicated to youth development. The club has a colts section with over 150 participants, and owns a second ground in Holmwood Close, Cheam. A cricket week is held at the Cheam Road ground every season, in addition to the club playing at least one mid-week friendly fixture every week.

Rosehill boasts an ETTA premier level Table Tennis Club, Rosehil TTC play in the Sutton & District League and the Thames Valley League. The Croydon Pirates despite their name play just inside the borough of Sutton, at Waddon and are one of the most successful teams in the British Baseball Federation.

Carshalton has two football clubs: Carshalton Athletic F.C. (home ground at The War Memorial Sports Ground, Colston Avenue) and Carshalton FC (at Beddington Park). At the Westcroft Leisure Centre, in Carshalton there are health and fitness facilities including two swimming pools, sports hall, squash court and fitness centre.[14] Westcroft is also home to Sutton Pumas basketball club. There are also two public basketball courts in the Rosehill section of Sutton

Town twinning

References

  1. ↑ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
  2. ↑ "London Borough of Sutton information". London Online. 1996. http://www.londononline.co.uk/boroughs/sutton/. Retrieved 2008-06-07. 
  3. ↑ WorldClimate
  4. ↑ (Temperature data) 
  5. ↑ "Mean Temperature Annual Average". Met Office. 2001. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/tmean/17.gif. Retrieved 2007-08-22. 
  6. ↑ "Met Office: averages 1971–2000". Met Office website. Met Office. 2007. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19712000/areal/england.html. Retrieved 2007-08-22. 
  7. ↑ (Rainfall data) 
  8. ↑ (Pressure data) 
    Temperature and rainfall: 1961–1990 averages. Pressure averages: 1971–1988 averages.
    Derived from the Global Historical Climatology Network (version 1).
  9. ↑ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for London, England, United Kingdom". http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=67730&refer=. Retrieved November 2, 2007. 
  10. ↑ "UK rail network map" (PDF). National Rail website. National Rail. 2006. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/print_maps/Nat_Rail_Passenger_Operators_2006.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-25. 
  11. ↑ "Good news for South London as £3.5BN Thameslink project clears major hurdle". Press release. 2006-10-18. http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=2413&NewsAreaID=2&SearchCategoryID=8. Retrieved 2007-04-12. 
  12. ↑ "Areas to cycle in Sutton". 2008. http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sRegion=London&map.x=-0.190751345688503&map.y=51.3519798680984&bLarge=&nZoom=3. Retrieved 2008-05-24. 
  13. ↑ Next Stop South London - The Londonder, 08/03/08
  14. ↑ "L.B. Sutton - Westcroft Leisure Centre.". http://www.sutton.gov.uk/leisure/leisurecentres/westcroft.htm. 

External links

Official

News and travel

Culture

Community

Maps

Open data about London Borough of Sutton

London Borough of Sutton
Districts
Beddington · Beddington Corner · Belmont · Benhilton · Carshalton · Carshalton Beeches · Carshalton on the Hill · Cheam · Hackbridge · St Helier · Sutton · The Wrythe · Wallington · Worcester Park
 Location of the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London
Attractions
BedZED · Whitehall (Cheam) · Honeywood
Parks and open spaces
Carshalton Park · Grove Park · Oaks Park
Constituencies
Carshalton and Wallington · Sutton and Cheam
Other topics
People · Public art · Schools