EastSheenMatters

Charlotte Hicks, a local artist and organiser of the Sheen Art Trail, with Mayor Penny Frost at the launch on Saturday.

The long awaited renovation of the Burton’s Mausoleum in the graveyard at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Mortlake has now been completed and an inaugural opening took place today.

And inside you find the tomb of Sir Richard Burton.

Fr. Adrian McKenna, Parish Priest and Caitlin Jones, Project Manager with Habitats and Heritage at the opening.

David Watson, Funder from RINTEL, Fr. Adrian and Professor Helen Wickstead, Professor at Kingston University

Caitlin Jones and Councillor Anton McNulty-Howard

The last photo of the open door was taken in 1897.

So look for yourself!

There is also an exhibition at the Sheen Lane Library.

Posters have gone up at the entrance to Parkway House, which you may wish to read. It is being advertised as a private club where the whole family will be welcome.

It is helpful to know that the developers, Curo, say they are on course ten weeks into a fifty four week project. But the question everyone is asking is where will visitors park their cars.

Meanwhile ESM hears that in June 2026 TfL will start work on a budget of £5 million on the South Circular Road in East Sheen. We await details of what is likely to produce even more chaos than usual around the Sheen Lane and Upper Richmond Road junction.

Work to be undertaken by Richmond Council at the Triangle, at a cost of £900,000, remains on hold while the Council finds the money.

University lecturer Sandy Peters was left with multiple broken bones and blood pouring from her face after a child smashed into her on a Forest bike in Sutton last October, while she was walking on a pavement.

She is reported on BBC News today as saying “She has post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and her teeth still need fixing, which could cost about £10,000. …. Both my cheeks are broken, the whole of my upper jaw is broken. It’s out of alignment with my lower jaw. And the key concern now is that there was a lot of damage to the teeth.

The e-bike rider, who was under 16-years-old, had struck her right side, causing Sandy to smash face first into a brick wall. She now suffers from PTSD and may have to pay around £10,000 for dental work, a sum she is unable to afford as there is little chance of getting any financial redress from the e-bike rider. And nor from Forest apparently.

E-bike hire companies such as Forest are legally required to provide public liability insurance under UK law. But it only covers incidents arising from mechanical faults or failures of its bikes – for example if a pedestrian or rider is injured due to faulty breaks. Such companies are not legally required to hold rider liability insurance, which would cover incidents where a third party is injured due to the fault of the rider.

The simple solutions? Well they are obvious are they not?

First the authorities have to be stricter about enforcing existing legislation. The bucks (£££) are currently bring passed between e-bike providers, local authorities who are making money from them, and the police. And meanwhile individuals like Sandy are suffering.

Secondly do not contract with these companies unless there are guarantees that they will be fully insured against injuries caused by their bikes. The excuses given below are simply not good enough.

At a time when Richmond Council are negotiating the fine print of their contract with Forest we should should be told what the plans are for dealing with these issues.

Road Signage

Heading west and / or North

Planning at Clifford Avenue

EastSheenMatters rarely comments on planning applications. Clifford House at the corner of Clifford Avenue and the Upper Richmond Road warrants a mention, because of its major impact on the local environment and the manner in which the development has proceeded.

The original proposal, approved in 2025, was for a building with eight residential units. Construction started. On 18 March 2026 the Richmond Planning Committee delegated to officers the approval of a new application for the erection of a part two, part three and part four storey building comprising of twelve residential units, nine x 1-bedroom units and three x 2-bedroom units, including cycle parking, refuse storage, hard and soft landscaping, amendments to site access and other associated works.

This is subject to the completion of a Section 106 Legal Agreement and sundry other matters.

The Richmond Council Planning website refers to the application as still live with a consultation expiry date of 25 March 2026.

EastSheenMatters reported on Wednesday about the road works at the junction of Sheen Lane and the Upper Richmond Road. Today the hole is much bigger and deeper. It was noted that the signage around the works did not state an end date. It still does not. There are no warnings about the work on the Transport for London website nor on the Richmond Council website.

BUT there were workers from Ferns on the site who were helpful in responding to questions.

So wait for it, they think the work will take another three weeks. They are relaying pipes on the pavement.

Why? The workers say they are instructed to move the pavement back about a metre, to enable an increased turning circle (outside James Anderson), so that a bus can turn right from Sheen Lane.

A new bus route turning on that junction? Has ESM missed something?