EastSheenMatters

A week after the works started in Sheen Lane, Richmond Council have managed to post notice of Cadent Gas activity. An email ciruclated at 1700 today states:

“Sheen Lane, East Sheen multi-way temporary traffic signals Junction with Christchurch Road for Cadent Gas utility works. Estimated completion date 16/06/2025. Contact: Cadent Gas 08000 159 057″

So that is another ten days of disorganisation.

There is also a mystery diversion sign at the junction of Shrewsbury Avenue and Sheen Lane. It seems to suggest going right into Sheen Gate Gardens – to where? Back onto the South Circular and left at Temple Sheen Road?

Do people who work on these sites have a clue about local road layout? About as much as they appear to know about the potential effect of the Stag Brewery development on Mortlake High Street!

One cannot help thinking that better planning to include longer working hours might have benefited the local community.

Local resident Brian Coope (he’s the one with the hat) is appearing with Stiff Joints this evening.

The Planning Inspector gave permission for a secondary school for 1200 pupils to be built on the Stag Brewery site. The funding for an academy was originally approved by the Department for Education in 2016. This part of the development is dependent on continuing approval of funding by central government. Richmond Council made it clear during the Inquiry that they would not be able to afford funding it.

We now have to see whether a decision is announced in the Government Spending Review expected on Wednesday 11 June to continue that funding. Will it be in the small print of the Review or left to the DfE to decide how to use the allocated funds?

The Inspector held that there were arguments on both sides, but preferred the Council’s position. That might suggest that when you add the cost of the Academy into the equation, the balance changes. Add also those arguments to which the Inspector gave little weight, falling pregnancy rates, transport problems and effect on sixth forms in other schools, and the balance might move further.

One might also wonder given some of the evidence on cost and risk given at the Inquiry whether Livingstone Academy is considering its position.

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The 2025 Wimbledon Qualifying Competition starts on Monday 23 June to Thursday 26 June at the Community Sport Centre Roehampton. Tickets have gone on sale today and are available for pre-purchase at £15.

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Go to https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/atoz/qualifying.html

The 2025 venue is:

Wimbledon Qualifying and Community Sports Centre
Bank Lane (off Priory Lane)
Roehampton
London
SW15 5JQ

Held one week prior to The Championships, the Wimbledon Qualifying Competition is comprised of Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles competitions to determine the final Main Draw places for The Championships 2025. To secure a Main Draw place, players compete in a knock-out tournament and must win every one of their matches across three rounds to earn one of the 16 Championships’ places in each of the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ draws.

The council has been trying to attract wildlife to Beverley Brook by cutting back some of the trees around it and creating barriers in the water to provide more varied habitats.

Unfortunately, a new kind of life form has appeared, one which shows it’s still alive by the presence of a little green light. There were three electric bikes in and around the stream yesterday evening – two Limes and one from Forest.

It’s one thing to find five Lime bikes in a row on the pavement of my street – all neatly spaced out and pointing in the same direction – but another to have them in the stream.

I have reported them to the companies, but presumably they already know where they are because of their electronics. One of the Lime bikes has been there for at least a week.

It’s a shame that these monsters are now disturbing the wildlife, which seems to be returning. I saw a happy-looking grey heron there one evening, which may be the same one that looked a bit odd last night but I’m told was just sleeping.