STRA has joined forces with Brent Council in the forthcoming Partnership Week of Action.

STRA’s Event on Saturday 2 August will be at Butler’s Green between 11 am to 3 pm to increase STRA membership, increase awareness and Litterpick (optional).

STRA along with Brent Council will focus on paan chewing and spitting – the health implications, crime reduction, street drinking, cleaner streets, anti-social behaviour, environmental issues and general awareness of services provided free of charge  by Brent Council.

STRA Members  will have the chance to meet their councillors, find out what’s happening in their area and let Brent know what services it does well and how we can go about improving them even further.

The main issues in Sudbury are:

• Paan chewing

• Anti-social behaviour in Sudbury Town after 11pm

• Fear of crime and reassurance work

• Street drinking

• Fly-tipping and rubbish dumping

• Cleaning of Network Rail land

• Bins to be emptied regularly in parks

• Parking enforcement – Sudbury Town, Barham Park

• Traffic congestion

• Working with new communities

For more information go to www.brent.gov.uk/weekofaction

The week of action is from 28 July to 2 August 2014.

STRA will be on Butler’s Green on Saturday 2 August from 11 am to 4 pm with the famous RED STRA tent.

Week of Action will focus on health, paan spitting, crime reduction, environmental issues and general awareness of local services and LITTER PICK.

There will be the following entertainment

Dhol drummers                12 pm to 2 pm  

Cherelle                           12 pm to 2 pm  

Busker                              2 pm to 4 pm

Brent Community Awards 2014

The Mayor Bobby Thomas presented awards to 26 Brent residents  aged from 18 to 84 in recognition of their outstanding community service.  Three Sudbury residents Francis Henry from Daniels Estate Agents, Christine Harvey from Through the Looking Glass hairdressers and Jean Peacock, membership secretary for the local Sudbury Town Residents' Association and the local National Trust voluntary group, had their contribution to the Sudbury community recognised. They have done much to bring their mixed community together, the latest being the Sudbury Arts Festival 2013.

The Arts Festival committee has announced as part of this years community project, the return of the internationally renowned Diva Opera company with a Christmas opera at St Andrew's Church on the 5th December.

Brent Council are proposing to introduce some additional street furniture to prevent vehicles driving across the footway. Brent are seeking your views on what type of street furniture would be preferable at this location

Three options are being considered, these are:

• Bollards only

• A combination of bollards and seating

• Bicycle stands

   

  Please fill in the attached questionnaire indicating which type of street furniture you would like to see installed.

In preparation for Gini’s Ben Nevis Trek in September, STRA members David Flack and Gini Moore braved an afternoon of heavy showers, strong winds and bright sunny intervals as they took to the Chiltern Hills. The three and a half mile walk took them through part of the scenic Ivinghoe Hills Nature Reserve. The chalk grasslands on this area are nationally important for wildlife and are home to many species of plants and insects especially butterflies. Some of these are nationally rare.

Gini and David rounded off their afternoon walk with a well-deserved tea and HUGE cream scones at the Brownlow Cafe on the Ashridge Estate.

If you would like to join us for future walks either locally or further afield and wish to get fit or you would just like to enjoy the fresh air and countryside please email Gini on nfo@stra.org.uk .

If there is enough interest we will post details of future walks on the website.

Todays walk (Sunday 8 June) was over Horsenden Hill, along the canal to Alperton. Back along the canal to Horsenden Bridge and then back to Sudbury. A journey of 7 miles. Along the way we saw Moorhen and other water fowl, a heron and turtles sun bathing on logs in the canal. Many birds were nesting and there were plenty of ducklings.

Please contact Virginia Moore if you would like to join this group.

Neighbourhood planning provides an excellent opportunity for us, the local community, to shape the future of Sudbury. It can help us influence what changes and improvements we think are necessary to make Sudbury a better place to live, work and play.

Over the last year residents and businesses came together at a series of events to discuss ideas for the neighbourhood plan. These ideas are presented in a master document *“Options Report”.

We asked for your thoughts on these ideas before we drafted a series of policies that will eventually be used to shape and determine the future planning proposals and applications for the area.

The neighbourhood plan is being led by Sudbury Town Residents’ Association (STRA), who is the first Neighbourhood Forum to have been designated in the London Borough of Brent.  Sudbury is one of only a handful of areas in London where the neighbourhood plan is being prepared.  STRA Neighbourhood Forum is recognised by Brent Council as an appropriate body to develop a new plan, being representative of the community. This is a major step for the area and for Brent Council.

The focus of the neighbourhood plan is on the high street; essentially the area between Barham Park and Butlers Green. The plan also includes Vale Farm and Sudbury Town Piccadilly Line tube station and Sudbury & Harrow Road Chiltern Railways station. We encourage everyone who lives, shops or works in the area to view what is being proposed. 

This is the most exciting opportunity for the Sudbury community to collectively make positive changes for the future. 

For further information and membership details please contact or email STRA info@stra.org.uk or call Renu Kaul on 07840 491 142 or write to STRA, c/o SMC, 809 Harrow Road, Sudbury, Middlesex HA0 2LP

See our planning page here.

For the latest on the Vale Farm refurbishment see here. 

Existing sports centre customers and the local community around North Wembley will benefit as Vale Farm Sports Centre undergoes a fantastic modernisation programme. This will transform a number of facilities to create a brighter and more vibrant centre, with a better choice of activities for everyone.

On Sunday 8th September STRA member Gini Moore took part in a bike ride challenge cycling from London to Windsor in support of Asthma UK.

This charity is close to her heart because like many of us she has family members who suffer with this condition.  Gini wants to raise money for further research and also raise awareness of asthma.





Please consider sponsoring her as every donation will be gratefully received and will make a real difference!

http://www.justgiving.com/Gini-Moore

Here is Gini's write up of the experience.

On Sunday 8^th September last I took part in a bike ride from Richmond Green to Windsor to help raise funds for Asthma UK. There was a choice of three routes – 55 and 37 mile and a shorter 29 mile route which included towpaths. I opted for the 29 mile route because this was my first cycling event.  While doing the ride there were times when I felt that I had missed a turning and somehow gotten onto one of the longer routes! In all, I enjoyed taking part in the challenge.  The weather started fine and sunny; ideal cycling weather for late summer.   Half way through the ride this all changed and the wind and rain on the on-road route provided something of a challenge. My waterproof poncho wasn’t much use.

Cycling through the great expanse of Windsor Great Park was a most enjoyable experience en route to the finish.

Taking part in the ride was an amazing experience for me. I now have more confidence cycling on-road and I fully intend to continue cycling on the road as well as the towpath.   My old new
Scott bike never failed me once during the ride.

I didn’t have a set target in mind when I took on the challenge. I just wanted to raise as much as I could for a very worthwhile cause. My total to date is £325 plus £72.50 gift aid.  I’m very pleased with this figure.

 In which case, a free new cycle guide packed with useful information would be for you.

The booklet, produced on behalf of the council by transport and consultants SKM, has details of free training, rides, maintenance sessions and much more.

To order one, phone or email Sharleen Hannon on 020 7939 6221 or Shannon@globalskm.com

 

Vacancies for allotments in Brent

Seven allotment sites in Brent now have vacancies for anyone who wants to try their hand at food growing

The vacancies are at allotments in Cecil Avenue, Wembley, Kinch Grove, Kenton, Lyon Park Avenue, Alperton, Sudbury Court Road, Sudbury, Vale Farm, Wembley, Woodfield Avenue, Wembley, and Dors Close allotment, Kingsbury.

Allotment gardening is a great way to grow healthy food, keep active and works out a cost of just 22p a day for a standard size-five pole plot - that's about half the size of a tennis court and is big enough to grow enough fruit and veg for a small family.

Call Brent Council on 020 8937 5619 to apply for an allotment or you can apply online at www.brent.gov.uk or email parks.service@brent.gov.uk

One of our councillors has asked the Council for proper maintenance of the recently improved site in Maybank Avenue (on the corner with The rise).

Sudbury Councillors used their ward working money to get the area cleared up and replanted a while back and were assured that it would be properly maintained in the future. When Councillor Lorber took this photograph the weeds we once again waste high.

Paul has now asked the Council to clear the site of weeds and any rubbish and to maintain it properly in the future.

If you're interested in our work and would like to support us, read about us and  the projects we've contributed to in the past.

Browse through these pages to learn more about us and our projects.

Our main project at the moment is the development plan for Sudbury. More details of this can be found above. In particular you can find out about our status as a neighbourhood forum and a meeting held on the 16 March to take the neighbourhood plan forward.