The AGM is on Tuesday 13 June 2023, 7.30pm at The Old Coulsdon Congregational Church.
Come to our AGM and listen to our Guest Speaker, Sacha Bunatyan, who will be telling us more about the Ukranian community in Coulsdon and how we can help.
Click here to download the AGM Agenda June 2023 and ECRA Accounts April 2022 – March 2023.
Click here to view the nominations for the committee to be elected as part of the AGM.
To facilitate these works, there will be traffic management in place consisting of a full road closure and bus stop suspensions on Old Lodge Lane during the planned times. During the weekend only phase of the works, Old Lodge Lane will be closed from 2300 Friday to Monday 0500. During the mid-week night works, Old Lodge Lane will be closed from 2330 to 0500 each night from Monday to Friday.
Pedestrian will still be able to walk from one side of the structure to the other within a protected scaffold tunnel during closures. BAM will install additional signage to ensure customers know businesses are still open as usual. During the four weekend closures, there will be a shuttle bus service operating in substitute of the normal bus services.
Shuttle bus services will operate as follows:
Work will be carried out as follows (click to view larger):
The London Mayor and the government have now come to an agreement over funding of TfL. The Mayor will also obtain some additional funding from the GLA. However, in the agreement TfL still needs to raise additional Funds. One of the ways they are proposing to do this is to withdraw the One-day paper travelcard. The travelcard has been the main integrated ticket for travel on all forms of transport in London for the last 40 years.
TfL would seem to accept there is a need for an integrated ticket in the zones as they will keep the all-day capping on Oyster and bank cards. To travel in London, you will need either an Oyster card or a Bankcard. Otherwise you will need a separate ticket for each leg of the journey.
The main problem would seem to affect children and families taking a day out in London which could be become complex, financially expensive or even prohibitive.
This means to obtain off-peak child fares, children will have to have a child Zip Oyster photocard. This requires a £14.00 admin fee and a digital photo and can only be obtained online and can take up to 10 days to arrive. Most children in London who need to use public transport already have Zip Oyster photocards. It is those that do not use public transport and don’t have a Zip Oyster photocard and want to make the occasion journeys that will be negatively impacted by the proposed changes.
This will apply equally as the move to cashless bus fares, to those visitors from outside London. They will have to buy single tickets and will not be able to use the bus. You can engage with the consultation be visiting the TfL Have Your Say website: Engagement to withdraw Day Travelcards | Have Your Say Transport for London (tfl.gov.uk). East Surrey Transport Committee have objected and are asking you to object and contact London TravelWatch .
Update 29/8/2023: ULEZ starts today and if your vehicle does not comply you will have to pay the ULEZ £12.50 charge to drive within Greater London each day you drive within the zone. When paying the charge please ensure you are on the TfL site and not one of the unofficial scam sites: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-payments.
You can check to see if your vehicle is exempt by entering your registration on the TfL website: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-vrm-checker.
Petrol vehicles after 20207 and diesel vehicles after 2015 normally comply. It is possible that some older vehicles can also be exempt if their engine complies with Euro 6 standard. These can be individually registered, but you will need confirmation from the manufacturer: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compliance-registration/before-you-start.
All foreign registered vehicles need to be individually registered: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compliance-registration/Non-UK-vehicles-driving-in-London.
The following Roads in Coulsdon are exempt:
There are ULEZ cameras on the following roads:
It is possible additional cameras may be installed at a later date.
On Tuesday 29th August 2023 the London Mayor intends to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone scheme (ULEZ) to all of London, charging non-compliant vehicles £12.50 per day. Although this is proving controversial with many MPs opposing this, it is in line with Government policy which wants to move to road pricing. At present the implementation date is subject to a Judicial Review (JD) brought by 4 London Boroughs and Surrey County Council. This could allow it to go ahead, delay it or ask the Mayor to revise it.
Why is the Mayor doing this? One of the unforeseen results of the change to Diesel vehicles was that there has been an increase in emissions of nitrous oxides (NOx) and particulates at street level. These particulates are one of the major causes of poor air quality in London and are particularly harmful to children as they can get deep into their lungs. One child death in London has already been attributed by the Coroner to road pollution. A study carried out for the Mayor in 2017 showed that pollution in all of London was above World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. Some days even on Farthing Downs pollution was one level above WHO standards and in the Coulsdon town centre it was two levels above.
From 26th October 2020 the existing Low Emission Zone was extended to all of London including Coulsdon, but this only applied to all Lorries and vehicles over 3.5 tonnes which must comply throughout London from the borough boundary at Coulsdon.
From 25th October 2021 the ULEZ was extended from central London to the north and south circular roads. Vehicles with a registered disabled driver or disabled passengers will be exempt until 2025.
From 29th August 2023 all vehicles across all of London will have to comply with ULEZ or pay a £12.50 per day to drive in London. To comply and not be charged you will have to have a vehicle that complies with the following standards:
You can check to see if your vehicle is compliant on the TfL web site: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone
There is a scrappage scheme to assist people to purchase compliant vehicles which has paid out £18m so far. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/scrappage-schemes#on-this-page-0
Failure to pay will result in a £160 to £1,000 fine. Enforcement is by Camera and most of these are already in position on the Coulsdon Bypass and the A23.
However, if you look at the map (click here to view) there are a number of roads in Coulsdon that are exempt. These are to provide what are called escape routes for HGVs so they do not have to U turn, but can drive out of the ULEZ.
These are the roads in Coulsdon: Coulsdon Road from the borough boundary to Marlpit Lane, Marlpit Lane, Brighton Road from the southern roundabout to Lion Green Road, Lion Green Road and Chipstead Valley Road and all roads in between. In Purely it is the Godstone Road from the GLA Boundary to Purley Cross, but no other roads. These exemptions still appear on the consultation map.
This would mean that if your vehicle doesn’t comply, from the south you could drive to Lion Green car park, but not to the town centre or along the bypass.
If you have European Visitors to avoid a fine it is important to register their car with TfL https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/compliance-registration/register-a-foreign-vehicle
London is not the only town introducing Low Emission Zones; Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Oxford, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Tyneside Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, Check the Government web site to see what vehicles are included: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-in-a-clean-air-zone#cities-with-clean-air-zones.
Areas of Natural Beauty represent some of England’s most treasured landscapes, whose unique qualities are safeguarded in the national interest. The present area stretches across along the North Downs from Farnham in the west to Oxted in the east, also including the Greensand Hills which rise in Haslemere and stretch east to Leith Hill, the highest point in
Natural England is also looking at bringing parts of Chipstead, Caterham Woods, Woldingham Valley, Limpsfield and Godstone Hills into the expanded Surrey Hills, This proposed expansion would include Farthing Downs and Happy Valley in Coulsdon and would bring in areas that are in London. It would not include Coulsdon Common or New Hill.
Please see the attached PDF for further information as well as details of the consultation which closes on June 13, 2023.
Only a few days to go till Coulsdon’s Yuletide Magic comes to town with music, a raffle, festive food, market stalls and Santa’s Grotto.
Saturday 3rd December, 11am-8pm @ Brighton Road, Coulsdon.
