Chairman's Blog - June 2023
LESSA UPATE
We asked Stephen Hammond, our MP, what was happening to the request to the Secretary of State of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities to call in the Bellway planning application.
The reply to him from one of the junior ministers states that:
“The application still under consideration and your views expressed in your letter of 27 September 2022, and those received from your constituents, together with all other relevant information, will be considered before the Secretary of State decides whether to call-in the application for determination.”
We can only hope that this long delay means that full consideration is being given to all the points that we local residents have made so strongly.
Recent Update: Please refer to the latest news: Meadowview Road - June 2023
BANK BRANCH CLOSURES
I have criticised before in this blog the closures of branches of the NatWest Banks in Morden and Wimbledon Village, and of the Santander Bank, also in Morden. Many people, and especially those who are more elderly or not otherwise able, and those unwilling to trust internet banking rely on them for their daily transactions.
John Nicholson, one of our Road Stewards, points out that in recent years Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, and Santander have closed their branches in New Malden, and that NatWest has now announced that their branch in New Malden is to close on the High Street on 13th July this year. He reminds us that despite government talk of the creation of “banking hubs”,progress has been slow, and in any case New Malden would not qualify since the Nationwide Building Society is still in the area. Ironically, this has now announced that it will be closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays with effect from 19thJune this year to enable staff to deal with on-line and telephone enquiries, and for pre-arranged interviews. John also points out that while the Post Office continues to operate, Post Office Counters Limited is keen to dispose of the building in the High Street and to contract out their service to a sub-postmaster/mistress.
John Elvidge, Chairman
