July 2014 Home / Mitcham and Morden / Newsletters / July 2014 Dear friend, Hello again, and welcome back to more on the latest news and events here in Mitcham and Morden. I’ve got details about summer fairs taking place around the community throughout July, an update from one of our children’s sports teams, and news about a meeting I’ve organised to improve one of our local parks. But first, I want to let you know more about what I’m doing to battle against local police cuts. Join me at a meeting to tell the police we want a better service in Mitcham Over the past few weeks, there have been a series of high profile crimes in Mitcham, including an attempted murder in the town centre, a rape on one of the pathways into Colliers Wood, and a stabbing in Pollards Hill. I’ve also received lots of complaints about anti-social behaviour, drinking and even drug taking, largely connected to the betting shops and barbers in the centre of Mitcham itself. At the same time, according to recent figures, the number of unsolved crimes in Merton is up 78%, and we have lost more than 40 Police Constables and nearly half our PCSOs since 2010. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has made changes to the police service, and neighbourhood policing in Merton has switched from a system where 6 dedicated officers worked in each of Merton's 20 wards, to one where teams work in just 3 centralised sectors. This has led to a reduction in policing for Mitcham because even though 52% of crime takes place in Mitcham, resources are split evenly across the three sectors. Mitcham’s neighbourhood officers have also taken on responsibilities that were previously carried out by other police officers, including Vehicle Checks, Drug Stops, Licensed premises visits, and so on. So I’ve called a meeting for you to talk to the police about what more they can do. I’ve invited the head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, as well as the Chief Executives of Ladbrokes, Betfred and Paddy Power. This is your chance to tell them how they can make Mitcham safer and better, so it would be great if you could come. The meeting is at 10am on Saturday 2 August, in St Mark’s Church on St Mark’s Road in Mitcham. I will be there too, along with your local Councillors. It’s our chance to get the police to do a better job in Mitcham, so I hope to see you there! Morden Little League go Dutch – and win! After last month’s newsletter publicised a number of local sports initiatives, including Merton Council’s fantastic new Sports Blast project, I thought I should mention one of our local sports clubs in particular. Morden Little League was founded in 1968 and is the oldest and largest little league in the country. It offers football for players of all abilities for children from school years 2 to 8 for boys, or 2 to 9 for girls. Most of all, it is great fun, but I’ve just heard news about some tournament success for them over in Holland. We’ve not had too much football to celebrate in the past few weeks, so it is good to hear that Morden’s players did us proud. After losing their first game, they went on to win their next four games – well done to everyone who was involved! Improving Ravensbury Park Most of the time Ravensbury Park is a great place for families to visit. However, recently I’ve been contacted by a number of people who are concerned about litter, especially at weekends, and about grass cutting. So, together with your Councillors I have asked Merton Council staff to look at how they can improve the park. For instance, although litter is caused by a handful of thoughtless people who don’t care about our park as much as the rest of us, can more be done to provide extra bins or litter collection services, and can grass be cut more often? I’d like to invite you to a site meeting I’ve organised at 9am this Thursday (10 July) which will be attended by officials from Merton Council, along with the local Councillors – including the excellent Leader of Merton Council and Ravensbury Councillor, Stephen Alambritis. We will also be joined by representatives from the local police force, who can advise what they can do to reduce the anti-social behaviour that affects parts of the park from time to time and makes it a less pleasant place to visit. We’ll meet outside the entrance to the GP surgery on Morden Road before heading into the park for a walkabout, so please do come if you possibly can. I appreciate it is very soon, so if you cannot make it and have any questions you would like to raise, please email me at siobhain@mmlp.org.uk and I will make sure you get a reply. It would be good to have your ideas and input on what more can be done. Enjoy a Mitcham and Morden summer! Finally, I’ve got news about a number of summer fairs taking place over the next few weeks, starting this Saturday, 12 July, when there are a couple of events in Colliers Wood. It’s Parish Fun Day from noon until 4pm at St Joseph’s Church in Colliers Wood, which is always a spectacular afternoon of fun. Before that, Singlegate Primary School is holding its summer fair, which will include an attempt to break the world record for the most people doing sit-ups simultaneously. The current record is 263 and they are looking for people to take part – don’t worry, it doesn't matter how many you do – so if you are interested, please sign up at www.singlegatesummerfair.splashthat.com. You then need to register at 10.30am on the day in the field opposite the school! After record attempt you can enjoy all the stalls, BBQ and musical entertainment at the fair. And don’t forget it’s Morden Fun Day on Sunday 20 July. Organised by the Rotary Club of Morden, it runs from 11am to 5pm in Morden Park, and is set to be an exciting, action packed day for all the family. There’ll be stalls and activities run by local clubs and charities, with play areas and Bouncy Castle for younger visitors and all sorts of activities including Football, Cheerleading, BMX Bike Displays, Martial Arts, an Assault Course, Zumba, Tap Dancing, Belly Dancing, a Dog Show, and Fencing and Archery. There’ll even be a stall for your local Labour Councillors – so why not pop along and say hello! And on that summery note, I’ll sign off for another month. Please get in touch if you’ve any comments or thoughts about what I can include in future emails – just email me at siobhain@mmlp.org.uk. My best wishes,
