What will happen to Surbiton in 2012?

What will happen to Surbiton in 2012?  Here at Surbitonpeople we've been consulting our crystal ball to predict the future…

 

Shops and the local economy    It was a tough year for local businesses and there were some sad shop closures in Surbiton.  However, there were some new openings too which gives us some hope for the future.  Of particular note were the new openings of the French Tarte (Maple Road), Pizza Express (St Mark's Hill), Surbiton Hardware Store (Brighton Road) and COOK (Victoria Road).  There have been reports of decent sales for Surbiton's shops this Christmas, but it's going to be another tough year to come.  We predict a few closures and a few new openings throughout the year – hopefully not many more charity shops.

 

GLA Elections    This year sees the GLA elections when we get to vote for the London Mayor and a local GLA representative.  Boris Johnson is currently the Mayor and Tony Arbour is our local GLA representative.  The election takes place in May.  We predict a narrow win for Boris over Ken Livingston and another win for Tony Arbour.

 

Public Toilets    This year, Kingston Council finally decided that the public toilets in Claremont Road (behind the clock) were surplus to requirements and they were to be put up for sale.  Perhaps this year will see them bought and converted into a shop, café or office?  We predict that they'll still be empty and undeveloped this time next year!

 

London 2012 Olympics    It's been a long time coming, but with the Olympic flame travelling through Surbiton, the Cycling road race coming nearby and several Surbiton residents taking part – we reckon Olympic mania will take over Surbiton this Summer. We predict a Surbiton of full pubs and restaurants looking at the Olympics on TV and also at least one medal for team GB with a Surbiton connection!

 

Flats and new homes    Last Christmas we wrote about the developments of flats around Surbiton that hadn't been started or had stopped work half way.  We had a little progress with the completion of the flats on Brighton Road.  Other major developments have only just been given the go-ahead one year down the line.  We predict big progress on these developments in 2012.

 

Christmas lights, flags and celebrations    A few years ago, Kingston Council stopped paying for things like the Christmas lights and tree.  I think that it's a real shame that the centre of Surbiton doesn't have Christmas lights along the streets: and I think the local businesses suffer because of it.  However, the newly formed Surbiton Business Community (SBC) have come together to try and improve things.  The SBC arranged the Christmas tree, new lights and the switch–on celebrations. 

 

But it's more than Christmas lights.  This year we had the Royal Wedding, and despite the various street parties around Surbiton, there was nothing done for the centre of town.  We should at this point pay tribute to the shops in Maple Road, who decorated outside their shops with flags and bunting.  Local businesses and the newly formed SBC have their work cut out if they are to keep up with nearby towns.  We predict great things for the SBC/town-centre in celebrating special events and promoting local businesses.

 

Surbiton Filter Beds    The controversial plans for the Surbiton Filter Beds site will be decided early this year.  The plans include floating homes, a nature reserve, marina, education centre, restaurant and public access to the riverside.  Without a doubt, the current plans are the best that have come forward for the site so far.  However, recently several residents groups have come out against the application.  We predict that the application will get turned down by Kingston and Surbiton councilors.

 

Local Events    Surbiton has enjoyed many great events this year, including the excellent Surbiton Festival.  Many of the other events have been organised by the Seething Wells people who are based at The Lamb Pub.  This year they've put on Ski Sunday, Seething Festival, Seething Sports Day and Giant Hungry Hippos!  Some of the events are rather strange, but fun never the less.  We predict more of the same for 2012, perhaps with a few surprises too.

 

School Places    Surbiton's brand new school, Lime Tree Primary School, will open in September 2012, initially offering 60 new reception places, 26 part-time nursery places and support for up to three children with special educational needs.  The new school places are much needed by local children.  We predict the new school will open on time, but there will be traffic problems around the Surbiton Hospital site as the number of children attending the school increases.

 

Surbiton Town Centre Improvements    For the last couple of years Kingston Council has been consulting on plans for Surbiton Town Centre Improvements.  The consultation has resulted in plans that aren't radical at all, but following long bouts of roadworks in and around Victoria Road, we now have a better road and some pavement improvements.  Next is due to be major pavement improvement and new street lights.  We predict another year of slow progress, but perhaps some new street lights by the end of the year.

 

Surbitonpeople.co.uk    2011 has been our best year yet.  More and more people have started to use the site and increasing numbers of people have been clicking through our articles and photo galleries each day.  We predict a Happy New Year for all our readers!