The New and Old Malden Neighbourhood Committee met on Wednesday 24 July 2024 to consider applications for Neighbourhood Community Grants and to discuss objections to proposed waiting and parking restrictions in various locations across the borough. The committee also received a report from the Neighbourhood Manager.

Neighbourhood Community Grants

The committee was scheduled to consider applications for Neighbourhood Community Grants (NCGs), which are funded through the Community Grants Programme. The total available for the New and Old Malden area for 2024/25 is £20,000, with £15,470 pending in applications.

The following organisations had applications scheduled for consideration:

• Voices of Hope: Applied for £3,000 to continue their BRITE Box project, which provides weekly meal kits to families experiencing food insecurity. The project aims to address child food insecurity by offering families the resources and skills to prepare healthy meals. If approved, this grant would support nine new families in the New and Old Malden area for 36 weeks.
• Kingston Charitable Foundation (KCF): Applied for £3,000 to support their New & Old Malden Neighbourhood Grants Programme. This programme is designed as a hardship grant, allowing individual residents to apply for up to £200 in supermarket vouchers to help those most at risk during the cost of living crisis. Decisions on applications would be made by a grants panel of five local people.
• Kingston Carers’ Network (KCN): Applied for £1,870 to support their Young Carers' Conference 2024. The conference aims to celebrate young carers and raise awareness of KCN's services. The event, planned for November 2024 at Chessington World of Adventures, is expected to host around 250 attendees, including over 200 young carers. KCN co-produces the event with young carers, ensuring their input is central to the planning.
• Kingstonian Cricket Club (KCC): Applied for £3,000 to fund winter cricket net sessions for children aged 4 to 16 and to support coaching courses for parents. The funding would contribute to the development of up to 60 young players and help train parents to become coaches, enhancing the club's sustainability.
• The New Malden Residents’ Association: Applied for £3,000 for their Creating a gateway to New Malden project. This initiative aims to commission a mosaic public artwork by local artist Kim Porrelli, to be installed on the embankment wall adjacent to New Malden train station car park. The project is intended to improve the public realm and create a welcoming gateway to the town centre, involving community participation in its design and production.
• Families Thriving Together: Applied for £1,600 for their Talking Teens project. This online programme consists of four sessions for parents and carers of pre-teen and teenaged children, aiming to help them understand adolescent behaviour, develop co-operation, and reduce the stigma associated with parenting programmes.

The report also detailed the Councillor Ward Funding (CWF) available to individual councillors, with each councillor in the New Malden Village Ward having £2,000 allocated for their ward.

Waiting and Parking Restrictions

The committee was scheduled to consider objections received during the statutory Traffic Management Order (TMO) process for parking restrictions in various locations across the borough. The report outlined objections and comments received from residents in Kingston & North Kingston, New & Old Malden, and Surbiton.

Specific locations with objections included:

• Tudor Drive (Kingston & North Kingston): Objections were raised regarding the removal of a parking space and the addition of double yellow lines, with concerns about limited parking availability for visitors and workmen, and potential damage to grass verges.
• Downhall Road (Kingston & North Kingston): An objection was lodged concerning proposed coach parking, with concerns about the hours of operation and payment options not meeting hotel requirements.
• Sheephouse Way (New & Old Malden): An objection was made against proposed yellow lines directly outside a property, citing the difficulty for residents without designated parking to load and unload, and concerns about safety on dark streets.
• Highdown (New & Old Malden): Objections were raised against double yellow lines between specific house numbers, with arguments that it would be an inconvenience for a large family with limited driveway space and that no traffic incidents had been observed.
• Brockenhurst Avenue (New & Old Malden): Concerns were expressed that double yellow lines would lead to more parked vehicles in the rest of the avenue, blocking drives and obscuring sightlines, and would worsen existing parking problems.
• Church Hill Road (Surbiton): An objection was made to changing the hours of operation of an ambulance bay to at any time, suggesting the bay be repurposed for resident parking due to its size and the lack of parking provision for a new development.

The report also included comments and support from residents regarding various locations, highlighting issues such as speeding, dangerous junctions, and inconsiderate parking near schools. The recommendations proposed that the committee note the responses received, set aside the objections, and approve the TMO for the proposed waiting and parking restrictions.

Neighbourhood Manager's Report

The committee was also scheduled to receive a report from the Neighbourhood Manager on issues arising.