Local residents are invited to a Stonecot community event hosted by Councillor Tony Brett Young and Sutton Youth Service detached team.

The event takes place on Friday 20 February 2009 from 6pm – 8.30pm and is held in the school hall, Brookfield Primary School, Ridge Road, SM3 9LY.

Residents will be able to get to know other local people both young and old, have a chance to offer their views on improvements to local facilities and find out more about the council’s work in the area.

Superintendent Warren Shadbolt from the Safer Sutton Partnership will give a presentation on the Sutton Life Centre, a new community centre, library, youth, IT and educational facility to be built on Sutton Common Road.

There will be music, food, group activites, a community question time and prizes to be won.

If you would like to attend, please contact tony.brettyoung@sutton.gov.uk or Joe Edmonds on 07736 338 732.

More information is available on Sutton Council’s website.

Sutton residents in the Stonecot Hill area will be pleased that brown bin waste collections are back to normal tomorrow. Brown bins were not collected last week due to snow in the earlier part of the week. Waste collection staff were transferred to gritting duties and were unable to catch up with the backlog later in the week. Green and blue recycling bins were collected last week as normal.

As many residents now have overflowing brown bins, Sutton Council has relaxed its usual “side waste” policy and will not be penalising any residents that put out extra bin bags beside their wheelie bins.

For more information see Sutton Council’s waste collection page.

Now that the snow has all but disappeared, here are some photos which readers have sent in. I didn’t get to take many myself as I was out making a video.

Jeannie got creative with this multi-talented snowman. A bit puzzled here...

Stonecot Hill’s shopkeepers have resorted to a spot of GIY — Grit It Yourself — after Sutton Council left local residents in the lurch and the area’s pavements more suitable for Torvill and Dean than safe to walk.

Three days after Sunday’s heavy snowfall, most of the area’s pavements remain ungritted by the Council. The junction between Stonecot Hill and Ash Road and the access to the bus stop has seen dozens of falls, with one lady receiving a cut head and many others thankfully escaping serious injury.

One shopkeeper resorted to spending £70 on his own grit after repeated requests to the Council for a supply went unanswered. Some have taken to chipping away the ice with shovels while others simply shut up shop for the day as too few customers had made staying open unviable.

With temperatures expected to reach six degrees tomorrow and sun forecast for Saturday the thaw is coming slowly, but probably quicker than a council gritter.

Last updated: 12:35 PM, Wednesday 4 Feb 2009

Buses: Routes 93, 413 and 80 are operating normally through Stonecot Hill.

Roads: The surface on the main A24 Stonecot Hill road is clear and lighty traffic is moving freely. Many side roads have still not been gritted and are very icy, so drive with extreme care.

Pavements: Despite some gritting yesterday, most of the pavements on Stonecot Hill are extremely icy so walk with caution and expect your journey to take longer than usual. Side roads are also very icy.

Minicabs: Sky Cars on Stonecot Hill are open and have cars available for those that don’t have their own transport (or don’t want to use it!)

Sutton Schools: Most schools in Sutton are open today. Please check this list or your school’s website for details.

Merton Schools: Most Merton schools will be open today. Please check this list or your school’s website for details.

Waste collection: Today is the normal waste collection on Stonecot Hill for residents in the Sutton Council area. Sutton Council will resume waste collections today having suspended them since Monday to transfer staff to gritting and other snow-related duties, but will start with Monday’s collection rounds and catch up during the week to Saturday. So, you can put your bins out today but don’t expect them to be emptied necessarily. The council have asked residents to dig out their bins as those that are snowed in and cannot be moved will not be emptied. More details on Sutton Council’s homepage.

Merton Council collected waste on their side of Stonecot Hill yesterday.

The Emmanuel Parent and Toddler Club will be closed today but hopes to be back next week.

Check this page for updates throughout the day. I’ll update the time in the page title when there’s new information.