As a Sutton South Councillor, I have followed your correspondence on the future of the Brighton Road car cark.

While the recent study showed Sutton has excess capacity in car parking provision in the town centre and close to the station, so we can absorb a loss of parking provision in Brighton Road , we always have a desperate need for more local jobs.

There is fierce competition between local authorities for the jobs that inward investment brings and, at this point in the recession, to find a company that wants to build a bespoke new HQ building in Sutton - attracted by our good schools, low crime rate and pleasant suburban "feel" - is extraordinarily good news. Jobs are gold dust, and this could bring at least an extra 600 jobs, together with the stimulus to demand in local shops, restaurants and hotels that such a concentration of office workers will bring.

I find in my casework as a local Councillor that there are people who are out of the labour market and desperate for the opportunity and income that a job will bring. There is “hidden poverty” in Sutton and it is local jobs and economic development that is the key to eliminating it.

This proposal needs to go through the detailed scrutiny of the Council's planning processes, but at this stage it would be irresponsible of the Council not to be engaging with the company to see if we can meet their very specific needs. Creating jobs for Sutton residents is of vital importance and we must demonstrate we can meet the needs of employers, whose jobs will also bring prosperity to a range of local shops, suppliers and traders for decades to come.

Councillor Richard Clifton
Sutton South