“We can’t get through to our councillors” was the message shouted out by fed up Sutton residents who barracked their councillors at a meeting to discuss possible controlled parking zones in the borough.

Once again concerned residents gathered on Wednesday, May 8, to hear the latest on Sutton Council’s proposed new controlled parking zones (CPZ), this time at a scrutiny meeting.

On the agenda was the very specific topic of how communication with residents is carried out, in the controversial parking consultation.

Due to the increased interest in the meetings, Sutton Council has started issuing a limited amount of tickets for each one –  between 100 and 120.

This time more than 50 people gathered at the scrutiny meeting, which would usually attract less than 10.

Last year, more than 5,000 people responded to consultation on the phase 1 area for he CPZs which included St Helier, The Wrythe & Wandle Valley and Sutton Local areas, parts of Carshalton Central, Sutton South and Belmont and Walllington North.

Resident Wendy Smith wanted to know why ward councillors had not held public meetings to discuss issues between stages one and two and she had concerns about a borough-wide approach to the consultation.

She added: “The needs of properties adjacent to a train station or hospital will be very different from those near a school or sports ground.

“A borough-wide approach has resulted in a tremendous amount of distrust and antagonism.”

But head of communications at Sutton Council, Martin Szybut, said information has been sent out to 43,000 homes.

He added that the 12.5 per cent response rate is much higher than most other council consultations.

Chair of the committee, Councillor Colin Stears, stepped in to say it is up to each individual ward representative as to how they engage with their residents.

“We do our best possible to engage in the best way possible to engage with the most amount of residents,” he said.

He added that residents should get in touch with their ward councillors if they have specific problems or concerns.

But this did not go down well at all with the gathered public who shouted out that their councillors won’t respond to their concerns.