Borough of Merton

Merton residents and local businesses have the opportunity to attend a London 2012 Olympic update meeting this Thursday (28 October) in the council chamber at the Civic Centre, Morden.

Kicking off at 8pm, the Local Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) will be showing a presentation with Go South Go (South London Partnership) about Merton’s involvement with the Olympics as a host borough.

Residents will be welcome to ask the experts questions about how the London 2012 Games will impact on Merton with all the benefits and opportunities they are bound to bring.

Cocum’s chef Shajahan Parambath proved too hot for the competition as they scooped the borough’s coveted title of Merton’s Curry Chef 2010 this week.

Shajahan was one of four chefs who reached Merton Council’s seventh curry chef competition final held at South Thames College. The chefs came equipped with their culinary and presentation skills as they battled for the top place. Judges of the competition also looked closely for excellence in hygiene practices.

Merton Council has published the first details of all its expenditure over £500, several months ahead of the January 2011 deadline set by central Government.

In a bid to be as transparent as possible, as soon as possible, last week (Thursday 30 September) Merton put details of all its expenditure over £500 in August online, meeting the demand as set out in a letter to all local authorities sent from The Secretary for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP in June asking for local councils to be more transparent.

All existing waste treatment sites in the boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton are to be protected from other types of development, and an additional 11 industrial areas have been identified as suitable locations for up to seven hectares of new waste treatment facilitates to be built on over the next ten years.

From 11 – 16 October, Merton’s library service will be undertaking a Children's Public Library User Survey (PLUS) aimed at finding out what children think about the services they get at Merton Libraries.
Library staff and volunteers will be asking all children and young people aged under 16 to complete a questionnaire while visiting any Merton Library during the survey week.

Merton Council is calling on Merton locals to come forward and earn some extra money by working on next year’s Census survey.
On 27 March 2011 the next Census takes place and it is generating over 35,000 jobs across England and Wales, including more than 150 in Merton.
In order to make the Census a success the Office of National Statistics needs a number of locally based people to help get surveys answered.

Merton Adult Education (MAE) brings three fun weeks of free family events in the annual Family Learning Festival. From 10-30 October, MAE will run events across the borough in children’s centres, schools, learning venues and libraries.

From cooking to photography, and languages to science, families are invited to participate in these free activities taking place across Merton by calling 020 8543 9292 to book a place.

Merton Council is launching its annual excellence awards today.

The council is calling on all those living and working in Merton to nominate a council employee or public servant working for the police, local health service or voluntary sector who they think goes the extra mile for the welfare of the borough.

Nominations can be made online at www.merton.gov.uk/staffexcellenceawards from 29 September. For anyone without a computer, nomination forms will be in all the libraries. The deadline for nominations is 15 October.

Three waste treatment companies have made it through to the next stage of the South London Waste Partnership’s procurement process.

WRG, Veolia and Viridor have been invited to further ‘refine’ their proposals of how they would treat up to 200,000 tonnes of residual household waste every year that would otherwise be destined for landfill. Strict procurement rules mean that the details of each bid must remain confidential while the ‘competitive dialogue’ procurement process is ongoing.

Merton libraries are celebrating Black History Month throughout October this year with a variety of family events in libraries across the borough.

For those who want to indulge in Caribbean cuisine, Jay Peas in Morden will be dishing up some delights at Morden Library while others can kick back at Pollards Hill Library with BHM themed film showings.

Black History themed craft sessions are taking place across all libraries, whether you want to decorate African and carnival masks, jazz up your pumpkin and much more.