The hoardings round the old Cap in Hand at the Ace of Spades roundabout look as if they were put together by drunks using hurricane debris. Meanwhile the decaying pub itself, dating from 1934 and boarded-up for seven years, continues to rot away.

Three years ago, a developer – Mendoza – proposed a 39-home scheme including spaces for 20 cars. The council turned it down as being too big, lacking affordable housing, blocking neighbours’ light and creating ‘parking stress’.

Now a new name, Rico (coincidentally working from a similar address in the Isle of Man), is promoting a fresh 40-home project, including some affordable housing and a seven-storey block at the roundabout end. But parking provision has slumped… to ZERO!

Though yet to be formally submitted to the council, the plans (on view at haycroftmews.co.uk) were recently aired at nearby Southborough School, to gauge opinion.

Why, the developer’s representatives were asked, did the long terrace of three-bedroom family homes in the plan have no parking? Is it realistic to expect every family to be carless, or might their vehicles end up in already choked streets nearby? Could there not be a couple of levels of underground parking beneath the tower block?

The Good Life asked Philip Cave, one of the scheme’s creators. “Too expensive,” was the response. The aim is to sell homes to people without cars, in concert with Kingston Council’s aim of reducing car use.

New areas of green space have been incorporated in the revised proposal, addressing another of the council’s concerns about the earlier plan, including a so-called eco-garden at the Long Ditton end.