Great news - see Hannah Mitchell’s post under the previous Regent’s Park post. “Controversial plans to build a football complex in Regent’s Park have been thrown out by Westminster Council.

“The Royal Parks agency applied to demolish the golf and tennis club…to make way for nine floodlit pitches on synthetic grass. The proposals sparked a record number of objections to the Council including 670 letters, 10 petition with almost 2,300 signatures and 1,465 signed postcards.

“Westminster’s planning committee said the pitches would damage the habitats the plants and animals, especially bats and tawny owls. The committee also voiced concern that the site…does not have adequate access and parking facilities, so could cause congestion in and around the park.

“Councillor Robert Davis, Cabinet Member for Planning, said “We do need more facilities for young people but this is not the right site. This application would have an adverse impact on the area’s ecology and would lead to a loss of woodland and local wildlife.”

There has been a huge response to the mailbox since we posted the report on the recent MAC meeting (where Councillor Antonia Dunn - Con for Bedford Ward - admitted she has already received over 100 expressions of concern)  and apologies for not having responded to every email individually. There have been some interesting ideas and suggestions. 

There is a definite build-up of awareness and concern and the Regent’s Park decision is confirmation that this is absolutely worth tracking, investigating and fighting. We now have a supply of business card sized cards with the site’s url and logo and asking ‘Are you aware of Wandsworth Council’s plans for Tooting Common?’. Several people have taken batches to hand out over the weekend. If you’d like some please contact mail@precious-tooting.info.

Simon Cooper-Grundy, Head of Parks for Wandsworth Council confirmed Wandsworth’s intention to seek expressions of interest to develop leisure facilities on the Triangle area of Tooting Common at a robust Tooting MAC meeting last night. He also confirmed the intention to incorporate Woodfield Recreation Ground, which he desribed as metropolitan open land, into the Common. 

When asked, Mr Cooper-Grundy stated categorically that Wandsworth is not currently in talks with any potential development company although he said it was in discussion with one company (GOALS I think - can anyone confirm?) about another proposed development on the Putney/Richmond border. He said that in the new year, Wandsworth would be advertising in the trade press ‘to seek expressions of interest from organisations who provide these sorts of facilities’. He said it was possible there would be no interest. However if there is interest he said the public would then be consulted.

He explained that the background to this was driven by the fact that the Council needs to update the children’s playground and one o’clock club but doesn’t have the funds to do it. Developing the existing area into a new leisure facility and asking the developer to include a new playground and one o’clock as part of the deal is a good solution for the Council.

Many of the MAC members and members of the general public who attended asked where the evidence was that this facility was needed. Where was the paperwork that proved the ‘high demand’ that Wandsworth repeatedly refers to. Mr Cooper-Grundy declined to answer this question directly, inferring that public opinion could only be guaged once a potential developer had been identified and the Council had a better idea of what the development might look like.

It’s almost impossible to know where we are - is this a done deal? Despite the protestations that it isn’t, the intention to move the proposal forward without prior public consultation is very clear indeed. And, since Wandsworth isn’t prepared to consult yet, it’s really important to try and understand what local people actually want. Maybe there is demand for some development but not at the level being talked about? Is there an alternative? Could the money to revamp the playground be raised in a different way? Wandsworth has a reputation as a well-run, efficient borough - is it losing out on valid central funds?

What does seem clear is that if we do nothing at all, we’ll almost certainly see 12 flood-lit, all weather pitches being built on one of the most unspoilt parts of Tooting Common by the end of 2008. Rod Pearson commented on this site today, “We cannot afford to sit back and expect this to go away” and Rodger Evans added, “As this is likely to be a long campaign it’s important we don’t lose the momentum. Keep up the good work!” - and we plan to.

More and more people are signing up to this site every day and we plan to start a fighting fund so we can develop it further into a proper website (this was set up because it was quick, easy and cheap), which the blog can sit within.

2,500 business cards are being printed with the PRECIOUS logo and site details for distribution locally and posters are being developed.

We need to create a visual which shows a 3-D vision of how this might look. Friends of the group who’ve recently been out to see five-a-side complexes by the A3 and M4 are shocked by how enormous they are and how intrusive the lights are. Richard is hoping to help with this but like most of us is also busy with a day job - and a life! Offers of help to do anything would be great - contact us via mail@precious-tooting.info - generating awareness has to be our number one priority for now.

Moving forward, a great deal can be done and we’re developing a plan. Ultimately this development will have to go by the Secretary of State’s office (DEFRA) so we should think about what we might want to submit in protest / mitigation.

We will be launching to the media early in 2008 and plan a public event - possibly a giant nature walk soon after. Any and all thoughts welcome. Post a comment here or, if you don’t want to comment in public, email mail@precious-tooting.info.

Hundreds of protestors marched through Regent’s Park yesterday in a last ditch attempt to scupper plans to build a five-a-side football complex near London Zoo, according to the New Camden Journal. Local residents formed a powerful lobby group with over 1,200 members to fight this proposal. see http://www.thecnj.co.uk/camden/2007/120607/news120607_05.html.

It’s interesting to note that in this case the plan is proposed by the Royal Parks Agency rather than the local council (Westminster, whose dominant Conservative councillors interestingly opposed the development). According to the NCJ councillors are concerned that although the application is unwanted by all local politicians and community leaders it will be passed because it complies with planning regulations.

It will be heard in Westminster Council City Hall, Victoria on December 13th at 7pm.

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What do we need to know? Here are some of the questions people have been asking:

• Where’s the evidence that there is ‘high demand’ for these facilities from the local community?
• Who does the Council expect will use these facilities?
• The Council estimates it might generate £100,000 per annum from these facilities. Is it legitimately within the Council’s gift to rent out common land for commercial gain?
• How much will it cost to rent a pitch for an hour?
• How much does it currently cost to rent the all weather pitch on the Triangle?
• Exactly how many pitches will there be?
• Exactly how big will they be?
• How high will the perimeter fences be?
• How many floodlights will there be? How high will they be? How strong will they be?
• Has the potential effect on wildlife been assessed?
• What exactly will happen to Woodfield Recreation Ground?
• More football? Isn’t there enough already on Tooting Common?
• What exactly do you use the Common for?

Ask for a response and add your own questions so your reply will have to be tailored for you.

These are the people to write to:

Bedford Ward, Wandworth

Cllr Antonia Dunn                adunn@wandsworth.gov.uk

Cllr Sheldon Wilkie              swilkie@wandsworth.gov.uk

Cllr Stewart Finn                 sfinn@wandsworth.gov.uk

Balham Ward, Wandsworth

Cllr Elizabeth Forbes           eforbes@wandsworth.gov.uk

Cllr Russell King                   rking@wandsworth.gov.uk

Cllr Caroline Usher              cusher@wandsworth.gov.uk

Tooting Ward, Wandsworth

Cllr Dr Nick Bowes              nbowes@wandsworth.gov.uk

Cllr Alex Jacob                    ajacob@wandsworth.gov.uk

Cllr Susan John-Richards    sjohnrichards@wandsworth.gov.uk

Streatham Hill Ward, Lambeth

Cllr Jeremy Clyne               jclyne@lambeth.gov.uk

Cllr June Fewtrell               jfewtrell@lambeth.gov.uk

Cllr Ashley Lumsden          alumsden@lambeth.gov.uk

St Leonard’s Ward, Lambeth

Cllr Brian Palmer                bpalmer@lambeth.gov.uk

Cllr Clive Bennett               cbennett@lambeth.gov.uk

Cllr Roger Giess                 rgeiss@lambeth.gov.uk

MP for Tooting and Balham, Sadiq Khan

sadiqkhanmp@parliament.uk

MP for Streatham, Keith Hill

hillk@parliament.uk

Wandsworth Council has issued a statement in response to an article in the Wandsworth Guardian about the Waldorf School of south west London (http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news), who currently lease the Woodfield Recreation Ground from Wandsworth Council. Wandsworth proposes to ’return’ this piece of land to the public in compensation for the land it plans to develop on the main part of the Common.  

“Unfortunately there is currently a considerable amount of misinformation that is being circulated throughout the area, much of which appears to have emanated from people associated with the Steiner School. I must stress to you that the land on which we propose building new sports and leisure facilities for young people, is not the land currently occupied by the Steiner School…” See full statement  http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/MyWandsworth/Pressreleases)