Regent’s Park proposal thrown out!
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.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Tooting Common should be granted Site of Special Scientific Interest status. The stag beetle is an endangered species and I have seen two in the last eighteen months whilst on the Common. Their habitat is under threat across Europe and - believe it or not - the South East of England is one of the few robust populations left. How can Wandsworth even contemplate this act of environmental vandalism? Any floodlighting in the winter is a further disturbance to wildlife, as well as adding to light pollution in the area and depriving local children of one of the few places they can see the stars.
Football is a minority sport (only 32% of the population watched England’s last match in the 2006 World Cup - a fraction of that number must even play the game), and the pitches would lie idle probably 95% of the time. At the moment, kids of any age can have a fun kickabout on a safe, soft grass surface without paying fees. Enforcing formality will rob local children of the right to free and unstructured exercise, and it is counter to any rational health policy.