A wonderful contribution from a local objector - an anonymous, centuries old poem that dates back to the enclosures act…
They put in prison the man or woman
Who steels the goose from off the common
But turn the greater villain loose
Who steels the common from the goose
Hello - we may have been quiet for a while but certainly not inactive. Precious has grown significantly since we published our last post and day by day we receive new mail from people who literally can’t believe that Wandsworth really wants to develop this lovely unspoilt corner of Tooting Common.
Well, it’s true - they do. Yesterday the Council issued a beautifully spun press release,
http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/home/MyWandsworth/PressReleases/newspage_detail.htm?id=5530
- do read it and let us know what you think.
Here are some of our thoughts:
'Local parents tell us they want extra facilities for their children in this part of Tooting.’ - Well, let’s see - first off the Triangle area of the Common isn’t actually in Tooting - its borders lie within Balham and Streatham. Secondly, most of the parents we’ve spoken to have no real interest in ‘extra’ facilities - they just want to see the ones already there updated and improved. Rachel Smeeth and other campaigning parents believe the playground on the Triangle is inadequate and uninspiring (www.triangleplayground.com), and vehemently oppose the proposed development.
The release also suggests that the playground is not a grassed area - you only have to look at it to see that’s not true! Sure there are buildings and some tarmac but there’s also a wonderful amount of grass (unusual for a playground and one o’clock centre like this). And… the release continues, ‘because a small piece of common land may be required to fit in all the things we want to offer young people, we would propose replacing that with the nearby Woodfield Recreation Ground…This recreation ground would also become fully accessible as a green open space for all residents.’
No one from Wandsworth is prepared to commit to exactly what ‘a small piece of common land’ constitutes nor, it seems, are they able to explain how the Woodfield Recreation Ground, which Mr Cooper-Grundy (head of parks for Wandsworth) confirmed at a recent MAC meeting has a Metropolitan Open Land status, which means - as far as we understand it - that this is already fully accessible to local people as a green open space.
More news soon.