Chairman's Blog - November 2021

ELECTORAL WARD CHANGES FOR MAY 2022 

Changes are due to be made in the Raynes Park and West Barnes wards before the next Merton Council elections in May 2022 and these involve the Dundonald ward as well. 

The current Dundonald Ward which stretches in a long line to Wimbledon  from Raynes Park  will be divided into two and the streets known as “The Apostles”, which are the 12 streets between Kingston Road and Bushey Road, and have some 1000 residents, are coming into Raynes Park Ward, which is a more natural home for them. 

Our Association already represents part of Raynes Park, but these streets currently have a thriving Residents’ Association of their own, the Apostles Residents’ Association (ARA) chaired by Chris Larkman and this will continue. We intend to build a close relationship with the ARA. 

We have many shared interests, including the preservation of Prince’s George’s Playing Fields. We were pleased to welcome Chris Larkman to our October committee meeting and will continue to forge links between the two associations.  

The remaining part of the Dundonald ward will be amalgamated with the ward currently known as Trinity to form a new ward called Wimbledon Town and Dundonald. 

The changes have by and large met with local approval. 

PROPOSED CONSTITUENCY CHANGES 

More contentious are the proposals for constituency changes before the next general election in the two Parliamentary seats of Wimbledon, and of Mitcham and Morden. The Parliamentary boundaries have not yet been decided. The Boundary Commission is still considering objections. The proposals are very unsatisfactory and both the current MPs, Stephen Hammond and Siobhan McDonough are opposing them.  They would mean that Merton residents would be divided between four different constituencies with differing health authorities.  It would undermine the whole point of dividing London into unitary authorities. Merton currently undertakes the whole range of services, including education, social welfare, planning, highways, and rubbish collection. 

There is further information on our website here.

 BELLWAY AND THE FORMER LESSA SPORTS GROUND 

Merton planners sent out a questionnaire to the various sports bodies which want to play junior sports on this ground off Meadowview Road in Grand Drive. 

Their responses show that they have viable, well considered, and fully financed schemes which should be allowed to go ahead.  

We await any response from Bellway to show why they should not take up these offers. In the meantime their present development application, first lodged in November last year, and which has seen various amendments since, is not going ahead for consideration by the Planning Committee. 

John Elvidge