Chairman's Blog - March 2024

PLANNING COMMITTEES

One of our Road Stewards, John Nicholson,  has pointed out that it is open to Councils to have separate planning committees for different parts of their area.

 The councillors sitting on these are largely drawn from the areas they represent.   We understand  from John Nicholson that Kingston  has such a system. It has the great advantage that the councillors sitting on the committee, while remaining independent of party political considerations as they must, will have a much better idea of the local conditions.   This enables them better to balance the application of developers against the needs of local people for more housing, and the infrastructure needed for new residents, such as schools, GP surgeries and hospitals. 

Merton does not have such a system, which is a great pity. If it did, the councillors chosen to sit on the committee might have realised on the LESSA application that this area had already been saturated with intensive new development on the TESCO site, on top of those over the past 20 years built up along Grand Drive.  

AGM

Our Annual General Meeting is being held this year on Wednesday 24th April at 7.30 pm.  It will be at the meeting hall behind Raynes Park Library. We hope to see as many Members as possible there. 

There will be some light refreshments and drinks to look forward to as well. 

John Elvidge