Category Archives: Cricket Green Conservation Area

Date Valley School proving to be a bad neighbour

Date Valley School is located at the end of one of the most characterful streets in Merton.

Cricket Green road is a cul-de-sac framing the historic cricket ground and lined with listed and locally listed buildings.

The travel demands of a school in such a sensitive location were always going to be problematic and so it has proved.

The school has a travel plan which bars parents from driving up to drop off and collect children and it encourages a walking train from The Canons.

It is honoured only in the breach. Major parking problems along Cricket Green and in Chatsworth Place are a more than daily occurrence during term time, including fly parking, obstruction of residential spaces, flagrant breaches of the school travel plan and illegal parking on private land alongside a failure to enforce the parking restrictions introduced when the school opened.

We also have regular reports of verbal abuse being levelled at local residents who challenge drivers in breach of the school travel plan and the police have needed to attend incidents which have arisen.

Despite this Date Valley School has applied for planning permission to open on Saturdays till 1.00pm and to extend its hours of activity into weekday evenings.

A similar proposal was turned down by Merton Council in 2014.  We believe the boundary of acceptability has already been crossed and an extension of hours will make an already intolerable situation worse.  The application should be refused.

Read our comments on this application.

Campaign for Mitcham cricket pavilion

We are working with Mitcham Cricket Club to secure the transfer of Mitcham cricket pavilion to the community as part of development plans for the Burn Bullock site.

The campaign has received important all-party backing from Merton’s politicians who have agreed the following statement:

 

Merton is immensely proud of the 333 year tradition of playing cricket on the Green in Mitcham – the longest record for any ground in the world. We are aware of the difficulties faced by Mitcham Cricket Club due to the uncertain tenure of Mitcham cricket pavilion. The cricket pavilion is recognised as the first asset of community value in Merton. We are also aware of the troubled recent history of the Burn Bullock site and of the development and restoration plans which have the potential to bring a lasting solution.

As part of any development proposals for the site we are united in our desire to see the transfer of Mitcham cricket pavilion and all its operational land and buildings into community ownership and management through transfer of the freehold or provision of a 999 year lease at a peppercorn rent ahead of any new development.

Councillor Stephen Alambritis, Labour Group Leader, Merton Council
Councillor Oonagh Moulton, Conservative Group Leader, Merton Council
Councillor Anthony Fairclough, Liberal Democrats Group Leader, Merton Council
Councillor Peter Southgate, Merton Park Independent Residents Group Leader, Merton Council
Siobhain McDonagh, Member of Parliament, Mitcham and Morden

 

The latest plans are for a hotel linked to restoration of the Grade II listed Burn Bullock as a restaurant and pub. We would welcome a well designed hotel and the Burn Bullock’s restoration is long overdue. Unfortunately, the plans demolish Mitcham Cricket Club’s equipment shed and the owners have said there are no guarantees they will fund a replacement in an extended pavilion. This puts at risk the 333 year old record of cricket being played on the Green, longer than anywhere else in the world.

We are delighted by this all-party support and are now working to ensure any planning decisions secure the future of the pavilion, its shed and operational land in community hands.

Community on the Green Wednesday 25 July 2018 – all welcome

Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage invites you to join us on Wednesday 25th July for our annual celebration of Cricket Green and everyone who lives and works here.

This year we will be gathering your thoughts on favourite places in the Conservation Area and sharing news on the plans for the Burn Bullock and cricket pavilion. There will also be a free guided walking tour to discover the remarkable trees of Cricket Green and The Canons. Cricket will be played on the historic ground during the evening.

Community on the Green includes:

  • exhibitions and displays about what is going on in Cricket Green
  • The Canons marquee with news and information about the multi-million pound Lottery project
  • Wandle Industrial Museum display
  • a celebration of our contribution to the first London National Park City week
  • short speeches at 7pm
  • a guided tree walk at around 7.30pm
  • a celebration of the oldest cricket ground in the world
  • opportunities to visit Mitcham cricket pavilion, Merton’s first registered Asset of Community Value
  • information about plans for the Wilson hospital
  • a demonstration from Oomph! Wellness of its Walk’n’Talk Programme
  • drinks and light refreshments
  • and more!

We hope you will join other organisations, businesses and the local community for what will be a relaxed, enjoyable and informative evening.

It would be helpful if you could tell us you’re coming – email us at  info@mitchamcricketgreen.org.uk.

We look forward to seeing you!

Local elections 2018 – Cricket Green candidates respond to our questions

The forthcoming election on 3rd May is an important moment for Cricket Green. Two longstanding ward councillors are standing down, and so whoever is elected we will see fresh faces representing our ward within Merton Council and standing up for Cricket Green.

As the local civic society we have asked questions of all 11 candidates standing in Cricket Green ward about their views on key local issues.

These range from the future of the Wilson Hospital and cricket on the green to their attitude to protecting the Conservation Area and priorities for Merton’s next Local Plan. We have also asked them about their favourite place in Cricket Green.

We have received responses from all five political parties and a number of the individual candidates. Their answers are revealing.

As a local charity it is not for us to take sides in the election. The responses speak for themselves and we hope you find them useful.

Local election 2018 – party responses

You can compare the 2018 responses to those we received to our questions to candidates in the previous local election in 2014

Local Elections 2018 – our questions to candidates

The Local Elections on 3rd May are important for Cricket Green. How
Merton Council is run makes a real difference to our neighbourhood and
with two long-standing ward councillors standing down there are sure to
be changes to personnel whatever the result.

We are therefore asking questions of all eleven candidates from the five
parties who are standing for Cricket Green ward. We plan to publish
these by the end of April so you can go to the polls in the knowledge of
what the candidates think about some of the issues that matter locally.

Our questions are:

1 What is your most important priority for improving the quality of life
in Cricket Green?

2 Do you support the Cricket Green Charter and how will you use it in
your work for Cricket Green Ward ?

3 How will you demonstrate your commitment to protecting Mitcham Cricket
Green Conservation Area and its environs?

4 What will you do to help secure a long term future for Mitcham Cricket
Club and its pavilion?

5 What are your priorities for Merton’s new Local Plan?

6 How do you think the development of the Wilson Hospital and its
grounds can best respect the historic site and provide for the needs of
the local community?

7 What will you do to ensure Mitcham’s registered Town Greens are better
managed and kept free of litter?

8 What is your favourite place in Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area?

Watch out for the answers.

From waste to place – the opportunity at Benedict Wharf

In the jargon of town and country planners the noisy and smelly waste operation at Benedict Wharf is known as “bad neighbour” development.

It has become such a bad neighbour that even its owner – SUEZ – recognises there is a problem. It has announced that the site will close in around two years. SUEZ is moving its operation to an industrial estate in Sutton where it can operate around the clock without disturbing the neighbours.

Community action over many years has helped bring this about and soon the lorries, smells and noise will be a thing of the past.

In a statement SUEZ has said it wants a good legacy for Benedict Wharf and intends to secure planning permission for redevelopment of the site before selling it on. It favours a “housing-led scheme…….which accord[s] with the character of the area and the ambitions of the community.” Early community engagement is also promised.

We’ve applauded the mature way SUEZ has started these discussions and look forward to collaborating on the future plans.

It is hard to overstate the opportunity which the closure of Benedict Wharf presents. This is a huge site – more than twice the size of the recent gasworks development – which can provide not only high quality and affordable homes but also new links and connections across an area that has been out of bounds for generations. It should transform the way we move around our neighbourhood.

Did you know that Mitcham Parish Church is as close to Morden Hall Park as the Civic Centre? With good planning and design we can create new green corridors. Two ideas are to link London Road to Morden Hall Park through Benedict Wharf and Phipps Bridge, and to link Mitcham Parish Church to Ravensbury Park and the Wandle Trail across the tram line.

A mixed development providing community-led and custom and self-build housing alongside commercial housebuilders could match the new homes to Mitcham’s needs. The sad entrance to the Cricket Green Conservation Area at the roundabout outside Benedict school could be transformed. London Road Playing Fields could be reimagined as a vibrant community green space, rich in wildlife and opportunities for play and recreation. This would be helped by removing the current boundary fence and allowing open space to reach far into the new development area. The plans could also acknowledge the route of the historic Surrey Iron Railway which made Mitcham the oldest railway station in the world.

All this and more is possible.

The closure announcement coincides with the long awaited review of Merton’s Local Plan. This includes a call for development sites to meet the area’s housing and other needs for the next 20 years or more.

We are asking SUEZ to work with us to put forward joint plans to Merton Council that make the most of the site. This will mean linking the SUEZ site with adjacent land including Lambeth car pound, land owned by Merton Council and even some of TfL’s land running alongside the tram line.

Mitcham’s development has suffered from a lack of vision and poor quality building for too long. The closure of Benedict Wharf provides a major opportunity to turn the tide and match the expectations of the local community. We are unlikely to have another opportunity to build an entirely new neighbourhood for Mitcham so let’s make it one we can all be proud of.

What are your ideas? Let us know and we will feed them in.

Benedict Wharf CLG – statement from SUEZ