Category Archives: Cricket Green Conservation Area

Mitcham is home to Merton’s favourite tree

The Tree Warden Group Merton organises an annual competition to find Merton’s Favourite Tree.

The 2015 winner was recently announced. It is a foxglove tree in London Road Playing Fields – what we locally call Barons Fields.

There were about 40 entrants to this competition from across the borough, and each one was assessed and photographed by the Tree Wardens Group.

If you want to nominate a tree for the next round of awards, use the entry form – Favourite_Tree_Nomination_Form. Closing date is mid September.

Favourite tree in Merton 1st FT 2015 (Medium)

Parish Hall at St Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church – our response to planning application

Mitcham Catholic Church has brought forward new plans for a large parish hall on open land to the rear.

A single storey building over 4m high is proposed and it would take up a significant area of green space and involve the loss of some trees.

Nevertheless, we have supported the development subject to tight controls over noise, light pollution and design detail.  We have also asked Merton Council to ensure replacement trees are provided and asked that the new hall be available to everyone in the Mitcham community.

The church’s “Building for the Lord” appeal has already raised over £100k for the new building.

You can read our full response Peter & Paul Church – parish hall Jun 16

Saturday 18th June – the “3.8 million pound” free guided walk

We are celebrating Civic Day 2016 with a guided “3.8 million pound walk” around The Canons.

Starting from outside Mitcham’s historic cricket pavilion at 10am on Saturday 18th June the walk will explore the grounds of The Canons.

It includes two listed mansions, a 500 year old dovecote, historic carp pond and Mitcham’s famous athletic ground among other delights.

The walk will provide an opportunity to learn more about the £3.8m Lottery project currently being prepared and to share some of the new historic research which has been undertaken into the history of The Canons landscape and buildings.

The walk will last approximately 75 minutes and will be on flat ground.

Participants may wish to enjoy a lunch at Park Place afterwards.

Civic Day is part of a nationwide celebration by civic societies like ours and is organised by Civic Voice. It celebrates what makes us all proud about where we live.

 

 

Plans for flats behind 8 Preshaw Crescent – our response

A planning application has been submitted for the development of 15 flats on the large garden behind 8 Preshaw Crescent. This is in the Conservation Area. The development would be run by Wandle Housing.

While recognising the need for new housing we have serious concerns about the impact of the development on the Conservation Area and nearby homes and streets.  We believe this development:

  • is too large for the site and will intensify development in an already congested area and damage the outlook from neighbouring residences at significant loss to local amenity
  • is blandly designed and lacking the quality needed for its Conservation Area location
  • is effectively a gated community which doesn’t provide any access between Harwood Avenue and Russell Road and will result in the loss of important green space where mature trees have already been removed without permission
  • will be impossible to access during construction via Russell Road and Glebe Path without unacceptable impacts on local residents from construction traffic (from 7.30am), parking restrictions and disturbance. Construction will be via an entrance in Russell Road
  • will add to existing parking and access difficulties in Harwood Avenue, Love Lane, Russell Road and Glebe Path because the long term access for residents, servicing, rubbish collection and emergency vehicles to the new flats will be from Harwood Avenue

If you share our concerns then you can write to Merton Council at planning.representations@merton.gov.uk by 5th June at the very latest expressing your views.

You will need to quote reference 16/P1456 and provide your name and address. All the background information about this development (reference 16/P1456) can be found here http://bit.ly/1svDVLS.

Read our full response to this application – Land behind Preshaw Crescent – May 16

Preshaw Crescent