Back garden development off Russell Road

A new development of 9 flats has been proposed for the back garden site behind Preshaw Crescent.

This follows the collapse of the earlier Wandle Housing plans and has resulted in access now being off Russell Road.

The plans are presented as amendments to the earlier proposal but they are substantially different. We have asked Merton Council to pause any decision while the developers update the information to take account of the changes.

We find the scheme poorly designed and it fails to address the earlier unauthorised clearance of trees from the site. It is also hard to see how construction vehicles will access the site given the developer’s own analysis reveals they need to mount pavements to get round the tight corners on the access routes.

We have also pointed out the missed opportunity to improve access through the site rather than leave it as a dead end.

You can read our submission here

Cricket Green Conservation Area – 4th in Civic Voice poll to find England’s Favourite Conservation Area

Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area came 4th in a national poll to find England’s Favourite Conservation Area.

The vote was organised by Civic Voice, the umbrella body for England’s Civic Societies.

In context:

  • There are more than 10,000 Conservation Areas in England
  • 249 applied to be England’s Favourite
  • 18 were shortlisted by Civic Voice

A public vote ran for two weeks, and we spread the word, asking people to vote and share information with others.

We were overwhelmed by the support we received, and by the positive things people had to say about our Conservation Area.

Next year Cricket Green Conservation Area will be 50 years old – what a wonderful way to enter that 50th year!
You can read the full details of the vote at the Civic Voice web site here.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped Cricket Green Conservation Area achieve 4th place.

It is a truly stunning result – and it shows how much we all love our conservation area.

Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area in the running to be England’s Favourite

Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area is in the running to be England’s Favourite Conservation Area.

From 249 nominated conservation areas, Civic Voice, the Civic Society umbrella organisation selected 18 for its shortlist.

The winner will be chosen by a public vote.

To vote for Mitcham Cricket Green go to the voting web page and find our photo – the one with the most people in it. Click the heart.

Please spread the word.

Voting closes at 5pm on Tuesday 16th October.

 

La Sporta demolition plan

The La Sporta building on Church Road has always been something of a conundrum.

After years of lying empty and falling into neglect it has struggled to find a purpose. There is a covenant preventing housing being built on the site although this didn’t prevent early discussions with Merton Council some years ago. The Council has since admitted it has lost the note of the advice it provided.

Now it is being slated for demolition.

The building itself provokes mixed views. The important of its location is, however, without doubt. At a key gateway to the Conservation Area it is in the setting of the nationally listed Mitcham Parish Church and also the old Vicarage. It can also play a part in the wider redevelopment being planned for the Benedict Wharf site when Suez moves out. This should rid us of the oversize Hallowfield Way and provide new homes and community facilities.

We are keen to uphold Merton’s planning policy protecting community uses and so have asked that the La Sporta building isn’t demolished before we know what might follow.

Read our comments here

Read what we said about Benedict Wharf

Mitcham Heritage Day 2018 – another great success for Mitcham

10.00am to 4.30pm Saturday 8th September

Thank you to everyone who came along to Mitcham Heritage Day and helped make the day a great success.

We are still totting up the final figures, but we know that hundreds of visits took place across the participating venues.

People enjoyed exhibitions, guided walks, seeing buildings they’ve not had a chance to see before, and hearing about the great history and heritage of our area.

Below are just some of the things people enjoyed, plus a few photos from the day.

Mitcham Heritage day 2019 will be happening next September – date to be confirmed soon!

  • Mitcham Parish Church opened its bell tower, gave guided tours of the historic 6.7 acre graveyard with notable headstones and tombs, and laid on special exhibitions for Mitcham Heritage Day (For King and Country about some of the men commemorated on Mitcham War Memorial, and Mitcham’s Architectural Treasures, showing some of the gems of the area) as well as an exhibition about local benefactor Mary Tate
  • Wandle Industrial Museum waived its entry fee for the day and put on a special exhibition, Snapshots of a Bygone Age showing photos from the collection of local photographer Tom Francis as well as other exhibitions, interactive exhibits and working models
  • Cricket Green School opened its gates for the day to allow viewing of the Grade II listed 14th Century arch of Hall Place, and set out drawing materials for children to get creative
  • Mitcham Cricket Club Pavilion was open for people to take tea on the balcony, view cricketing memorabilia and see a special exhibition 150 Years of Aussies On The Green. There was also a special children’s quiz and a guided tour. Cricket was played too, of course
  • Mitcham Methodist Church opened its doors for us to see inside this rare example of a Grade II listed post-war church. The choir sang in the afternoon
  • The Canons House and Dovecote, beneficiary of a Lottery grant, offered children’s heritage activities, opened the dovecote (Mitcham’s oldest building), and gave information about the project which will restore the house and landscape over the next four years
  • Mitcham Bowling Club, going strong since 1930, was open for people to learn more about the sport, have a go at bowls see the rink and support the club in a match in the afternoon
  • The former Three Kings Pub, built in 1928 by a family of music hall artistes and now business premises, put on a special exhibition about its former owners, children could dress up as music hall performers and try their hands at programming
  • Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage took people on a guided walk taking in the gems of the conservation area

The full details of everything that took  place are on the Mitcham Heritage Day 2018 poster

Mitcham Heritage Day was part of Heritage Open Days and Wandle Fortnight.

Want more? Download our self-guided audio tour and take a tour at your leisure.

A big THANK YOU to everyone from the organisations that helped make Mitcham Heritage Day entertaining, informative and enjoyable, especially the volunteers who gave their time freely to plan, prepare and host on the day, and who baked cakes, made tea, staffed a barbecue, set things up, too things down, looked after visitors and generally mucked in.

Special thanks to

  • Sarah Gould, Merton Council Heritage & Local Studies, for providing special exhibitions For King and Country, Mitcham’s Architectural Treasures and Snapshots of a Bygone Age.
  • Merton Voluntary Sector Small Grants Development Fund for financial support
  • The Canons Parks for People project for financial support

 

 

 

Protecting Mitcham’s weatherboarded cottages

Weatherboarded cottages are a feature of the Mitcham area.

There are very few left and those that remain have often been nationally listed for their historic importance.

We are concerned, therefore, to see plans to make significant changes to 55 Upper Green East on the approach to Fair Green from Three Kings Piece.

We think the plans will destroy the symmetry of the building and the planning application makes no case for why they should be permitted.

We are also concerned by the way the proposals are being handled by Merton Council.  Development affecting listed buildings needs special “Listed Building Consent” as well as planning permission.

No application for Listed Building Consent has yet been made available and so we think it premature for this planning application to have been registered for a decision.

Read our views here.