Date Valley School occupies the locally listed Mitcham Court in a prominent location overlooking Mitcham’s historic cricket ground.

It has found itself in breach of planning laws by building a major shelter in the Conservation Area without seeking planning permission.

A planning application has now been submitted and we have objected on the grounds of its impact on views across to Mitcham Court and the cricket ground from both London Road and Chatsworth Place.

We have asked for the shelter to be lowered and this could be achieved without compromising its use by the school.

Read our response to Merton Council – Date Valley shelter – Feb 16

Merton Council gave planning permission for a four storey block of flats on the former Kwik Fit site in January.

This was despite our strong objections and the protests of local residents. The Council’s own Design Review Panel gave the building an amber rating and a Cricket Green ward councillor also spoke against the development at the Planning Committee meeting.

The development site is in and will damage the Cricket Green Conservation Area.

As the Council’s own policies state that new developments in a conservation area should ‘preserve or enhance’ it this could have damaging consequences for development proposals elsewhere in Cricket Green Conservation Area and for other Conservation Areas in Merton.

We have organised a petition, which will be presented to Council, asking that the area of the development be removed from Cricket Green Conservation Area because it is not fit to be included.

If you share our concern then please support us by signing the petition.

You can sign in one of two ways:

1. Print out the KwikFit site petition, sign it and return it to us at Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage c/o MVSC, Vestry Hall, 336/338 London Road, Mitcham, Surrey, CR4 3UD by 14 February at the very latest. You can post it or drop it in. We must have the original sheets for the signatories to count! Please also consider asking others to sign and if you need more than one sheet then please print additional copies rather than asking signatories to use a blank sheet of paper.

2. Sign up via our online petition here https://www.change.org/p/councillor-andrew-judge-save-cricket-green-conservation-area-from-damaging-development

Thank you. Your support will help protect Cricket Green Conservation Area for everyone to enjoy.

The former KwikFit site on London Road is in desperate need of redevelopment. It is all the more disappointing therefore that the latest plans are proving so controversial.

This is a sensitive site at the gateway to the Conservation Area and in clear view of Mitcham’s historic cricket ground. A four storey block of 22 flats overshadowing nearby buildings is never going to be acceptable.

All the more disappointing is that the plans have been amended without Merton Council informing the local community.

The latest scheme is even higher and introduces a jagged roof line that is alien to the area. We have objected and ask the developers Caerus to think again and come to the table to discuss how we can agree on the much needed development of this eyesore site.

See below for two images showing the original and revised plans, and click the link to read our representation.

If you agree with us, consider writing your own letter to

All the details you need about the application are at bit.ly/1OjVPpf and the information on how to submit comments is at www.merton.gov.uk/environment/planning/planningapplications/representations.htm

Our submitted comments: Kwik Fit site redevelopment – our comments on amended planning application

Initial design:

Revised design:

Read our Winter 2016 Bulletin, packed with the latest information and news.

MCGCH newsletter Winter 2016

Lots has been happening behind the scenes on the £4 million Lottery bid for The Canons.

During 2016 there will be a range of different ways local people can get involved in shaping the project and contributing to the work on the final bid which will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund at the end of the year.

The first opportunities to have your say come in the form of two Open Days at The Canons. At these you will be able to:

• See inside The Canons house
• See plans and drawings
• Meet the team of Southern Green – the people putting together the Conservation Management Plan, which is a key document that will guide all the ideas in the final bid

The two events are happening on:

• Saturday 23 January 12-4pm
• Wednesday 27 January 6-8pm

See the Canons open days flyer for more details about the different things available on each of the days.

If you want to be kept up to date with all the news about this project then let us know.

We were pleased to be invited to meet with the developer of the Kwik Fit site in Mitcham, and to be asked to make specific input to them ahead of their public exhibition. We duly made input and you can read about it here.

We were less enthusiastic when we saw the plans which have now been lodged as a planning application.

As part of the application the developer says it has made changes to its original plans in response to our prior consultation. We can’t see evidence of changes being made as a result of our conversation, and despite repeated requests, the developer has not explained to us which changes have been made.

We have submitted a formal response to the planning application, which looks in detail at the plans for 22 flats and 290 square meters of ground floor commercial space.

Read our comments: Kwik Fit site redevelopment – Sep 15.

The deadline for submitting comments on this application is 23 September. While Merton Council has a good record of accepting comments beyond the official deadline date we urge you to make your thoughts known by that date.

Details on the planning application are here.

You can submit comments online and all the instructions are here.