Local groups in united call for Merton Council to withdraw Mitcham Bridge plans

Merton Council has just announced that its plans for the new Mitcham Bridge over the Wandle are being lined up for a planning decision on 22 October.

We’ve written before about how far the plans fall short here and here.

The new bridge is being designed to last more than one hundred years and yet we are faced with a scheme that fells trees, demolishes an historic wall, tarmacs green space, removes Ravensbury Park’s protection from noise and pollution and breaches minimum standards for cycling provision.

Everyone agrees we need a new bridge and we need it to be opened as soon as possible. It also needs to stand the test of time.

A significant cause of the problem is that Merton Council’s designers have limited themselves to considering only Merton Council’s land in drawing up the designs. Our own Freedom of Information request has confirmed that other landowners, including the National Trust, haven’t even been approached let alone engaged in thinking about different designs. Yet the National Trust has also confirmed to Merton Cycling Campaign that “we would be prepared to consider the use of Watermeads to accommodate a wider bridge if the additional width was for cycle lanes”. Everything points to Merton Council boxing itself into a wrong decision instead of properly evaluating the alternatives.

The range of objections to the new Mitcham Bridge plans is significant – civic societies, local residents and groups concerned with parks, cycling, active travel, trees and the Wandle Valley among others. We have joined up seven of these groups to write to Cabinet Member Martin Whelton asking Merton Council to withdraw the application and think again before it gets to the Planning Applications Committee. This is the letter we have sent:

Dear Councillor Whelton

We are writing to ask you to withdraw Merton Council’s planning application for a replacement to Mitcham Bridge. We recognise the urgent need to reinstate a crossing of the Wandle but the proposed design is not fit for purpose and there has been a lack of effective consideration given to alternatives.

We’re sure that you share our ambitions for the new bridge to support active travel, respect the crossing’s heritage, enhance the treescape and green space, and respond to the climate emergency. The bridge is being built to last well over 100 years and it needs to be fit for the future.

We believe the best way forward is for you to withdraw the application and ask officers to bring forward options which are less constrained about the land available and better able to meet modern standards of bridge design. We are aware, for example, that the National Trust is open to a discussion about the role of Watermeads’ land but it has not been approached about the bridge design. We all stand ready to contribute.

Yours sincerely

Wandle Valley Forum
Merton Cycling Campaign
Merton Residents’ Transport Group
Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage
Watermeads Residents Association
Friends of Ravensbury Park
Mitcham Society
Tree Wardens Group Merton

Kings Arms plans are a bloated intrusion

The Kings Arms occupies one of the most prominent locations in Mitcham’s village centre.

The pub is a locally listed building and it overlooks the historic Fair Green, a registered Town Green and protected Open Space.

The future development of this site is important for the standards it sets and the precedents that are established.

Studio Suites has submitted a planning application to create what is being marketed as 28 high end “studio suites” in a new five storey block in multiple occupation. The proposed studio rooms will be a new residential concept for Mitcham and the development will reduce the space available to the Kings Arms by 29% and the space currently used by Cafe Rose by 14%.

We support mixed use development in the centre of Mitcham but it should not be at the expense of key uses such as pubs and cafes.

The plans have failed to impress Mitcham Society which says the Kings Arms will be “overshadowed by a greedy and poorly designed new building”. We agree. The Kings Arms and adjacent White Lion of Mortimer should remain Mitcham village centre’s premier buildings and not be overwhelmed by development of this scale.

The design results in a bloated building that damages the integrity of the locally listed Kings Arms and obstructs the key elevation facing Fair Green by imposing a glazed ground floor extension which has the appearance of an extended bus shelter.

The developer is kidding nobody by claims that there will be “minimal alterations to the external appearance” and that the new glazed extension will “provide a stunning feature to compliment [sic] the ornate Victorian architecture of the public house”.

The developer has so far failed to talk to either Merton Council or the local community about the plans. They should be refused and we stand ready to discuss how an alternative might be brought forward which respects this important site in the heart of Mitcham.

Read our full representation Kings Arms development – Oct 20

Melrose School expansion will result in unnecessary tree felling

Melrose School makes an important educational and community contribution to the area.

It is strategically located in wooded grounds between Church Road and London Road Playing Fields.

Merton Council decided in August to expand the school and provide for children of primary school age.

We have reviewed the development plans for new classrooms, a hall, new car park and other changes. These have a direct impact on that part of the school grounds which is in Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area and our fundamental concern is that a significant proportion of the remaining open space on the site is to be developed.

This will result in felling significant trees without any details as to how they will be replaced. Given the development is put forward by Merton Council and it will result in trees being felled that are the responsibility of Merton Council we are particularly concerned that no assessment of its heritage impact has been provided despite this being a requirement for developments in the Conservation Area.

Merton Council’s Design Review Panel only gave the plans an AMBER rating.

It recommended a two-storey option was considered “in order to maintain more open space and improve the general site layout. This also may take pressure off tree loss.” We agree. It is also perverse that despite this loss of trees the school is planning to include a new “Woodland teaching area”. It is a contradiction in terms to create a woodland teaching area on a site where the quality and number of trees is being reduced by a local authority which has declared a Climate Emergency.

We recognise the need to expand the school. We believe it can be achieved in a less damaging way with a better design that avoids extensive tree felling and causes less harm to the Conservation Area.

You can read our full submission Melrose School development

New Mitcham Bridge falls short

We have written before about the opportunity presented by Merton Council’s plans for a new Mitcham Bridge across the Wandle. This will replace a 260 year old crossing and a new bridge is a rare and special event.

Working with Mitcham Society and Wandle Valley Forum we have tried hard to influence the plans and offered to support Merton Council in providing historic interpretation. We have also engaged in the limited public consultation opportunities which have been provided where two different options were presented late on in the design process.

Unfortunately Merton Council has chosen not to respond and has now decided to proceed with the option not chosen by the public.

The resulting bridge is of generic design. It also fails to meet official standards for cycling. The plans will result in the loss of open space to highway and require the felling of mature trees and the demolition of an historic wall protecting Ravensbury Park from visual, noise and air pollution caused by traffic on the A217.

More than half those responding to the public consultation favoured a design which combined brickwork with railings, sympathetic to the site’s heritage and protecting the Wandle from pollution and litter. Merton Council’s Design Review Panel provided sharp criticism of the plans when awarding it an Amber rating.

After many delays Merton Council is now pushing ahead at speed. It will have decided on contractors to build the bridge even before its Planning Applications Committee has decided whether to give the green light and the short gap between the planning application being submitted and the expected decision is something private developers can only dream of.

We’re asking Merton Council to rethink the plans. A replacement bridge is urgently needed but it needs to stand the test of time. We believe a better approach is possible which engages the National Trust and other local landowners in finding the long term solution this historic crossing deserves.

Read our full response with Mitcham Society and Wandle Valley Forum to the planning application for a replacement Mitcham Bridge Mitcham Bridge – application

Mitcham Heritage Day – Saturday 12th September 2020

10:00am to 4:30pm Saturday 12 September 

Mitcham Heritage Day reminds visitors to be Covid aware. Please bring your own face covering and hand sanitiser. Maintain social distancing at all times. Use hand sanitiser and wear a face covering in accordance with government guidelines and whenever requested. Take any other actions requested to at venues, including queuing or waiting. Thank you.

The programme for the day is below. Please note that as we continue to live with the effects of Covid-19 information here may change, including right up to the event itself. Please check here for last minute alterations including immediately before the day.

Thank you to all the volunteers who are helping to make Mitcham Heriage Day 2020 happen.

Download our map for use on the day

Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage
1:00pm
Guided walk around the gems of Mitcham Cricket Green
Allow 45 minutes
No booking. Assemble on cricket ground opposite pavilion.

Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage
Heritage Shorts
Learn more about Mitcham Cricket Green at a range of information points. Visit as a self-guided walk or check each location out as you are passing. All the information points can be found on the map we will upload here soon.

Cricket Green School
10:00am to 4:30pm
See the remains of the Grade II listed arch of 14th Century Hall Place in school grounds. DIY children’s activities.

Mitcham Cricket Club
Weather permitting there may be a senior match in the afternoon. Start time to be confirmed. Covid-19 rules allow the teams to agree the format of the match on the day. Please note that the pavilion will not be open.

Mitcham Parish Church
11:00am to 2:00pm
Limited entry
Two Heritage displays provided by Merton Council’s Heritage and Local Studies service:
A Taste of the Past: A Mitcham heritage display based on popular foods from yesteryear
Mitcham: Did You Know…?: A display covering a range of interesting facts about the Mitcham area.
2:00pm Graveyard tour by Joyce Bellamy MBE. Assemble at front of church. No booking.

The Canons
11:00am to 3:00pm
On West lawn (near Madeira Hall, between Canons House and leisure centre)
Grade II* listed Canons House and the surrounding grounds are being restored with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund. See an exhibition about the project and learn more about the historic house and grounds. Please note the house is closed due to the restoration.

Wandle Industrial Museum
10:00am to 4:30pm
The museum will have outdoor exhibitions, and a series of talks related to Mitcham on the green at the back of the museum. Social distancing will be in place with chairs provided. The displays and talks are dependent on the weather.

  • 11:00am Mills of the River Wandle
  • 12:00pm Lavender of Mitcham
  • 1:00pm Surrey Iron Railway
  • 2:00pm Brewing on the Wandle
  • 3:00pm People and Families of the Wandle Valley

Don’t forget to send us your email address to sign up to our regular email newsletter if you want to keep up with our work and events throughouth the year.

Mitcham Heritage Day is part of Wandle Fortnight 2020 and Heritage Open Days

Thanks go to Wandle Fortnight and the Canons (via The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund) the for their financial support.

5G mast threat to Conservation Area

Merton Council is considering plans for an 18m monopole and associated green boxes at the entrance to Park Place on Commonside West.

There are limited planning powers to control such development despite the impact on the Conservation Area.

The application fails to justify why other sites outside the Conservation Area which would still provide the necessary 5G coverage have not been chosen.

Nor is there any information on where the monopole would be visible from. It will certainly have a significant impact on the setting of Grade II listed Park Place and the entrance to the grounds of The Canons currently the subject of major investment using funds from the National Lottery.

Merton Council has stood firm against similar plans on Merton High Street and we are asking it to stand up to the Conservation Area and demand a better solution.

Read our representations 5G monopole – Commonside West – Aug 20.