The motion was moved by Councillor David Williams and seconded by Councillor Adam Bush

The Labour amendment, as set out in item 27 was moved by Councillors Andrew Judge and seconded by Councillor Ian Munn.

The Labour amendment was then put to the vote and was carried – votes in favour 39, and votes against 19 with 1 abstention.

The substantive resolution was agreed.

RESOLVED:

This Council notes the various consultations that have been conducted by the London Borough of Merton in recent years on proposed regeneration schemes around the borough. These have included:

•        Rediscover Mitcham;

•        Connecting Colliers Wood;

•        Rainbow Industrial Estate Planning Brief;

•        Morden Station Planning Brief;

•        ‘Future Wimbledon’ conference and ideas competition on the evolution of Wimbledon town centre over the next 15 years; and

•        The Local Plan for the Ravensbury, High Path and Eastfields housing estates.

Council welcomes this investment in Merton’s future and congratulates the Future Merton team on undertaking intensive consultation around all of these developments to ensure the views of residents are heard.

Council further notes that, unlike a number of other councils, Merton has successfully completed the detailed process of developing a Local Plan for the borough.  This comprehensive series of documents  sets out an overarching strategic vision for the borough’s future development whilst also incorporating more detailed considerations of particular town centres, such as Morden, Mitcham, Colliers Wood and Wimbledon and sets out the infrastructural needs and opportunities arising from future development.        

This Council understands and takes seriously its responsibility not only to listen to the views of residents and businesses about significant changes proposed for their neighbourhoods but also to act on the results of these consultations to ensure that any plans drawn up by town planners, architects and developers are translated into a real and deliverable vision, which enjoys the support of the local community and brings tangible benefits to the people living and working here.

Furthermore, this Council appreciates the importance of investing in high quality homes and stronger communities, and not just in buildings, and recognises that one of the major concerns raised by residents about large scale regeneration projects is their impact on local infrastructure such as school places, traffic congestion, parking and health services.

Council therefore welcomes the administration’s creation of more than 2,000 extra school places in our local primary schools with 2,000 more planned and, following on from this success, the secondary school strategy being implemented by the administration to ensure all our young people can attend a good local school. Council further welcomes the administration’s commitment to tackling traffic congestion in the borough through a series of measures to smooth traffic flow and reduce traffic and parking contraventions. The council’s ambitious plans for Merton’s future make it even more important that we continue our fight to maintain accident and emergency, maternity and related services at St Helier hospital.  However, council regrets the threatened closure of the Vineyard Hill surgery in Wimbledon, noting that lack of government investment in the NHS is a real issue in London and the closure of this surgery can only add to the issues our residents face in trying to get a GP appointment locally.

This Council therefore calls on the Cabinet to:

a)    continue to set out its strategic vision, priorities and timetable for its overarching regeneration plan for Merton and the key elements within it; and

b)    continue to provide a clear and strategic plan for the specific infrastructure required to accompany such regeneration in each location around the