The meeting was held via Zoom, and chaired by Councillor James Holmes. Twelve residents and nine councillors attended on Zoom with 63 additional views on YouTube. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained how the meeting would work.

Katie Halter, Climate Change Officer gave a presentation on the Climate Change Action Plan. The presentation is attached to this report. The Climate Change Strategy was adopted in November 2020 and the deliver plan was adopted in February 2021. The Plan covers Merton Council’s work to decarbonise and support it can give to others.

There has been a 40% reduction in Merton Council estate emissions since 2009. Merton Council took a number of actions in 2020 including switching to 100% renewable electricity; completing the roll out of LED street lights; spending £0.5m to decarbonise children’s centres and community buildings; £400,000 from the Neighbourhood Fund being spent on a Warmer Homes Project; updating the Local Plan and campaigns such as Climate Champions in GP surgeries.

Plans in 2021 include new community pledges, another round of Solar Together, and new Action Groups to encourage community projects. You can register for email updates on this work.

Matthew Hopkins, Census Engagement Manager for the Office of National Statistics (ONS), gave a presentation on the 2021 Census. The presentation is attached to this report. Census day was 21 March 2021 and this is a digital-first census with most households able to complete the form online. For those without digital access they will be able to request a paper copy and ONS field staff will visit households who have not completed their census form and can provide paper copies. Help will also be available online, through a call centre and locally from Merton Voluntary Service Council.

A resident asked why there isn’t a box for Crown Servants and other trade reps serving abroad who would be unaccounted for in the census, census only mentions Armed Forces. Matthew said that crown servants would be accounted for in the same way as others working overseas and that the Armed Forces question relates to veterans rather than service officers.

Kaz Obuka and Fiona White from South West London Clinical Commissioning Group gave a presentation on the take up of the COVID-19 vaccine in Merton. The presentation is attached to this report. 

Kaz said the vaccination programme has been going well with more than 66,000 having received their first dose, all either over 50 or considered clinically vulnerable. They have been reaching out to communities within Merton including 35 online workshops with more than 900 attendees. Fiona said the work would continue to target communities like homeless, asylum seekers, and women’s refuges with more vaccination events in community facilities.

Cllr Kohler said that the three cohorts of over 70 years olds had all hit around 84% is that a natural ceiling. Fiona said that the target is 92% and we have not hit a ceiling as yet so we still expect the numbers in these groups to go up.

Cllr Fairclough asked if there were any stats for the uptake in local care homes. Fiona said they are still going back to care homes as residents may not yet have had a second vaccination and we are finding that staff that were initially reluctant were now changing their minds.

A resident asked about people in Merton having to leave the borough to receive the vaccine. Fiona said that care workers may be vaccinated at work and in-patients in their hospital but otherwise we are using a range of venues with more to coming available. A resident asked about how long vaccines will last, Fiona said some vaccines take 3 weeks to build up immunity and we think they may last 6-12 months but we do not yet know. It is possible boosters may be needed but we do not know yet. Fiona also confirmed that you should receive the same vaccine in both rounds.

Cllr Ormerod asked about vaccinations for children. Fiona said trials with teenagers are currently taking place. A resident expressed their thanks to NHS staff for running such an amazing service.

Suzanne Grocott gave a presentation on the Wimbledon Neighbourhood Plan which is attached to this report. PlanWimbledon is a community group that has been running for a year and aims to create a better more sustainable Wimbledon. There are more than 300 members including residents associations, businesses and individuals. PlanWimbledon has applied to Merton Council to become a Neighbourhood Forum so they can write a Neighbourhood Plan. The Cabinet has approved a six week consultation, which runs until 12 April. The main questions are is this the right area, covering about 40,000 residents, and should PlanWimbledon be the Forum to write the Neighbourhood Plan. 

A resident asked what the point of the plan is and does it have any legal weight at all to make a difference. Suzanne explained that Neighbourhood plans do have legal weight once they have been approved by a referendum. The Plan forms part of the statutory framework in line with national policies, the London Plan and the borough Local Plan. The Plan can change non-strategic policies and can give more detail that the other policies. A resident asked if PlanWimbledon will be a consultee on planning applications and Suzanne said it will be a stakeholder for Merton Council to consult.

A resident asked about traffic management in Wimbledon, specifically on Haydon Park North. As the consultation on a Low Traffic Neighbourhood has not been successful what other traffic management plans would be considered. This will be raised with the Highways Team.

7.15pm Wednesday 16 June 2021

Councillor Holmes thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting. 

The date of next meeting:

7.15pm Wednesday 16 June 2021