The meeting was held at the Arts Space in Wimbledon Library and chaired by Councillor Paul Kohler. More than 50 residents and five councillors attended with 73 additional views on YouTube. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained how the meeting would work.

A resident asked if a place of worship can apply for parking permit.

Following the meeting Parking Services confirmed that businesses can apply for parking permits. Details of the terms and conditions can be found on our website.

A residents asked if it was confirmed that delivery bikes on Wimbledon Bridge were being removed from Monday. Cllr Kohler confirmed this was the case and said there is an alternative space in the car park. Cllr Kohler said it would be better for companies like Deliveroo to provide services for riders like huts.

A resident asked if there was any update on the situation with Lime bikes. Cllr Fairclough said Merton Council was in negotiation with Lime but did not expect an agreement to be reached until new year. Residents can report illegally parked bikes online. Cllr Stringer confirmed active discussions. The Council is keen to bring e-bikes to Merton, but the current system is not working, and she encouraged residents to report bikes that were causing problems.

David Hall from Wimbledon Community Association said that the groups AGM was on Thursday 1 December 2022 at 12noon at the Polka Theatre and residents were welcome to attend.

A resident said that new trees planted outside centre court have been tarmacked up to the trunk. Cllr Kohler said it would be helpful to have an explanation for why trees being tarmacked.

Leonie Cooper, Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth

Leonie Cooper, Assembly Member for Merton and Wandsworth, gave an update on activities for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. Leonie reminded residents that there are 25 assembly members, and their role is to hold Mayor of London and GLA services to account.

There are three big issues at the moment: changes at the Metropolitan Police, the culture at London Fire Brigade and the extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. 

Following the departure of Cressida Dick, the new Commissioner is Sir Mark Rowley. The Commissioner is meeting with all assembly members tomorrow. The Commissioner needs to address the culture issues that have come to light including abusive messages, the murder of Sarah Everard, and the poor investigation into murders of young gay men in east London. The Met has a lot of work to do to re-establish trust and build a better relationship with large sections of London’s community.

The independent review of culture at London Fire Brigade, following suicide of officer, found significant cultural issues including treatment of women, and BME officers. The Fire Commissioner came to Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee on Tuesday and is said they were keen to implement recommendations of report as soon as possible

There had also been discussion at Assembly about a proposal to change the Mayoral Transport strategy to allow for the introduction of smart user charging and the extension of ULEZ to London wide from August 2023. Alongside this will include scrappage scheme, retrofitting, and exemptions for some groups.

A resident asked that if a relatively small number of residents are affected by the ULEZ extension will it have an impact on air quality. Leonie said that when the ULEZ was introduced in central London compliance went from 40% of vehicles to 65%, and for inner London up to 85%. Serious health problems have been reduced in central London, so we now need to address the same problems in Outer London. World Health Organisation guidance from 2012 said diesel fumes are carcinogenic but there was no immediate change to transport policy. Clear evidence for damage from particles produced by diesel cars has increased recently so action has become more urgent. The ULEZ extension will hopefully reduce non-compliant cars further.

A residents asked what percentage of all cars fail to comply. Leonie said she did not know that specific figure for Merton, but half of Londoners do not have cars. If your petrol car is post 2008, or diesel post-2015 then there will be no impact. Other vehicles will be charged £12.50 per day. Residents can use the vehicle checker to find out if their car is compliant.

A resident said that cleaner vehicle discount is due to end in 2025 and asked if there would be enough charging points for electric. Leonie said that there is a complicated set of discounts and exemptions with different timetables so residents should check the website for details.

Cllr Jil Hall said she had been involved in equality training  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Alex Woolf, Romulus

Alex Woolf, from Romulus UK, gave a presentation on the developments of Centre Court shopping centre. The presentation is attached to this report.

Alex said that Romulus is a family-owned business and has been in operation for 50 years. Romulus plans to invest and stay in centre court for the long-term. There is a large in-house team working at Centre Court. Romulus has similar long-term projects in other parts of London.

Alex said that Centre Court was not the same as it was in 1990 with the anchor tenant leaving along with lots of other retailers. Romulus wants to transform Centre Court to a hub for the community, residents and workers in Wimbledon. This will include new shops, new gyms, and new workspaces, bringing jobs to the area. Centre Court was built as a closed off cul-de-sac designed to face inwards, towards the anchor store. Romulus wants to open it up and connect it to wider community. There will not be any demolition, as Romulus will retain the existing centre but then add value. Alex said they want to create more accessible spaces like a courtyard, and links to Queens Road. This will help celebrate the historic aspects of the neighbourhood.

Romulus has worked with local partners such as Polka theatre, Sustainable Merton, and local artists. They have created a new roof top farm producing mushrooms, using coffee grinds, and honey from new beehives. It is important to be imbedded in the community, and lots of the team are local.

Alex said there will be new shops, a new food and beverage food court on the ground floor; leisure use of space; and flexible workspaces. A new entrance on Queens Road will open the frontage of fire station. They have already taken off the roof over courtyard and have just installed a new sliding root. The Centre will be able to host events in that space and become a hub for people to linger.

Romulus is focused on keeping current shops as much as possible but will also bring in new retailers. New gym and leisure operators are already secured, and others will be announcing in coming months. They also will have an active market space. The first new tenant will be opening early 2023, Third Space gym and Boulder Climbing will be opening later in 2023. Most other works will be complete by March 2023.

A resident asked if Romulus owned, and managed Centre Court and Alex said they did. A resident asked what the budget for these works is and Alex said this is not a short-term project and Romulus will look to constantly invest of a long period. A resident asked when will centre court look like the pictures in the presentation. Alex said the open spaces will be completed by March, with new tenants joining over the next 8-12monts, so this phase will be completed by March 2024.

A resident asked if Romulus was looking to include smaller or independent traders as well as chains. Alex  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Christopher Coombe from the Wimbledon Society gave a presentation on the future of Wimbledon Park. The presentation is attached to this report. Christopher said the community was proud of Wimbledon and hosting the tennis.

The proposed development will treble the size of the AELTC complex and double the number of courts. This is on Metropolitan Open land and in a Grade 2* listed park and in divided ownership. The proposal includes a covered stadium, 38 other tennis courts, industrial and maintenance chambers, player hubs and 9km of roads and paths. There would not be any further entries into championship so it would still be two weeks long plus four days of qualifiers. There have been three separate applications over 18 months.

Christopher said that planning policy should protect Green belt open land plus there was a Covenant installed by Merton in 1993. This said the land should only be used for leisure or recreational purposes or as an open space and that future owners should be restricted from developing the site.

Christopher said that the AELTC claims benefits include a permissive park and walkway around the lake. Permissive means that landowner can close access at any time. Christopher said he was aware of some discussion around a section 106.

A resident said Sally Bolton, CEO of AELTC, would be opening Christmas lights next week in Southfields. A resident asked what access will be like once golf ceases on 1 January, and Christopher said he did not know.

A resident asked what Merton Council’s position was on enforcing the Covenant. Cllr Stringer said she was unable to comment on covenant as the Council waiting for outcome of the planning process.

A resident asked if the development can be stopped. Christopher explained there was a planning process involving Planning departments at Merton and Wandsworth; the Mayor of London; and the Secretary of State. The Covenant taken from AELTC, and Merton Council is a more complex route but can potentially be enforced in the courts.

A resident asked if there were alternative plans from the community. Christopher said that a lot of alternative suggestions have been made by local community groups calling for plans to be scaled back.

A resident asked about the destruction of trees and Christopher said that 300 mature trees will be removed with 1500 trees added but these will take 100 years to mature to same level.

A resident asked what practical steps can be made to state objections and Christopher said residents could sign a petition, submit objections, and lobby their Councillors. A resident queried why AELTC needed so much land and another felt that Councillors should not accept gifts from AELTC.

A resident asked if there will be a further planning application for Roehampton site. Christopher said that the Bank of England who own the site, put it up for sale a few years ago but it was not bought by AELTC. A resident said they understood the lease on that site has 14 years left to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Amy Mallet, Merton Council

Amy Mallet, Climate Engagement Officer for Merton Council, gave a presentation on the progress being made on Merton’s Climate Action Plan. The presentation is attached to this report.

In 2019 Merton Council declared a climate emergency with a target of achieving net zero for the Council by 2030 and borough by 2050. The Council is responsible for less than 2% of emissions. A Climate Strategy and Action Plan was agreed in 2020 and followed by two climate delivery plans.

The Action Plan covers a lot of areas so there is a need to expand the team and bring in additional expertise. The Council also needs to work well with the community so has set up Climate Action Group that supports community action on climate in areas like buildings and energy, transport, green economy and greening Merton. Projects have included Energy Matters, providing energy efficiency education in schools; Merton Garden Streets, where residents and businesses have got involved in planting up their streets. So far 115 streets have signed up, with over 10,000 volunteer hours plus participants have reported benefits to their well-being. The Wheel repair café, a chance for residents to bring goods that can be repaired. There are repair café and upcycling events taking place at Canon’s House in November and December. The Climate Action Group is looking for more volunteers and you can email the team if you want to get more involved.

There was a summer fare at Canon’s House in Mitcham that highlighted sustainable businesses and products. The team is also supporting a schools’ network and a Green Careers week to highlight job opportunities in green industries. The best way to keep in touch with that is happening is to sign-up to the e-newsletter.

Mayor of London’s Warmer Homes scheme provides funding for low income, low energy efficiency households. This closes in March 2023 and is the currently only funding scheme available.

The team will be working with University College London to run a pilot programme to support small businesses to improve their energy efficiency.

A resident raised a concern about a previous project involving volunteers to improve an open space that was not supported and failed to continue. Amy was not familiar with the project.

A resident what progress was being made by the Council to reach carbon neutrality. Amy said the Council was at an early stage, £2m funding was committed in 2021 to support the work and this will see an impact soon. More regular and secure funding from central government would be helpful. There will be updates on the council delivery plan for year 3, scheduled to be reported Cabinet in January next year.

A resident asked about the impact of planning policy climate change. Amy said the new Local Plan has been through its public hearings and is now with the inspectors. This plan sets a much higher environmental standard than required by law and most other local authorities.

Cllr Austin asked if Merton Council had responded to the government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Wednesday 22 March 20237.15pm in the Mansel Road Centre

Cllr Kohler thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting. 

Date of next meeting:

7.15pm Wednesday 22 March 2023 at Mansel Road Centre