An opportunity to raise any other issue of local interest not covered elsewhere on the agenda.    Kindly email your request in advance of the meeting to: chris.edge@ccedge.com and nick.mclean@merton.gov.uk

Morley Park

Jane Barnes spoke on behalf of Friends of Morley Park about the continued closure of Morley Park. 

“In September 2017 the Council signed a Certificate of Completion for all the works Berkeley Homes were required to do in Morley Park before transferring the freehold to the Council. The works required included the eradication of Japanese Knotweed.  We do not understand why the certificate was signed when the works weren’t complete. Berkeley Homes were obliged to complete these works before selling homes on their hospital development, so, by signing the Certificate, the Council lost leverage to ensure the park was transferred to them with all works done and in a timely way. 15 months later the park is still closed and owned by Berkeley Homes who are using parts of it to facilitate construction on their Wolfson development site.  We have consistently been told that the delay is due to negotiations with Berkeley Homes about the ongoing liability for Japanese Knotweed but clearly Berkeley Homes are finding continued ownership of the park useful.

The planning consent that created Morley Park required the freehold to be transferred to the Council.  Friends of Morley Park were thus very surprised by an update on Morley Park that the cabinet member responsible for parks gave at the Wimbledon Community Forum two days ago. He said that

1.            Instead of the Council taking the freehold of the park it would take it on a 22-year lease from Berkeley Homes

2.            Berkeley Homes would then retain the responsibility for the treatment and liability for the spread of knotweed beyond the park during that period

3.            At the end of the 22 years the freehold of the park would transfer to the Council

He also said that the lease might be agreed by the end of this year. This raises lots of questions and concerns.

·         What guarantee would there be that the freehold would transfer to the Council after 22 years? What hold would the Council have on Berkeley Homes to make sure it happened?

·         Why 22 years? Is it based on the time required to deal with the Japanese Knotweed or to ensure the lease meets the criteria to give the tenants the rights of a long term leaseholder?

·         What would the terms of the lease be, for example on the park boundary, the obligation to provide public access, the dowry to be paid to the Council, maintenance etc?

·         Would the terms of the lease be consistent in every way, other than ownership, with the requirements in the planning consent that created Morley Park?

·         Under what terms will the Council eventually acquire the freehold and in particular will the public access obligations still apply?

To be of use this information is needed before any agreement is signed.”

Cllrs Crowe and Kenny offered to raise these questions with the Cabinet Member, Cllr Draper.

Waste Collection

A number of residents raised issues about the new waste collection service and Chris Larkman said the Raynes Park Association had written to the Council to raise these concerns. Issues with the new service include assisted collections not being transferred over, bins not being returned to resident’s properties, the new textile and battery collection not being available, the large Veolia yellow bins being left in the area, new bins not being used by residents on Durham Road and left in the street to attract litter, and the flats above the shops on Kingston Road still leaving rubbish out weekly but it was only being collected fortnightly. Residents had also had problems reporting issues with Amity Grove and other roads in SW20 not being recognised by the Council website. Residents also said the build-up of fallen leaves on Ridgeway and Cottenham Park Road was particularly bad and becoming dangerous.

Residents also raised the re-introduction of charges for bulky waste collection. Cllr Kenny said the evidence from previous changes and elsewhere showed that charges do not lead to any increase in fly-tipping.

Residents also asked about the hoardings next to the former Chinese restaurant on Coombe Lane and the derelict flats on Lambton Road.