Tara Butler, Future Merton Team

Mark Warren, Urban Designer, and Tara Butler, Programme Manager, gave a presentation on the Merton Character Study and Small Sites Toolkit currently being consulted on. The presentation is attached to this report.

Tara said that there had recently been a report to the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel on the More Morden regeneration programme that may be of interest to residents.

Mark said that the Character Study was not just based on the built environment but also has layers including people, history, natural environment, communities, socio-economic and environment. Neighbourhood areas were drawn from the views of residents. In Morden environment and transport had scored highly. There is more detail for each ward, including potential growth.

Small sites are those less than 0.25 hectares and in Merton they have a critical role. In the last 15 years 62% of new homes were built on these small sites. The Small Sites Toolkit sets out the issues developers should consider including themes such as ‘Made in Merton’, ‘Fit for Purpose’, ‘People First’ and ‘Economic and Sustainable’. The aim is to improve the quality of developments on small sites.

Both the Character Study and the Small Sites Toolkit consultations are open until 23 March 2021.

A resident asked how people had been notified about the consultations. Tara said the information had been sent to the 3000 people on a database of those interested in planning policy, as well as information being posted on the Council consultation database, and publicised on social media. To be get informed about future planning policy consultations you can email future.merton@merton.gov.uk.

Cllr Pearce asked about the pressure Merton is under to provide new homes and how we can protect existing open spaces and local character. Tara said that the role of planning policy is to set out what we want to see and to define what we mean by local character.

Cllr Southgate asked about the issue of back gardens in the Small Sites Toolkit and if the Planning for the Future white paper will help Merton protect them. Tara and Mark said the Toolkit should help improve the quality of any back garden development but it does not define if they should be permitted, any applications would still require permissions.

Cllr Wilkinson said that design guidance is welcome but how will it be communicated to developers and inform design from the outset. Tara said the toolkit will be used during any pre-application advice and be available on the planning website. 

Cllr Alambritis asked about Merton’s role as an infill borough. Tara explained that Merton’s position between inner and outer London as well as fragmented ownership means that Merton has a comparatively high number of applications for small sites. In Merton 90% of applications were for small sites compared to only 50% in other parts of London.

A resident asked about the £300,000 made available from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to support the Morden Town Centre Regeneration. Tara explained that CIL funding comes from a levy on developers in the borough and can be spent on local infrastructure as directed by the Cabinet. The Morden project has been delayed by the COVID pandemic so the Cabinet agreed that the funding should be used to improve the public realm. Discussions will be held with local councillors but it would not be sensible to invest significantly in buildings that are expected to be part of the regeneration programme. Cllr Draper said he would be happy to receive any suggestions from residents to be considered by the Steering Group of councillors.