Applications for planning permission were lodged with Merton Council in December. The plans are for 229 flats (5 to 7 storey buildings) and 3,400m² of employment space, on the nearly 20,000m² site (that means about 17% of the site). There are also plans for a station “drop off” area at the site’s entrance, which is at the junction of Grand Drive and Approach Road, by the southern entrance to Raynes Park Station.

The deadline for your comments on the planning applications now  appears to have been extended to 2 February, and we want as many people as possible to have their say.

When the planning brief (i.e. the planning guidelines supposed to represent the community’s aims for the site) was created, residents told us they were worried about traffic access – the only way in is by the southern entrance to Raynes Park Station – and the potential to increase traffic and air pollution caused by traffic jams. We also raised concerns about the amount of space for new employment – we felt the site had more potential for businesses than the developers indicated.

How to have your say

1.Have a look at the plans on the Council’s planning explorer by searching for the following application numbers: 14/P4287 (main application) and 14/P4288 (station drop-off – the “Kiss & Ride”).

2. Email your views to the planning officer [email protected] / [email protected]

3. Don’t forget to include your name and address in the email, the planning application numbers above and the “Planning application description”, which you’ll find on the Planning Explorer website. Please also send us a copy, so we know what you think. You might also want to mention bits of Merton’s planning rules that you think are relevant to the plans.

We still think that the issues outlined in our 2012 response to the Council’s planning brief for the site are relevant. You can read about this here. The planning brief was actually written by the site’s owner’s WorkSpace and nodded through by Merton Council. Many of the problems we highlighted in the link above are still problems now.

You can read a brief history of the plans for the site, and our views, here.