Habitats and Heritage are holding an event as part of this year’s London Festival of Architecture at St Mary Magdalene’s Church Hall on Saturday 28 June at 11.00am -12.30pm. There will be a presentation about the Burtons and a visit to the mausoleum.
Tickets cost £3 and can be purchased from: The Burtons: Fascinating in Life and Death Tickets, Church Hall, St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake | TryBooking United Kingdom
It is a somewhat ironic coincidence that while the world’s top tennis players will be fighting out the later stages of the leading Grand Slam Tennis Tournament in the world at Wimbledon, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) who are responsible for the venue, will be fighting opposition to their development plans at the Royal Courts of Justice, the oldest judicial system in the western world.
The AELTC plans for expansion of the site at Wimbledon are to build 39 tennis courts and an 8.000 seat arena on the former golf course land at Wimbledon Park. These plans are now the subject of proceedings in the High Court. There are two separate court cases currently in progress between Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) and the AELTC. The first is a Judicial Review (JR) of the decision of the GLA to grant planning permission for the AELTC development. Those proceedings are listed for hearing on 8 and 9 July 2025.
The second case relates to the legal status of the land. SWP, acting as a Representative Defendant, will argue that the land is protected by a statutory trust for public recreation. The AELTC disagree with this and have started High Court proceedings to decide the point. The Court has decided that the Attorney General, as guardian of the public interest, should also be joined in the proceedings. The trial has been fixed to start in mid-January 2026, with a time estimate of 6 days. The AELTC has agreed to cover SWP’s legal costs of acting as a Representative Defendant in this case.
The AELTC argues the development will open up a part of the park that it says was “inaccessible to the public for almost a century”. Save Wimbledon Park has concerns around the environmental impact.
Those matches take place about three-and-a-half miles (5.6km) away at Roehampton’s Community Sports Centre. That site can cater for about 2,000 spectators a day, whereas the new development could host up to 10,000 meaning the grounds as a whole could see up to 50,000 visitors per day.
Debbie Jevans, chair of the AELTC, is quoted as saying: “We are already very tight for space. We want to be able to match what other Grand Slams do to maintain Wimbledon at the pinnacle of the sport. We always talk about history and tradition with Wimbledon but we need to evolve and deliver economic benefits both locally and nationally. When the Court assesses the plans, they will be able to see the due diligence we have gone through. I don’t dismiss people’s concerns and respect their point of view. I want to ensure the basis of their concerns is based on facts.”
Representatives of the Save Wimbledon Park campaign are quoted as saying: “We all love the tennis. They do a great job across the road – they don’t need to be here [on the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club] as well. We have had 22,000 petitioners, 1,100 separate donations to our fighting fund [for the Judicial Review] and serious local support from all the councillors and the MPs.”
AELTC said it recently conducted a survey of about 10,000 residents in Merton and Wandsworth which found support had increased from 50% to 62% in the last six months. It said the strongest support was among residents aged under 44, with 74% in this group in favour of the plans. The strongest reasons cited for supporting the project was its “commitment to protecting and enhancing local green spaces”.
“Most of the Park will be open in perpetuity to the public. There will be no hotel, no railway station, just a 23-acre public park.”
Residents in East Sheen and Mortlake may wonder about an AELTC commitment to openness of the Park in perpetuity. Historically they had access to what was the Bank of England site at Roehampton for a variety of sports. AELTC acquired their lease in 2021. Since then AELTC policies and politics in Merton, Wandsworth and Richmond have led to very limited local use of one of the most pleasant green spaces in SW 13, 14 and 15, other than for hiring tennis courts and some paying clubs. And no access whatsoever for three months in the summer unless for one week you pay to watch the Wimbledon Qualifiers.
The eventual AELTC plan is to move the Wimbledon Qualifying Tournament from the Wimbledon Qualifying and Community Sports Centre in Roehampton to the new site but they now expect to extend the existing lease to 2036. If they lose in the Courts they may be looking at extending that lease further.
The Mortlake Mash-Up – Report Back Events
The Mortlake Mash-Up was a community-led initiative organised by a partnership of local community groups and businesses. It provided residents with a chance to share their ideas for improving the area and shaping our community.
We had originally hoped to hold the Report Back sooner. However, we felt it was important to wait for the outcome of the Mortlake Brewery development decision. That decision has now been made, and many of you will have heard that planning approval for the site’s redevelopment has been granted. You can find more details about the decision at: https://www.mbcg.org.uk
JOIN US to hear the ideas identified by the community during the Mortlake Mash-Up and explore how we might bring those projects to life together.
Date: Saturday 5 July
Time: 11am – 2pm
Venue: Mortlake Hall, 30 Mullins Path, SW14 8EZ
There will be entertainment for children, an exhibition and light refreshments will be provided.
Continue readingLocal resident Paul Giles recently wrote to the Planning Inspector for the Stag Brewery Planning Applications about the process of the Inquiry. Mr Giles has kindly agreed to publication of his letter and the reply which are posted below.
Mr. Giles raises two important points. What was the justification for the Inspector deciding not to accept the appellant’s offer of 12% Affordable Housing? Why would an experienced KC have made the offer if it was not consistent with planning considerations? And secondly (not explicitly set out below) given this was based on a method of valuation of the Brewery site apparently known to and agreed by all the parties, why were so many hours wasted on this aspect of the appeal? We leave it to the reader to reach their own conclusions.
23rd May 2025
Dear Mr Rollings
Appeal A Ref: APP/L5810/W/24/3339060 – Former Stag Brewery
Thank you for inviting me to speak on Tuesday the 3rd December at the Enquiry which preceded the above decision. As indicated to Helen Skinner I write as a private individual and Council Tax payer in relation to the above appeal decision.
This letter relates purely to the Inquiry process; it offers no comment on the overall decision made.
As we know, the Inquiry lasted for four weeks not including preparation and report-writing time. If I
understand page 2 of the above Appeal Report correctly, all aspects of the development have been
allowed without change from the pre-Inquiry development plans. Given this, one can empathise perhaps with a detached Observer questioning the value in holding the Inquiry at all.
To pursue its worthwhileness, I can only refer back to the Affordable Housing aspect of the Inquiry, on
which I spoke. This one topic proceeded to occupy the Inquiry for most of the rest of that week, the key
question being the developer’s proposed level of AH being set as 7.5% of built units.
Particularly pertinent was the cross examination by one Mr Russell Harris KC for the appellant of the GLA Principal Strategic Planner Ms Emily Leslie on the morning of Friday 6th December. Over three hours of tortuous questioning apparently were required to establish that the GLA’s 50% AH Target was in fact just that, an unenforceable target, ‘an aspiration’ as Mr Harris put it. But we knew that before we started.
So, might ask our Observer, why waste so much time establishing something already known to be
unenforceable? Put it another way, what do you think Ms Leslie or any of the witnesses who subsequently spoke could possibly have said to have influenced the 7.5% level of AH?
Separately to this, just before lunch on the 3rd December, Mr Douglas Edwards KC, for the GLA, announced that he and Mr Harris had reached a ‘without prejudice’ agreement that the AH level should become 12%. This was mumbled, forcing me to stop the meeting for clarification. Our Observer might consider this agreement positive, the near seven-fold 7.5%/50% disparity, in all fairness, worth reducing.
So, the Observer might be surprised to see paragraph 174 of the report as it firstly credits the appellant
with this agreement, secondly dismisses same as apparently ‘not appropriate’. How can such an offer by
the appellant of all participants not be appropriate? Could I ask you to write to me to explain this? Also
please state whether you feel the time spent on the AH topic was a worthwhile use of time and money?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Paul Giles Performance, Attribution and Risk Specialist
The reply on behalf of the Inspector can be read on the EastSheenMatters site.
Continue readingThe Parish of Mortlake with East Sheen is seeking an Administrator to support the clergy and lay leadership. It is a varied job, with opportunities to meet people and to support the work of the three churches in the Parish: St Mary’s Mortlake, Christ Church, East Sheen and All Saints, East Sheen in the Diocese of Southwark.
The Parish Office is at St Mary’s, Mortlake High Street, SW14 JA. The office serves as the hub of communications and administrative support for the Parish as a whole.
The job description gives more detail.
If you are interested please complete and submit this application form .
Closing date for applications: Friday 4 July
Interviews: Tuesday 15 July
38 miles. Well done Tod.
A donation can still be made via Sort Code 600720 44372310
The next Bring and Share lunch with parish friends will be at All Saints next Thursday, 19th June, at 12.30pm Please contact Mireille Stanton – email: mireille.stanton@gmail.com. Sue Bonnell – 07762 018864, Sara Bromfield – 07986 726309, or Kate Woodhouse – email: katewoodhouse20@gmail.com if you would like to come and for further information.
Barnes Choir Summer Concert! Saturday 14th June, 7.30pm, Verdi Requiem (chamber
ensemble version) at All Saints’ Church, Tickets £20 from http://www.barneschoir.org.uk/tickets, or
on the door on the night.
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