Coalition Of Community Groups To Bid To Run Roehampton Playing Fields
Calls for the Council to put plans on hold whilst group puts together proposal
The campaign to stop the disposal of the Roehampton Playing Fields by way of a 30-year lease by Wandsworth Council to a private commercial leisure provider, TFC Leisure Ltd, is attracting the support of a growing number of residents, sporting bodies and community organisations.
image @ Stuart King 2010
It is becoming increasingly clear that the community in which the Playing Fields sit is overwhelmingly opposed to the Council’s proposals. A coalition of community groups is now putting together an alternative Community-led bid to take over the running of the Playing Fields.
As the December 8th deadline for submitting objections approaches, over 1,300 local people have signed a petition objecting to the proposed grant of a lease whilst hundreds of local residents and users of the site have submitted formal objections. The campaign has been endorsed, too, by the Dover House Estate Residents Association, the Putney Society and the Roehampton Forum. Key users of the facility, including the Dover House Lions FC and the St James and Nasir Cricket Clubs, have also voiced their opposition to the proposals.
Speaking on behalf of the Community Campaign for Roehampton Playing Fields, Sarah Wilton commented:
“Given the enormous impact that the use of this site has on both local residents and key users of the facility it is unacceptable that there has been little if any consultation with the local community. It would have been so much better if the Council had consulted with the local community and Playing Field users about options for the site and then sought to find a more consensual way forward.
The good news is that the threat to the Playing Fields and the surrounding community has galvanised local people to act: proposals are now being worked up for an alternative community-led vehicle able to take on the running of the Playing Fields. We are requesting that the council puts a six-month hold on their plans while our proposal is completed. In view of the lack of engagement and communication with the community, we consider this a very reasonable request.”
The council’s current proposals have come under fire for many reasons. Residents complain that the current proposal rests very heavily on the installation of floodlighting and intensive, noisy night time use. They point out that areas, such as those at Barnes, which operate in such a way are generally located well away from local housing and should not be seen as a blueprint for Roehampton Playing Fields which, by contrast, comprise a field surrounded by housing on all four sides. The noise levels generated by competitive team games would be unacceptable at a time of day when residents are entitled to enjoy peace and quiet. Moreover, the proposed flood lighting would not only be an eyesore at the very heart of a conservation area but also generate light pollution for housing, some of it just 20 yards away.
There is concern, too, that greater use of the Playing Fields, particularly in the evening, will increase high levels of traffic along the already over-used Dover House Road and exacerbate an already difficult parking situation.
Many current users of the site are also concerned that the over-intensification of development for this open field will greatly reduce the open, flexible green space which works so well for the many existing users of the Playing Fields. Dover House Lions are particularly concerned that the remaining grassed playing field area will be too small and inflexible and expensive to allow the club to continue to operate whilst the cricket clubs similarly fear that the remaining green field space will be too inflexible and squeezed for use as a cricket pitch. There is a particular threat to the community cricket projects of the current clubs as no other equivalent accommodation is available anywhere in the borough.
Central to the proposed disposal by way of a 30-year lease is apparently a commitment by TFC to put in a large amount of capital investment, most notably in the form of a new pavilion. However, the commitment to, and timescale for, such investments is extremely vague and there appears very little likelihood in reality that a new pavilion will be built for many years. There would also seem to be considerable latitude within the proposed contract to allow the council and TFC to vary the lease in the future.
A resident of the nearby Dover House Estate, Harriet Morris, commented: “The playing fields sit at the heart of our community but local residents currently have no opportunity to use them. This makes no sense. We now have the chance to create a much more inclusive space that would cater for the whole community - sporting clubs, schools and residents alike. This is what our community wants and I hope that Wandsworth Council commits to working collaboratively with residents to realise this vision.”
Sarah Wilton
On behalf of the Community Group
December 8, 2017