1,000 signatures reached
To: Rt. Hon. George Eustice MP, Secretary of State for the Environment
A Common Scandal: How Wandsworth Puts Public Land In Private Hands
Stop the development of a commercial football facility on Tooting Common.
It is the result of a flawed public consultation that ignored the objections of almost 7,000 residents in just five days.
It was approved by Wandsworth Borough Council's planning committee, despite the chairman also being a director of the organisation responsible for managing leisure and sports services in Wandsworth. A clear conflict of interest.
We call on you to stop this development and preserve fairness in pursuit of the public interest.
Why is this important?
Wandsworth Borough Council failed to adequately inform and consult the public of this development.
It sent out just 34 letters to local residents, despite a thousand registering their concern to a similar plan in 2008.
It omitted to mention the land will become the base for a football club, who play at a semi-professional level and have a total of 28 teams.
The chairman of the planning committee which considered the application is also a director of Enable, the organisation responsible for the management of leisure and sports services in Wandsworth.
The chairman closed down debate at the meeting; allowing a supportive letter from the football club to be read out, but rejecting a short submission on behalf of almost 7,000 local residents against the development and failing to refer to an unprecedented 1,000 formal objections from the public.
The committee failed to call for a traffic and parking impact report, despite the issue being of significant concern in the area, where there is no dedicated parking.
Residents were not informed that a community boxing club which was expected to be upgraded as part of the development would instead lose space and may now face closure.
REJECT this application: it is not supported by the public.
Planning applications must not only be fair, they must be seen to be fair, especially when they relate to common land.
