Much To-do About Tooting

Welcome to my latest update on our area, where it must be said there is so much going on! A rising population and growing economy means that new developments are frequently being proposed and we face ongoing pressure on our public services. So there is a huge amount for me to do to ensure residents have their voices heard in shaping our community and that new initiatives are launched to tackle Tooting's challenges. I hope you feel I am serving you well in this and if you would like to help with any of my campaigns, please do let me know.

Crossrail 2 – Back on Track!

After months of concern, I’m pleased to report good news regarding this important new railway line.

While I strongly support the project as a whole, the current Crossrail 2 consultation proposes the construction of access shafts on Wandsworth Common and Trinity Fields. These green spaces are hugely important to the whole community so I’ve been at the forefront of the campaign, working alongside residents to press Crossrail 2 to move the shafts to more suitable locations.

And it has worked! In total there were over 2,000 consultation submissions from local people objecting to the proposed sites, and the Crossrail 2 team confirmed to me last week that it will remove Wandsworth Common and Trinity Fields from the consultation and seek alternative locations later this year. 

You can read more about this on my website here. Thanks to everyone who wrote in - our voices have been heard loud and clear!

Springfield Development Update

Following the Public Meeting I recently held on this topic, the Council have made their decision on the latest Springfield Hospital planning application.

While 27 new homes have been permitted for the Hebdon Road side of the Springfield site, a condition has been set by the Council that those homes cannot be occupied until the Parks Strategy has been agreed. This means that the much-delayed new park - which many local people are keen to see - will now be fast-tracked and a plan agreed by the end of September this year.

Safer streets - 20 mph in Earlsfield

We need Londoners to make more journeys on foot and by bicycle if we are going to accommodate the city’s growing demand for transport. So I’m supportive of measures to make Tooting's streets safer, giving encouragement to pedestrians and cyclists.

One action we can take is to drop the speed limit from 30 to 20 mph on residential roads, so I was delighted to help Earlsfield residents on roads used as rat-runs by leading a petition for a 20mph zone. Following a number of sessions (held in terrible weather!) we have collected enough resident signatures on Franche Court, Burmester and Aldren roads to present the petition to Town Hall and trigger a consultation to progress the scheme.

If you live in an area which you feel would benefit from a lower speed limit, please let me know.

SoS for the Selkirk Pub

We’ve had tremendous success over the past year in our campaigns to save valuable community pubs – such as The Wheatsheaf and Trafalgar Arms. But we have an even better chance of securing the long-term future of a pub if we get it listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) in advance of it being sold.

That’s why I have been working over the winter to collect enough local resident support to nominate the Selkirk Pub as an ACV. Positioned off the high street and owned by Enterprise Inns (who also owned the Wheatsheaf and Trafalgar Arms), this popular historic pub is more at risk than most, so I want to proactively protect it. 

The application will be going to the Council soon and to show your support, please visit my Facebook page and Like the Selkirk post.

As ever, please follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more updates on local news and my campaigns.
 

That's all for this week, with best wishes, 

Dan Watkins
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Tooting