Talking Tooting - Parks, Pubs and Pedestrians

I hope you've been enjoying the warm start to the summer - at times it's felt like Tooting's turned tropical! It's also great that the local economy continues to motor, and this means we need to grab the many opportunities this brings while working to protect the many things we love about our area. So please read on for important updates on my community campaigns.

The future of ‘Springfield Park’

Earlier this year many of you attended the public meeting I held regarding the proposed Springfield Hospital development, where local residents made it clear that they wished to see full plans for the new 32-acre Park as soon as possible.

I’m pleased therefore that the Springfield Trust has now opened a public consultation to inform its views on how the space should be used, which it will submit to the Council in September. You can give your views via their questionnaire on the topic here and I encourage you to get involved so that we can shape the future of this valuable green space.

Added planning protection for 121 local pubs and bars

Building on our successful campaigns to save the Wheatsheaf and Trafalgar Arms pubs, I’ve been pressing the Council to offer additional planning protection to all of our community pubs.

So I'm delighted that Wandsworth Council voted last week to ensure that residents would have their say on 121 Wandsworth pubs with architectural and community merit, should those pubs be threatened in the future. This is a great achievement and means that Wandsworth now has some of the strongest pub protection in the country, ensuring we retain these valuable community hubs.

Please visit my Facebook page for full details – including the list of the 121 locals in question, to check yours is included!

New 20 mph zones

Slowly but surely, more and more of Tooting’s residential roads are seeing speed limits reduced to 20mph, which we hope will reduce accidents on the streets and encourage more people to walk and cycle.

One of those progressing to the next stage is the proposed 20 mph zone on Franche Court, Burmester and Aldren roads in Earlsfield, which myself and Councillor Charles Lescott submitted earlier this year following a very well-supported petition.

In light of the high take-up rate from residents, the Council is now considering a change in how it implements 20 mph zones, but while we await that change, do let me know of any roads/zones where you believe the speed limit should be reduced.

On Track in Tooting

More good news has emerged in the form of the Council's announcement that the Tooting Athletics Track will soon be managed by the staff mutual it is forming, which will be called 'Enable'.

Having met in the spring with Track staff and Herne Hill Harriers to come up with ideas about how we can boost usage of the facility, I've seen the commitment that these groups have to keep the track available, accessible and affordable to all. I'm confident that they will be successful in these goals and I hope residents will continue to support this great community asset.

There's lots going on and I'll be keeping busy during the summer, so please follow me on Facebook or Twitter for more updates on local news and campaigns.

With best wishes, 

Dan Watkins
Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Tooting