Category: Local News

Springfield Hospital Redevelopment

On the 10 June Emma Hill, Community Engagement Officer at Springfield Hospital, spoke to the Society on the future of the hospital and of this vast area between Wandsworth Common and Tooting. Link here:

The talk covered the timing and development of the whole Springfield site, including new housing, redevelopment of the old hospital buildings, the new hospital facilities (both the buildings and the services services to be offered), a youth hub and how the new 32-acre public park is being integrated with the site.

These links will take you to the two short videos that Emma included in her talk to illustrate the development of the Springfield Village project

(1) Creating Springfield Village – YouTube

and the works on site

(1) The view on the ground at Springfield – May 2021 – YouTube

And this is a link to the update page for the development

Estate modernisation update page

Pre-publication Draft Local Plan

The draft Local Plan opened for consultation on 4 January and comments need to be submitted by 1 March. Comments are invited from members of the public as well as the Civic societies and others.

A full response will be made by the Wandsworth Society but members and others are encouraged to review the documents 0n https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/planning-policy/local-plan/draft-local-plan-pre-publication/ and make their own responses, preferably through the on-line consultation portal (see the above link).

Virtual tour of the WRWA

On 28 January members were taken on a fascinating virtual tour of the Western Riverside Waste Authority site in Smugglers Way by Jon Long the Education Officer.

In order to see a short film to accompany the site visit https://wrwa.gov.uk/schools-adult-groups/wealth-hidden-in-waste/. For opening times see https://wrwa.gov.uk/centre-opening-times/ but note that from Monday 15 March you will need to book in order to do your recycling. You can discover where you can recycle specific items in the Wandsworth area on https://www.recyclenow.com/ To see what the charity Rework do to recycle unwanted furniture, bikes and white goods do see https://www.groundwork.org.uk/projects/rework/   A graphic which shows the destinations your recycling is sent can be seen on https://wrwa.gov.uk/news/where-does-my-recycling-go/

A new use for the Southside Debenhams

Developers LandSec with Invesco have been granted planning consent to convert the 70,000 sq ft store, which has been vacant for a year (apart from a charity Christmas pop-up store) into a leisure hub.

The ground floor will have an electric go karting track, the mezzanine will offer a family entertainment centre and high ropes climbing and the first floor will be used for bowling, indoor golf, darts, pool and basketball with restaurants.

It will certainly bring a new sort of evening economy to Wandsworth Southside which must already be on tenterhooks about the future of the Cineworld complex.

Jaggard Way proposal refused at appeal

The Inspectors Report, issued on 3 December, has refused to accept the appellant’s case and has refused the appeal. The Inspector based his case largely on the daylight and sunlight reductions which would be caused to neighbouring houses in Ravenslea Road. In addition he cited the planning use as principally workspace in this popular estate which is fully occupied.  The harm to the Listed buildings close by and the Conservation Area were also stated as additional grounds for refusal.