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A developer is seeking to build a pay-to-play floodlit football facility behind an 80 yard long, 15 foot high mesh fence on Tooting Common Triangle. 

 

These plans have been backed by Wandsworth Council, who want to cut the cost of maintaining the common, despite a 7,000 strong local petition. 

 

The council now requires official permission from the Secretary of State via the Planning Inspectorate to enclose a 38,500 square foot area of common land... unless you object. Objections closed on 14th December, 2020.

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Here are some of the reasons why this scheme is so damaging:

 

  • The common belongs to the public. It should not be privatised, commercialised and enclosed. Wandsworth Council is disposing of the land on a 25 year lease to a private company.
     

  • The common should remain open and free to access for all. All the proposed new facilities, the fenced-in football facility, the proposed Stay and Play centre and the café can only be accessed by those who pay and can afford them.
     

  • All evidence shows there is a clear public consensus against the plans. 
     

  • The four artificial pitches will be intensively used seven days a week until 9pm, but there has been no assessment of the effect on car parking at the narrow entrance to the park and on surrounding streets.
     

  • The new facility will not be for the general benefit of the public, instead it will become the home base for the majority use of a selective football club with 28 teams some of which play at semi-professional level. 
     

  • It will permanently damage one of the few large areas of common in London not bounded by roads, an area that is currently devoted to informal recreation.
     

  • Floodlights will be in use every night until 9pm through autumn, winter and spring radically changing the aspect of the common for local users. 

 

 

Loss of Public Access

 

  • The common is an area that should be open to all. It is held by Wandsworth Council in trust on behalf of the public and, as Metropolitan Open Land, it should enjoy the highest degree of protection. 
     

  • Enclosing the pitch behind an 80 yard long mesh fence will prevent public access to this area of the common.
     

  • The area is currently used for informal activities for a variety of leisure pursuits including cycling, skipping, cricket, football, running, and by parents and toddlers for informal activities of all descriptions.
     

  • Using the common as the training base for a large private club playing at semi professional level, and aiming to continue to progress through the football leagues, is not in keeping with the common remaining a community asset.
     

 

Commercialisation of the Common

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  • The common is a public resource that must be managed in the interest of its users and not as a financial asset for the council.
     

  • The commercialisation of such a significant area of common is not in keeping with the history and character of this area.
     

  • The granting of a 25-year lease to a private and limited company will inevitably lead to further commercialisation of this and other commons.
     

  • The council are not only signing away access right to the common, they are signing away the rights of access for future generations with the first possible review date being October 1, 2038   

 

 

Failure to Adequately Consult the Public

 

  • This application is being made by Wandsworth Council on behalf of a large commercial operator of sports facilities whose identity is not revealed in the application.  At every stage this developer has taken trouble to avoid engaging with the residents or the local community directly.
     

  • Just 34 households were notified in writing of the plans by Wandsworth Council when it considered the planning application - despite the fact that the scheme will impact upon tens of thousands of common users.
     

  • The council is blatantly misleading the Planning Inspectorate by vastly under-reporting the level of public concern. Its documents state there were only 172 objections against 252 supporting comments.This fails to mention that the public were given just one week’s notice of the council planning hearing. In all 7,000 residents have now petitioned the council to stop the development.
     

  • Objections far outnumber comments of support, of circa 1,500 formal comments over two thirds were objections, demonstrating the strength of local feeling. The majority of comments in support were made directly by members of the club who stand to benefit. (Under FOI the council have said there is “a specific interest in this specific planning application, given the number of comments made on the application”.) 
     

  • Details of an agreement to let the resulting facility to a large football club, who operate a strict selective policy and plan to make the venue their base, have not been made public, despite being confirmed by the club concerned.The club have also declared their intention to build a stadium in Balham. 
     

  • The developer has ignored government guidance to consult the public before submitting its application and the official consultation has been scheduled during lockdown when residents cannot gather to discuss their response. 
     

  • The chairman of the council’s planning committee hearing Guy Humphries, did not recuse himself, or declare his interests during the planning hearing - despite being a director of Enable, which is responsible for development on Wandsworth parks and commons. 

 

 

Damage to the Natural Environment

 

  • The most prized quality of this entire area of the common - its place as a uniquely rare and peaceful retreat in the heart of London - will be completely lost.
     

  • This proposed use is not in keeping with its surroundings. It is an area of the common widely used for picnics and informal recreation and the proposed football pitch is adjacent to a playground for very young children.
     

  • There has been no attempt to calculate the effect of noise impact, nightly use of floodlighting, and visual intrusion on other users of the common.
     

  • The development will result in a dramatic intensification of use of one of the few remaining areas of common land in South London not bordered by roads.
     

  • Areas of natural open space within the large cities have been proven to have a beneficial mental and physical effect on their populations
     

  • This area of common is not used for competitive sport, which is well provided for elsewhere on less secluded parts of the common.
     

  • The proposed development is more in keeping with a brownfield site than an area of hardstanding on a public common.
     

 

Transport & Parking

 

  • There has been no transport study on the likely effect of the facility to the common and its neighbourhood - which lies in neighbouring Lambeth Borough - despite a total absence of dedicated parking.
     

  • The council is already failing in its duty to prevent users of the common parking on the common.
     

  • Up to 80 players will come and go from the facility every hour, many of them by car. The developer already boasts of attracting “2,500 junior footballers every Friday evening across four London venues.”  These levels go far beyond the capacity of this area of parkland to absorb and yet go unmentioned in the council application.
     

  • The main users will be a selective football club. Over 75% of its members live over a mile away and a large proportion will travel by car with children under the age of 16.
     

  • The new facility will cause extreme congestion at the narrow entrance to the common, diminishing the experience of the common for its other users.
     

  • The impacts will be significant for Lambeth residents who have not been consulted on the changes.
     

 

Noise

 

  • The Triangle Field is the most quiet and secluded part of Tooting Bec Common. The noise from several teams playing and training throughout the day and evening, while others wait to go on or to leave will destroy the peace enjoyed and valued by residents.
     

  • The impact of this development is not confined to the footprint, but will affect the entire surrounding area.
     

 

1 O’clock Club / Soft Play Area / Cafe

 

  • A chargeable soft play area is no substitute for a One O’Clock club which provides free support and advice services to parents and carers as well as early learning play facilities for under fives. This club was very popular and well used until it was closed by the council.
     

  • There is no case for introducing another café on the common, with a new café opening at the Woodfield Project on the same common last year. It is just three minutes’ walk away. A second on the main common is four and a half minutes away.
     

  • There are at least four coffee shops a short walk away on Balham High Road and one on Emmanuel Road all in need of business.
     

  • The stay and play facility being proposed by the developer is not a facility that requires the dedicated use of common land. It has been previously suggested this will be a commercial venture, but this is not mentioned in the application.
     

  • The change of use class from D1 to A3 (nursery school to cafe) was not addressed in the planning process but has an impact on the site.

 

 

Effect on Flora and Fauna 

 

  • Loss of trees
     

    • The common is a Site Of Importance for Nature Conservation. (SINC)
       

    • Four trees are to be felled North of the Boxing Club and the bushy area around them cleared. The mature oak trees along the edge of the pitch will be pruned and de-crowned because of the construction of the new fencing and lights. The value of mature trees and full crowns in terms of biodiversity habitat and carbon sequestration cannot be replaced by saplings (proposed mitigation by the developer) which currently struggle to survive in the drier seasons.
       

    • At a time of Climate Crisis and severe species loss this sort of intervention on free growing common land trees and tree groups is unjustifiable.

 

  • Foraging for birds
     

    • The Bat Report notes that the borders of the old pitch are good foraging areas for birds, as is the existing children's garden. Both these places will be disrupted and altered.

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  • Floodlighting
     

    • The floodlight assessment assumes the current floodlights are in constant use, as they would be under the developer, TFC’s plans, every evening, 7 days a week. 
       

    • Apart from the occasional two hour slot on Thursday evenings the existing floodlights are not used, and have not been for decades. Installing nine new floodlights that will be lit for approximately 35 hours a week after dusk will have a major impact on the environment for the users of Triangle Field, and for the wildlife in this area. Light and noise pollution from the floodlit pitches will adversely affect the whole of this unique area.

 

  • Bats
     

    • Bats are frequently seen in the area, but their habitat will not be compatible with new floodlights, which will be installed and in use seven nights a week for the majority of the year instead of the current one night. 
       

    • The Bat Survey undertaken was conducted in March 2019, almost 20 months ago, and was only valid for 12 months, until March 2020. It was NOT valid when the application was passed by Wandsworth Planning committee. The Bat colonies will now be more established (possibly in trees earmarked for removal by TFC), and will certainly be affected by artificial light through the winter months, as will all the local wildlife. 

 

  • Dark Skies 
     

    • Triangle Field is not bounded by roads, and has very little light spill from artificial lights. After dusk it is so dark – it needs to be protected. Planning was refused for floodlights at Streatham and Clapham High School for this reason. Insects are attracted to artificial light, and unfortunately many die because of this. The floodlights will lead to a huge decline in the insect population with a knock on effect on biodiversity of the area.

 

 

Microplastic pollution

 

  • Introducing artificial pitches means introducing plastic grass, and hundreds of tonnes of microplastic granules made from old tyres containing chemicals and heavy metals to be used as infill. It will take around 20,000 shredded tyres to change the existing redgra pitch to artificial turf.  These tiny black rubber crumbs get everywhere, and will be transported off the pitch by players, or during maintenance, and will end up on the common embedded in the grass, causing harm to wildlife and the surrounding environment, and entering the ecosystem through rain, surface water drainage, and by laundering kit.
     

  • Artificial pitches and artificial grass are not recyclable. The giant plastic fake grass mats that will cover the redgra pitch will be the equivalent of 1.4 million plastic bags. The rubber crumb needs to be topped up frequently because of wear and tear and loss into the surrounding environment, and both will need replacing every 10 years. 
     

  • There are reports that the crumb is carcinogenic, particularly for goalkeepers and younger players who receive more contact pitch burn injuries. The Triangle field is no place for an artificial pitch. (See attached links)

 

 

The Impact of Coronavirus

 

  • Pressure on the common is far greater. It is not the time to be enclosing parts of this common. Open space has never been more necessary for social distancing, relaxation and well-being in a green environment.

     

 

Links

 

Go to these links to more information:

 

 

Poster

 

Download a poster here.

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