A happy new year to you all. Our area continues to be a magnificent place to live and enjoy. We are here to support residents in protecting what is good and to improve what isn’t. Please contact us anytime.
Making Dundonald more beautiful
As London gets busier, trees and flowers are replaced with concrete. The Wimbledon Society stated that there are about 250,000 trees in Merton, which is amazing. They believe that 140,000 trees are on private land, in household plots. However, we have seen lots of gardens concreted over recently, which diminishes the landscape. Your local Conservatives have counteracted this - in conjunction with the council and residents – by planting colourful perennial flowers and trees in as many places as possible.
This winter, we’ve helped plant 11,000 daffodils, crocuses and bluebells in and near Dundonald Ward in:
- Bushey Road
- Kingston Road
- Toynbee Road
- Dennis Park Crescent
- Burstow Road
- Herbert Road
And we’ve got plans to plant more bulbs next year and possibly trees, along with residents in these and more roads, if we can. If your street could do with extra colour, and you have soil around trees or grass, then please contact Cllr Dean: [email protected] or 07962 802 540 to get involved.
Labour council doubles parking costs in your area
New parking charges came into effect on January 14th
Despite 3,000 objections, the Labour-run council have decided to dramatically increase parking costs in the ward. Costs for permits, visitor parking permits and council car parks are almost doubled from 14th January. Even pollution-free electric cars will pay the same, higher costs for visitor parking permits and council car parks. So, this will affect you if friends or contractors visit you by vehicle. Worse still, the Labour-run Council have targeted this area for much higher costs, when other parts of Merton are not having their permit costs increased by the same amount.
The Conservative view is that firstly, residents should have the right to own a car, and should not be vilified for having one. Secondly, we believe residents should pay less, and have the ability to review their CPZ location and hours of operation.
Thirdly, we think that residents should be encouraged to purchase pollution free cars. Lastly, we want to see more trees planted to improve the air quality across Merton. The council’s new policy does none of these things.
A Conservative-run council will:
- Plant thousands more trees in identified locations
- Give residents the power to review the operation of their CPZ.
- Encourage the purchase of pollution-free cars
We will end the discrimination of parking fees on residents in our ward, whilst offering better public transport as well as motivating drivers to drive pollution-free vehicles. Freedom to choose is a Conservative value that other parties do not share.
Parking Permits to become virtual
From 14th January, most parking permits will become virtual and at the same time, can only be purchased online or through paper documentation; you can no longer apply to the Council on the phone. Visitor parking permits will also be offered through the RingGo App, like parking in Merton, so you will be able to use virtual or scratch cars visitor permits. Blue badge permits will remain physical, but again will need to be applied for online or paper, not by phone.
Summer Street Parties
A number of Dundonald streets had a street party last year, and everyone seemed to have lots of fun. We are lucky that the ward has many cul-de-sacs and quiet roads. They are really easy to set up but do take some organising. If you would like to organise a summer party in your street, then we would be happy to help you with the arrangements, including any conversations required with the council. We look forward to hearing from you.
Protecting small houses in the Apostles area
In 2006, the Conservative administration managed to prohibit the conversion of small family homes in the borough. This legal position has stood the test of time until the Labour Council’s new local development planning framework, starting in 2020, overturned this policy. Now, all homes which are smaller than 120 square metres can now be turned into tiny flats. This could destroy our ward and therefore we have to fight the Labour politicians plans at borough level and against the Labour Mayor of London, who do not care about the future of Wimbledon. Your local Conservatives will oppose every single planning application for family homes being converted into tiny flats in Dundonald Ward.
Plans to redevelop Wimbledon Chase Station
A developer has launched proposals to re-develop Wimbledon Chase station. The plans do not yet constitute a planning application. We attended the exhibition showing the proposals. It is clear that residents thought the plans for a block of flats were too bulky and high and need some space for loading and parking. We hope the developers listened. We do think the station needs renovating and building flats around it is a good idea. However, they must not detrimentally affect local residents.
Changes to Raynes Park station
Stephen Hammond MP has urged Network Rail to build lifts at Raynes Park station. As a Conservative group we will keep up the pressure to deliver 2 lifts for the station. In addition, it is clear the station needs refurbishment.
One small success is that Network Rail will transfer a small parcel of land on the southside of the station next to the traffic light, broadening the area for pedestrians wanting to cross the road. We will let you know when the work will take place. You would have seen the slight improvement, widening the road next to the station making drop off easier.
