Merton Conservatives oppose the Local Plan as this is a fundamentally flawed document that does not address the need for sustainable growth in the borough.
This plan has been rushed through following the delayed realisation by the Labour administration that the Labour mayor of London had increased the borough's housing target to such an extent that Merton was unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. This meant that we have been unable to prevent predatory development applications such as the Redrow application on the Tesco's site at New Malden.
This Local Plan represents the further 'Croydonisation' of Merton by an out of touch Labour administration that has refused to listen to local residents and plan for their needs. After 11 years of Labour running the council the right homes for Merton residents have still not been delivered. We need a strong focus on building family homes and not tower blocks. We strongly oppose the removal of open space designations and call for this policy to be changed. The Local Plan will lead to further parts of the borough being concreted over by developers when we should be focusing on developing brownfield sites which are plentiful in Merton.
We therefore call on the council to urgently engage with local residents to produce a new Local Plan that protects our borough and provides the homes that local people need.
