Online Consultation 8th-12th June
Dear Colliers Wood residents,
Your views are needed on plans for a new GP Surgery and MertonVision premises before the 12th June. There is a proposal to redevelop the Guardian Centre, 67 Clarendon Road SW19 2DX and build a new GP Surgery, that would combine Colliers Wood GP Surgery and Lavender Fields Surgery onto one new building with local charity, MertonVision. The project is supported by the GP Partners, South West London Clinical Commissioning Group, and the Trustees of MertonVision. A website has been set-up for public consultation as the project steering group would like to hear your views about the plans. The pre-planning public consultation will run from Monday 8th – Friday 12th June.
The website address is:
This website will only be open from 8th-12th June
Colliers Wood Residents Association Sub-group (CWRAS) have met with the steering group on several occasions and are concerned with these three issues:
1. ACCESS TO THE SITE:
There is no public transport near the site, the closest bus stop is 0.3m away, reflected in the weak PTAL score for this site. Patients, many of whom are elderly and/or disabled, will have to walk a substantial distance to the surgery. Whilst a comparison has been made to the Cricket Green practice (in Mitcham), no like for like comparisons have been given. A key planning criteria is that all health care infrastructure must be accessible and in this case no accessibility guidelines have been provided to show the CWRAS that is not an issue.
Furthermore, the current plans put the surgery entrance at the furthest reach from the main access point creating a greater distance for patients to walk and causing the most disruption for residents. Original 2018 plans had a joint entrance on the corner of Courtney and Clarendon Road. The CWRAS believe this is a far more suitable location.
2. PARKING:
On site parking will not be available to patients so there are plans to reduce the amount of parking spaces available to local residents of the surrounding roads, with patient-only bays.
The transport survey carried out states that there is ‘ample parking availability, immediately surrounding the site meaning that residents would not be forced to park elsewhere’. CWRAS do not feel that the transport survey was accurate in this detail. Residents of the immediately surrounding roads will know this to be the case. Please note that none of the survey was carried out after 5pm, when parking is busier.
3. INTEGRATION:
The height and scale of the proposed building is out of character with the local area, with 3.5 (equivalent) storeys to the street. In the surrounding residential streets, almost no buildings reach that height at the street front, which will make this proposal imposing and out of character.
Even more so for the central building in the area (i.e. the current Merton Vision building) that defines that character due to its characteristic features and its prominent location in the centre of the Courtney Road/Clarendon Road street network. The proposed plans for the building’s appearance fails to retain the character details set for this area which is documented in the public character study.
Please keep the following in mind:
• Public comments on the proposal should be based on facts, and supported where possible with references to the relevant planning policies.
• Any submissions that object to the proposal should be clearly labelled “I OBJECT to the proposal”.
• Provide your views about the proposal also to the council planning department, Merton Vision, and your local MP.
HAVE YOUR SAY:
8-12 JUNE
