We love the summer in Tooting! Its been great enjoying street parties and local summer events, as well as tooting Common looking glorious and the Lido being the place to be in the sunshine. You local Labour Councillors have also been working hard on representing local residents to the council – do contact us if you have an issue with anything from street cleaning and parking to housing and Crossrail as we always do our best to help.

Crossrail2 back on track

Plans for Crossrail2 were put on hold by the government but now its been announced that the go ahead is imminent. However the decision about the route has not been announced yet, so we still don’t know if it will be going through Balham or Tooting Broadway. We’re continuing to make the case for Tooting Broadway and for finding ways to also save Tooting Market. It was due to be completed by 2030 and for everyone squeezing onto the overcrowded Northern line everyday, that can’t come soon enough.  Click here for last week’s Wandsworth Guardian story.

New cycle lane coming to Tooting Bec Road – have your say

There are plans for a new cycle lane and new shared cycle and pedestrian track. The consultation is open now until 10th September. More details and the online survey are here: Tooting Bec Road Cycle Lane Consultation

The plan is to would install new 1.9-metre on-carriageway semi segregated cycle lanes in both directions of Tooting Bec Road, between Dr Johnson Avenue and Aldrington Road. Cyclists would be lightly separated from motor traffic by plastic wands as seen below

Better provision for cyclists is really welcomed, and there is plenty of room for cycle lanes along this wide road. This should make cycling a more attractive option for more people – but what do you think? Controversial items I have heard from local residents so far are that the colour of the line of ‘wands’ along the cycle lane next to the Common may be obtrusive – too urban looking for the Common. Also there is some concern about the shared cycle/pedestrian path could be dangerous.

More local road safety plans to come in the Autumn

Watch out for several plans coming up in the Autumn. We have joined with local people in being very concerned about local road safety for a long time. Petitions about road safety on Balham High Road and several motorbike accidents resulted in TfL taking action and making changes to the High Road between Ritherdon Road and Streathbourne Rd. Fleur and Rosena handed in petitions to the council about safety on the High Road, Elmbourne Road and Hillbury Road and the council have been looking into ways in which to make these safer which will be revealed in September. Do contact us if you’d like to know more as soon as the plans are ready – we’ll be putting updates up here and on Twitter. We hope that the new plans will take residents concerns seriously and any consultations will be discussed with residents first.

Tooting Common

Our ward includes most of Tooting Common (shared with Furzedown ward) so we spend a lot of time representing residents views about the ward, and ensuring that we keep our Common an natural oasis. We’ve successfully objected to planning permission being sought for yet another massive mast, meet regularly with users of the common, attending the Annual Public Meeting of Tooting Common Management Committee (MAC). Fleur is an active member of the MAC, attended the recent opening of the Lido at the southern end for the South West London Swimming Club and new club building at the deep end of the pool, and is campaigning for a wooden fitness trail on the common.

Support for London to be the first National Park City

We recently had visit from Dan Raven-Ellison of the National Park City campaign as part of his big 500 mile walk. The plans for being the National Park City are exciting and would result in a change in the way we value, celebrate and benefit from all our green spaces – gardens as well as parks and commons. More information about the campaign is here: National Park City

Here is a video of Fleur talking with Dan about some of the benefits of being a National Park City (via Twiiter).