The wannabe developer of Mitcham Gasworks was told by Merton Council to go away and rethink its plans for the site, which it felt were inadequate. The revision has multiple failings, all of which stem from a continuing desire to cram far more flats onto the site than it can bear without forcing compromises, including of design and failure to meet Merton’s Local Plan requirements and London Plan requirements.
Mitcham deserves much better, and so do the people who will eventually end up living on the former Gasworks site.
We have serious concerns about how the numbers of homes in the site allocation in the Local Plan rose from 200 - 400 in the plan submitted to the Secretary of State in December 2021, to 500 - 650 in the plan published in January 2024.
Over development of the site is the cause, in our view, of a lack of compliance with many emerging Local Plan policies, including on single aspect dwellings, single aspect dwellings with mechanical heating, and a failure to meet the 50% affordable homes requirement. As we note in our submission to Merton Council which you can read in full below, policies in the Local Plan are not a “pick and mix” for developers.
We are also extremely concerned about the London Fire Brigade’s comments – see point 13 in our submission. In essence, LFB thinks that stair and lift provision are both inadequate.
What happens to the Mitcham Gasworks site will set the standard for future development in the area. We want to the bar set high, with great homes and inspirational design, for other developers to follow on from. Sadly if this proposal is given permission, the opposite will be the case.