Wimbledon Park

Slightly bemused to read today in the September number of the 'Wimbledon time & leisure' magazine that the residents of Wimbledon are getting into a lather about plans for Wimbledon Park. That is to say, the large green space with a lake in the middle, half way between Centre Court and Wimbledon Mosque in the snap above.

What they seem to forget is that Merton Council sold this park to the next door All England Lawn Tennis Club back in 1993. Now the Club appear to want to develop that part of the site to the south and west of the lake to provide lots of tennis courts and  associated buildings, destroying a lot of mature parkland in the process. Public access to these new facilities will be minimal. But what did the good residents expect? The Club no doubt paid good money for the land, money which no doubt went to staunch some hole in Merton finances, and now they want to cash in. They want something for their money. Not their fault that central government has starved local government of resources.

I get similarly irritated when people moan about all the money that water companies are extracting out of the system. Well OK, maybe they are being a bit greedy, but if you sell an important asset off for lots of money, it is not unreasonable for the buyers to seek to make decent returns on their investments. You can't have you cake and eat it, whatever yarn our late fat leader might have spun for us.

The story according to the Ordnance Survey.

PS: the back page of the same magazine also carries an advertisement for a modest, two storey terrace house a little to the south, on a road sandwiched between the railway line and Dundonald Recreation Ground. A snip at just over £1m. One supposes that a similar house in the residential quarter to the north east of Wimbledon Park would cost a lot more. One also supposes that all the carers needed by all the older residents are invited to live somewhere else and to make use of the excellent transport facilities. They probably run all night, so early starts and late finishes will not be a problem.

References

Reference 1: https://www.timeandleisure.co.uk/. 'The No.1 luxury lifestyle magazine for residents of SW London and Surrey'.

Reference 2: https://www.savewimbledonpark.org/. For the residents. I notice that Wimbledon goes in for residents' associations - but I don't suppose that they rule the roost in the way that they do here in Epsom.