Merton Cycling Campaign

To: Mr P Smith, Environmental Services, London Borough of Merton, Merton Civic Centre, London Road, MORDEN, SM4 5DX

1 January, 1999

Ref: 98/P1450

Objection to Safeway superstore planning application, Plough Lane, Wimbledon SW19

The Merton Cycling Campaign objects to this development because it will generate new motor traffic which will make the roads more dangerous for cyclists and put people off cycling. This runs directly counter to the central cycling targets of the DETR's Integrated Transport White Paper (July 1998) which are to double the number of cycling trips by 2002, and double it again by 2012.

A similar proposal by Safeway was approved by Merton Council in 1996. It was then referred to the Secretary of State, who overturned Merton's decision, concluding in his report that:

"The advantages to the car-borne shopper would be outweighed, however, by the lack of accessibility by other means of transport… the site is not sufficiently accessible by choice of means of public transport, and hence does not conform to the advice in PPG6".

In response, Safeway's latest plans include a few more bus services and 44 fewer car parking spaces. But who are they kidding here? Everyone knows that 99% of shoppers will arrive by car, cluttering up nearby residential streets when the car park overflows.

MCC therefore objects to this current proposal on the same grounds as we did last time: it fails to meet criteria set out in government planning guidance, because it is an out of town scheme that will generate new traffic on unsuitable, already congested roads, in an area which already suffers from high pollution levels.

We suggest that Merton councillors, in their consideration of this application, bear in mind the following:

There are good grounds for rejecting this application on the grounds set out in DETR planning guidance notices PPG 6 and 13.
There is no need for a new superstore - this borough (and this part of the borough) is well provided with superstores already.
This is an out-of-town centre site with very poor public transport access.
The bus services that Safeway is proposing are a sop: there can be no guarantee that they will be maintained indefinitely; in any case, evidence shows that 99% of shoppers will arrive by car at any superstore (e.g. Tesco, New Malden) to buy a weekly/monthly shopping load far to bulky and heavy to take home on the bus.
The 44 fewer car parking spaces will simply result in the cluttering up of nearby residential streets that much sooner when the superstore car park overflows.

The adverse impacts of this new superstore will be tremendous:

Thousands of additional cars and heavy delivery lorries on roads that are struggling with current traffic volumes.
Increased pollution in an area where air quality already falls frequently below EU standards.
Many local traders likely to be put out of business.
Deflection of shoppers from Safeway's Wimbledon town centre branch to the new site, possibly resulting in the future closure of the town centre branch and associated town centre decay that this process always brings.

May we remind councillors of Merton's Local Agenda 21 document - A Vision for a Sustainable Merton. We would like to see councillors make a decision on this application reflecting the spirit of this visionary document, which contains a whole chapter on shopping with worthy advice such as: "use local shops, reducing the need to travel, saving time and fuel and benefiting the local economy". The chapter on transport contains the vision: "To increase the use of alternative transport to the car, and hence minimise private car use in the borough". We are struggling to reconcile this kind of rhetoric with Merton Council's apparent enthusiasm for out of town superstores. We trust that this concern is unfounded, and that Merton Council will see that nothing of substance in the Safeway proposal has changed since 1996, and will therefore refuse this application.

Yours Sincerely, Richard Evans, Merton Cycling Campaign

Follow-up letter sent Feb 99