Tooting and Graveney News

Council Turns Down Spring Clean Request

Wandsworth's Tory Council has turned down a request by Graveney councillors for a ‘Spring Clean’ of Tooting. In previous years the council has declared a charges amnesty for residents who wanted to clear way bulky items, but this year they have refused. The council claims that flytipping has fallen by 20%, so there is no need for a special collection. However, the council’s own research shows that Graveney and Tooting are amongst the most deprived wards in Wandsworth and census data shows 40% of people here do not have access to a car to take rubbish to the dump. When we call on residents they tell us there is still more to be done about flytipping, although they recognise that we have had some success in tackling the problem. We will continue to campaign for a cleaner Tooting.

Tooting Town Centre - Planning For The Future

We have contacted council managers about planning applications that would provide some extra retail floorspace in Tooting. For example, there is the former Geyfords car showroom site on the corner of Trevelyan Road, and the old assembly rooms next to the Long Room bar on Mitcham Road. In addition the owner of the old Co-op building on Upper Tooting Road is intending to put in a planning application. Finally, there are the markets and their under-used potential. We have asked Tooting’s Town Centre Manager to review all the planning applications that have been granted to sites in the town centre and start to build up a portfolio of larger sites into an attractive package to present to the executives of the big high street stores.

The Council is also proposing the sale of an unused building it owns behind the Natwest Bank, next to the Castle pub on Tooting High Street. As a condition of the sale the buyer would have to be prepared to develop it, along with other nearby properties, to improve the range of shops in Tooting and provide parking space for shoppers.

Let us know what you think about Tooting by e-mailing us at graveney@tootinglabour.org.uk

Labour Forces Tories To Invest In Tooting Town Centre

Labour Councillors in Tooting have been credited by a former Conservative councillor with pushing Wandsworth Council to improve Tooting town centre.

In a speech last week Cllr. Susan John-Richards, who sits as an independent after resigning from the Conservative group, admitted that she and fellow Tory councillors had no success with her own party in getting resources for Tooting town centre. She told a Council meeting that it was only when Labour made it a key political issue that the ruling Conservative group began to put money into improvements.

Labour’s demands for Tooting are:

1. More frequent street cleaning, and bring back pavement washing and chewing gum removal.
2. Abolish charges for the removal of bulky items and garden waste to reduce fly tipping.
3. Use Brightside to inform people about days and times for rubbish collections.
4. Use CCTV more effectively to catch fly-tippers.
5. Install more gates on alleyways to reduce fly-tipping and tackle anti-social behaviour.
6. Take away clutter from the town centre streets and pavements.
7. Begin doorstep collection of food and garden waste to increase re-cycling levels.
8. Promote Tooting as a good place for major stores to do business.
9. Make the town centre feel safer for shoppers and residents.
10. Improve parking for shoppers.


Since we have campaigned to raise the profile of Tooting the Council has:

* Introduced time banding so shops can only leave rubbish out a certain times. This has improved the look of the streets and is being rolled out across Wandsworth.
* Gated alleys to reduce crime and dumping of rubbish.
* Conducted a town centre survey to help promote Tooting to retail chains.
* Introduced CCTV to monitor fly-tipping and security on Church lane and parts of the Totterdown Estate.
* Re-introduced a Safer Neighbourhood Team to patrol the town centre.
* Proposed relocation of bus stops and removal of unnecessary signs and street furniture to make the streets less congested.
* Provided free Saturday Parking on Franciscan Road in the professional centre

Cllr. Nick Bowes, Labour’s councillor in Tooting Ward said: ‘There is still much to be done to make sure Tooting is firmly on the Council’s map but we have made progress.’

Rex Osborn, Labour Councillor for Graveney Ward said ‘This shows what a small but determined Labour Group can achieve. Without an effective opposition Wandsworth Conservatives would neglect the less well-off areas of the borough’

Tooting Town Centre Survey

Since 2006 we have been pushing for a better deal for Tooting from Wandsworth's Tory Council. At last the council has conducted a survey of shopping patterns in the area with the aim of boosting the local economy and bringing a wider range of shops to the town centre.

The results show there is a need for Tooting shops to ‘liberate consumers’ spend’. Sainsbury’s is a big draw at the weekend for shoppers but Croydon is the main competing centre and therefore the biggest challenge to Tooting. Top requests are for women’s fashion, bookstores, electrical goods and toys/games/hobbies.

800 people were surveyed throughout the town centre at different days and times; 50% of people questioned were from within 1 mile of the Town Centre. During the week, Tooting is a very localised centre with 50% of shoppers living within 0.9 mile and 80% within a 2.8 mile radius. - most shoppers is use Tooting for convenience goods, but go elsewhere for more expensive items.

The ‘Urban Intelligence’ group makes up 44% of Tooting’s catchment population; this group is made up of 25-34 year old young singles, degree-educated, with high disposable income. One third of visitors are from a further ‘Ties of Community’ group – longer term residents of the area; Tooting is also popular with ‘Welfare Borderline’ and ‘Twilight Subsistence’ groups with lower disposable incomes. However, 66% of the residents in the catchment are from the ABC1 socioeconomic groups.

A key finding is that ‘Parking is a prohibitive factor to people using the centre’. The lack of large units of floorspace is a further problem for big retailers so the Council’s property team is investigating land ownership of sites in Tooting.

The Future for Tooting

Labour's three key points for Tooting are:

• 
  The Council needs to be proactive, using the information from the survey to sell Tooting to retail chains.


• 
  We need to build on the cultural and social diversity which makes Tooting a unique area.


• 
  Timing is vital – as the country emerges from the recession we need to catch the wave as retailers look to expand.