Councillors in Earlsfield have launched a petition to turn a disused council site into a pocket park for the community.
Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and councillors Denise Paul and Sarmila Varatharaj are urging Wandsworth Council to turn the old Brocklebank nursery site on the corner of Swaffield Road and Whitehead Close into a park and green space.
They want to make sure that council land works for local people and after the success of their previous pocket park petition in Tooting Broadway Allin-Khan believes this would be an excellent way to make sure this land is put to good use.
She said: “We did something similar in Tooting, we have a lovely little pocket park there and it went down really well with residents, we thought let’s try and replicate this.”
The Tooting Broadway park on Mellison Road opened September 2021 and has been invaluable to their community.
The park features bench seating, a picnic area, bike parking, play equipment for children, and lots of trees and shrubs.
The play area includes a climbing frame, stepping logs, a play bridge as well as soft surfacing to reduce the chance of any injuries.
Most residents are keen to see this disused space brought back to life.
Emily Bigley, 30, Swaffield Road said: “It would be good to have it used for something, it’s full of leaves and litter and god knows what.
“I think it would be great, I think the building would probably be annoying for the year it takes to build but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Dr Allin-Khan, added: “Families need a place to take their children to play safely outside. As a mother myself I know how much I would have loved to have a pocket park next to where we lived when we lived in a flat.”
Jenny Mcilroy, 48, said: “There are so many children coming down from school, I think it’ll just give them somewhere extra to burn off some energy.”
However, some residents did raise concerns.
Mrs Boag, 55, Swaffield Road, said: “I like the idea but how is it going to be managed? I don’t want youths hanging around in the evenings.”
In response to these concerns, Allin-Khan said: “I’ve been working very closely with the local police in our area, we haven’t found there to be any problems at all with the pocket park in Tooting.
“Understandably people may have concerns but I think if the council grants this they’ll work hard to make sure that it’s a safe and enjoyable area”
The petition will be brought to the council on Wednesday.
