Controversial plans to redevelop a block of flats in the Mitcham Cricket Green Conservation Area were approved by Merton Council yesterday.
The proposal to build 22 flats of three and four storeys on the site of a former Kwik-Fit garage on London Road has been fought tooth and nail by the Mitcham Cricket Green Community Heritage Group (MCGCH).
The group argues that the development is not in keeping with the area, home to the world’s oldest cricket ground which has been in continuous use since 1685.
They tweeted: “There has been a notable sense of despair and betrayal in the feedback we are receiving on Merton Council’s decision to give the go ahead to the Kwik-Fit flats.”
The plan which also includes retail spaces and car parking followed five failed applications to develop the site.
Letters of objection were received from eight members of the public.
The group formally set out its complaints in the public meeting yesterday, arguing that the jagged roofline is incongruous and the scale and bulk of the site is unsuited to the surrounding area.
Community activist and campaigner Diana Coman said: “It’s a real shame that the architectural character can’t be maintained in key areas.”
However Labour Councillor Ian Munn, who sits for the Cricket Green ward, has been supportive of the plans.
Picture courtesy of Peter Trimming via Wiki Commons, with thanks
