London Power Tunnels 2

Some of you have asked what these signs mean. They appeared on the Common in July and herald a tunnel to be bored under the Common for electricity cables by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET). The MAC chair was told at the time that there would be no visible or invisible disruption and we’ve been following up the situation since.  

The project is still two years away and is described in more detail here. The whole tunnel is 32km in length, running from Wimbledon to Crayford. It is constructed using a tunnel boring machine installed at a depth of approximately 30m. There will be no above ground excavations except at the shaft sites, with access only being required to install monitoring equipment while the tunnelling is undertaken. Wandsworth Common is located between two shaft sites, one at the NGET substation at Wimbledon and the other at Kings Avenue, Clapham. Between these two sites there are no above ground works. The tunnelling will start at Kings Avenue, Clapham in November 2020 and will finish in December 2021.

We’ll update you when we hear more

Road junction plans would encroach on the Common

The Council is proposing road widening and other work at the junction of Bellevue and Trinity Roads and Burntwood Lane. The aim is to increase capacity and thereby reduce congestion and rat-running, and improve air quality and the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. However, the road widening would require approx 400 sqm of land to be taken from the Common. There is a long standing principle that Common land surrendered in this way must be replaced by land of equivalent value. The land proposed in compensation is a long narrow strip amounting to 950 sqm on the west side of Trinity Road, north of the County Arms, obtained by reducing Trinity Road from three lanes to two. This would need TfL approval. Moreover, although some initial work has already begun – moving bus stops and parking bays - the major work will be the subject of ‘extensive consultation’ in early 2019 and, as with all encroachments on Common land, will also need approval by the Secretary of State.

You can read the document that was approved here, including relevant maps, and the Council decision here. We urge everyone to take a look and send us your thoughts. FoWC and the MAC were invited to a site visit in the summer, and the Friends and the MAC are working together on this, alongside the Wandsworth Society.

Litter picking begins

The Friends have started regular litter picking. We know some people do this already, but we’ve tried to encourage as many as possible to come under the Friends umbrella, to benefit from advice on which areas are best to do when (to avoid disturbing wildlife for example) and pre-arranged rubbish collection, so it isn’t prey to foxes and crows. 20 of us met on a sunny Saturday in November and picked 20 bags of rubbish. Half of it was recyclable - cans and bottles mainly - which our volunteers took home with them. The rest was collected by prior arrangement later that day. Thanks especially to Patrick whose new shop, the Source Bulk Foods at 99 St John’s Rd Battersea, bought most of our equipment.

Of course we’d prefer not to have to litter pick, but human nature being what it is, and with only one paid litter picker servicing the whole of the Common, we expect to do this regularly. Our new hi-vis jackets attracted lots of attention and several ‘thankyous’ which helped make it a fun social occasion, with some light exercise, fresh air, and a bit of a chat thrown in for good measure. There were some old faces and some new ones too. Get in touch and join us for our next foray into the world of litter.

Council deputation

On November 7th, Wandsworth Common Friends and MAC joined forces to make a deputation to the Council with our views on the re-tendering of the Leisure and Culture management contract, currently operated by Enable LC. The contract expires in September 2019 and although it’s been extended by 6 months, a decision on the re-tendering is scheduled by next summer. Our counterparts from Tooting Common and Battersea Park also made deputations, demonstrating strength in numbers. You can read our deputation, which was also supported by the Wandsworth Society, here. We now aim to have detailed discussions with Council officers about the all-important specification of the contract.

Seasonal Tree walks begin

November saw the start of a programme of seasonal walks led by Enable’s tree officers based on Wandsworth Common. Between them they have over 50 years experience and we’re very pleased by their willingness to share their accumulated knowledge. The walks are proving very popular and quickly reach capacity. Jessica Stocks led over 20 of us to some carefully chosen examples of the problems tree officers have to deal with. We learned why, despite every effort, some trees have to be felled, for disease or safety reasons; the criteria for tree planting; the benefits of leaving dead wood to provide habitat for other creatures; the advantages of the London Plane in pollution absorption; the many benefits of street trees. Jess also showed a fascinating internal scan of an ash tree revealing the extent of fungal penetration (not ash dieback, however, which hasn’t reached Wandsworth Common - yet!). Watch out for our next walk soon.

Monthly 'walks & talks' programme

Our Walks and Talks programme has got off to a flying start - literally - with a butterfly walk in August, a bat walk in September, and a photography walk in October. All were very successful, thanks first and foremost to our walk leaders - all experts in their field - who provided their time for free. All the events were a first for us and we’re learning as we go.

We advertise the events to Friends first, then if we still have space, we extend the invite to our wider contact list. However, most of our events so far have been fully subscribed by Friends so if you want to make sure of a place it’s best to join.

We aim to organise an event every month, usually with a nature or activity theme. In November we have another tree walk - these have proved very popular - and a pub quiz. In December we have carol singing and in the New Year a walk to help people walk off the excesses after Christmas. More will be added. Keep an eye on our calendar below for details. And if you have any ideas for a walk theme and/or know someone who might lead one, we’d be only too pleased to hear.