A Vision For A Greener And Car-Free Wimbledon Town Centre
Chance to give your views on the future of Wimbledon
A long-term vision for Wimbledon town centre, giving it more green spaces and pedestrian access, has been published as part of the Future Wimbledon project.
Future Wimbledon has aimed to provide a framework for developing the area and delivering aspirations for the town for 2030 and beyond.
Merton council is seeking opinions on the plans, which will remain open for consultation until December 7.
Planners believe there will be significant investment opportunities in Wimbledon when Crossrail 2 arrives, although there is much uncertainty about work in the town centre – including the potential partial demolition of the Centre Court shopping centre.
One of the first moves will be to install temporary seating installations in St Marks Place and outside Wimbledon Theatre later this Autumn. These spaces were identified in the Future Wimbledon Masterplan workshops as potential new public spaces.
Future Wimbledon says the pop-up spaces and installations will be a trial - to test how the spaces work and what people think of them.
Emerging priorities on the masterplan include:
Greening Wimbledon
Mid-rise contextual architecture
Public space
Cultural space
Traffic intervention
Transport interchange
Over station development
Retail offer.
Future Wimbledon has produced the following artist's impression, including pedestrianised areas (marked in orange):
Helen Clark Bell, CEO of Love Wimbledon commented: “Love Wimbledon has been an integral part of the consultation process over the last few years that has led to the development of the masterplan for Wimbledon. Having worked with Merton Council and the Design Council on the initial Design Competition in 2014, it is great to see so many of these initial ideas being brought forward to give Wimbledon town centre a strong vision and aspirations for managed growth over the next few decades.
“We are particularly keen to see the emphasis on greening of the town and improvement of public space to enhance the pedestrian experience as this is paramount in the development of any town.
“We look forward to hearing the views of local businesses, landowners and other stakeholders during this consultation to ensure that Wimbledon further develops as an attractive town for commerce, which in turn delivers a great place for individuals, either as residents, employees or visitors to enjoy their leisure time.”
Future Wimbledon will be running design workshops in St Mark's Place from 11am-2pm on November 3, and outside Wimbledon Theatre from 11am-2pm on November 10.
October 26, 2018