Blueprint Proposed For A New-Look Morden

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Flats and shops planned to create vibrant centre

Development work could be taking place on sites in and around Morden Station, after a planning brief was agreed by TfL and Merton Council.

The brief aims to attract interest from developers and to guide redevelopment proposals for Morden station and its surrounding sites.

The area covered by the report includes Morden Station and related car parks, Sainsbury's and the building above it, as well as Kenley Road car park.

As the plans were being devised there was local opposition to plans to build on the Kenley Road car park behind the station. A 92-strong petition against the height of the original proposals for the site was submitted to Merton Council.

Other views submitted to the council during their consultation period covered types of shops, parking, different types of housing and community facilities.

The council says the planning brief was amended to reflect the issues raised. On the Kenley Road side, the brief states: "Properties along Kenley Road and Windermere Avenue are approximately 30m from the boundary of the site.

"Development of the site cannot take place without some change to the outlook from these properties. New buildings...should therefore respect and relate to the ridge height of the existing neighbouring houses."

The vision builds on the council's moreMorden consultation in 2008/9 and the adoption of the council’s vision for Morden, through the Core Planning Strategy 2011 and updated site designations in Merton’s Local Plan 2014.

The brief says a mix of residential and community uses in the redevelopment is "critical" to support a vibrant town centre. It adds: "New development is likely to be flats rather than houses, and where appropriate, of a greater scale than surrounding houses. This transition needs to be managed sensitively."

Merton Council cabinet member for environmental sustainability and regeneration, Councillor Andrew Judge said: "These are exciting times for Morden. We have been working with TfL to create a viable planning brief which would allow development on the site that would be the catalyst for the regeneration of the whole town centre. The responses we had to our consultation before Christmas are very useful in helping guide our decisions on how Morden will look and what it will offer in the future.

"We want the people who live and work here to be happy and proud of Morden. The town is on the Tube and is a great transport hub which should be advantageous to the prosperity of the town centre. We already have some developer interest in the site thanks to our pro-active planning work. We want to see Morden flourish for businesses and the local community alike."

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March 17, 2014