WELCOME to the website of the Raynes Park and West Barnes Residents' Association, designed to inform you of current local issues and to provide a brief history of the local area and the Association. 

Our Residents' Pavilion at 129 Grand Drive, London, SW20 9LY, is available for hire. Click this link for the booking page. Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund, the Pavilion now has accessible step-free access.

For regular updates about local issues, news, events and similar, please join us on Facebook or Twitter (see left). 

Our members also receive "The Guide", a monthly A5-sized magazine, which is widely distributed in the locality. "The Guide" has local information, news, events, letters and advertising. For more information about advertising in "The Guide", click this link.

We are holding an "Open Day" at the Residents' Pavilion on Saturday 29 September 2018,  (instead of the open meeting originally scheduled for 11 September). Click here for details.

Our 90^th Anniversary   

Being founded in 1928, the Association has been going 90 years.

We’re holding a celebratory dinner on

Thursday, 8 November 2018. Click here for details.

Chairman's Blog - Sept 2018

RAYNES PARK VALE FOOTBALL CLUB 

It may not be generally known that Raynes Park has its own football club, with a dedicated and well-maintained ground, complete with stands. This is next to Prince George’s Playing Fields which itself regularly hosts football matches at the weekend. 

On Saturday 11^th August fans flocked to the ground to see the Club compete in the first Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup.   This was against Lingfield. The score was 3 -0 in favour of Raynes Park. Many congratulations!  They have now reached the Preliminary Round. The next step on the way to Wembley, as I write, is their match against Peacehaven on Saturday 25^th August. Fingers crossed! 

AFC WIMBLEDON 

While I am writing about football, who can forget when Wimbledon FC won the FA Cup in 1988?  After that, the team was “franchised” up to Milton Keynes, and out of the ashes AFC Wimbledon was re-born, entirely created by fans.  This must be one of the most extraordinary and heartwarming stories ever of local endeavour.

The Club has been promoted many times and has managed to retain its place in the First Division of the Football League. I saw them play Coventry in their first home fixture of the season, and the team looks good.  They aim to move back to Plough Lane next season, and the ground has already been cleared of the former Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium.  The new stadium will seat 11,000 in the first instance.  The site will also eventually have 604 new homes and retail space.  

EASTERN ELECTRICS FESTIVAL 

A music festival held in Morden Park over the weekend of 4 and 5 August was so loud that residents as far away as this area were prevented from enjoying their leisure time due to the loud volume of the music.  The Wimbledon Guardian reported that a resident of Raynes Park said that a relaxing weekend in his garden was spoilt by a “thumping bass” that went on until 10 pm on both days.

The event was authorized by Merton Council and it apparently complied with all the required conditions. 

It looks as if this is an annual event. Morden Park is in an area surrounded by residential housing. The Council should require in future that the sound levels are moderated, and that the event finishes earlier in the evening.

THE JUNCTION TAVERN IN RAYNES PARK 

Older residents will remember when the Junction Tavern, near the station in Kingston Road, was a pub. When the pub closed, it was turned for a while into The Railhouse, but that venture ceased in 2011. Since then, there have been planning applications to turn the site into a hotel, but these have not been implemented. 

Now a planning application has been lodged to build nine flats there, but preserving the lower section of the building, which has architectural features that are worthy of retention. 

HARRIS ACADEMY WIMBLEDON 

The new Harris Academy Wimbledon will open its doors this September at its temporary site in Whatley Avenue, off Martin Way. This is to cope with the extra 260 children who left primary school in Merton this year.

The permanent home for the School will be a new school building in High Path in South Wimbledon. This is due for completion by September 2020.

 John Elvidge