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.

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.

In 2018, we celebrated our 90th year.

Chairman's Blog - Feb 2019

265 BURLINGTON ROAD 

The developers, Redrow, of the very large residential development proposed for 265 Burlington Road and part of Tesco car park, presented their ideas to the Committee and the West Barnes Councillors at a meeting in early January. A formal planning application is likely.  

The plans are for a massive 446 flats built in 7 blocks with the tallest of them rising to 14 storeys, one of 13 storeys, and another of 10, all facing the Tesco store, and reducing to 7 storeys fronting Burlington Road. There would be 226 car parking spaces.

25% of the flats would be one- bedroom, 65% would be of two- bedrooms, and 10% of three- bedrooms.  While most would be privately owned, 35% of them would be “affordable housing”, which would be managed by a housing association, or of shared ownership. 

While £7 million would be given to Merton under the Community Levy scheme, there is no guarantee that the Council would spend any of this sum locally on proving for the extra schooling and health provision that would be required for such a large number of new residents. 

The Association will be making its response to the formal application when it is lodged. We did point out to the developers that our initial view was that the height of the taller flats was likely to be strongly opposed as out of keeping with the surrounding housing in the area.  As we have stated before, it is important that local residents who will be affected make their own objections as well. 

HEATHROW AIRSPACE CONSULTATION 

Heathrow Airport is having a consultation on the flight paths it will use for its present two runways, and its proposed third runway.  The consultation runs until March 4^th. At present there are 480,000 flights a year, and this would increase to 740,000 flights a year if a third runway is built in 2026.  Even before a third runway is built, they hope to have an additional 25,000 flights a year, a 5% increase overall, by allowing planes to land on both runways at the same time. 

Heathrow pledges to ban night flights for six-and-a-half hours, with no arrivals or take offs before 5.30 a.m. The plans include flight paths being alternated to give residential areas a longer break from aircraft noise.  You can see the details at www.heathrowconsultation.com   and you can comment online. Or you can comment by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. There will be a manned consultation team to speak to in Wimbledon on Tuesday 12 February between 2pm to 8 pm at the Antoinette Hotel in The Broadway.  

At present this area escapes most of the routing of planes into Heathrow, as the flight paths go further north.    This could well change if the airport is even more intensively used than at present. 

WIMBLEDON GUILD 

The Wimbledon Guild, a long- established charity based in 30 Worple Road near the Town Centre, provides a large number of activities, talks, and trips, as well as counselling, bereavement support, and befriending. You could pick up a leaflet, or book on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The phone number for further information is 0208 946 0735. 

ANDREA HANNAN 

St Saviour’s Church was packed for the funeral of Andrea Hannan who died in early December. She will be remembered by many local residents for establishing in March 2014, with Jill Truman,and for running together since, the highly successful Pavilion Social Club on Thursday afternoons for men and women. She will be much missed. R.I.P. 

John Elvidge