Local developments
Rainbow Ind Estate - New Plans
Some Background
Some of our members may recall that, when the Rainbow Industrial Estate was owned by Workspace, the company obtained planning permission to redevelop the site.
This industrial estate is located between the railway lines, adjacent to the south-west side of Raynes Park Station. Its access is down a private road at the junction of Grand Drive and Approach Road. (SW20 0JY).
These planning permissions were:
14/P4287 for a mixed-use redevelopment of the industrial estate comprising 224 residential units and 37,000 sq. ft. of new light industrial space, and,
14/P4288 for a “Kiss and Ride” drop-off and pick-up area on the south side of the Station
Although the scopes of these two planning approvals have been partially built, neither has been completed.
On the 8 November 2024, Workspace announced it had sold the partially redeveloped site.
April 2025 - New Plans
Some members have recently received a notice from the new owners that they intend to submit a new planning application, for which a public consultation is running from 22 April 2025 to 6 May 2025.
The information is available at https://rainbowindustrialestate.co.uk/
The notice is shown below:
Motspur Park Gas Holders
The Proposed Redevelopment
Report by John Elvidge and Jerry Cuthbert
The Committee held a meeting on Tuesday 11th February 2025 to discuss the proposed plans by Berkeley Homes to build on the site of the Motspur Park gas holders. The meeting was with Tom Fox, who is the Senior Development Manager of Berkeley and was attended also by some of our members from Marina Avenue, and Councillor John Oliver.
Tom Fox explained that the proposals were at an early stage and the company was due to have pre-application meetings with the planning departments of Kingston Council, where the gas holders are situated, and also with the planning departments of Merton and Sutton Councils, which form part of the wider site.
After these, the company would engage in a public consultation, which would include, if we wanted it, a public meeting. We stressed that we would wish this to be a genuine consultation, and not one that set out what had already been decided and could not be changed.
Tom Fox would not disclose at this stage the number of properties to be built or the scale but did say that it would be apartments and not houses, and that the intention was that 35% of them would be affordable. The affordable apartments would be in a separate block and be managed by a housing association.
He said that the properties would be designed by respected architects, principally in brick, and would be situated in a woodland setting. Berkeley’s plans include a foot bridge over the Beverley Brook to allow public access to the Millenium Wood and to the Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Playing Fields.
The intended timetable was that a planning application would be lodged towards the end of this year. Removing the gas holders would take 12 to 18 months, before any major building could start.
We were naturally concerned about the access to the site for the dismantling of the gas holders and building for the construction phase, and the major disruption this would cause to the surrounding residents. We also asked about the vehicular access on completion.
Tom Fox produced a map which shows an existing, gated, narrow service road running down to the site from West Barnes Lane, close to the Motspur Park level crossing.
There is another gated private access road connecting the gas holders to the south. This runs parallel to Beverley Brook and has another gated access, into Kingshill Avenue , Worcester Park. This runs north to south past the gas holders into a wider track which can take two-way traffic, with passing places.
Tom Fox confirmed that the plan for the construction period was to have a one-way system with lorries turning left from West Barnes Lane at the Motspur Park level crossing, and exiting south, into Kingshill Avenue, Worcester Park. However, he said that after the construction period, all vehicular traffic would use the road from the south, leaving the access to Motspur Park for the sole use of pedestrians and cyclists.
There would be a limit put on the number of cars that future residents could have on the site, but that there would be a car club.
The developers were liaising with the Environment Agency to check the quality of the river, and with various wildlife organisations, including the Friends of Sir Joseph Hood. There would be an Environment Impact Assessment. The plans had to be discussed also with the GLA ,TfL, and Network Rail.
For further information, go to Motspur Park Gas Holders
Workspace to sell Rainbow Ind Est
We have received a press release from Workspace Group PLC, dated 8 November 2024, announcing that the company has exchanged contracts for the sale of its “Rainbow Industrial Estate”.
This industrial estate is located between the railway lines, adjacent to the the south-west side of Raynes Park Station. Its access is down a private road at the junction of Grand Drive and Approach Road. (SW20 0JY).
RPWBRA members may recall that, back in 2015, Workspace secured planning consent for a mixed-use redevelopment of the industrial estate comprising 224 residential units and 37,000 sq. ft. of new light industrial space (Merton Planning Application: 14/P4287).
Included as a condition of the consent to the application was the provision of a “Kiss and Ride” drop-off and pick-up area on the south side of the Station (Application: 14/P4288)
As reported in last month’s Guide, the progress of the development was discussed at our recent open-meeting in West Barnes Library, together with the problems caused by vehicles being left parked in the “Kiss and Ride” bays and obstructing the pavement.
Whilst Workspace has now constructed a number of the new industrial units on the site and completed most of the work for the “Kiss and Ride”, much the scope of the planning application has yet to be constructed, including all of the 224 dwellings and the mini-roundabout at the “Kiss and Ride”.
Currently, we do not know who the new owner will be and what their intentions will be for completing the scope of the two planning consents.
Hopefully, they will exert better control over the misuse of the “Kiss and Ride” by long-term parking.
Jerry Cuthbert
Merton Building Control
In July 2024, we received the following useful information from Building Control at the London Borough of Merton
From: Building Control <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Our telephone lines are open from 9am-12pm (Midday) on weekdays: 020 8545 3145 or 020 8545 3931. Our surveyors take calls between 2-5pm. For Dangerous Structures call the above numbers, if these are busy or you are calling outside of office hours call: 020 8543 9750.
Your enquiry can often be resolved with these frequently used resources:
Building Control
Building Control Application Forms & Fees
Booking Inspections
We take bookings via the official LABC App:
Planning
Do I need Planning Permission/Permitted Development Rights
If you are a flat, maisonette or a Listed Building you do not benefit from permitted development and you will require the formal consent of the Council.
Should you require a formal determination that you do not require Planning Permission from the Local Planning Authority, you would need to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate. Details of these and how to apply can be found on the Planning Portal link.
If your proposal doesn’t fall within Permitted Development, you can also apply for Planning Permission from the Planning Portal website.
Planning Guidance, Pre-Application advice and Planning Enforcement
Property Searches and Land Matters
Planning & Building Control Documentation/Decisions/S106/TPO’s
Historic documents can be requested by contacting the relevant email address:
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Listed Buildings/Locally Listed Buildings
Land Ownership
We do not hold records of land ownership, please contact Land Registry at;
Land Registry Office, Trafalgar House, 1 Bedford Park, Croydon, CR0 2AQ
0844 892 1111.
Party Wall
We do not deal with Party Wall queries, information can be found on the central government website.
Boundary Disputes
This is a civil matter, you would need to seek Legal advice. If you do not have your own representative, you can to speak to the Merton Citizens Advice Bureau.
Housing and Planning Guidance
We draw attention to the speech by the Prime Minister on 6th March regarding the “housing crises” and the provision of “affordable “housing. The Government is concerned about both the shortage and cost of housing. It appears that developers are permitted to aim for a “suitable return “(i.e. profit) of 20% but often claim that they cannot achieve this AND at the same time deliver the proportion of social subsidised housing - either for sale or rent - which Councils want.
The Government is suggesting that the ‘viability assessment ‘(through which developers can submit that they can only achieve a 20% profit on a scheme by reducing the proportion of social housing required by Councils) should be made public except in exceptional circumstances. Also, there is a proposal to urge developers to aim for a profit margin of about 6% when building social housing with the aim that this would guarantee an ‘end-sale ‘at a known value. It appears that the Government is keen to increase housing supply by encouraging developers to build more blocks of flats and convert and build on top of existing shops and offices provided that the final scheme is not higher than buildings in the immediate vicinity. In short, to build upwards.
The ‘permitted development ‘provisions (which originated in 2013 and currently extend to 2019) may also be amended to permit ‘upwards ‘extensions provided the extension is “consistent with the prevailing height and form of neighbouring properties”.
The Mayor of London (the Greater London Authority) is currently consulting on revisions to the London Plan (the GLA Planning Guidance document). One of the recommendations is that London Councils should seek an “affordable” housing contribution of at least 35% but for large schemes, e.g. on former industrial sites, they should aim for a 50% contribution. Such a high figure would probably meet with strong opposition by developers who would argue that they could not make a reasonable profit AND provide half the housing for ‘social’ needs.
David Freeman - May 2018
Merton's Builders' Code of Practice
With all the building work taking place in the Borough, Members should be aware of the code of practice governing the control of noise and pollution that must be followed by builders and the action residents make take for their infringement. The Code of Practice may be downloaded here.
