Our summer social was held at the residents’ pavilion during a heatwave. Fortunately, Otto Hoenig had the brilliant idea of bringing two gazebos from his home and re-erecting them with the help of John Townsend and Dick Coleman. He also provided extra outdoor chairs, enabling us to sit in the shade and enjoy the classical guitar performances, organised by Mark Nicholson.

Thanks to John Townsend’s efforts, our winter party was held in the clubroom of Raynes Park Vale Football Club at the kind invitation of the club’s CEO John Scales, who played in the Wimbledon team which won the FA cup in 1988. 

We were honoured by the presence of his Worship the Mayor, Martin Whelton, Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Eleanor Stringer, Cabinet Minister, Cllr Edith Macauley, Angela Walden, President of Merton Rotary Society and the irrepressible co-founder of AFC Wimbledon, Ivor Heller, who gave a most amusing speech.

The Mayor thanked all those present for their involvement in the community, praising their commitment. 

A year ago, Ivor was a lynchpin at the “We are Merton” celebrations, where as part of the festivities throughout the borough, John T and Clare  organised free activities in Raynes Park Library for youngsters, Tom Deveson helped distribute snacks (made by Nidhi Verma of Grand Drive) to visitors in the centre, and local members from Westway performed some entrancing Indian dancing organised by Monali Mohite. 

Then in July, we participated in the Motspur Park 100 celebrations, which Toby Ewin had enthused us all to join in.  There were two days of celebrations in West Barnes Library and the nearby Sir Joseph Hood Playing Fields. Sarah McAlister engaged youngsters and adults alike with her sustainable bunting project, Paul Gumbrell took his astonishing working “0” gauge railway to the WB library and set it up, to the amazement of visitors. Christian Woolmer gave a learned talk and the result was an award-winning event! 

The Motspur Park gas holders    It was whilst running our RPWBRA stall in the park as part of the celebrations that we first encountered the knowledgeable birder, Charlie Alpera, and we were impressed by his research re: the proposed development. 

In October we held a packed meeting at Blossom House, and various groups have been formed, such as SERAK, to work together to ensure a better scheme than the one submitted by Berkeley to Kingston. Individual members sent in submissions, and Jerry Cuthbert sent in a very detailed one on behalf of the RPWBRA. 

Although the gas holders are in Kingston, the surrounding areas are in Merton and Sutton. Initial relief when the plans were rejected by the Kingston Planning Department was tempered by awareness of other avenues of appeal and re-submission open to the developers. 

Meanwhile, the plans have been called in by the Mayor and we are hoping that the knowledgeable Councillor Leonie Cooper, GLA representative for Merton and Wandsworth, will be able to bring her considerable expertise in biodiversity and green issues to bear during the discussions. 

Another issue causing debate in the Motspur Park area is the council’s proposals to include Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Playing Fields in its borough-wide plans to create more weather resistant playing surfaces. 

The Friends of SJHMPF organised a survey which was against the proposal. Other residents have a more positive view of the idea, so there will doubtless be many discussions over the coming months. 

"The Guide" 

As ever, we keep in touch with our members through The Guide, which goes from strength to strength in its layout and contents. This is thanks to the hard work and expertise of our brilliant joint editors, John and Clare Townsend. The Guide largely pays for itself through advertising, which is expertly managed by our hardworking Advertising Manager, Dick Coleman. 

Distribution

Otto Hoenig is our Distribution Manager, and he liaises with Clare and John and the Area Coordinators to ensure that the copies reach the road stewards for delivery. All the coordinators and stewards are listed in each edition of The Guide, on the inside back cover.  Otto also records new membership and liaises with the treasurer to keeps the road lists up to date.

Area Coordinators and Road Stewards

It is impossible to overstate the importance of these volunteers! Although we have a website, it is the regular delivery of the Guide which keeps members in touch with the community. We are aware that some of our stewards, such as Sheila May, have been working for the Association for over twenty years! Others, such as Val Lowe, have retired after countless years of dedication.                           As many of us on the committee are also road stewards, we share the “joys” of venturing out on a cold, winter’s day to deliver The Guides – and we look forward to the warmer months!

The Pavilion

The Pavilion is very important to the Association. Jerry Cuthbert has been the key person who manages it, and this requires a great deal of work. He is ably assisted by a Management Group which meets regularly and is listed in each edition, on the inside front cover.

Special thanks to Moira Deveson who has retired from her PMG role, after years of cheerful service.

RPWBRA Income

The Association’s income derives from advertising in The Guide, our subscriptions of £3 per household a year and profits from the Pavilion, although the latter tend to be required for maintenance and improvement issues. Our Treasurer suggested that we should alter our accounting year to coincide with the calendar year. This was approved by the committee, and we decided that the healthy financial situation that the treasurer had inherited would enable us to put subscriptions on hold for ten months before resuming collections in 2026. We thank Simon Hillson for his detailed work in managing our accounts and we thank Bernie McAlister for his continuing work as auditor.

The Website

Although Charles Briscoe-Smith has moved to a new area, he continues to maintain our website and general email (as detailed on the front cover of The Guide) and for this we are immensely grateful. We will be liaising with Charles for advice regarding the possibility of updating the site.

The Committee

Our dedicated RPWBRA committee members undertake a huge amount of work. We meet several times a year and keep in touch by email. In addition to our RA work, we are also involved in many aspects of community life:

Mary-Jane Jeanes is the current Chair of the Friends of Cannon Hill Common, and her “green” expertise is invaluable, especially when planning apps are examined.

Clare Townsend is a local High School governor and also organises, alongside Debbie Thornton (Bushey Area), free story and rhyme sessions for babies and under-fives (with ever-reliable John Townsend, aka Santa, as a roadie) at the Pavilion and RP library.

Jerry Cuthbert is a longstanding member of the “umbrella” Raynes Park Association and, as a retired civil engineer, is noted for his planning expertise and thorough reports.

Sudev Joshi, our newest committee is an enthusiastic football player who values his games at SJHMPF and, with his wife Priya, enlivens our Guide with excellent articles, whilst John and Simon belong, respectively, to a local choir and a community orchestra.  Not forgetting that Dick Coleman, Otto Hoenig and I all belong to various local sports associations!

We are always seeking new committee members! 

John Elvidge, RPWBRA Chair, April 2026