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. 

All our members receive our monthly magazine "The Guide", which continues to be delivered by our volunteers.

"The Guide" has local information, news, events and advertising. For more information about advertising in "The Guide", click this link.

Our Association , which is run completely by volunteers, works on behalf of our local community. We are a NON political association, welcoming everyone. 

This membership year runs from January to December 2026 and costs the very low annual subscription fee of £3.   

Click here to contact our Treasurer and become a member.

Chairman's Blog - March 2026

LOCAL ELECTIONS

Elections are being held on 7^th May for Merton councillors.

Our Residents’ Association works closely with the elected councillors, and we would urge everyone to come out and vote. However, the Association is non-party, and does not support any particular party. We always work with whoever is elected.

Before the London Borough of Merton was formed, the Association was based in Merton and Morden Urban District Council, and the Association then put forward its own representatives to sit on that Council. Those days are long gone!

Our membership includes the wards of West Barnes, Raynes Park, Cannon Hill, and Lower Morden.  We regularly print the names and e mail addresses of the elected councillors in The Guide so that residents know how to contact themfor any issue that they are concerned about.4

MIND THE GAP!

We reported in the February Guide that there are proposals to redesign the access to Raynes Park station, but that there are no proposals to remedy the gaps between the platforms and the trains at certain points.  These gaps are very pronounced when the track curves. 

This ought to be at the forefront of any proposals. The gaps are such that it can be positively dangerous to get on or alight from a train. The difficulty is not only the extent of the gap but that the train is much higher than the platform.

It is extremely difficult for anyone with any disability, or for those with buggies or prams or suitcases to enter or exit safely. 

It is not only Raynes Park which has this problem. The same is true of certain points at Clapham Junction and doubtless elsewhere. 

EARLY NOTICE: AGM 

We hope you will join us at our AGM which will be held on Tuesday 21^st April this year, at Raynes Park Library, Aston Road Entrance, SW20 8BE.

It is always a friendly, welcoming event with refreshments – so do put the date in your diary! 

John Elvidge, Chair RPWBRA

Motspur Park Gas Holders - Planning Application

MARCH 2026

Berkeley Homes planning application to Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) for the redevelopment of the Gas Holder site in Motspur Park (Application Ref: 25/02562/FUL) is due to be considered by RBK's Planning Committee on 11 March 2026. The Planning Application will be considered at the Planning Committee to be held at Guildhall, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1EU on Wednesday 11 March 2026 at 7:30 pm.

The agenda will be published on the Council website five clear working days before the meeting and can be found at the following link: https://www.kingston.gov.uk/your-council then follow “Council meeting calendar”.

Due to the proximity of the site to Merton, the application has also been submitted to the London Borough of Merton (Application reference 25/P2859).

PREVIOUSLY ...

A dedicated website set up by a local resident, encouraging us all the “get involved”, provides an excellent list of the key matters of contention in the applicant’s planning documents, may be found here:

https://motspurparkgasholdersgetinvolved.com/

It also suggests the crucial issues to raise in your objections to Planning Committee for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton. This website is being updated on a daily basis.

Our neighbouring residents’ association, Station Estate Residents’ Association Kingston (SERAK) has also set up a very informative website, that very clearly sets out the various points of objection to this planning application, together with links to the Kingston Planning Dept website, where you can view all the details of the Berkeley Homes planning application.

https://www.motspurparkgasholderstoptheoverbuild.com/ 

All members of the public, whether resident in Kingston or not, are entitled to submit their objections to this planning application to both Kingston and Merton.

Our Association's objection submitted to Kingston may be read HERE.