Merton Council’s engineers donned their hard hats today to start work on the Wimbledon Chase facelift.
Cabinet member for environment and leisure services, Councillor David Simpson officially kicked off the exciting programme of improvements, which follows consultation with local residents and community groups.
Residents will see the improvements taking shape in Kingston Road between Cannon Hill and Wimbledon Chase Station over the next four weeks.
The council’s move to enhance the area around the station is part of a £2 million investment in improvements to the borough’s street scene. All existing street furniture – excluding street lighting and essential road signs – will be removed. A number of new trees will be planted and existing trees replaced in order to improve the look and feel of the area. Shrubs will be planted in newly constructed raised flower beds whilst four new benches will be installed along with four litter bins and 14 cycle stands. To consolidate the new improved look, pavements will be repaired where needed and then given a thorough clean.
Councillor David Simpson said: “It’s great to be here today right at the start of these exciting improvement works. This is the first project to benefit from the street design guide contained in our new public realm strategy, which was agreed earlier this year. Our clear aim is to remove unnecessary clutter from our streets and where street furniture such as benches is old and has fallen into disrepair, to install sympathetically and well-designed replacements.
“We are committed to putting residents first by improving the physical appearance of the borough for everyone. In rolling out similar improvement programmes to other parts of the borough, we want to ensure a well designed and attractive public realm which is appropriate to the local area.”
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Notes to editors
1. To ensure that works are carried out as quickly as possible, the council will have to restrict parking on sections of Kingston Road at various times of the day. No parking signs and cones will be in place to indicate the areas where parking is prohibited. Pedestrian access to shops and properties next to the works will not be affected.
2. Merton Council’s public realm strategy can be viewed at: http://www.merton.gov.uk/publicrealm