We would like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year from Merton Council. 

We are grateful to the many people who continue to give up their time to help their local communities and those who help make Merton such a great place to live, work and learn. We honoured many of the borough’s unsung heroes at the Merton Community Awards with the Wimbledon Guardian in September and our Excellence Awards last month.

We also joined AFC Wimbledon in celebrating the Mayor of London’s final approval for the Plough Lane stadium, announced plans for a new secondary school in south Wimbledon, celebrated excellent GCSE and A Level results and opened two new arts spaces in Morden and Wimbledon.

We became the first London borough to introduce the Ask for Angela pub safety scheme with Merton Police and local businesses, and our Digital Courtrooms as part of the South London Legal Partnership was nominated for several awards.

We sadly lost a pillar of the community in Reverend Doctor Andrew Wakefield who died in October.  We remember him with great fondness.

In 2016 we continued to make some tough choices about how good quality services will be delivered and this will continue next year as we come to terms with more reductions in funding from the Government.

There is plenty to look forward to with the construction of the new Morden Leisure Centre, and the new secondary school which will provide huge opportunity for many of the borough’s children.

Wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Leader of Merton Council, Councillor Stephen Alambritis