Merton councillors have granted planning permission for four flats just metres from the main railway line into Waterloo.

Planning Committee members voted to approve plans for a two-storey building housing a pair of one-bed and two-bed dwellings on a small parcel of land next to 1 Bridge Villas in Ashcombe Road, Wimbledon, pictured below.

Wimbledon Times:

The plans drew seven letters of objection from neighbours, including one from the Wimbledon Society, protesting that the scheme is “overdevelopment”, would increase pressure on parking and cause overlooking.

John Mays, chairman of the Wimbledon Society, wrote: “The proposed balconies at first floor level will cause overlooking to neighbouring properties and loss of privacy plus there is the potential for noise pollution.”

Objector Emma Kernan-Staines, of Ashcombe Road, acknowledged the land needed to be developed but said it should have been something “more sympathetic” to the area, and she raised concerns about safety in her letter to the council.

She said: “Considering the precarious positioning of these proposed properties, I would be very concerned about traffic coming over the bridge whilst construction lories are trying to offload etc and the danger to pedestrians would be significant.

“Squeezing this many properties, which are not in keeping with the road, onto such a small site and so close to the railway will also have a negative impact aesthetically.”

Environmental Health officers at Merton Council raised no objection providing the applicant, G O’Donnell of Vineyard Hill Road, Wimbledon, submit a scheme for protecting the future occupants of the flats from noise and vibration caused by passing trains.

The Crossrail 2 Safeguarding team were also consulted but made no comment as it regards the site as “outside the limits” of its jurisdiction, though Merton planning officers disagree.

Under the Council’s affordable housing rules, the applicant will be required to pay £154,477 towards the creation of subsidised housing elsewhere in the borough.

Permission was given on Thursday, April 21.

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