Win the lottery and you just might be able to afford a house in Wimbledon Village. Otherwise only millionaires, foreigners or absurdly overpaid footballers have a chance.
And now shopkeepers are being priced out, defeated by vastly increased amounts they are forced to pay to Merton Council and insurance companies.
One village retailer tells me she parts with £55,000 a year to the authorities before the shop earns a single penny.
Do Merton councillors care an ancient village is being taken over by coffee outlets, supermarkets and plastic signs?
Not at all. I suspect no solution is looked for at council.
All this means that, in the next few years, we shall be left with a mixture of Milton Keynes and Crawley New Town. Eventually it will resemble that eyesore by Wimbledon Stadium or the wretched black tower in Colliers Wood.
If John Betjamin were alive today, what would he say?
Sadly, he isn't and there's nobody with the intelligence to grasp the nettle and say "enough!". Once delightful old places vanish, they are gone forever, and we are all the losers.
John Ingham
Wimbledon
- Send your letters to: letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk
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