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Shortlisted for Planning Campaign of the Year

We’ve been shortlisted at The Public Affairs Awards for Planning Campaign of the Year, for our work on the successful campaign to bring the Dons back to Wimbledon.

Thorncliffe was hired by the team behind AFC Wimbledon to support their planning application to Merton Council for over 600 homes and a new football stadium at Plough Lane, Wimbledon, on the site of Wimbledon dog track.

The team faced staunch opposition from the political leadership of neighbouring Wandsworth Council, opposition from people who liked going to the famous greyhound stadium (the last in postcode London), and vociferous and hostile opposition from some in the local community.

Despite this, over the course of the project, we achieved:

  • A thorough and engaging consultation which reached over 7,000 people and delivered unanimous planning consent from Merton’s planning committee
  • An active campaign with 5,000 supporters to convince two successive Mayors of London not to intervene and overrule the council, despite both previously opposing the plans, and
  • Overwhelming support to persuade the Secretary of State not to call in the decision.

The decision by Gavin Barwell and Sajid Javid in October not to call in the application finalised the deal to ensure the Dons came back to Wimbledon and left Merton clear to give the team a final planning consent; precisely the outcome our clients wanted to achieve.

Bring home the Dons

Congratulations to AFC Wimbledon for overcoming the last major political hurdle to bringing the Dons back to their spiritual home on Plough Lane.

At Thorncliffe, we’ve witnessed first-hand the passion the fans and others have displayed for this development, with so many getting involved in writing to the council, the (two) Mayors of London, and most recently the Secretary of State.  It’s been an inspiration.

The timetable went as follows:

  • Last December, Merton Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the Club’s plans for a 20,000 seater stadium (initially 11,000) and 600 residential homes.  This followed a thorough consultation process with thousands engaging in the process.
  • Despite favourable reports from the Mayor’s Office towards the scheme, the then Mayor of London decided to call in the application for review in March this year.  In July, the new Mayor of London handed the decision back to Merton.
  • This week, following a request from Wandsworth Council to the Department of Communities and Local Government to intervene, the Secretary of State decided not to call in this application.

AFC Wimbledon has enjoyed an astonishing rise since starting again in the ninth tier of English football in 2002.  This master plan aims to cater for growing support as Wimbledon progress up the Football League.  We wish them well.

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What people say about us…

Smooth operation

Many thanks for last night: a very smooth operation!

Message was very welcome

Was a great result – especially to receive unanimous approval! Many thanks also for you and your team’s work in the run up to the committee. Getting those messages across really helped and was evident by the feedback given by members on both sides of the political spectrum … notably on the successfully engagement with residents and how the scheme responded accordingly. Message was very welcome!

On point

Harry was on point and has been the whole way through. We are all very chuffed. We are already preparing for another rather testing application on another site and you can be certain that we will engage you

Appreciated

Thanks Richard, your help has been much appreciated. Will let you know when the next job comes up!

Big guns!

Thanks for your and the team’s help. It was good to know we had the proverbial big guns in our armoury!

You kept calm

Many thanks for that: your team did very well, and kept a lot calmer than me! Matt was a sensible wise head, as was Alex, but he also made me think succinctly for the questions and how to answer, which is a great skill to try and acquire. Especially for someone as verbose as me!

A unanimous approval

Councillors praised both officers and the developer on their work and engagement.

A unanimous approval 5-0

With your help

Really pleased to hear the news this evening

With your help, we got it through !!!!

Best Regards!

Truly excellent example

Great news that we approved 60 houses on green belt last night.

It was tremendous that the Chair said that this was a “truly excellent example of good consultation…”

Gave me more confidence

Thank you – we were both somewhat surprised given the level of objections but in fact the committee hardly discussed the scheme at all before consenting it.

Thanks to your team for preparing me well for the committee which certainly gave me more confidence.

A big relief

Thank you. A big relief. As I am sure you can appreciate, we are delighted!

Your team did a great job, especially Matt who was integral.

I look forward to catching up soon.

Unanimous

196 flats approved unanimously, thanks to all involved.

Professional and effective

I wanted to thank you and all at Thorncliffe for managing the consultation process so professionally and effectively. This, without doubt, played a crucial role in gaining the approval.

Once again, all our thanks.

Was a good result

Cant remember the last time I got anything through unanimously!

Was a good result, it’s the right scheme for the site and of course we had a great team including yourselves working on it,

First class troops

Richard. Your troops did a first class job as always. Many thanks

Praise for communityUK

Well done for the way you presented tonight’s online consultation. I thought it was an excellent format.

Great result last night

I just wanted to say thank you again for all your help with the great result last night.

You have been tremendous and it is much appreciated.

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