Thank you to everyone who responded to our survey about Merton Council’s proposal to install an artificial grass pitch (AGP) on Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Playing Field (SJHMPF). We thought you would want to see a summary of the results.

We delivered over 2,000 leaflets to properties within a 15 minute walk of the park. We also spoke to people in the park. We had 732 individual online and paper responses which is an amazing result. Some of these responses were from people who hadn't had the leaflet but who had heard about the survey through word of mouth.

The main results from the survey were:

People from Raynes Park and West Barnes are overwhelmingly against - 365 replies, 311(84%) against.

People who use the park regularly (either every day or nearly every day) are similarly overwhelmingly against - 278 replies, 221 (79%) against.

People said that they used the park for the following reasons:

Dog walking 25%
Spending time with family/friends 49%
Exercise (including walking) 70%
Sport (excluding organised football) 11%
Using the playground 31%
Enjoying nature 57%
To commute/other 13%
Organised football 37%

(note: the total is much greater than 100% since because many people gave a number of reasons)

These results suggest that less than 15% of the usage of the park is for organised football. However, the reality is that it's even less. If we were to take account of the number of visits people make, the actual proportion of use for organised football would be considerably lower.

Overall, 440 (60%) of people who replied to the survey were against the proposed AGP. Only 272 (37%) were in favour. Many people who were in favour live a long way outside Merton and, indeed, quite a few are outside of London. There were only 104 Yes votes from people living in Merton, so well under half of the people who said they were in favour in the survey were actually from Merton.

377 people added comments to their responses and, judging from these, the environmental impact and the loss of character and space were major concerns. It is also clear from the many discussions we have had in the park that although footballers have said that they are in favour of more AGPs in the Borough, they are not necessarily saying that SJHMPF is their preferred location for one.

Also, a number of people who said that they are in favour of an AGP thought it would mean that children still had somewhere to play if the rest of the park was waterlogged; clearly, this is not the Council’s intention as the AGP would only be available for hire, not for casual use. There would be no open nor free access.

We have shared the results of the survey with Ross Garrod (Leader of Merton Council) and Council Officials. We have also encouraged them to look at the suitability of other locations which we believe exist close to SJHMPF. We hope that they would see an alternative site, close to the park but without having to significantly reduce the size of the park, as a far better option.

From our research, it seems increasingly likely that it is, and has always been, the Council’s intention that Fulham FC (from outside the Borough, and who own 18 acres of unused private green space nearby on the old BBC Sports Ground) would be a significant regular user of the AGP, presumably in return for a substantial rental income. (We have asked the Council to confirm this.) This suggests that much of the apparent demand for the AGP, which is Merton's justification for their proposal, is from outside the Borough.

The survey results provide compelling evidence that a significant majority of local people do not support the AGP proposal. It is not popular and we have urged Merton Council to postpone any further action in order to be able to explore alternatives.

If the proposal goes further, the Council will have to apply for Planning Permission. We understand the earliest this will be is mid-May but it could be later than that. We are checking the list of applications regularly. If they do apply, we will write to everyone who has registered for updates.

Please complete the form here so we can send you updates.

Martin Halsall, Chair, Friends of SJHMPF