Wandsworth Common Management and Maintenance Plan

Results updated 4 Sep 2018

The London Borough of Wandsworth commissioned Consultants CFP to assist in the development of the future management and maintenance plan for Wandsworth Common. CFP were commissioned to develop a Visitor Survey to gather the opinions of local residents, users and non-users of the Common.

The online consultation was promoted on the Council website, an article in the borough wide online newsletter ‘Brightside’, a press release and links posted regularly to social media which were further shared by both Enable Parks Service and the Management Advisory Committee.

In addition, posters were positioned on the Common with a link to the online consultation. A further 200 hard copies of the survey were made available and promoted from the Skylark Café, Naturescope and All-Star Tennis allowing people to fill in a paper copy of the survey which were subsequently returned in batches for analysis.

In total, the survey received 964 responses. The responses all came from people living around London with only 3.6% of respondents living over 10km from the Common. There was a good distribution of respondents, with responses from all areas around the Common. Reponses came mainly from individuals (96.1%), but organisations including sports clubs, schools, businesses and the third sector also participated.

Reponses to the survey showed that;

• Bolingbroke Fields, Sports Fields and Café Area, Lakes and Wetland and Bellevue Field were the most visited areas of the Common
• Most commonly cited reasons for visiting the Common were to walk, to exercise and passing through
• Only 11.7% stayed over 2 hours with the most people spending under an hour
• Most visited from home and 75% travelled on foot
• 82.2% considered the walking routes on the common to be good or very good, the equivalent for cycle routes was 51.7%
• 88.5% considered the quality of the Common as good or very good, and 92.5% perceived the quality of the Common to be consistent or improving over the last three years.
• Popular sports use included running/ jogging, football and tennis
• Provision for more sport and better surface maintenance were most often suggested improvements
• 3 in 5 respondents felt there was conflict between user groups on the Common with cyclists, dog walkers and fitness users most commonly mentioned. The most supported resolution to conflict was more enforcement of rules
• 93.1% perceived the Common as safe or very safe
• 45.8% of respondents said more facilities were needed on Wandsworth Common most commonly more sports provision, toilets and baby changing facilities and bigger and better play facilities including space for teenagers.

An in-depth analysis of the consultation responses has been used to inform the draft Management and Maintenance Plan for Wandsworth Common, which the public will be consulted on in September 2018.