Merton London Borough Council

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More than a third of London children missed out on their first-choice secondary school places this year, according to a report.

The analysis, published by Labour MP Harriet Harman, showed 34% of children in the capital missed out on their first-choice place, a 2% rise from 2017, and almost double the national average of 17.9%.

It also found pupils in the inner city were much less likely to land a place at their preferred school, with 37.3% of pupils in inner London boroughs applying to secondary schools missing out on their first choice.

The worst 10 local authorities for children securing a place at their first-preference school are all in London.

The worst performer was Hammersmith and Fulham, followed by the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Westminster, Wandsworth, Southwark, Merton and Brent.

Big White Wall

People in Merton living with depression and other mental health conditions will be able to talk about their problems online, as well as face to face in future.

A new online therapy service has been set up to make more appointments available and to improve recovery rates in the borough.

The Big White Wall has been commissioned by Merton CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) as an interim solution to address below average access and recovery rates.

It has been commissioned alongside another online service called Ieso Digital Health.

Both services have contracts until April next year when the CCG is planning to change all of its IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) contracts.

Drivers could soon have to pay more for parking in Merton in a bid to reduce the number of people using their cars.

A report, set to be considered by the council’s cabinet on Monday, shows that nitrogen dioxide pollution in some areas breaches EU limits.

The council has identified ‘air quality focus areas’ in Mitcham, Morden, Raynes Park and Wimbledon which have high levels of pollution.

Another report outlining the increases is expected to be ready in December before being considered by the council in January.

Before the changes are decided, residents will have 21 days to have their say in a statutory consultation period.

A fifth of all murders in London can be linked back to Merton, according to a report published this week.

The report on knife crime has been put together by Neil Thurlow, head of Safer Merton.

Since 2016 there has been a 21% increase in knife crime in the borough at about 15 offences each month.

The highest level is seen in Figge’s Marsh and Cricket Green, accounting for 30% of all knife crime offences in the borough.

Colliers Wood and Pollards Hill are the see the third and fourth highest levels respectively.

But the increase in offences is less than half the increase that has been seen across London.

The report said: “Merton has not been unaffected by this increase [in 2018] in murder rate and knife crime.

“We have had one murder on borough, we have seen one ex-Merton young person killed in Camberwell and, through work undertaken by the youth offending team, they estimate that London’s murders can be linked back to Merton, in some way, in an alarming 20% of cases.”

It goes on to say that police cannot deal with the ‘pandemic’ of knife crime alone.

A ‘knife crime plan’ is set to be signed off by 14 September.

This will include how other organisations could contribute to weapon sweeps in the borough.

It will also include what front-line staff, like wardens and street cleaners, should do if they come across a weapon and whether training needs to be provided by the police for these groups.

The report is set to be discussed by Merton Council’s Joint Consultative Committee with Ethnic Minority Organisations on Tuesday.

A new festival has been denied a licence by Merton Council after fierce opposition from neighbours.

Diynamic Festival was set to take place in Morden Park next month but it will now have to find a new location - despite tickets already being on sale.

The decision was made by the council's licensing sub-committee yesterday.

The meeting at Merton Civic Centre heard from concerned residents and festival organisers MJMK before spending nearly two hours deliberating. Residents complained about noise and antisocial behaviour at Eastern Electrics, a two-day festival at the park which took place from 4 August. They were concerned another festival attracting 10,000 people would have the same issues.

Google

Plans to redevelop Wimbledon YMCA are in the 'early stages', according to Merton Council.

The hostel in The Broadway is currently seeking pre-application advice from the council.

Proposals include replacing the building (pictured) with a new hostel as well as a 13-storey block of flats.

Last week, the plans went to Merton Council's Design Review Panel and were examined by the independent professionals in private.

A spokeswoman for the group said: "It is important to YMCA St Paul's that we provide good quality affordable accommodation to young people in need and our redevelopment plans intend to provide such accommodation to the latest standards.

"We will be going through how best to incorporate the panel's feedback with our development partners over the next few weeks and seek to explain our revised ideas and timescales in due course."

In April the hostel closed its restaurant to the public prompting a petition to be started.

Back in 2013 the YMCA scrapped plans to build a mix of hostel buildings and residential flats.

“We are not demolishing Merton Hall.” So says council leader Stephen Alambritis, responding to criticism of plans to redevelop the Wimbledon building.

Correction: Labour holds Merton with a decreased majority of 8.

An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Labour's majority had increased