Tolworth's open land is shrinking
Open Space in Tolworth is shrinking. Hectare by hectare, open land is now covered with new development with more in the pipeline. This ranges from the: LIDL headquarters on Jubilee Way (photo below); 106 apartments at Tala Close (formerly a field adjacent to Tolworth School photo above); and related infrastructure projects. The London Plan Annual Monitoring Review 2016 (No. 13) stated, 'The largest area of locally protected open space that was subject to planning permissions in 2015/16 is 2 hectares at the Tolworth Girls School and Recreation Centre in Kingston upon Thames which will provide housing as part of the scheme to expand and remodel the existing school'. New developments require infrastructure, so 'edgelands' or areas on the fringes of industrial estates are used for cycle routes, access roads, etc. No new areas of POS (Public Open Space) are actually provided. In fact the Travel Plan for the development at Tolworth Towers infers that open space not pu...