The sale of Udney Park gained national prominence at the weekend with the article below in Saturday's edition of The Times (Times Sport Notebook Clipping)
In last week’s news piece in the Teddington Nub (MP requests urgent meeting with Tory peer and AHH chairman over fields future) it was reported that local MP, Munira Wilson, had intervened to request a meeting between AHH chairman, Lord Fink, and the leader of the community bid, Jonathan Dunn. Lord Fink delegated a response to this letter to his colleague at AHH, Tony Spotswood which rejected any possibility of such a meeting.
The Friends of Udney Park, who have been campaigning to retain the playing fields for community use since 2015, have been quick to respond to this rebuttal. A full copy of their letter can be read here: Trust Reply to Fink Spotswood Munira Letter
Udney Park playing fields (including the pavilion) were originally established as a memorial for the fallen of Merchants Taylor School during the First World War. The OMT sports club was opened in 1922. Udney Park remained the home for OMT until 1937 when the school was relocated to its current home in Northwood. The full history of Udney Park can be found on this site here: Udney Park History
Interestingly Lord Fink has a home in Northwood where Merchant Taylors School is now situated. Both of his sons were educated at Merchant Taylors School. It remains to be seen whether this personal connection will cause Lord Fink to rethink his position
One of his sons, Alexander, is pictured below with Boris Johnson. Boris Johnson has previously proclaimed himself to be a strong supporter of retaining Udney Park as community playing fields.
When Imperial College decided to sell Udney Park in 2015 Boris Johnson said at Mayor of London Question Time:
“I note Udney Park was donated to St Mary’s Medical School by Lord Beaverbrook in 1937 specifically for use as rugby union pitches. It would be an absolute scandal and an outrage if that land was lost for that purpose. My general view is that you should keep green space in London and rugby pitches should be regarded as sacrosanct”
Jonathan Dunn who leads the community bid has been advised that the site owners (AHH) have accepted an offer from another party and that regrettably the community bid is not considered competitive. As things stand there will be another owner of the fields but the community bid remains in place should the other bidder get cold feet.
Political momentum for a CPO growing
The Udney Park Trust have released a ‘press release’ updating everyone on the momentum gathering for a CPO of the fields at Udney Park. Local hustings were held as a prelude to this week’s general election and the Trust raised a question regarding the future of the site. It was confirmed at the hustings that there was universal support for a CPO from all parties.
The tragedy of the War Memorial Pavilion has been revealed by arial photos taken by residents. These reveal that under the ownership of Mr Wu the building has fallen into such disrepair as to render future renovation work hugely expensive. The project had been to bring the changing rooms back into early use for the community clubs playing on these fields. There were relatively new boilers and heating systems installed just before Imperial College sold the site. The building interior had been dry – even if the changing rooms needed to be brought up to modern standards.
It is hugely disappointing to report that Udney park is now under offer from another group of investors headed up by local resident, Keith Williams.
Udney Park is an Asset of Community Value, defined in the Localism Act (2011) as "Land is an asset of community value if its main use is to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community." The Localism Act states that ‘social interests’ include cultural, recreational and sporting interests
