No hole in one: Putt in the Park denied the Clapham Common Bowling Green

Clapham Common's Bowling Green will not be converted into a mini-golf course after considerable local opposition culminated in its rejection on 17 January.

Putt in the Park won the tender to replace the disused Pavilion and its Greens with a mini golf course and café in August 2019.

Under a 15-year lease agreement with Lambeth Council who manages Clapham Common, Putt in the Park proposed a similar development to its existing London putting greens in Battersea Park and Wandsworth Park.

However, Clapham Common lies within the Boroughs of Lambeth and Wandsworth, and planning permission to allow the golf course in Clapham South fell to Wandsworth, in which the Bowling Green land lies.

Fervent backlash to plans from local community groups, residents and Wandsworth Council saw the planning application receive 650 responses in its public consultation, 640 of which were objections.

Environmental ramifications of removing natural Common land to install plastic grass were chief among the reasons for rejection.

Friends of Clapham Common member Gareth James told SWL: ""Plastic grass contributes massively to Global Warming as, unlike natural grass, it overheats in sunshine.

"It is also extruded from petrochemicals and is non-recyclable."

"From our point of view, it would have been an act of extreme self-harm to suffocate Common land by covering it in plastic grass."

Cllr Ainslie (Green, Lambeth) said: "Synthetic surfaces will not absorb carbon. We need all the green spaces to be natural and protect our green spaces to absorb carbon in the borough, the region, and the nation as a whole is to hit its net zero carbon goals."

Another key concern raised by Putt in the Park's proposal and during the protests on Clapham Common was the commercial encroachment on Common Land.

In contrast to green spaces like Battersea Park and Royal Parks, such as Richmond Park, which are fenced off during the night, if common land like Clapham Common is fenced off, the rights of public access are lost.

Referring to the legislation that enshrined the public right to roam on common land, Clapham Town (Lambeth) Cllr Linda Bray said the 1877 Act: "does not empower the public body owner [Lambeth] to enclose common land for a private business".

Wandsworth Council who last September condemned Lambeth Council for its 'relentless commercial exploitation' of Clapham Common added: "Putt in the Park would change this peaceful residential area by increasing traffic in the day and evening, and running the risk of creating noise and light nuisance for residents."

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