Neighbours of a seven acre site set to be re-developed have expressed fears of ‘nightmare’ traffic clogging up mini-roundabouts on a well-used road.

After many years, Dairy Crest and Wimbledon Builders Merchants are set to move out of Gap Road in Wimbledon, which will be re-developed with up to 165 homes, including affordable housing.

Wimbledon Times:

The site in Gap Road. 

Safestore, a business also currently on the site, will get a brand new building, and there are plans for landscaping, and car and cycle parking which were revealed this week.

The land between Gap Road and Ashcombe Road in Wimbledon is currently home to Safestore, Dairy Crest and Wimbledon Builders Merchants, who own it.

The proposals for a mix of homes and apartments with an amenity space and nature conservation area is in its early stages.

Wimbledon Times:

The master plan for the site. Courtesy of Curtin&Co

Joe Milazzo, owner of Esente Hair in nearby Leopold Road, said he had not been notified of the plans, despite claims 1,500 leaflets had been distributed to homes, and posters were put up in local businesses and residential blocks.

Mr Milazzo said: “The biggest problem they will have is what’s going to happen with the traffic.

“That mini roundabout is so busy in the morning - it gets clogged up.”

The stretch of Gap Road where the site is has three mini roundabouts on either side of the railway bridge – two at the bottom of Leopold Road where there are two very close together, and there is one at the junction with Ashcombe Road.

Iain Simpson, chairman of the Wimbledon Park Residents' Association said the traffic and parking will be the major issues with the plan.

Mr Simpson said: “It is 165 homes – that is quite an intense development.

“There will be a lot of cars and sort of adequate parking.

“There is the infrastructure – how will schools cope?”

Wimbledon Times:

Plans for transport in and out of the site. Courtesy of Curtin&Co

He said residents of Ashcombe Road, where many homes back onto the site, would be concerned about the size of the development.

Mr Milazzo added the traffic in Leopold Road is a nightmare and any increase in traffic will make it worse.

A statement from Curtin & Co, which describes itself as the company providing community and political engagement for the project, said: “Following the decision by Dairy Crest and Wimbledon Builders Merchants to seek more suitable premises nearby for operational purposes, the three landowners are bringing forward plans for a mixed use development on the site.”

It said the three applicants will seek to resolve existing access problems and safety concerns at the current Gap Road entrance. A public consultation was held on Tuesday, October 7, for people to view the plans.

A planning application is scheduled to be submitted to Merton Council in November.

What do you think of the plans? Contact Becky on Becky.middleton@london.newsquest.co.uk or call 020 8722 6336.