The Mayor of London's decision to give Merton Council the final say on AFC Wimbledon's new Plough Lane stadium is "completely inexplicable” after he blocked plans for smaller community-led football ground in Bromley, according to Wandsworth Council.
Wandsworth Council has launched another attack on Sadiq Khan after it emerged that he blocked Cray Wanderers' plans for a 2,200 capacity stadium in Bromley days before giving the green light for AFC Wimbledon's 20,000 seater stadium complex in Merton.
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Mr Khan said that he vetoed the plans as the stadium site was on green belt land but Wandsworth Council’s planning chairman Councillor Sarah McDermott said she found it "difficult to comprehend the reasons behind Mr Khan’s decision".
Cray Wanderers, who are thought to be the oldest football club in London, had hoped that that stadium plans at Flamingo Park would end a 44-year period of ground sharing.
Cllr Sarah McDermott said: “Understanding why the Mayor had performed such a dramatic and sudden U-turn on Plough Lane was difficult enough, but in the light of his negative intervention at Cray Wanderers it becomes completely inexplicable.”
AFC Wimbledon plans to redevelop Wimbledon's Greyhound Stadium and build an 11,000 seat stadium, with the option to expand to 20,000, as well as 602 flats, a creche, parking, shops and a squash and fitness centre.
The former Mayor, Boris Johnson, made the controversial decision to 'call in' AFC Wimbledon's plans in order to make the decision at Mayoral level, a move Mr Khan has now reversed.
Wandsworth Council claims that the stadium, which straddles the border between Merton and Wandsworth, will have a "significant impact on people living in Tooting and Earlsfield".
Mr Khan has published a 14-day consultation on whether the plans can be relinquished by City Hall and given back to Merton Council, who unanimously approved the original plans.
Cray Wanderers' plans have now been called in by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and they will make the ultimate decision about whether the project will go ahead.
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