AFC Wimbledon

New stadium planning decision: club urgently needs your support

Today the club launches a new stage in our campaign to return home to a new stadium in Wimbledon after years in exile.

And your support, as ever, is vital. What we need you to do is very simple and can be completed in a matter of seconds. Full details are set out below.

But first, here’s some brief background information so you can understand why your involvement in the campaign is so important.

Our planning application will be determined by whichever candidate is successful in the election for a new London Mayor on 5 May. This follows a decision by the out-going Mayor, Boris Johnson, to ‘call-in’ our planning application for further scrutiny, despite our proposals receiving unanimous approval from the local planning authority, Merton Council, and the support of the GLA planning staff.

Forecasting the outcome of an election is a risky business, of course, but it seems almost certain that the current Mayor will be succeeded by one of the two front-runners in the election campaign – Sadiq Khan, the Labour candidate, or Zac Goldsmith for the Conservatives. Mr Johnson will almost certainly play no further role in the decision; it will be taken by his successor.

Whilst we are fully confident that our planning application will eventually get the go-ahead, it is vital that the new mayor also understands that the stadium plans are very popular with the public.

What we want you to do

Please send separate e-mails, one to Sadiq Khan and another to Zac Goldsmith, simply saying: “Please support AFC Wimbledon’s plans for a new stadium in Plough Lane”. And add your name and your residential address.

This may well be restricted to people near the site so sending an email now is your chance to have your voice heard.  Also, once the new Mayor is elected he will hold a further consultation. You don’t need to explain the benefits that the stadium and adjoining development will bring to the area, as these are fully explained in our planning application.

What your e-mail, together with thousands of others, will highlight is that public opinion wants the mayor’s approval of our plans.

Please send your e-mail as soon as possible and certainly well ahead of the vote on 5 May.

The candidates’ e-mail addresses are:

London@labour.org.uk (Sadiq Khan) 

zac@backzac2016.com (Zac Goldsmith)

    Obviously, if you live in Greater London and can vote in the Mayoral election your e-mail will be particularly important. Please also encourage friends, family and colleagues living throughout the capital to e-mail the candidates with the same wording of support, no matter whether they are Wimbledon fans or not. Even if you live outside London, it is still worthwhile participating.

While the candidates themselves won’t actually read your e-mail, their campaign staff will keep them informed about issues the public are concerned about. But please don’t expect a reply to your e-mail as they will be too busy to respond.

What we don’t want you to do

• Please don’t send more than one e-mail in the hope that this will demonstrate greater support. Duplicates will be weeded out and will undermine the credibility of our campaign.

• Don’t be critical of the current Mayor, or anyone else, for calling-in the application. The Mayor is perfectly within his rights to do so. We are at a new stage in our campaign and need to move on. Abusing the Mayor or the candidates would be counter-productive.

And, as always, thank you for your continued support!