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London Borough of Merton

Coordinates: 51°23′N 0°10′W / 51.383°N 0.167°W / 51.383; -0.167
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Template:Infobox London Borough The London Borough of Merton (pronunciationⓘ) is a borough in southwest London, England.

The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey. The main commercial centres in Merton are Mitcham, Morden and Wimbledon, of which Wimbledon is the largest. Other smaller centres include Raynes Park, Colliers Wood, South Wimbledon, Wimbledon Park and Pollards Hill.

The borough derives its name from the historic parish of Merton which was centred on the area now known as South Wimbledon. Merton was chosen as an acceptable compromise, following a dispute between Wimbledon and Mitcham over the new borough's name. The local authority is Merton London Borough Council.

Districts

Statue of Fred Perry at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

The Borough includes the following areas:

History of the Borough

For detailed histories of the four historic parishes covered by the borough, see [[:Merton, Mitcham, Morden, and Wimbledon]].

Merton Borough Council

Main article: Merton London Borough Council

The May 2010 local government elections saw the Labour Party become the council largest party, following the loss of three seats by the Conservative Party, two to the Liberal Democrats and one to Labour. The current council is under no overall control but run by a Labour minority administration and its composition is:

  • Labour: 28
  • Conservatives: 27
  • Merton Park Residents: 3
  • Liberal Democrats: 2

Mayors

At the Annual Council Meeting, a ceremonial mayor is elected to serve for a year. At the same time, it elects a deputy mayor to serve alongside the mayor. Since 1978, each Mayor must also be an elected councillor. Cllr David Williams who is a Conservative councillor and represents Hillside is currently the Mayor of the London Borough of Merton.[1]

Media

A lot of filming for former ITV police drama The Bill took place in Merton, particularly in the districts of Mitcham and Colliers Wood. The set of Sun Hill police station was also located in the Borough.

The main local newspaper in Merton is The Wimbledon Guardian with two editions, Wimbledon along with Mitcham and Morden. This newspaper was founded in 1977 by a former Conservative councillor on Merton Council, but since then the paper has been sold on and it is now widely published in different editions across South London. The main difference between the papers is the front page.

The Wimbledon Post is another local newspaper published weekly.

Both newspapers are available free, though there is a charge if bought from a newsagent. They are published each Thursday.

Economy

Square Enix Europe has its head office in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton.[2] When Eidos Interactive was an independent company, its head office occupied the Wimbledon Bridge House.[3][4]

Transport

Merton is served by a wide range of National Rail stations across the borough, as well as the southern tip of London Underground's Northern Line and the District Line on the Wimbledon branch. The borough is also served by several London Tramlink stops from Wimbledon, that goes to Croydon, New Addington, Elmers End and Beckenham. It is the only London Borough which has tube, rail and tram services.

London Underground stations

Tramlink stops

National Rail stations

Demographics and social conditions

In 2001, the census recorded that 25% of the population of the borough was from an ethnic minority. The highest ethnic populations were recorded in wards in the east of the borough (Mitcham, Eastfields and Pollards Hill). The percentage of population from ethnic minorities is predicted to rise across the borough within the next decade.

According to the council's comparative assessment of wards made in 2004, the most deprived wards within the borough were in the south and east where unemployment rates, educational attainment and the quality of health were worst. The most affluent wards were in the north and west of the borough.

Comparative crime rates appear to be unrelated to the deprivation ranking of wards. The wards containing Mitcham town centre and the St Helier Estate are ranked highest for crime within Merton with the wards containing the smaller commercial centres of Colliers Wood and South Wimbledon also featuring high in the ranking.

By London and national measures, deprivation and recorded crime are low with only Mitcham an area affected by high crime.

Merton currently operates a Police Cadet scheme under the Metropolitan Police Service.

Features of interest

Wimbledon tennis tournament

Each year The Championships, Wimbledon, better known as simply Wimbledon, one of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments (along with the US, French and Australian Opens) is held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Church Road Wimbledon. The event takes place over a fortnight at the end of June and beginning of July and is the largest annual sporting event to take place in the United Kingdom with over 200,000 visitors during the Wimbledon fortnight.

Football

The borough gained a football team in 1889 when Wimbledon Old Centrals were founded, and were soon a member of the local football leagues.[5] The club later adopted the title Wimbledon FC and moved into a new stadium at Plough Lane in 1912, where it would spend the next 79 years. As the 20th century wore on, the club enjoyed considerable success in non league football.[6] The club was elected to the Football League in 1977[7] and enjoyed a great run of success when began in 1983 with the Fourth Division title, and saw them reach the First Division in 1986 - a mere nine years after joining the Football League. They quickly established themselves in the highest division of English football and achieved a surprise FA Cup triumph in 1988 at the expense of Liverpool, English football's dominant side at the time.[8] They were founder members of the FA Premier League in 1992[9] and survived at that level until 2000, but relocated to Milton Keynes, some 70 miles away in Buckinghamshire, in a controversial move in 2003, being rebranded as Milton Keynes Dons in 2004. The club had left its Plough Lane stadium in 1991 to ground-share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, with numerous plans to build a new stadium in a number of different locations (including back in London and even in Dublin or Cardiff) being considered over the following decade before the club's owners chose Milton Keynes as their destination.

However, a new Wimbledon club - AFC Wimbledon - was formed to represent the local area in 2002 by fans of the original club after the move to Milton Keynes was given the go-ahead. The new Wimbledon club's progress was rapid, and after just nine years in existence they won promotion to the Football League in 2011.[10] The club currently plays at Kingsmeadow Stadium, the home of Kingstonian F.C., but its long-term target is to build a new stadium in the London Borough of Merton.[11]

The borough also has three Non-League football clubs Colliers Wood United F.C. who play at Wibbandune Sports Ground, Raynes Park Vale F.C. who play at Prince George's Fields and Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. who play at Imperial Fields, Morden.

Television

The Talkback Thames television studio on Deer Park Road was used as Sun Hill Police Station in the ITV police drama The Bill from its inception in 1984 until it was axed in 2010.[12]

References

  1. ^ "The Mayor of Merton - Merton Council". Merton.gov.uk. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Terms of Use." Square Enix Europe. Retrieved on 30 January 2011. "This Site is owned and operated by Square Enix Ltd ("Square Enix" "Our", "We", or "Us"), a company registered in England and Wales (Company Number 01804186). Square Enix is registered for VAT with registration number GB 521500600. The registered office of Square Enix is Wimbledon Bridge House, 1 Hartfield Road, London SW19 3RU."
  3. ^ "Corporate Information." Eidos Interactive. 11 February 1998. Retrieved on 30 January 2011. "Eidos Interactive UK Wimbledon Bridge House 1 Hartfield Road Wimbledon London SW19 3RU."
  4. ^ "Worldwide Contacts." Eidos Interactive. 27 January 2005. Retrieved on 30 January 2011. "Eidos plc. Registered Office Wimbledon Bridge House 1 Hartfield Road Wimbledon London SW19 32RU ."
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ "Plough Lane - Wimbledon". Old Football Grounds. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ [3]
  9. ^ "The second coming of Wimbledon". BBC News. 25 November 2010.
  10. ^ "AFC W'don 0-0 Luton (4-3 on pens)". BBC News.
  11. ^ [4]
  12. ^ [5]

51°23′N 0°10′W / 51.383°N 0.167°W / 51.383; -0.167

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