Brilliant News for Barn Elms

The future is looking bright for Barn Elms following Richmond Council’s decision to jettison plans to sell part of the playing fields and instead follow Barnes Vision’s non-commercial proposal for improving the site. The council has also pledged £30,000 to spend on improving the running track.

The pronouncement was made at a packed cabinet meeting on 22nd September attended by many Barnes Vision campaigners. The Council’s turnaround is ‘a small step for campaigners but a giant leap for Barnes’s sports stars of the future,’ said Robert Essex, who is vice-chairman of Barnes Eagles football club, which plays at Barn Elms, and a stalwart supporter of Barnes Vision.

It was in January 2008 that Barnes Vision first asked Richmond Council to put on hold the sale of part of our beautiful, green, open space, Barn Elms, to a private sports club while we sought funding for alternative plans. By 22nd September we had attracted potentially £2 million from funding sources such as London Marathon Charitable Trust.

We are now working with the Council to secure the future for Barn Elms. We may need to do some more fund raising if the new scheme we are drafting requires more money than we have already raised and we still need the assistance of a planning lawyer to help us through the planning application process— if you are interested please contact Barnes Vision co-chair Patricia Newton at barnes-vision@blueyonder.co.uk.