"...We have seen the letter of objection sent by the Belvedere Estate Residents’ Association (BERA) on 15 April specifically about the lakeside walk. We fully support and endorse that letter.
You will know that LB Merton and the AELTC entered into Covenants in 1993 when Merton sold the freehold of the Golf Course to AELTC. That provides for a publicly accessible lakeside walk to be created once golf ceased to be played and the lease had ceased to subsist. You will also know that golf ceased to be played there from 31 December 2022. The freehold and the leasehold interest are now both held by AELTC. It is within their power to end the lease and start construction of the lakeside walk under this commitment.
This commitment derives from the 1993 Covenants and is entirely independent of the current planning application.
BERA’s letter includes a copy of Plan B attached to the 1993 transfer document and which shows the outline of the intended boardwalk in green. It is clear that this is wholly around the lake shore and on land.
The AELTC’s planning application includes a lakeside walk constructed mainly as a boardwalk in the lake, as shown in dark blue on the second map attached to BERA’s letter. They are promoting this as a community benefit of their application.
This is disingenuous. The commitment to build a publicly accessible lakeside walk is quite separate from the current planning application and therefore cannot be a benefit derived from it. The commitment is also to build a lakeside walk around the lake, not in it.
We endorse BERA’s conclusion that the AELTC"s proposals are simply too large, that the AELTC is misleading the public and not fulfilling their obligations entered into in 1993...."...read the letters in full
