Sunny Newsagent Under Threat Again


Local shop again faces closure due to new planning laws

Sunny News in Wimbledon Park Road is again facing closure due to new planning laws that permit the landlord to change the use of the building from retail to residential.

Last June Wandsworth councillors unanimously refused a planning application that would have seen Sunny’s turned into residential accommodation.

Sunny's Newsagents Southfields

They decided that changing the use from retail to residential would have been “undesirable” because of the impact the loss of the neighbourhood shop would have had on residents in that part of the borough.

In their judgement, the loss of this important community hub and the withdrawal of the services and amenities it offers local residents would have had a detrimental effect on the neighbourhood.

However a new appeal against the original decision was permitted by Wandsworth's Planning Inspectorate at the end of January. The appeal and subsequent approval for a residential development was allowed under new Town and Country Planning legislation that came into effect in 2015 covering changes of usage from retail to residential.

The Inspectorate noted the substantial number of objections to the original proposal, but under the new legistaltiom was bound February 17, 2016other shops in the area which it found to be adequate for local needs.

Last summer the council agreed to designate Sunny’s as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), reflecting its contribution to the social fabric in the area.

The Southfields Triangle Residents' Association has set up a petition help save Sunny's from closure.

February 16, 2016