The Tooting Commons consist of two adjacent areas of common land lying between Balham , Streatham and Tooting , in south west London : Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common .
61-632: Since 1996, they have been wholly within the London Borough of Wandsworth , which has administered both commons since 1971. Between 1965 and 1995, the eastern part of Tooting Bec Common was within the adjacent London Borough of Lambeth . Wandsworth's Parks Department erroneously described the two historically separate spaces as Tooting Common for many years, but recent signage uses the plural title. Tooting Bec Common includes Tooting Bec Lido and Tooting Graveney Common includes Tooting Bec Stadium . Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common are
122-469: A "super-council". Each would retain its own political identity, leadership and councillors but staff and budgets would be combined for cost savings. Lambeth and Southwark likewise expressed an interest in sharing services. The management thinker and inventor of the Vanguard Method , Professor John Seddon , claims that shared service projects based on attempts to achieve economies of scale are
183-503: A London borough and its council to be changed. This was used by the London Borough of Hammersmith (changed to Hammersmith and Fulham) on 1 April 1979 and the London Borough of Barking (changed to Barking and Dagenham) on 1 January 1980. Borough names formed by combining two locality names had been discouraged when the boroughs were created. The London boroughs were created by combining whole existing units of local government and it
244-544: A korfball club, at Tooting) and cricket (Shiedam is one of the strongholds for cricket in the Netherlands). For many years the wartime connections were acknowledged during annual Remembrance Day commemorations in the two municipalities, either through an exchange of wreaths or by sending a representative. Within the context of both inter-business exchange and sporting fixtures, visits were also arranged by specific Wandsworth organisations such as Small Electric Motors and
305-420: A mix of a) the plausibly obvious and b) a little hard data , brought together to produce two broad assertions, for which there is little hard factual evidence. He argues that shared service projects fail (and often end up costing more than they hoped to save) because they cause a disruption to the service flow by moving the work to a central location, creating waste in hand-offs, rework and duplication, lengthening
366-417: A number of relatively small alterations in borough boundaries. London borough councils provide the majority of local government services (schools, waste management, social services, libraries), in contrast to the strategic Greater London Authority , which has limited authority over all of Greater London. The councils were first elected in 1964 , and acted as shadow authorities until 1 April 1965. Each borough
427-750: A pet Parrot escaping the confines of her cage and flying with parakeets in the south London skies, soaring into the lives of the Common People. 51°26′00″N 0°8′41″W / 51.43333°N 0.14472°W / 51.43333; -0.14472 London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth ( / ˈ w ɒ n d z w ɜːr θ / ) is a London borough in South West London , England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea , Balham , Putney , Tooting and Wandsworth Town . The borough borders
488-500: A smaller Wandsworth Events Police Service (WEPS) working with a team of 12 Metropolitan Police Officers. This system was deemed unsuccessful, and in 2015 the WEPS was rebranded as Wandsworth Parks and Events Police (WPEP) and returned to full staffing levels of 33 police officers and support officers. Also within the borough's boundaries are Putney Heath and part of Putney Lower Common, which are managed as part of Wimbledon Common , and
549-663: A teardrop representing the tears of the French Huguenots , many of whom settled in Wandsworth from 1685. The ship at the top may refer to the Wendels, a tribe of sea-raiders from the Continent who supposedly gave their name to the district, for Wendelsworth was an early variation of Wandsworth. The four shields and oars on the ship represent the four parishes of Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth. The dove to
610-625: A twin town arrangement with Schiedam , in the Netherlands, in 1946. A number of refugees from Schiedam who had lived for a time in Wandsworth during World War II hoped to maintain their connections with the London Borough during peacetime. The twinning was organised within the scope of the Dutch-English Sports Plan. In subsequent years multiple sporting fixtures between teams from the two areas were arranged including football, swimming, gymnastics, korfball (Wandsworth has
671-501: Is New Covent Garden Market . In terms of size, South Thames College , Southside Shopping Centre , Wandsworth and The Exchange Shopping Centre , Putney are among the largest secular structures. Secular architecturally most highly listed buildings include: Battersea Power Station , the Battersea Arts Centre (formerly town hall), Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability , Wandsworth Town Hall , as well as particularly
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#1732779869947732-600: Is Wandsworth London Borough Council . The area of the modern borough was historically part of the county of Surrey . From 1856 the area was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works , which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London . From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within
793-538: Is Wandsworth Council, based at Wandsworth Town Hall . Since 2000, for elections to the London Assembly , the borough forms part of the Merton and Wandsworth constituency. The borough contains three parliamentary constituencies: According to the 2021 census, Wandsworth has a population of 327,506. In 2021, 67.8% of the population was white, 10.1% black and 11.6% Asian. A 2017 study by Trust for London and
854-601: Is a local education authority . Shared services are borough council services shared between two or more boroughs. Shared services were previously resisted due to councils guarding their authority. However, as the need for budget cuts in the late 2000s became apparent some councils have sought service mergers. Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham were due to merge their education services, including school admissions and transport, by 2011. In October 2010, Hammersmith & Fulham , Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster announced plans to merge all their services to create
915-637: Is a continuous, signposted cycle route - primarily along designated cycle lanes - from Wandsworth Town and Battersea to Vauxhall , Lambeth , and the South Bank . Quietway 4 (Q4) runs from Clapham Common to Earlsfield in the Borough, through Wandsworth Common . The Wandle Trail is a shared-use trail for cyclists and pedestrians between Wandsworth Town and Waddon . The route is signposted and mainly traffic-free. It runs through Earlsfield, Colliers Wood, Morden , Mitcham , and Carshalton along
976-429: Is called Doctor Johnson Avenue . This was originally a country path leading from Streatham Place , and Doctor Johnson is reputed to have regularly walked here when visiting Hester Thrale . Until March 1970 it was called simply The Avenue . Tooting Bec Common includes a number of formal avenues of trees – the first such avenue to be recorded was a line of oaks to commemorate a visit by Elizabeth I in 1600. With
1037-631: Is divided into electoral wards , subject to periodic review, for the purpose of electing councillors. Council elections take place every four years, with the most recent elections in 2022, and the next elections due in 2026. The political make-up of London borough councils is dominated by the Conservative , Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. Twenty-eight councils follow the leader and cabinet model of executive governance, while five have directly elected mayors ( Croydon , Hackney , Lewisham , Newham , and Tower Hamlets ). The City of London
1098-906: Is instead governed by the City of London Corporation (and the Inner and Middle Temples, which are not governed by the City of London Corporation). There are four boroughs that do not have "London Borough" in their official names: the City of Westminster, and the Royal Boroughs of Kingston upon Thames, Kensington and Chelsea, and Greenwich. From the mid-1930s, the Greater London area comprised four types of local government authorities. There were county boroughs , municipal boroughs , urban districts and metropolitan boroughs . The large county boroughs provided all local government services and held
1159-662: Is the southern terminus for the West London Line that has services to Stratford via Shepherd's Bush , though some trains terminate at the West London Line's northern terminus at Willesden Junction . The western terminus for the East London Line also is at Clapham Junction that has services to Highbury & Islington via Denmark Hill . There is also a limited one train a day parliamentary train service that terminates at Battersea Park instead of Clapham Junction. London Underground services are provided on
1220-615: The A3205/Battersea Park Road , but the route leaves the Borough to the north over Chelsea Bridge . The route begins in Wandsworth Town and runs to Millbank , City of Westminster , passing Chelsea and the Tate Britain en route . Although CS8 leaves the Borough to the north, cycling infrastructure is provided along the entire A3205 route between Wandsworth Town and Nine Elms . This means that there
1281-521: The District line to East Putney and Southfields and on the Northern line to Battersea Power Station , Balham , Clapham South , Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway . Wandsworth London Borough Council and Transport for London (TfL) maintain cycling infrastructure in the Borough. Cycle Superhighway 7 (CS7) is an unbroken, signposted cycle route running through the southeastern portion of
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#17327798699471342-530: The London Borough of Lambeth to the east, the London Borough of Merton and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to the south, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames to the west, and to the north (across the River Thames ) three boroughs, namely the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham , the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster . The local authority
1403-721: The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and the Wandsworth District became the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth . The modern borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 . It covered the former borough of Battersea and the majority of the former borough of Wandsworth, but excluding the Clapham and Streatham areas, which went to Lambeth . The borough includes the major Clapham Junction railway station , which despite
1464-621: The New Policy Institute found that Wandsworth has the lowest rate of unemployment of any London borough. It also has the 2nd lowest rate of local employees who are low-paid. Five bridges join Wandsworth to the three London Boroughs on the north side of the Thames (from downstream following the river up): There are also a number of bridges crossing the River Wandle which runs through the centre of Wandsworth town and divides
1525-522: The Rediffusion factory, as guests of their counterparts at Schiedam companies such as Wilton Personnel and Pieterman Glass. In 1970 a large delegation from Wandsworth visited Schiedam for celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the town's liberation. Further sporting and cultural exchanges continued through to at least 1977. However, in 1997, an article in the Dutch local press observed that
1586-512: The West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway line in 1855, and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway line running north – south which opened in 1861 and was further widened in 1901 after this had become the main line to Brighton . The common today continues to be divided into multiple parcels by these busy transport links. Tooting Bec Common, comprising nearly 152 acres (62 ha),
1647-539: The 2001, 2011 and the 2021 censuses. Wandsworth has responsibility for three Metropolitan Open Spaces: These three large green spaces together with a range of smaller parks and playgrounds (such as Wandsworth Park ) are patrolled by Wandsworth Council's own parks police known from 1984 to 2012 as the Wandsworth Parks Police . From April 2012 the Parks Police team of 23 officers was replaced by
1708-563: The Borough's largest educational sites until 2005 when the college, again moved, this time to a site in Roehampton , where it is now a constituent College of Roehampton University . The borough's schools include Emanuel School , Graveney School , Southfields Academy , Burntwood School , Ashcroft Technology Academy , Ernest Bevin Academy , Ark Bolingbroke Academy, Ark Putney Academy and Chestnut Grove Academy. The dominant religion of
1769-508: The Borough. The route runs along the A24 and A3 roads, through Tooting , Balham , and Clapham . Northbound the route links the Borough directly to the City of London via Kennington , Elephant and Castle , and Southwark . Southbound, the route runs unbroken to Colliers Wood . Cycle Superhighway 8 (CS8) is an unbroken, signposted cycle route running through the northern edge of Wandsworth, through Battersea . The route runs east–west along
1830-768: The City of Westminster"). In 2000 the Greater London Authority was created, comprising the Mayor of London and the London Assembly . As a strategic authority, it absorbed only limited powers, such as major highways and planning strategy, from the borough councils. Sadiq Khan ( L ) Statutory Deputy Mayor Joanne McCartney ( L/Co ) London Assembly Lord Mayor Peter Estlin London boroughs ( list ) Vacant The London boroughs are administered by London borough councils (sometimes abbreviated LBCs), which are elected every four years. They are
1891-584: The Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the London borough councils responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. Several London borough councils and the GLC were involved in the rate-capping rebellion of 1985. On 1 April 1986 the GLC was abolished and
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1952-463: The borough councils gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as waste disposal . The Inner London Education Authority continued to exist as an ad hoc authority. In 1990 it was abolished and the Inner London borough councils also became local education authorities. The Local Government Act 1972 provided a mechanism for the name of
2013-439: The borough in two. National Rail services are operated from London Waterloo by South Western Railway to Earlsfield , Putney , Queenstown Road (Battersea) , Wandsworth Town and the borough's largest station, Clapham Junction . This last station is also served from London Victoria by Southern as are Balham , Battersea Park and Wandsworth Common . London Overground services mainly serve Clapham Junction , which
2074-428: The borough is Christianity , although the area is also home to a number of other religious communities. The community is home to a number of Sikhs , Jews , Muslims , Buddhists and Hindus . According to the 2011 Census, approximately 35% of Wandsworth identified as being non-religious , or chose not to state their faith. The following shows the religious identity of residents residing in Wandsworth according to
2135-475: The common. A few metres of grass behind the railings of the former Tooting Bec Hospital (redeveloped as the Heritage Park residential development) are now part of the common in exchange for the lost land. In 2016, there was a proposal to close Doctor Johnson Avenue and cover the tarmac with grass to make it part of the common. The proposal was overturned after nearly 70% of responses voiced opposition to
2196-541: The east of that name. The common is not immediately adjacent to the area now generally known as Tooting Bec . Tooting Graveney Common – the southern and western part of the commons – was in Tooting parish and a thin line of other common land ran further south down Church Lane towards the River Graveney . During the 19th century, the commons at Tooting were divided by building of roads and railways – starting with
2257-438: The existence of an Inner London Education Authority , praised by official Opposition and government who further noted that unusually the former County of London's many small local authorities had no history of providing education. The City of London continued to be administered by the City of London Corporation , and the Inner and Middle Temples continued to govern their own areas. Elections were held on 7 May 1964 , with
2318-474: The idea. The two commons are recognised as being of Site of Metropolitan importance for Greater London because they include a number of rare wildlife habitats. Although the woodland areas are the most obvious, the unimproved areas of acid grassland are actually far rarer. The two commons were the location for an award-winning British Independent Film, Common People (2013), written/directed by and starring Kerry Skinner and Stewart Alexander. The plot concerns
2379-505: The interiors of the large Gala Bingo Club, Tooting , the former Granada Theatre , St John's Hill, Clapham Junction by Theodore Komisarjevsky , and in terms of ornate mansions a cluster of five large stone and brick buildings mostly converted to diverse public uses in and around Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton at grade II* or above. In Old Battersea two fine masonry mansions survived The Blitz : Old Battersea House and Downshire House —both hold rare Grade II* status. The local authority
2440-545: The left is taken from the former Battersea coat of arms and the black dragon to the right was taken from the former Wandsworth arms and also refers to London, being similar to the City of London coat of arms. The Borough is informally twinned with the village of Villers-Plouich , in Northern France. This association dates back to World War I, following the role played by the Wandsworth Battalion in
2501-533: The liberation of Villers-Plouich in 1917, and again, following recapture, in 1918. Writing in the 'Wandsworth Borough News' in 1920, Robert H Harker, a Lieutenant in the Battalion, described the cemetery in the village as "an inseparable link between our great Borough and that village of Villers-Plouich, near the Somme" . For his courage and determination during the hostilities, Corporal Edward Foster , of Tooting,
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2562-424: The loss of elms along Tooting Bec Road to Dutch Elm Disease , many visitors are now immediately aware of late Victorian era plantings of horse chestnuts on the boundaries, but there are some much older trees – including the oaks parallel to Garrad's Road which are the successors to an avenue first recorded in the 17th century. In the 1990s the junction of Tooting Bec Road and Church Lane was widened, encroaching on
2623-491: The metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards . One such district was the Wandsworth District , containing the six parishes of Battersea , Clapham , Putney , Streatham , Tooting Graveney and Wandsworth . In 1888 Battersea was removed from the district to be governed by its own vestry . In 1900 the lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs . The parish of Battersea became
2684-593: The name is in Battersea not Clapham. There are many new or refurbished buildings along the borough's prosperous riverside including the large Chelsea Bridge Wharf. The Peace Pagoda , one of many such international pagodas, is in Battersea Park, a sprawling rectangle often hosting circuses beside the Thames . The London Heliport , London's main and busiest heliport, is just beyond Battersea Park, and south of this
2745-517: The new councils acting as shadow authorities before coming into their powers the following year. The boroughs were created as follows. Some relatively minor changes have been made to the boundaries of boroughs since 1965, and two have changed their names. Between 1965 and 1986 the boroughs were part of a two-tier system of government and shared power with the Greater London Council (GLC). The split of powers and functions meant that
2806-473: The powers usually invested in county councils. The municipal borough and urban district authorities had fewer powers. The situation was made more complex because county councils could delegate functions such as elementary education and library provision to the municipal borough and district councils, and this was implemented piecemeal. Reform of London local government sought to regularise this arrangement. The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London
2867-578: The principal local authorities in London and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection and roads. Some London-wide services are run by the Greater London Authority , and some services and lobbying of government are pooled within London Councils . Some councils group together for services such as waste collection and disposal . The boroughs are local government districts and have similar functions to metropolitan boroughs . Each borough council
2928-655: The provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882 . In the London boroughs the legal entity is not the council, as elsewhere in the country, but the inhabitants incorporated as a legal entity by royal charter (a process abolished elsewhere in England and Wales under the Local Government Act 1972 ). Thus, a London authority's official legal title is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of X" (or "The Lord Mayor and Citizens of
2989-465: The relationship with Wandsworth had lapsed. SW4 (part), SW8 (part), SW11 (all), SW12 (part), SW15 (part), SW16 (part), SW17 (part), SW18 (part), SW19 (part) London boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London , England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at
3050-460: The remains of common land that once stretched as far as Mitcham. Tooting Bec Common – the northern and eastern part of the commons – was within the historic parish of Streatham, and takes its name from the area's links to Bec Abbey at Le Bec-Hellouin in Normandy . At various points in history this common has been called Streatham Common, which causes some confusion with the open space a mile to
3111-523: The review a series of relatively minor adjustments were made to borough boundaries, for example uniting the whole of the Becontree estate in Barking and Dagenham . The commission noted that many of its recommendations were strongly opposed and were not implemented. The boundary of the City of London with adjacent boroughs was adjusted to remove some anomalies. The London boroughs were incorporated using
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#17327798699473172-414: The same time as Greater London on 1 April 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) and are a type of local government district. Twelve were designated as Inner London boroughs and twenty as Outer London boroughs. The City of London , the historic centre, is a separate ceremonial county and sui generis local government district that functions quite differently from a London borough. However,
3233-600: The two counties together comprise the administrative area of Greater London as well as the London Region , all of which is also governed by the Greater London Authority , under the Mayor of London . The London boroughs have populations of between 150,000 and 400,000. Inner London boroughs tend to be smaller, in both population and area, and more densely populated than Outer London boroughs. The London boroughs were created by combining groups of former local government units. A review undertaken between 1987 and 1992 led to
3294-672: The way. The Santander Cycles bike-sharing system operates in Putney , Wandsworth Town, and Battersea. In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were (of all residents aged 16–74): Whitelands College was founded Chelsea in 1842 by the Church of England , and heavily under the influence of John Ruskin . In 1930/1931 the college relocated to West Hill (Wandsworth Borough) and occupied an enormous purpose-built site, with buildings designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott . These buildings, now listed, were one of
3355-425: The west side of Clapham Common , which is managed by the London Borough of Lambeth . The armorial bearings retain many of the features of the arms of the former Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth . The fess, or crossing, of the shield is chequered blue and gold representing the arms of William de Warren, created first Earl of Surrey by William Rufus . Each gold square bears
3416-789: Was awarded both the Victoria Cross and the Médaille militaire . A green heritage plaque was unveiled at his former home at Tooting in 2017, and in 2018 a memorial in his name was established on the outskirts of Villers-Plouich. Following the end of the War the village was adopted by the then Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth under the British 'League of Help' scheme, and funds were donated towards its reconstruction. A deputation from Wandsworth regularly visits to commemorate this connection, most recently in 2018. Wandsworth first established
3477-581: Was consensus for the change between all the relevant local authorities. This provision was used to exchange two islands on the River Thames between Richmond upon Thames and Surrey. (See List of Greater London boundary changes .) The Local Government Boundary Commission for England was established by the Local Government Act 1972 to review periodically the boundaries of Greater London and the London boroughs. The first review of boundaries commenced on 1 April 1987 and reported in 1992. Following
3538-437: Was established in 1957 and the report was published on 19 October 1960. It proposed 52 "Greater London Boroughs" with a population range of 100,000 to 250,000. This was made up of a mixture of whole existing units, mergers of two or three areas, and two boroughs formed as the result of a split. In December 1961 the government proposed that there would be 34 boroughs rather than 52, and detailed their boundaries. The proposed number
3599-512: Was further reduced to 32 in 1962. On 1 April 1965, the 32 London boroughs and Greater London were created by the London Government Act 1963 . Twelve boroughs in the former County of London area were designated Inner London boroughs and the 20 others were designated Outer London boroughs. Outer London borough councils were local education authorities , but Inner London borough councils were so designated primarily to continue
3660-531: Was one of the first commons which the Metropolitan Board of Works took action to preserve following the Metropolitan Commons Act of 1866 when in 1873 it acquired the manorial rights for £13,798. In 1875, the MBW acquired Tooting Graveney Common of 66 acres (27 ha) for £3,000. The road marking the boundary between the two commons (and the historic parish boundary between Streatham and Tooting)
3721-588: Was realised that this might provide arbitrary boundaries in some places. The London Government Act 1963 provided a mechanism for communities on the edge of Greater London to petition for transfer from London boroughs to a neighbouring county district. This was used in 1969 in the transfers of Knockholt in Bromley to Kent, and of Farleigh and Hooley in Croydon to Surrey. The Act also provided for transfers between London boroughs and neighbouring counties where there
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