As you already know or may not know, up until 1964 the area known as Clapham SW4 used to be part of the Borough of Wandsworth until it was excised and merged with Lambeth along with Streatham. Clapham occupies a central position between all of its neighbours and depending on where you are in the neighbourhood, you are either closer to Brixton, Stockwell, Streatham, Balham or Battersea. Currently under Lambeth Council Clapham continues to suffer from being ignored in terms of service provision and development. Up until recently the area's facilties including the Common had been overlooked both in terms of planning and provision, street cleaning and socio-economic provision. While things have improved over the last year or so, very little seems to have been done to create a comprehensive plan for developing the area and whatever plans there are, appear to be choked up by the internal wranglings and bureaucracy within the Council. For example income generated from events on Clapham Common have been diverted elsewhere in the borough instead of being ploughed back to upgrade the Common and its facilities. We understand that the Council does not have a statutory duty to maintain the common and that the Common does not currently have a  Park Manager (there is only 1 Park Manager for the 8 parks in the Borough and he has resigned).  The streets of Clapham are frequently strewn with rubbish and litter and the pavements are not washed down like in most other areas with an entertainment economy. The rubbish bins on the high street stink when you walk past them and the Council does not seem to care.
 
Given the area's past history and its location, might it not make sense for it to be merged back with Wandsworth Council which has a much better development track record, also considering that half of the common lies within Wandsworth Borough? Any views/thoughts??

Paul M (local resident)