Saving Atkinson Morley's Hospital Green Space
 and Working for a Greener London

WHAT IS LUNG?

Mission statement

National Issues

The Local Campaign

LUNG Committee

Morley Park Trust

Over the last twenty years local residents have ‘seen off’ various attempts to build on this large green open space.  Local residents' associations have supported the protection of the site for some time.  In September 2002 it was thought best to set up an ‘independent’ action group, with their joint support and backing, but separate in name and more specifically focused on saving this land as a green space and environmental “green lung”  for posterity. Appropriately, this local action group is called LUNG (Land for Urban Neighbourhood Greenspace)

Mission Statement

LUNG's foremost aim is to represent the residents of West Wimbledon who are anxious to protect the heritage and environment relating to the site being vacated by Atkinson Morley's Hospital. LUNG is therefore committed to action on two fronts that are both inter-related and of equal importance:

(1) To maintain the current boundaries of the Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) against any future development and ensure continued public access to this land.  To this end, we are looking to have the MOL sold to an independent Trust.

(2) To make sure that any development on the ‘brown field’ part of the site -- which has already been built upon by the Hospital -- is of good quality design and construction, and that proper consideration is made of the impact of the development on the surrounding area (e.g. transport, environment, parking etc)

MORLEY PARK TRUST Ltd
LUNG has formed a company limited by guarantee called Morley Park Trust Ltd (MPT), which has been set up so that it will be able to acquire the MOL when St George’s Healthcare Trust disposes of the Atkinson Morley’s Hospital grounds.

It is neither automatic nor inevitable that the grounds will come to Morley Park Trust, but that is our determination.  Morley Park Trust is however an appropriate legal vehicle for us to be able to do this.  Work done by the Residents’ Associations over recent years, and by LUNG since its formation in September 2002, has enormously strengthened the position of the local community in gaining recognition of local wishes for the use of the land.  Merton’s planners fully support the aims and practical work of LUNG, and there has been promising discussion with St George’s Healthcare Trust recently. 

The Board of Morley Park Trust also initiated an application to the Charity Commissioners so that MPT would have charitable status and the protections that that affords.  The Trust was awarded charitable status by the Charity Commission on 20th November 2003. Registered number 1100817. Click here for further details.

Having acquired the MOL section of the AMH grounds, Morley Park Trust will manage it for the benefit of the local community, into the future, as promised by LUNG when LUNG was set up.  Because LUNG is now well known, we shall continue to use the name LUNG alongside the name Morley Park Trust while there is still doubt about the fate of the AMH MOL.  When the MOL has been given to a community group to own and manage, we will review what to do with MPT.  If MPT is offered the ownership of the land, we will disband the LUNG group and focus all effort through the more appropriate MPT.  For a time, though, the two names will co-exist.