Teddington's North Lane Car Park closed for good yesterday afternoon (January 5) as preparatory works began on the site for the redevelopment of Elleray Hall.

The car park has been vital for local businesses and residents over the years, many of whom will be left angry at its permanent closure, however it is set to make way for a new community centre which will be delivered in early 2024.

Elleray Hall for the past 45 years has been a social lifeline for the elderly within the Teddington community, a place for them to take part in a range of activities run by the Elleray Community Association and has remained an integral support service for Richmond Council. However, the building has become incredibly difficult to maintain over the years with soaring heating bills and its increasingly run down look, which led to proposals for its redevelopment that were approved in June 2022.

Under Council plans, a new community centre will be built on the site of the former North Lane Car Park whilst the old Elleray Hall building off Broad Street will be knocked down and replaced with 16 affordable flats which will part fund the new centre, and will include private gardens and communal spaces, car-free units with the exception of the two accessible wheelchair units and a car club space.

Yesterday's closure of the North Lane Car Park will allow building contractor Cosmur to erect hoardings and carry out initial archeological investigations which will take place from Monday, January 9th. Following this, the main construction works are due to start on 6 February 2023.

During the construction phase of the new centre, the current centre on Elleray Road will remain open to the public and services from the centre will continue to run. The Elleray Community Association will only move into the new building once it is complete, to allow for a continuous provision of its key services for older people.

Cllr Nancy Baldwin, Lead Member for Communities and the Voluntary Sector, said: "I am delighted that we now have a start date for work to commence on the long-awaited redevelopment of Elleray Hall. The plans for the site are hugely exciting. They will create a state-of-the-art community space which will serve the community long into the future. With flexible indoor and outdoor space, it will bring benefits to residents of all ages."

The plans for Elleray Hall have, however, been met with strong opposition from a group of Teddington residents. A petition against plans to build a new centre on the North Lane car park and to develop the old site was signed by over 1,500 signatures though the wording of a leaflet advertising it was later criticised for "containing false and misleading statements."

The group's main concerns are about the impact on parking spaces and congestion.

They have also slammed the way the consultation is being run and say the drawings of the affordable housing units are inaccurate.

Teddington's North Lane Car Park will make way for a new community centre with construction work set to begin in February.

"From the outset, the residents most directly impacted by the proposals have been made to feel at best peripheral and, at worst, overlooked entirely," they said, in an article for Nub News.

"The residents' petition – which has surpassed 1,000 signatures – sends a clear message that the Council's proposals are at odds with the needs of the local community," they added in a separate piece.

Despite the opposition, work has now begun on the North Lane Car Park site and following the completion of construction, the second phase will see the demolition of the existing community centre in early 2024 to make way for the affordable housing units, with the full project set to be completed by early 2025.

Cllr Jim Millard, Lead Member for Housing, said: "The provision of sixteen new affordable homes will be a welcome and much-needed addition to the housing in the local area. As a Council we are committed to making sure residents of all ages are able to live in Richmond upon Thames and enjoy all that our borough has to offer, as part of a thriving and diverse community. Delivering genuinely affordable homes like these will help us achieve this commitment."