Neighbours criticise AFC Wimbledon extended alcohol sales plans

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents have criticised plans for a football stadium to serve booze later, saying punters already ‘wee in their gardens’ and even ‘fall asleep’ on the sofas in their building’s communal lounges.

Merton council has received plans from The Wider Interests of Football Limited to extend the opening hours of Plough Lane Stadium, home of AFC Wimbledon.

The application seeks to open the main stadium and allow the sale of alcohol from 9am to 11pm every day.

The main stadium currently opens at 110am from Sunday to Friday, opening an hour earlier on Saturdays. The closing times are currently 11pm from Monday to Saturday and 9pm on Sundays.

The application has received 11 objections from neighbours of the stadium. Concerns were largely raised over the disturbance caused by loud music that comes from the venue. One neighbour said the new opening hours would make it ‘impossible’ for residents to sleep.

One resident living in the block of flats next to the station said: “We have young kids and cannot open windows on match nights due to loud noise and disruption.

“We are also concerned over lack of security already being an issue with the activity on the grounds as members of the public have frequently accessed the communal areas of our property, acting with drunk and disorderly conduct, p******g up the walls in our communal garden and falling asleep on the sofa in our lounges.”

Regarding preventing crime and disorder, the applicant said in their application that the stadium will only be open to fans two hours after matches finish. They also said the stands of the venue will only be accessible by ticket holders from three hours before kick off, and that a senior member of staff would be supervising to encourage patrons to leave in an orderly fashion.

They added: “On football match days at the stadium, the stadium will have adequate stewarding and security supervision collectively as set out pursuant to the AFC Wimbledon Stewarding Plan agreed and approved by the Merton safety advisory group from time to time.”

The decision on the stadium’s extended opening hours will be discussed at a licensing sub-committee meeting for Merton Council on August 8.

Pictured top: Plough Lane Stadium, the home of AFC Wimbledon (Picture: Google Street View)