Thanks to everyone who lives, works and studies in Merton who took the time to get involved in the Your Merton engagement exercise in the spring and summer of 2021. We had more than 10,000 visits to our website and comments from all parts of the borough. What you told us about your community and our local area is being used to plan how we recover from COVID-19 and develop an ambition for the borough. We expect to launch this in January in 2022 but in the meantime you can find out what was said in the detail reports below.
What we did
- We asked a specialist research company to carry out telephone interviews with a random sample of 1000 adults and 100 young people
- We set up an open access website where anyone could tell us about their experience of living in Merton, the impact of the pandemic and their ambitions for the borough
- We asked 13 local community groups to hold special focus groups to make sure we heard from seldom heard voices
- We held a deliberative workshop with 25 residents to explore some of the key themes in detail
What you told us
- Assets – Residents were most positive about the green space and sense of community in their local area. Maintaining and improving these assets were central to their ambitions for the future.
- Frustrations – Residents were frustrated by traffic and litter. Addressing these frustrations was central to their ambitions for the future.
- Experiences of the pandemic – Residents highlighted the impact of isolating and social distancing on their wellbeing, which was particularly challenging for community groups.
- Ambitions – Regenerating high streets and making best use of green space underpinned residents ambitions
You can read the full details of the telephone survey along with all previous residents surveys.
You can view comments that were submitted on the Your Merton website. We also asked over 2000 children and young people about their experiences of the pandemic and you can find out what they told us.