Focus Hall on the Alton Estate reopens today after a major refurbishment. A few hundred metres away, new fencing around the Mount Clare campus has made the Grade II*-listed Doric Temple visible from the road for the first time in years.
Neither will make any headlines beyond this one. But for residents of an estate that has endured two decades of grand plans, abandoned schemes and political upheaval, they are the kind of small, tangible change that people can actually see.
The community hall at 57 Minstead Gardens is marking its relaunch with a full day of free creative health activities and an official ribbon cutting at 2pm. Many residents on the estate do not know the building exists.
The programme runs from 10am to 4.30pm. Morning sessions include chair yoga and a journalling for wellbeing workshop. At lunchtime there is a drumming workshop run by Sanctuary for Sisterhood, head and shoulder massages, and food from Chantelle’s Kitchen. After the ribbon cutting, Ascend and Bloom CIC lead a dance session, followed by after-school activities from 3pm including facepainting, popcorn, games and music. Throughout the day there will also be bunting making, a community exhibition, a 3D printing demonstration, gardening activities and outdoor games.
Focus Hall sits among the Minstead Gardens sheltered housing bungalows, 35 homes built in the 1960s that back onto Richmond Park. The hall, also known locally as the DARA Club, is not well known even by locals. A 2018 blog post by the Roehampton community site roeregeneration noted that many Alton Estate residents were not aware of where the building was. The council’s own clubrooms page still lists it as closed. A new Community Clubroom Assistant, Sherret Angus, has been appointed to run the space.
Two decades of plans
The Alton Estate has been waiting for something to happen since at least 2006. Three separate regeneration plans have collapsed. The most recent under the Conservatives, a joint venture with developer Redrow for 1,108 homes, fell apart when Redrow pulled out citing costs.
When Labour took control of Wandsworth in 2022, ending 44 years of Conservative rule, it scrapped the Redrow scheme and started again. The new Alton Renewal Plan went to a resident ballot last autumn. Of those eligible, 34% voted yes, 7% voted no, and nearly 60% did not vote at all.
Earlier this month, the council’s planning committee approved the first phase: a nine-storey block on Danebury Avenue delivering 55 council homes alongside a new library, GP surgery and youth space. The old Co-op building on the site is still standing. Whether it gets demolished, and when, depends on money the council does not currently have.
Wandsworth goes to the polls on 7 May. The same administration may not be in power a month from now. The last time political control changed, the previous Alton plan was scrapped. There is no guarantee this one will survive either.
The temple behind the fence
The Doric Temple in the grounds of Mount Clare is one of Roehampton’s most significant historic structures: a Grade II*-listed Greek temple dating from the 1760s, possibly designed by Sir William Chambers, with a frescoed ceiling and sculptured panels. It was moved to the Mount Clare estate from Bessborough House in 1913.
Last November, Putney.news reported that the temple was in “very bad” condition, vandalised in 2017, secured but awaiting restoration funding. It sat behind temporary fencing, invisible from the road. New fencing installed this month has at least made it visible again, though it remains inaccessible to the public.
It is a small thing. But on an estate where change has been promised for 20 years, the things that have actually changed this month are a community hall and a fence. For now, that will have to do.
The Focus Hall relaunch is free, open to all ages, and no booking is needed for most activities. The journalling workshop requires registration in advance by emailing Laura Bassett at bugbearworkshops@gmail.com. There is no disabled access to the top floor of the building. The event is organised in partnership with Welcome to Wandsworth, the London Borough of Culture 2025 programme.
Focus Hall is at 57 Minstead Gardens, London SW15 4ER. For more information, contact communityclubroom@wandsworth.gov.uk or call 0208 871 5505.
Look at the cracks in the walls FGS.