Plans have been unveiled to resurface Tooting Bec Athletics Track, which could see a new track installed in time for the 2022 athletics season.

Councillors on the community services and open spaces overview and scrutiny committee will meet on November 25 to discuss a proposal to invest £527,000 in replacing the track.

The works would occur in early 2022, with a view to completing it in time for the athletics season in the summer.

The track is around 35-years-old and is a non-porous synthetic surface and is now reaching the end of its life expectancy.

The track is a local, regional, and national resource that caters for individual athletes, school, and club competitions, and provides for community use, sports development, and competitive athletics. It is the home to Herne Hill Harriers athletics club, which has been based at the track for over 80 years and has coached and supported athletes from grassroots to Olympic standard.

The athletics venue on Tooting Common offers the following:

Floodlit eight lane running track with sprint facilities

High jump fan inside the track, including a javelin runway

Double ended long jump/triple jump runway

Hammer/discus cage

A pavilion with fitness studio, fully equipped gym and changing rooms.

In 2019/20 more than 83,000 people visited the site with around half of those using the running track. Ten schools use the track on a regular basis, with a further 42 schools using it for school sports days.

The report written by the town hall's Director of Environment and Community Services Paul Chadwick urges members of the committee to support the proposal, concluding: "Such investment is considered invaluable in ensuring access to good quality standard facilities, encouraging our residents, especially our young people, to engage in sports activities.

"The track at Tooting Bec Athletics Track requires to be replaced to ensure it continues to provide facilities for the wider community, ensuring facilities are available to support the sporting continuum from grassroots to Olympic level and providing opportunity to access quality facilities to achieve the possible."

There has been a longstanding campaign from both Herne Hill Harriers as well as many others in the community, such as Tooting's MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan.

Herne Hill Harriers recently released a statement saying the announcement "is potentially a very exciting step forward".

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