Balham court is earmarked for closure in a shake-up of the magistrates' court system in London.

The proposals will see courts across the capital closing and some new ones being built. The aim is to better use resources and cut over-capacity, but the news has led to fears local people will suffer.

The proposals have come from the new Greater London Magistrates Court Authority (GLMCA), which has been consulting for seven months on a raft of proposals ranging from leaving things as they are to creating just one supercourt' for the whole of London.

It has now plumped for an option somewhere in the middle. This will see three new courthouses being built in north London, Westminster and Greenwich.

Balham, along with six other courts including Kingston and Sutton, will close, with work absorbed into other courts.

Factors taken into account included the age and maintenance costs of buildings, the facilities available for the public and accessibility by public transport.

It is not yet clear where people who would normally go to Balham will go instead, but the GLMCA says this will be discussed during consultation.

This consultation exercise will be carried out in the new year. Once it is finished a detailed implementation plan will be drawn up.

The GLMCA says the changes will improve overall standards. It admits people may have to travel further but says no-one will face more than an hour's journey by public transport. The changes will be brought in by 2006.

GLMCA chairman Malcolm Cohen said the authority had taken an overview of the problems faced by magistrates' courts across London.

"This will involve some significant changes but we are convinced that our long term aims which almost all our stakeholders strongly supported are worth any short term inconvenience."

But the Green group on the Greater London Authority has complained the changes would mean weakening links between courts and the community and stop them reacting effectively to local needs.

And Balham town centre manager Sue Webber said the loss of any facilities in Balham was regrettable, especially in light of news that a big new supermarket has been given the go-ahead to be built at Clapham South.

December 27, 2001 09:00