History

The St Margaret's Estate Residents Association was founded in December 1970 to combat unwelcome multi-occupational and commercial development. It aims to encourage the preservation and improvement of the Estate in keeping with its pleasantly residential character of single family dwellings.

The reason for the name and the boundaries is historical. The district was once largely parkland and formed the grounds of a few great houses. St Margaret's House, destroyed during the last war, stood on the Thames to the north of the Estate. It belonged in the first half of the 19th century to Lord Cassilis, Marquis of Ailsa, and later to the Earl of Kilmorey - names that are now reflected in the names of roads on the Estate. In 1854 the St Margaret's Estate was laid out for building and was divided into plots for family houses with a covenant limiting density. It became in effect the first garden suburb in this country.

In 1900 the postal address of all the houses in the roads on the Estate was still St Margaret's Estate. However the railway had already been sited and named to serve these residents and eventually the name St Margaret's was adopted for the whole of East Twickenham served by the station. The area of the original Estate is still in existence, still protected by the covenants and it is now a designated conservation area.

The St Margaret's Estate Residents Association (known colloquially as SMERA) is non-political and is recognised and consulted by the London Borough of Richmond, Central Government, local members of Parliament and representatives of the EU.

Since its inauguration the Association has been successful in many important issues of local concern, including representation in opposing undesirable neighbourhood development and commercial exploitation at public and written enquiries. The Association has made a major contribution to keeping down the speed and noise of traffic in The Avenue and St Margaret's Road; we campaigned to ensure the retention of the pedestrian crossing on the Estate side of the St Margaret's roundabout on the A316, thus preserving an essential and practical link with the station and the local shops; we pioneered the re-instatement of the Post Office in St Margaret's (which incidentally is under threat of closure now); lengthy negotiations with the old GLC and the former Twickenham MP, Toby Jessel, resulted in minimum road widening of the A316 and the retention of the mature trees lining the Avenue; we initiated discussions for a pedestrian crossing on St Margaret's Road and supported the resulting proposal to install the pelican crossing near the Ailsa Tavern; we arranged for the beautiful tree to be planted at the top of St Margaret's Drive and local residents plant fresh flowers around the tree for the spring and summer seasons. The Association has recently paid for more trees to be planted along St Margaret's Drive.

Although the Association tends to limit its activities to matters within its own boundaries, sometimes other considerations are taken into account. Because of possible repercussions of additional traffic through our own St Margaret's village it was decided to join the Richmond Society and other local amenity groups in persuading Richmond Council to abandon the controversial Town Centre Plan. Some of the proposals that were finally dropped involved re-routing buses around Richmond Green and making George Street into a pedestrian precinct. We joined in successful opposition to a proposed leisure centre and ice rink in the Old Deer Park which would have presented many environmental problems, not least a significant increase in traffic on the already congested A316. English Heritage has now amended the site boundary for Kew Gardens and the Old Deer Park, thus placing the whole area on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and giving it a Grade 1 status.

Apart from the Annual General Meeting to which all members are invited and at which local matters of interest are discussed, there is also a social side. Each year we hold a dinner or buffet at which for a modest contribution members can meet their neighbours living on the Estate. We also distribute a newsletter three of four times a year to every household on the Estate.

At any time we may be faced with fresh problems. The small membership fee keeps a fund available for legal action if required and a high membership helps make representations to local authorities and others. The annual subscription is £5 per household and covers every member of each household.