Work underway on refurbishment of Tooting Bec Athletics Track

A specialist contractor is now on site and beginning the task of replacing the running track – with the timescale set so that semi-professional athletes and school pupils should be able to enjoy their new running surface in the summer.

The £500,000 cost of replacing the track is being funded from council budgets.

Community services spokesman Cllr Steffi Sutters, who visited the track this week to check on progress, said she was delighted the project was now underway.

She said: “This is great news for the many local schools that use the track and also for the Herne Hill Harriers Athletics Club which is based there and has used this wonderful resource in Tooting to coach athletes to Olympic and international standard.

“It is thanks to the careful and prudent management of the council’s finances that we have been able to set aside the significant sum of £500,000 to carry out this work.

“Unlike some boroughs which don’t have even one high quality running track, here in Wandsworth we are lucky to have two. We fully recognise the important role they play in developing young talent which is why we judged it vital to deliver the funding needed to replace the track and safeguard its future.”

The track at Tooting is a local, regional, and national resource which caters for individual athletes, school and club competitions and provides for community use, sports development and competitive athletics.

Herne Hill Harriers have been based at the track for over 80 years and coach local athletes from grassroots level to Olympic standard.

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

It boasts:

▪ Floodlit eight lane running track with sprint facilities
▪ Internal steeplechase runway
▪ High jump fan inside the track, including a javelin runway
▪ Shot putt circle
▪ Double ended long jump/triple jump runway
▪ Double ended pole vault runway
▪ Hammer/discus cage
▪ Seating for 400 spectators
▪ A pavilion with fitness studio, fully equipped gym and changing rooms.

The track is one of two council-owned athletics venues in the borough. The other is located in Battersea Park at its Millennium Arena.