Why does Putney have so few Open Houses?

Open House weekend, the annual opportunity to get inside some of our most historic or intriguing buildings and landmarks comes around again on 20th and 21st of September.

But as I commented last year, there is just one Open House building in Putney: Brandlehow School extension.

Surely a place with the history and heritage of Putney can do better than this? There are all sorts of innovative buildings from throughout the ages and while there may be some practical issues to overcome in enabling the public into them, could I suggest:

• Elliott School: of it's time a cutting edge design which, from on the top of Putney Hill and from its sixth floor offering fantastic panoramic views of London
• An architectural tour of the Alton Estate: regardless of your personal views on the estate there's a reason it has been listed - not least of which it's le Corbussier inspired design. It's time we started talking up, not running-down the Alton.
• Roehampton House, formerly part of the Queen Mary's Hospital complex, soon about to be reopened as apartments - and while we're at it, why not a tour of the rebuilt Queen Mary's?
• The Royal Hospital for Neuro-Disability in West Hill: the grandest building in Putney
• Sir Edwin Saunders' house on Wimbledon Parkside - another grand building, home to Queen Victoria's Dentist, currently being refurbished
• Some of the Roehampton University buildings - Mount Clare and Parkstead House amongst them but also the new halls of residence they've built in Holybourne Avenue
• The Lawn Tennis Association National Tennis Academy in Priory Lane - one of our newest buildings

We also have several historic and more modern churches and schools, rowing clubs and much, much more that, with a little imagination and leadership could put Putney on the Open House map.

But therein lies the reason why Putney is putting forward just one Open House venue: local leadership, or the lack thereof from our Conservative Member of Parliament and Conservative-run council. In fact there are just 15 Open House venues in the whole of Wandsworth borough. Even a tiny borough like Islington, at least five times smaller than Wandsworth geographically, has come up with 26.

You can find out more about this year's Open House events at http://www.openhouse.org.uk/