Redesigning Morden town centre should spark a major redevelopment of the area, a councillor has said.

Merton Council has revealed plans to remove the bus stand outside Morden Tube station and pave over the area, creating more space for pedestrians, and carry out tree planting and road alteration work.

Lower Morden councillor Maurice Groves said he was hopeful the plans would come to fruition and said they could be the basis for major town centre redevelopment.

It is not clear when the changes would take place but Coun Groves said work to make plans a reality could begin next year.

He said: “There is optimism that things will go forward quicker than in the past. A small input then attracts other developers to come in.”

A big development would probably make use of the car park between the Tube station and Sainsbury’s supermarket.

Substantial parts of the town centre are owned by Transport for London, making a large-scale development more straightforward than if the land was in different hands.

Coun Groves compared the plans to a similar scheme around Wimbledon station forecourt and the surrounding area, which began earlier this year and is set to finish in April, including wider pavements and new trees, signs and pedestrian crossings.

People living and working in Morden told our reporter Jack Zorab they wanted to see improvements to the area including more shops and a better layout.

John McCarthy, 61, postman: "The park’s lovely here, it really is special but the big house in it closed down three years ago. I’d like to see something going on there because it’s lovely inside. But there are too many takeaways and cash converters.”

Zilvinas Balciauskas, 37, manager at Morden Sainsbury's: “The shops are good enough. If you go up-market I don’t think people will be able to afford it. At Sainsbury’s we have a lot of older people shop here. I don’t know if the busy theatres of Wimbledon would work here.”

Paula Cochran, 44, housewife: “I think new shops will bring people here but rents are too high for the owners. I go to Kingston for clothes and stuff for the kids. It’s a shame because I should be spending my money locally here.”

Frank Ganley, pub owner: “More parking spaces, more shops, clean up the underground. I want to see one of the bigger shops, one the anchor chains coming here. If they’re going to put yellow lines everywhere they need to offer more car parks.”

Farhana Jaffer, 29, banker: “Just a bit more variety because there’s not a lot to in Morden. We go out for lunch sometimes at work but for after work the pubs around here are a bit old man-ish.”

Sharon August, 39, housewife: "It’s the layout I think which needs a radical rethink. They’ve spent money in Wimbledon, and it’s needed here as well.”

What do you think? How would you improve Morden town centre? Leave a comment below, call 020 8722 6336 or email: cburnett@london.newsquest.co.uk.