The capital’s riots in the summer of 2011 were profound. The swathes of violence carried out by a seemingly disenfranchised demographic shook London to its core.
In the case of Croydon, an area hit particularly hard by the unrest, London Mayor, Boris Johnson, responded with a £23 million injection of capital to kick-start commercial growth, transport and infrastructure development.
Croydon already has an ambitious strategy, comprising five master plans, with £18 million of the new funding earmarked for the Connected Croydon programme to transform public realm accessibility in the borough, £5 million to support town centre businesses, adding to more than £70 million in public and private partner regeneration investment.
‘Our objective is to establish Croydon as a European city of the future, and integral to that is attracting further investment in the borough from developers and corporate occupiers,’ said Jon Rouse, chief executive of Croydon LBC.
‘The master plans are designed to improve the look and feel of the public realms around Croydon’s town centre, and to improve access to the retail centre.’
Stephen Mcdonald, executive director for planning and environment at Croydon Council, added: ‘The additional £23 million [from the mayor] is important because it allows us to accelerate the works already in progress to transform the public realms in an around Croydon town centre.’
Among the proposals is a package of measures focusing on redevelopment across the East Croydon public realm for completion in 2015. The East Croydon masterplan was adopted as interim planning guidance in March last year, with the council aiming to unlock pedestrian links between the east and west central zones of the town whilst systematically joining up the public realm. It will revamp East Croydon station’s concourse areas and de-clutter and repave walking areas to nearby George Street and Wellesley Road.
Described by the council as the ‘gateway’ to the borough, work on improving linkages for passengers, commuters and visitors between the revamped station areas will be facilitated by a landmark new DDA compliant pedestrian footbridge.
Work on the £20 million bridge has reportedly begun, following the granting of planning permission and £14 million funding secured via Network Rail. An additional £4.4 million is expected in funding from Transport for London.
Access to adjoining station platforms and enhanced disabled access is core to the aims for one of the most country’s most important transport hubs outside central London and key to creating a new sense of place.
Moreover, the aesthetic overhaul of the station will be both complemented, and linked by major bordering commercial and residential developments. Granted planning permission in July last year, Ruskin Square will help re- invigorate the urban quarter bordering the station areas such as Landsdowne road.
Developer, Stanhope, and partner, Shroders, are pioneering an 8.5 acre mixed use scheme at Dingwall road, including cafes, restaurants, community facilities and more than 500 new and affordable homes.
Regeneration specialists Menta are also working on plans to reinvigorate a site at Cherry Orchard Road including proposals for two residential buildings including a 55 storey tower, up to 500 homes for social and shared ownership, 6,000 sqm of office accommodation, cafes, a hotel and cementing links to the new footbridge via a link from Cherry Orchard Square.
‘The approach we’ve adopted over the last two years is to get things delivered,’ explained Mike Kiely, director of planning and building control at Croydon Council.
‘Croydon is growing significantly. In the next few years we expect Croydon will grow by 65,000 and 20,000 will move out. We’re planning for an increasing amount of new homes. The thinking, capacity and infrastructure is there to do it,’ he explained.
Architecturally and culturally, Croydon may not have always attracted the plaudits in recent years - a case in point for delegates at a recent Develop Croydon conference - but a desire to transform the image of the borough for residents, community groups and businesses in London and from a wider spectrum underpins an important perception change for the area.
The Croydon Opportunity Area Planning Framework (COAPF) provides supplementary guidance to the overarching London plan but the council have worked closely with the Greater London Authority to ensure a synchronisation with their core strategy objectives.
At the heart of the strategy, and perhaps the fulcrum of the proposals, is the Mid Croydon masterplan to develop the mayor’s vision of Croydon’s Metropolitan Centre, which aims to trumpet its recognition as a major retail, commercial and transport hub for South London. The areas surrounding the Old Town Hall, Clocktower, Queen’s Gardens and the listed art deco gas board building have suffered from poor quality public realm design. The masterplan, due for adoption in 2012 with £600,000 in funding aid from the Croydon Capital Programme, will look to visually improve the Town Hall neighbourhood, ease access to Queen’s Gardens through a new cafe and connect a new civic square with the Fairfield area. LBC will work with a variety of partners including Transport for London, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Whitgift Foundation, Minerva and Nestle, illustrating the importance of a consensual approach to regeneration with local stakeholders - (although at the time of writing, Nestle have announced a relocation of their head offices to Gatwick).
Separate masterplans for West Croydon (adopted interim planning guidance July 2011), Wandle Park (in delivery) and Fairfield (due for adoption 2012) are at various stage in the planning pipeline, but a key interlocutor for cross district change is the range of connectivity improvements planned for Wellesley Road.
‘TFL has produced a traffic model and we’re looking at how we can connect Croydon up again and humanise it,’ said Kiely, explaining how such first stage early wins will be complemented by moves to rationalise all elements of traffic such as trams and buses to reduce and free up road and maximise space between the retail and civic quarters of the town.
But the promotion of new walking and cycling routes to urban green spaces as part of Sustran’s Connect 2 project aims to integrate Croydon more fully into wider national initiatives, working well with the future extension of the Legible London scheme for borough.
‘Connected Croydon tells the story’, explained Kiely, ‘when the riots happened and money was made available we were able to respond to that in a professional, cost effective way. ‘The masterplan is very clear about what needs to be done and is realistically costed.’
But civic renewal fundamentally requires support and commitment not only at a local government level, but resident, community groups and local businesses crucial to supporting essential services in the area. The Croydon Business Improvement District, funded by a small annual local businesses levy, run the Croydon Visitor Centre and help provide additional services to the borough.
They have recently secured a second five-year term following an electoral ballot which will help to support the vision of improving Croydon Town as an attractive place for residents, businesses and tourists alike for the foreseeable future.
Max Menon, chairman of Croydon BID said: ‘The backing that businesses gave to the BID’s renewal represents a huge vote of confidence in Croydon’s future. We were particularly delighted with the result in view of the events that occurred in the town in August and the economic pressures that many businesses continue to face.
‘Our focus will remain on funding initiatives that are important to the business community, including security and environmental improvements and events to help change perceptions of the town and encourage more people to visit.’
Croydon is in the throes of urban regeneration, and the aftermath of the riots has only seemed to galvanise more explicitly a long standing commitment to building for its future, something LGN will be keeping a close eye on.
