Happy New Year and welcome to 2025!
Since I became Executive Mayor, I’ve been committed to fixing the Council’s finances. To make the Council financially sustainable we have to do things differently, and as we head into the New Year, I’m looking forward to continuing the work of our Future Croydon Transformation Plan – to transform and modernise services to provide excellent customer care and value for money.
2025 is going to be a great year for Croydon with a new street cleaning contract coming into place by the summer. Whilst it’s the same contractor, Veolia, we’ve awarded a very different contract with improved street cleaning, a new night time waste and cleansing service, and an enhanced waste collection service for flats above shops. These new focuses are going to make a big difference to how our borough looks and feels.
Over the last few months, we’ve seen some positive steps toward the regeneration of our town centre which are set to continue. The hoardings around the Allders building are due to come down soon, with the much-loved building being brought back to life with seven units opening in the North End frontage for businesses to move in.
We will continue to work with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) on the redevelopment of the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres. There is a lot of interest and excitement in investing in our town and I’m looking forward to seeing their plans to recreate Croydon as an amazing place that people want to visit and stay in.
There will be changes to the South Norwood skyline this year with the first of the tower blocks on Regina Road being demolished as part of plans for regenerating the estate. Ahead of redevelopment plans being submitted later in 2025, we will continue to work closely with Regina Road residents to make sure they are at the heart of the future estate.
Our ‘blitz cleans’ have shown that when an area looks better it gets less fly-tipping and litter and positively impacts residents’ lives. This is why 2025 will see us moving into new areas to make a real difference and restore pride in more neighbourhoods.
It’s fantastic to see Croydonians represented in the New Year’s Honours list for 2025, including Alan Kurtz and Philip Poulton. Congratulations to Alan from Fishers Chemist in South Norwood who has been recognised for services to Community Pharmacy, and to Philip who was headteacher at Bensham Manor School, for his services to Children and Young People with special educational needs and disability (SEND).
As we see in the New Year with some colder weather, I’d like to thank everyone working to keep us all safe. If you can, please keep an eye out for older or more vulnerable neighbours, friends or relatives who might need a hand – if anyone needs support, there’s lots of information on the Council website.
Have a good weekend.
Jason Perry
Executive Mayor of Croydon
