I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter break and that Croydon’s children and young people are settling back in at school for the summer term.

Wandle Park café

I know how much the café at Wandle Park means to residents in Waddon and beyond and I understand the frustration felt over the delays in re-opening the café while the Council secures a new operator. I am pleased to confirm that we are now in the final stages of procuring a new, experienced operator and we hope to see it re-open this spring.

I visited Wandle Park in September to meet with residents and we discussed the need for new play equipment for younger children. I am very pleased to update that we have since introduced new playground equipment at Wandle Park for our borough’s children to enjoy. This follows the new playground and restoration of the viewing platforms at nearby Waddon Ponds park.

Thornton Heath Community Action

It is always valuable to hear directly from residents about how we can support their communities and I updated residents at the recent Thornton Heath Community Action meeting on what we have been doing in their area. Using UK Shared Prosperity Funds (UKSPF), the Council is investing £220k to improve green spaces in Thornton Heath, including a learning garden for children at Colliers Water Lane, and improvements to The Pond and the Clocktower.

We have stepped-up enforcement, tackling illegal unauthorised Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and underage vape sales to young people across the borough. Progress has been made and there is more to come.

Making contacting Croydon easier

We have started a trial of an AI Assistant on the Council website, to help our residents find answers to questions about managing council tax accounts more quickly and easily. We receive more than one million contacts per year and by using this technology, we can speed up our response times.

The project is part of our wider programme to modernise Croydon’s website and digital tools. There will be no change to our contact centre support and our telephone advisors will still be on hand to help with more complex queries. Do tell us what you think about the pilot using the feedback form and find out more here.

The national flag of England was raised outside the Town Hall on Wednesday to mark St George’s Day – thank you to everyone who attended.

Finally, the FA Cup semi-finals take place this weekend and I wish Palace well – I will be cheering them on!

Have a good weekend.

Jason Perry

Executive Mayor of Croydon