Work is underway on the initial £30million of projects to make improvements to our town centre, as part of my new Town Centre Vision, including the Wellesley Road pedestrian crossing. The underpass will be permanently closed and filled, with a new street-level crossing introduced to connect East Croydon to the town centre. We will bring you further updates as this progresses.
I got a sneak peek into the works on the landmark Allders building to see the progress being made to bring it back to life. This autumn, seven new units will open in the refurbished shopfront, breathing fresh energy into North End. As someone who regularly visited Allders, this milestone feels especially significant. This is part of the masterplan by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) to reshape the rest of this key site, driving forward the bold transformation of our town centre.
I recently unveiled the landmark Victorian drinking fountain and plaque on the corner of the High Street and Surrey Street, which have been beautifully restored. Pupils from our Park Hill Junior and Krishan Avanti schools were involved through the Heritage of London Trust’s Proud Places youth engagement programme and thoroughly enjoyed it, even giving a speech at the opening event. Funded by the Trust, the restoration is part of our Amplifying Surrey Street project to revive this historic marketplace area, restoring pride in the area.
Keeping our residents safe
I know how important it is for people working, living and visiting the town centre to feel safe. We have been working with our partners through the Town Centre Taskforce to address homelessness and issues such as litter, fly-tipping and other antisocial behaviour. You will be hearing more about this work in the coming week and what we are doing to make our borough cleaner, safer and healthier for everyone – one of my top priorities.
Sunday (27 July) is your last chance to have your say on our consultation to renew the town centre PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order). The order gives Police extra powers to tackle street drinking, urinating in public, noise disturbances and other antisocial behaviour that we do not want to see on our streets. Have your say.
Croydon PrideFest 2025
We were proud to support Croydon PrideFest again this year and its values of inclusivity and celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community. Everyone braved the rain for the parade from the town centre to the festival in Wandle Park and it was great to see so many people taking part. Thank you to all the partner organisations, volunteers and performers who created a memorable event for our borough.
As a lifelong Palace fan, it was a special moment to lift the FA Cup during a recent visit to Selhurst Park – fresh from that unforgettable win at Wembley. I met with the club’s Executive Team, including chair Steve Parish to discuss the exciting stadium redevelopment and shared Croydon’s wider growth vision.
And finally – best of luck to the Lionesses on Sunday when they take on Spain in the Euros. We are all behind you.
Have a good weekend
Jason Perry
Executive Mayor of Croydon
