A programme of workshops to explore the future of Croydon town centre kicks off this week, and will run through to Spring 2024, offering residents, businesses and partners the opportunity to get involved.
Croydon Council is creating a new strategy to underpin the town centre’s regeneration – a key priority for Executive Mayor Jason Perry. Croydon’s community groups, residents and businesses will be key to shaping Croydon’s vision.
A multi-disciplinary team led by consultants We Made That, experts in urban strategy, design and infrastructure, has been appointed to create a varied programme of community-led activities where participants will be able to influence the vision and strategy.
The first event is on Friday 8 December at 5.30pm, at Little Turf in Keeley Road, Croydon, led by local artist Lina Ivanova. Lina’s session, called Roots and Routes – Setting up in Croydon, is for individuals and businesses who have set up home in the borough to share their experiences and stories.
The next events are:
- Saturday 9 December, 10am, Turf Projects, Whitgift Centre: Family and schools workshop on Croydon’s secret spaces, led by visual artist and educator Asha Fontenelle
- Saturday 9 December, 2pm, Turf Projects, Whitgift Centre: Nothing About Us Without Us – Croydon storytelling, poetry and music workshop led by Melody Akanji
- Thursday 14 December, 6pm, Little Turf, Keeley Road: Starting from the Endz – Emotional Mapping, led by Resolve Collective
- Saturday 16 December, 2pm, Turf Projects, Whitgift Centre: Survey making workshop led by Turf Projects and Georgeenia Ariaratnam
The activities will continue into the new year and until Spring 2024, with family workshops and activity guides, community created surveys, and a symposium discussing how to make the town centre more accessible – all aiming to make sure the borough’s voices are heard.
The team led by We Made That also includes experts in the following fields: GHPA, planning; PRD, socio-economic development; Useful Projects, climate change and sustainability; Turf Projects, community engagement; Place Services, heritage and conservation, Civic Engineers, infrastructure and transport; Stockdale, finance.
Mayor Perry has been working closely with businesses and partners through the Town Centre Advisory Board to bring forward the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre, this regeneration strategy and the wider regeneration of the town centre.
Six infrastructure and public realm projects took a big step forward to improve connections throughout the town centre, following a successful bid for £18.5m by the council to the government’s Levelling Up Fund. The Reconnecting Croydon projects will enable residents and visitors to enjoy the town centre’s public realm and travel more easily through safer, greener and more pleasant routes.
“Listening to residents is a priority for me and we are looking to our residents to get involved in the planning for our town centre through these community-led workshops. This is a chance to have your voice heard and help to shape the vision for a revitalised town centre.”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon
Councillor Jeet Bains, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, said: “This is an exciting time for the regeneration of Croydon, following the announcement of funding for our Reconnecting Croydon programme and the launch of our town centre regeneration strategy engagement programme and we hope our communities will get involved.”
Tom Fox, Senior Associate at We Made That said: “We’re proud to be building on our work with Croydon Council to continue developing a transformative vision for the future of Croydon Town Centre. As one of London’s largest and most diverse boroughs, key to driving this forward is engaging and collaborating with the whole community, which is at the centre of our approach to developing the strategy with stakeholders. This is important work that will refresh the strategic thinking of the council, ensuring that the borough work with partners towards building a prosperous future for all.”
To find out more about the events, visit the Croydon Urban Room website.
Croydon Urban Room is part of the council’s Growth Zone Programme – a partnership between Croydon Council, the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) – to support sustainable growth in the town centre and projects to deliver regeneration.
