Published 5 February 2024
With the Town Centre being the topic we get asked most about nowadays, we’ve been trying to get a better understanding of where the land lies (quite literally in some cases!)
The last official update we had on all things Town Centre regeneration (including anything “Westfield” related) was back in November 2023 when we attended the annual Develop Croydon Conference (a reminder of that can be found HERE).
As an event focused on the “next chapter of Croydon’s regeneration story” with a specific panel discussion on “re-imagining the Town Centre” we were excited to hear more about what was in store but left feeling a little deflated.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) in their own words were “keeping cards close to their chest” and no one from the Council side seemed to be able to give any clear timelines. However, the event did give us confidence that things were happening and with the buzz phrases of the day being “listening to the community” and “working collaboratively”, we were looking forward to hearing more about how Croydon residents could have their say.
Since then though, it’s all gone a little quiet, so we did some digging…
Trying to understand how the Public Consultation process (which is already underway!) will work has proved complicated, in part because of multiple landowners/stakeholders and multiple organisations and layers/departments within those organisations (although skeptics may argue there are other reasons for not heavily publicising activities that encourage the public to have their say).
A (simplified) reminder of the two key areas of Central Croydon:
The main shopping area of the town centre (majority URW-owned land)
URW owns the large majority of land (now referred to as ‘North End Quarter’) which includes Centrale, Whitgift and Allders shopping centres/spaces (*see map below*). As a private landowner, they are working on their own regeneration strategy for this area, but this will include elements of public consultation, brought together by the Croydon Urban Room.
The wider town centre (majority Council-owned land)
In Dec 2023, the Council contracted ‘We Made That’ to lead a multi-disciplinary team to create a 15 year strategy (aka Town Centre Regeneration Strategy or TCRS) for the wider town centre. This team includes sustainability consultant Useful Projects, heritage and conservation adviser Place Services, planning expert GHPA, Civic Engineers and socio-economic development adviser PRD and local ‘homegrown’ creative group Turf Projects.
When it comes to Residential Public Consultation (and how local residents can have their say in plans), over recent months, Turf Projects have been delivering a series of workshops to get the public involved. From Spring 2024, the Croydon Urban Room will provide a central hub for further consultation activities including talks, workshops and events.
If you’re thinking “why wouldn’t all public consultation happen in the Croydon Urban Room?” you’d be asking the same question we were. That was the plan but, a building delay (how apt for Croydon!) led to this current separation of activities.
A bit about them both:
Turf Projects
Founded in 2013 by Croydon locals, Turf Projects is Croydon’s homegrown artist space and the first entirely artist-run contemporary art space in the borough. Turf explore how creativity can help bring people together, understand each other better, and feel empowered to make change. Consultation activities (including workshops, talks, exhibitions) led by local artists are already taking place in both of their buildings (Turf in the Whitgift Centre and Little Turf behind Centrale) but there are more to come.
Croydon Urban Room
This new physical space is due to open in the Whitgift centre in Spring 2024. It aims to provide a space for Croydon residents, workers and visitors to share ideas, suggestions, concerns and aspirations for the development of the town centre. At the heart of the project is an objective to increase access and understanding of the planning process, focusing specifically on underrepresented communities. The ideas, conversations and strategies developed across the project will develop clear priorities for the future of both the North End Quarter and the wider town centre.
So, if you’re keen to learn more about plans for the Town Centre (and if you want to get involved and have your say) take a look at the activities and events below. We will continue to add to this list as more activities are announced. You can also follow Croydon Urban Room and Turf Projects on socials for direct updates.
Understandably, Public Consultation (especially given Croydon’s history) will always (and should always) come with a degree of cynicism. It’s worth keeping in mind the first draft of the overall Town Centre Regeneration Strategy (led by ‘We Made That’) is due to be delivered in June 2024 (and all public consultation projects should be feeding into that). However, as it’s a 15-year strategy (and no doubt will be tested, developed and tweaked along the way) we hope that all public consultation activities taking place over the coming years will be taken into account.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES:
Opening of the Croydon Urban Room
Date: Thurs 18 April
The Croydon Urban Room is opening on Thursday 18th April! You can drop in to the space between 10am and 5pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays to have a chat with the team or explore and contribute to the exhibition. Meanwhile, keep an eye out on the What’s On page to see all the upcoming events and workshops in the space.
‘Croydon’s Future Spaces’ Exhibition
Date: Thurs 18 April to Sat 25 May 2024
‘Croydon’s Future Spaces’ is an interactive display at the Croydon Urban Room which offers visitors the opportunity to test and shape the vision for their Town Centre. Over the last few months, the team have explored how the town centre works for local communities, and listened to what sort of changes people would like to see in the future. Your input will help guide the next stage of the strategy. The interactive display is running from 17th April to 25th May, and visitors are welcome Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 10am and 5pm.
More info can be found HERE.
‘Roots and Routes – Setting the Scene in Croydon’
Date: Sat 27 April
Join this creative workshop combining photography, AI and ceramics to test out ideas to improve Croydon’s build environment. Led by the local artist and photographer Lina Ivanova, this series builds on work Lina has been doing over the past 6 months working with local businesses and incoming / migrant communities.
More info can be found HERE.
‘Please Dream Responsibly – a Croydon reimagining’
Date: Sat 4 May
Are you a Croydon local aged 14-21? Ever wondered how decisions about our town centre are made? Or imagined changing Croydon town centre for the better? Join us in shaping Croydon Town Centre for tomorrow; turning dreams about change into plans that could actually transform Croydon town centre. This is your future, your spaces, your voice. Led by RESOLVE Collective, locals who know the ins and outs of shaping a city, dive into Croydon’s past and future. Through content creation and debate, you’ll get a crash course in the processes behind decision making about buildings and towns, and even participate in a simulated planning committee meeting. Here’s your chance to decide the fate of Croydon’s urban landscape!
More info can be found HERE.
North End Quarter map:
PREVIOUS EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Collage Workshop at East Croydon Cool Winter Party
Date: Wed 28 Feb
As part of East Croydon Cool’s Winter Party, Samantha from Scene in Croydon ran a Postcard Collage workshop. As well as providing a fun and creative way for party guests to meet and chat, it was also an opportunity for them to give their thoughts on the regeneration plans. B from Turf Projects was on hand to help capture this feedback with the ‘Have Your Say’ surveys. The Postcards (depicting scenes of what residents would like a future Croydon to incorporate) will be used as reference points in the wider consultation and will be on display in the Croydon Urban Room when it opens.
Starting from the Endz – Please Dream Responsibly
Date: Tues 6 Feb
We all like to dream about how Croydon would be if we were in charge, but what would happen if we actually were? Local architect-designer-dreamers Resolve Collective invite us to present our own visions for Croydon town centre. We can be as fanciful as we like, but with a catch; we’re also accountable to those decisions. RESOLVE will lead design exercises to lead us through the process of translating our big visions into reality; What might be the impact on one another? What if our ideas clash? Will they stand the test of time? The workshop will be followed by a final workshop testing out and challenging the ideas put forward by We Made That & Croydon Council.
More info can be found HERE.
North End Quarter Walking Tours
Date: Every Thursday in Feb
Join the Croydon Urban Room team on this series of mindful walking tours exploring the North End Quarter in Croydon. We will walk together every Thursday lunchtime, tuning in to and reflecting on the smaller details of this important part of the town centre.
More info can be found HERE.
Town Centre – ‘Have Your Say’ Surveys
Date: Surveys must be completed/returned by 26 Feb 2024
The Croydon Town Centre Regeneration Strategy is a plan being made by Croydon Council for how Croydon town centre should evolve in the future. Croydon Council have asked We Made That and local artists at Turf Projects to help them. These surveys were made by locals as part of a programme of creative workshops and resources to help the community get involved in creating the plan.
Survey for Adults can be found HERE.
Survey for Children can be found HERE.
EAST CROYDON COOL 