£7.5m upgrade promised for Croydon old town

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A £7.5million upgrade of Croydon’s old town has been promised by the council.

It pledged to redesign the spaces around the Croydon Minster, one of the borough’s few Grade-I listed buildings.

The authority said it will upgrade the Minster Green and St John’s Memorial Gardens through the project. It includes filling in a pedestrian subway, relocating car parking and installing new lighting of the medieval building.

A revamp of the area was previously promised back in 2019 when Transport for London (TfL) pledged an extra £10m for the project.

However, the scheme this money was due to come from was paused when the organisation hit financial difficulties.

Instead, the scaled-back project will be funded through the council’s Growth Zone.

Launched in 2018, it ring-fences business rates for part of central Croydon to be invested into infrastructure in the town centre.

Croydon Mayor Jason Perry said: “The Minster Green Public Realm project will create a safe, inviting and inclusive setting for our community that reflects the rich, historical significance of Croydon Minster.

“It’s vital that we accelerate the recovery and renewal of Croydon town centre.”

Croydon council will use a total of £12.3m of funding in 2023/24. This includes £1m for a crossing in Wellesley Road, £900,000 for new segregated cycle lanes and £600,000 to improve the area outside Fairfield Halls.

The funding approval comes a month after Croydon was unsuccessful in a bid for £20m of government levelling up funding.

The cash would have been spent on more pedestrianised zones and cycle paths and removing town centre subways.

Pictured top: Croydon Minster (Picture: Google Street View)