Westfield Croydon plans back on the table to spark town centre regeneration

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

After more than three years of silence, Westfield has made an announcement on the redevelopment of Croydon town centre.

The company, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, has bought out Hammerson, the owners of the Centrale shopping centre, which was one half of the Croydon Partnership which was supposed to revamp the town centre.

Jean-Marie Tritant, chief executive of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield said the company is “very excited about what can be achieved in Croydon”.

He added: “With our full ownership of the property, it allows URW to work in partnership with the Mayor of Croydon, the Greater London Authority and other vital local stakeholders on a vision and options that support the wider transformation of the area.”

The news was welcomed by Croydon mayor, Jason Perry who said the regeneration of the town centre is a “top priority” for the council.

Mayor Perry said: “We welcome the agreement that has been reached by URW as an important step in progressing this.

“We look forward to working with them as they develop a new master plan in 2023, which will inform a new, revised application for the town centre that will meet the future needs of our community.

“I have reconvened the Mayor’s Town Centre Advisory Board, which is working with key partners to drive forward the regeneration, and we look forward to seeing plans progress.”

Hammerson chief executive Rita-Rose Gagné said the decision was made as part of its plan to “simplify the portfolio and focus on core city estates”.

Plans for a £1.5billion Westfield shopping centre were dropped in 2019 after they had been in the pipeline for more than a decade.

Earlier this year, Croydon council told the company to make £4million of improvements to the town centre.

Despite the delay, a council report at the time said work on a master plan would start in 2023, after which a new planning application is expected to be submitted.

Pictured top: Shoppers in Croydon town centre (Picture: Tara O’Connor)