‘Streets are dirty, but we residents care about Croydon, we love Croydon’ says new Mayor Jason Perry

A bid for £20million from the Government’s Levelling-Up Fund aimed at town centre regeneration could give Croydon a much-needed shot in the arm. The council will find out if it’s been successful by October. Paloma Lacy met with new Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, to see what he has in store for Croydon – London Borough of Culture 2023.

A Conservative councillor since 2014 is looking to work with those from all sides of the political divide to give Croydon a better future.

I asked him how it feels to be the first Mayor of Croydon to be elected via public vote.

Proudly Croydon-born and bred, he said: “Croydon is my hometown and I wanted to do my bit to put it back on the map for the right reasons.”

Croydon council’s problems have been widely reported and the time for looking backwards is over.

Mayor Perry dreams of reinstating Croydon’s status as an economic hub and a place where people want to visit.

At the heart of this lies regeneration and Westfield still has a large part to play.

The deal is once again back on the table.

Quite what shape the new shopping centre project will now take remains unclear, but Mayor Perry assures that Westfield and developer Hammerson are invested in Croydon.

He said: “Things are happening and very soon.”

Bringing inward investment will add more money into the council coffers, creating a bigger budget to spend on public services.

“It’s fixing those broken windows so that we can have that more prosperous future,” he said.

If Croydon get the £20million it has bid for, £11.8million will be put towards creating a new public square outside Fairfield Halls, scheduled for completion by March 2025.

This was in the original refurbishment plan for the project, which ran massively over budget.

Hopes are high that Croydon can again become a destination for shopping, entertainment, education, culture, driving inward investment into the town.

Key to realising this dream, is cleaning up Croydon.

Mr Perry said: “The streets are dirty, there’s graffiti everywhere, and it feels like a place that no one cares about. Yet, we, as residents, know we care about Croydon. We love Croydon.”

He is in the process of reinstating the council’s graffiti removal team, which quickly tackle reported sites, of what he calls the “graffiti epidemic”.

Residents were relieved that planned strikes by contracted refuse collector and street cleaner, Veolia, were cancelled last month.

Mass dissatisfaction at Veolia’s performance across the borough is being taken seriously and the town hall is continuing talks with them.

He expressed surprised that Veolia hadn’t met a politician in two years.

His enthusiasm for Croydon is contagious as he points out that it is one of London’s greenest boroughs but that it is where Brixton was in the 1980s.

It’s long been cool to kick Croydon but it’s time for it to stop and embrace its very many positives.

Today, Croydon is a hive of development, be it housing and commercial – there is a clear sense of a town fighting back.

Boxpark Croydon continues to go from strength to strength, now in its sixth year as a food and entertainments hub.

There is little doubt that it started the push to put Croydon back on the map.

Plans are afoot for Croydon’s place on the throne as London Borough of Culture 2023, which launches in spring next year.

Many believe it’s Croydon’s chance to shine brightly and if the recent and packed Croydon Food & Music Festival is anything to go by, the town is ready and waiting.

 

Pictured: Croydon Mayor Jason Perry at the board game café bar, Ludoquist – Picture: Paloma Lacy