The East Croydon community group will be holding its first public meeting at 8pm on October 7 at Oval Primary (doors will open around 7.45pm).

One of the first decisions for the meeting will be what to call the group.

“Our aim is to bring people together to form a community body that can do more than just complain about refuse collection, traffic and developers,” the meeting organisers say.

“We also hope to become a means by which people can get together to do things they want together.

“It is our aim to build upon the sterling work that was done following the riots by various community groups.

“The immediate need for a coherent community representative body is critical. Without an effective voice for East Croydon, others will make the decisions on our behalf.

“The East Croydon area is slated for all significant high-density development in “Addiscombe Place” , the planners having decided that there will be no high-density development anywhere else in the area. This means that over the next few years the burden of massive construction work will fall upon the residents and businesses, and the significant increase in local population will have consequences for local services.

“With the high-density development also come opportunities for work and enterprise, which local people and businesses need to be given the opportunity to exploit. There are also issues relating to post-riots funds and Section 106 development benefit funding, where the community needs to ensure that it secures what is best for the community as a whole.”

The basic agenda for the meeting is,

Presentations on:

• Local Pressures
• Asset Based Community Development

Group discussions on:

• What do we want to do together (that it would be better than doing apart)?
• What we should call ourselves
• What should we do next

“So if you live in the area between the railway lines, Addiscombe Road, Lower Addiscombe Road and Tunstall Road, you are encouraged to come and join us at:

“ARK Oval Primary Academy, 98 Cherry Orchard Road, CR0 6BA. October 7, from 8pm to 9.30pm.”

• Click here for more information

Coming to Croydon

• Tree Sides, Spread Eagle Theatre, Oct 2-4
• The Goon Show, Spread Eagle Theatre, Oct 8-11
• Norwood Society Talk: From Fire Station to Theatre, Oct 16
• Cinema Ruskin film show, Oct 18
• South Croydon business breakfast, Oct 18
• Croydon 10km road race, Oct 19
• This Was The World and I Was King, Spread Eagle, Oct 23-25
• Upper Norwood Library Book Club, 2.30pm, Oct 25
• CODA’s Wind In The Willows, Charles Cryer, Carshalton, Oct 29-Nov 1
• Albert Einstein – Relativity Speaking, Spread Eagle, Nov 12-15
• South Croydon business breakfast, Nov 15
• Norwood Society Talk: Lambeth’s Archives, Nov 20
• Choose Your Own Documentary, Spread Eagle Theatre, Nov 21-22
• The Last Sense of Sudden, Spread Eagle Theatre, Nov 27-29
• Ghost Stories for Christmas, Spread Eagle Theatre, Dec 3
• Fog Horn Funnies, Spread Eagle Theatre, Dec 6
• South Croydon business breakfast, Dec 13
• South Croydon business breakfast, Jan 24

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