The council’s attempt to cover-up which plots of land are to be flogged off to in-house house-builder Brick by Brick has been described as “underhand and sneaky” by residents in Norbury who have started to fight back over the threat to concrete over a patch of green space in their neighbourhood.

Covington Way: residents are getting organised to oppose Brick by Brick building flats on their green space

One of the 60 plots of land the Labour-controlled council recently agreed to sell to Brick by Brick is on the corner of Covington Way and Crescent Way, close to Norwood Grove. It’s about as far north as you can go in that part of the borough without straying into Lambeth.

“Though Paul Scott would probably try to build on Streatham Common if he was given half a chance,” one angry resident said today.

The council has previously been in discussions with residents about creating a play street on the road – including the patch of green space they now propose building on.

Brick by Brick wants to bring forward plans to build 15 flats on the grassy corner, in the middle of a series of streets made up of 1930s semi-detached houses.

Residents have started a petition to express their opposition, and they are holding a meeting with their Norbury Park ward councillors this Saturday.

According to one young mother who lives off Covington Way, “Myself and my neighbours have concerns about the visibility, parking difficulties and loss of green space that building 15 units will mean.

“We use this space for our street party and our children play out on it.

“We only found out by chance that this was even happening. Nobody has been consulted, not even the houses either side of the green. This seems underhand and sneaky!”

When the council presented this second set of Brick by Brick schemes at the Town Hall earlier this month, the planning department put forward surveyors’ maps of the various plots completely blank of any titles, they had no street or road names, and no real way of identifying where in Croydon were these plots being flogged off by the council.

At the time, it was assumed that this was usual Croydon Council incompetence. Now, residents are beginning to suspect it was done deliberately to delay the expected fall-out from neighbours who regard their green spaces as precious.

In the case of Covington Way, in the council’s official listing of the 60 Brick by Brick plots, the officer’s report even got the location’s ward wrong, stating that it is in Upper Norwood and Crystal Palace ward. Which it is not.

This looks very much like a plot of land on Covington Way, though the council’s planning department has tried to disguise its identity by failing to label the made, and has not even provided any proper definition of the plot of land it is selling

Meanwhile, and without a shred of shame, Scott, the de facto chair of the planning committee, is simultaneously asking for residents to fill in online forms to make the case for additional planning protections for the borough’s parks and open spaces.

Another resident of Covington Way said of the proposals today, “This is causing much concern for our community in relation to road safety. The visibility when driving out of Crescent Way is already poor.

“In addition, Croydon Council are encouraging us to protect our green spaces. This green is absolutely key to our community introducing the play street scheme for our children.”

To view the petition, click here.

For the council’s unreliable listing of all 60 sites in this latest round of Brick by Brick land-grabs, click here.

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