BARRATT HOLMES, our correspondent covering shadowy wealthy-developers-based-in-off-shore-tax-havens, reports on the panic that has broken out among the company behind the massive retirement homes scheme proposed for Purley
Polaska panicked?: the developers have started to buy ads to win over public opinion
Polaska, the shadowy development firm which is ultimately owned by an even more shadowy company based in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands, is getting the jitters over their planning application to build another 220 homes in Purley town centre.
Such has been the push-back against the scheme, which goes against London and Croydon planning policy while also eradicating most of the public car-parking spaces Purley’s district centre, that Polaska has started paying for advertisements on social media which asks locals to support their multi-million-pound scheme.
The ads promise that if they do get planning permission, then they will build a swimming pool.
But the Polaska ads barely mention the huge residential blocks they want to build on the site for their money-spinning retirement village. Funny that.
“Register your support!” they command, as if the planning process was some kind of Britain’s Got Talent popularity contest (but without Ant and Dec), and not a quasi-judicial procedure in which legal requirements and the development needs of an area and its community are supposed to be carefully considered.
A developer paying for such an advertisement is probably not without precedent, but it is certainly unusual.
Polaska’s move comes after seven local residents’ associations submitted lengthy and carefully considered objections to the scheme, highlighting the inaccuracies, inexactitudes and blatant lies contained within the planning application.
The objectors view the application as an attempt by profit-hungry developers to get around planning regulations over affordable housing by fobbing off Croydon with a “free” swimming pool and leisure centre.
The planning application for redevelopment of the site of the long-closed Purley Leisure Centre, the disused Sainsbury’s supermarket and adjoining multi-storey car park has attracted hundreds of objections, many of which highlight the long-term damage to Purley district centre likely to be caused by the removal of 424 parking spaces in the existing multi-storey, to be replaced by just 50 in a 220-unit housing development with a leisure centre attached.
The developers and their PR company are also now having to contend with CronxWatch, a YouTube channel, which is a bit like Croydon’s answer to Mark Thomas with Gonzo journalism and dynamic jump-cuts, painstakingly researched from the pages of… [checks notes]… Inside Croydon, among others.
Signatories to the 10-page demolition job of Polaska and Perry’s plans are Riddlesdown Residents’ Association, Hartley and District RA, Selsdon RA, Croham Valley RA, Old Coulsdon RA, Coulsdon West RA and East Coulsdon RA.
Missing from that list is Purley and Woodcote RA, which might have something to do with their having had as their chair Samir Dwesar, a devoted member of Perry’s Conservative council. Draw your own conclusions.
The objection letter states, “The seven RAs are very supportive of the rebuilding of a new leisure centre. However, we believe this development must not be at a detrimental cost to the viability and success of the Purley District Centre, primarily in relation to the much reduced public parking element of this scheme.”
Since the application was submitted two months ago, the council’s online planning portal has attracted more than 1,200 comments – the vast majority objecting to the latest piece of developer-led overdevelopment.
Lovely CGI: but is a swimming pool a decent trade-off for 220 flats and none affordable?
Among the objections and critical comments posted publicly include: “I’ll certainly be opposing this on the grounds that this is completely the wrong type of accommodation for this site. This is an insane development when there is a chronic need for social housing.”
Another said that the flats proposed “won’t be affordable”. The resident suggested: “Have a look at similar ‘later living’ developments. The rents per calendar month are eye-watering, and there’s the ground rent and service charge on top. Once you’re in, they’ve got you over a barrel.”
And they added, with a note of scepticism about the developers’ track record: “Interestingly, I can’t find any that Polaska have built.”
Someone else noted: “I’ve had a quick scan [of the planning application] and I’m not convinced by the transport assessment in respect to the considerable reduction in public parking from 412 [spaces] to 50…
“The assessment’s conclusion is the reduction should not result in additional parking stress in the town centre, but it seems to be lacking in data to support.”
Another poster on Facebook replied: “The reduction in car parking space is going to be huge for us.” They highlighted how many of the recently-built residential blocks in and around Purley have no parking spaces. “We rely on this car park,” they said.
Another comment highlighted the deliberately misleading assessment within the planning application: “If you walk around the car park during the day, it is full to the brim. This car park is used by tenants, workers, visitors to the area, shoppers. Where are we supposed to park if there is no alternative? This will surely impact local businesses.”
Champion of the people (not): Purley councillor Simon Brew has taken the side of shadowy developers Polaska
According to Simon Brew, one of the local Tory councillors who previously backed Mayor Jason Perry’s plan to re-open Purley Pool “immediately” in 2022 for just £3million (a misleading election claim that came to nothing), there is now no alternative to Polaska.
Brew said, “We are where we are.” Which is hardly the kind of response that residents might want from someone elected to be a champion for the people.
“Polaska owns a 150-year lease on the site with no break clause save for non-performance. The council is therefore unable to negotiate with any other company to develop the site except with the permission of Polaska, which obviously would not be granted except in exchange for an enormous sum of money.”
All of which will have been known to Perry, Councillor Brew and other Croydon Tories in 2021, when they were making claims that they could repair and re-open the pool. So were they lying then, or were they incompetent buffoons, or are they lying now?
Of course, all three possibilities may be true.
Brew claims that this 150-year lease was signed by Croydon Council in March 1979. Yes, 45 years ago. Given that the supermarket has been closed for 20 years, you might think that any decent lawyer could make a strong case for “non-performance”. Or is egregious land-banking something local authorities are supposed to indulge?
According to Companies House records, Polaska Assets Ltd, the company behind the Purley proposals, was incorporated in August 2022… that’s just four months after Jason Perry was elected as Mayor of Croydon.
Paul Andrews, the only director of Polaska Assets Ltd, has various other directorships, many of them in the building supplies trade – not unlike Jason Perry. The earliest date of Andrews’ appointment as a director or the incorporation of any of his companies that can be found on the public record is 1984 – five years after Croydon Council is supposed to have agreed the lease on the site.
Brew, Perry and Croydon Council have refused to identify who might be Andrews’ co-directors in the secretive, off-shore, British Virgin Islands-registered parent company. We’ll leave to work out why that might be…
In their formal objection, the residents’ associations concluded: “Whilst the RAs would be very supportive of a new leisure centre and some elderly residential units (including affordable), we cannot support this scheme as presented with a distinct lack of public parking for the [Purley District Centre].
“We would ask that the council take on board the seven RAs objections and all the many other residents’ objections… and refuse this application.”
Read more: Residents’ groups reject Purley ‘pool’ plan backed by Perry
Read more: Tories warn residents: don’t dare complain about Purley pool
Read more: Residents backlash over Perry’s 200-flat scheme at Purley pool
Read more: Council backs Purley Pool tax dodge by off-shore company
Our panel discusses the overdevelopment of the central Purley site and the large ‘Later Living’ scheme in our latest Croydon Insider podcast. Click here to listen in to our regular monthly look behind the news headlines
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Great film based, natch, on great local journalism.
Well it made us laugh, more than once
Thanks for the write up and share, I’ve been a follower of your excellent work here for years so that means a lot. Pleased to be involved in helping spread this important information to the local community!
Any relation to the late Michael of JFS and Lunar House? There’s a resemblance…
Only just saw this, yeah I’m his son! Good to see his spirit is still remembered.
Given the attack on parking spaces seems an odd time to scrap a safe cycling lane.
No one should ever over-estimate the intelligence of Croydon’s elected Mayor, nor underestimate his greed
Labour had Brick by Brick, the Tories Perry Regime has the Polaska saga. We all remember Perry’s guarantee of the reopening of the swimming pool, but simultaneously the developer was setting up the Company to redevelop the site. Then as the fantasy of the reopening burst, up popped this development with all Tories on board.
Looks like Perry, Brew, Dwesar and the gang are going to need more than some inane public relation operations to overcome solid discontent with this inappropriate scheme for the site and the needs of Croydon.
As Brick by Brick unravelled Newman’s gang could not see what was clear to everyone else and with a new political regime about to take Central Control of the planning system having a more plausible support for housing than opportunistic developers making a fast buck it seems time is running out for the gang to get this through before the rules of the game change.
Lets hope that local residents will remember at the ballot box this motley crew who were prepared to sell out the public interest so a quick buck could be made by a friend. No doubt they will kicking and screaming when a housing scheme turns up without any car parking spaces.
When Perry was running for office, he said “Over the last eight years of Labour running Croydon Council a consistent theme has been that residents feel they are not being listened to … Labour have simply implemented what they wanted without actually taking any notice of what we were all saying. This needs to change…”
Two years into his four year term, we’re finding out that he listens to the people who tell him what he wants to hear and ignores those he disagrees with.
Whether it’s ripping out cycle lanes, selling off flats to the worst bidder or cosying up to a dodgy developer who’s going to rip people off and build a skyscraper, Perry will do it because nobody can stop him.
We’ve got 22 months and 3 weeks before we can dump this elected hypocritical dictator. The bad news is that somebody from Labour with unlimited powers will replace him.
DEMOC did to Croydon what Brexit did to Britain – phucked us over
What a magnificent, funny but impactful video report. Just as an addition to that, I have a friend who is trying to sell his parents’ retirement flat in a nearby London borough and has been for well over two years since his mother passed. He says that part of the problem is that there are far too many of these properties on the market. As a Purley resident, I am all for a new leisure centre and pool. However, when Perry proclaimed in his election guff that he would re-open it, nobody but nobody EVER expected the monstrosity that they’re proposing would go with it or demolition of the car park. Purley residents do not want this and it should not be forced upon us. I would never, ever suggest any corruption but I’d love to see details of Perry’s and others’ interactions with Polaska. It’s all too shady and we need transparency.
DEMOC got us rid of Cardinal Newman. Nuff said.
No it didn’t.
Newman – whose correct moniker is Tony Soprano, a much more malevolent character – resigned as council leader in Oct 2020. There was not a mayoral referendum until a year later.
Like piss-poor Perry, you appear to ignore facts that run counter to your preferred narrative.
Are you in the Radius Arms again?
I think the part of due diligence, if I can justifiably use that term, that we need to see is related to the funds for this project. With the developer based in BVI and banking in CI. What is the provenance of the funding and has it been checked for money laundering? If the developers were more transparent and available in person one might have greater confidence in their capacity to deliver.
Ask purley bussiness what we want , we are the ones in the high street every day and we want the pool , if it’s a case of losing parking for the poor lazy commuter’s who go to London and spend not a penny in the high street then I’m sorry it’s tuff , ask the station to provide there own parking spaces , we want the new pool for the children and local families and residents!!!
So where will your customers park before spending their money at your “bussiness”, Adele?
The deal seems super dodgy and aside from potential corruption (of which there’s no concrete evidence but some worrying red flags) I wonder whether the tory Mayor and MP are so keen to promote this scheme to bump up the number of Tory voters in the area. I mean who’s more likely to vote Tory – residents of a 220 retirement home complex or affordable housing for young people like the “Purley skyscraper”. I dont see why senior citizens would like to live in the center of Purley anyway – it’s noisy and directly opposite the station. Do they need to be so close to the station to catch a train to london for the west end matinees? The location also isn’t great for pedestrians – you have to cross busy roads to get anywhere. If it were to be redeveloped into flats it would be far better for young commuters but to be honest purley town center needs amenities and decent shops not hundreds of flats.