Revised plans for the development of the site of the Purley Leisure Centre have been submitted, with shadowy developers Polaska now offering 10% affordable housing within their money-spinning 220 “later living” apartments, plus 78 car parking spaces, as sops to the GLA and local residents who objected so strongly to the previous massive retirement home scheme.
New vision: Polaska have tweaked their Purley retirement home plans, adding nearly 80 car parking spaces and including a mere 18 affordable homes
Polaska’s retirement flats could be worth at least £70million.
Polaska’s original version of the scheme – enthusiastically backed by plastic cladding salesman and part-time Mayor Jason Perry – was roundly rejected by the Greater London Authority as “wholly unacceptable” because of the complete absence of any affordable homes.
The London Plan’s strategic target is for at least half of new homes to be “affordable”, with 30% of these available at “low-cost rent”, such as social rent or London Affordable Rent.
Even Croydon’s own Local Plan has a target of 40% of the overall new-build supply being “affordable”. So the tokenistic offering – it is not even 10%, but according to the application docs, just 18 units of the 220 – might still not be enough to get Polaska’s revised scheme past City Hall.
“At best, this goes to planning committee this side of summer,” a Katharine Street source said today.
“Even then, the GLA has time to consider its position. I don’t think they’ll call it in, but it adds further delay.”
And so another of Mayor Perry’s election pledges from four years ago, when he said he would “re-open Purley Pool”, has turned to dust – just as many had predicted.
Slipping time lines: the original proposals would have seen Tory Mayor Perry cutting the ribbon on a new Purley leisure centre in Q1 2026 – just before the local elections
Croydon Council, as the planning authority, has a quasi-judicial role in the business of development applications, and is supposed to be absolutely neutral. But Perry’s support for Polaska remains absolute.
This renewed application, Perry tells Croydon, is a “milestone”. It must be the new word he has learned this week – Perry and his chums used it at least a couple of times during Wednesday’s love-in cabinet meeting. Milestone appears to have replaced “top priority” as his favourite phrase. Perry used to have several “top priorities”. Few, if any, have actually come to fruition.
Could Perry’s Purley “milestone” become a millstone for the Mayor?
In the same week that Perry’s council was advised to “control the narrative” and to have “a strong communications strategy”, last night the propaganda bunker at Fisher’s Folly resorted to type, and opted to bury bad news.
Another promise broken: the £82,000 per year part-time Mayor Jason Perry has not reopened Purley Pool
The press release about the revised proposals for the Purley Pool site was slipped out just one minute before six on a frosty Friday night… this was an announcement someone in charge would rather not too many people would find out about.
This is a planning application, since it was originally submitted to the council last March, that has attracted more than 1,200 comments, an unusually high number. Of those, 1,100 are objections.
After four years of discussion and negotiation, this revised scheme could be Polaska and piss-poor Perry’s last roll of the dice. And there seems no way now that the new Purley Pool will be open before the local elections in May 2026.
The supposedly quasi-judicial and neutral council said in its very press release: “Executive Mayor Jason Perry is committed to seeing a swimming pool returning to Purley, providing the catalyst for the regeneration of the High Street for the benefit of residents and local businesses.”
Evidently, the council still doesn’t know what the difference is between a “training pool” and a “teaching pool”, which is what is contained in the proposals for the leisure centre and its 25-metre six-lane main pool, 80-station gym, “fitness suite” – they mean a gym for a bit of pumping iron – and studio space.
The footprint for the proposed new leisure centre, at 2,645sqm, is larger than the existing centre (2,518sqm). The revised proposals have extended the space for the leisure centre by scrapping previously proposed retail spaces.
If it is ever built, the leisure centre, and the costs of running it, would be handed over to Croydon Council, who would get their leisure operators, GLL, to take on the day-to-day management.
“The layout has also changed, the council says, “so the café directly overlooks a new dedicated soft play space so parents can easily supervise their children.”
The 10% of affordable homes offered this time round would “better support the housing needs of the borough”, the council claims. The planning documents suggest that just 18 of the 220 proposed units would be affordable. So even the 10% figure might be an exaggeration.
“The proposal includes a new public car park, with some parking reserved for users of the later living facility,” the council says.
“The proposed mixed-use building fronting High Street has been redesigned to better reflect the Local Heritage Area and a new strategy has also been developed for the new public square to help regenerate Purley town centre.”
The plans are subject to another round of consultation until February 6. “The application will also need to be referred to the GLA,” the council says.
The completely unbiased and neutral Jason Perry was quoted as saying: “I’m delighted that we’ve reached this significant milestone in the planning process and Polaska’s enhanced designs are set to be considered by the planning committee.
“I remain committed to returning a swimming pool to Purley and regenerating the High Street for the benefit of our residents and local businesses. It’s vital that the proposals are right for Purley and that the development preserves the character of the area – this process takes time.
“I appreciate the community’s contributions throughout the consultation process and we will keep everyone informed every step of the way,” serial liar Perry lied.
Read more: GLA rejects Polaska Purley Pool plan as ‘wholly unacceptable’
Read more: Residents’ groups reject Purley ‘pool’ plan backed by Perry
Read more: Tories warn residents: don’t dare complain about Purley pool
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