After a botched £1.2m Croydon facelift just eight years ago, market traders have outlined what they say they need to make the place safer and more attractive to visitors
Bustling: Surrey Street on a busy Saturday is still the place for good value fruit and veg
Traders working in Croydon’s historic street market have given Mayor Jason Perry a shopping list of their own, in the hope of improving Surrey Street and make it a much safer and more pleasant place to visit.
It is less than eight years since the council spent £1.2million on giving Surrey Street a Croydon face-lift, which involved shutting the normally busy market for three months for a bit of resurfacing work and equipping traders with some new, flimsy stalls.
But now Mayor Jason Perry, unable to exercise any real influence over Westfield’s continuing development blight around the Whitgift Centre, has decided to turn his attention to the unsuspecting businesses of Surrey Street.
“The Amplifying Surrey Street project is part of Executive Mayor Jason Perry’s priority to regenerate the town centre and make the borough cleaner, safer and healthier,” said a council release last month.
“A project to preserve and enhance the rich history of Surrey Street market is under way and Croydon Council is working with community groups, traders and residents to make sure their voices are heard,” they said.
But don’t expect too much: if £1.2million paid for some new paving slabs in 2017, £814,000 is going to buy a lot less in “improvements” in 2025. Some traders are already questioning the allocation of money, since it was originally reported that the Mayor of London had given Croydon a £3million grant.
Surrey Street Market is one of the oldest in Britain, in operation since King Edward I issued a royal warrant in 1276. But in the third decade of the 21st century, there is widespread acknowledgement that its fortunes have been better.
Crime hot-spot: last April’s murder on Fellmonger’s Yard has brough renewed appeals for more CCTV and police on Surrey Street
The traders who depend on the no-fuss, “pound-a-bowl” market for their livelihoods are seriously concerned that Mayor Perry’s exercise might repeat the mistakes of the previous overhaul.
Back then a Labour councillor with more pretensions than scruples declared that Surrey Street was “tatty”, before spunking large sums on street art of variable quality (mostly bought through a dodgy art dealer) and trying to gentrify the place with an artisan Sunday market that sank without trace.
“Surrey Street Market has long been a cornerstone of community life, but with some strategic improvements, it can become even more inviting and efficient for traders and visitors alike,” a town centre business organisation told Inside Croydon.
They have outlined a series of essential improvements to Mayor Perry, beginning with improved security with better CCTV coverage. A murder in broad daylight by Fellmonger’s Yard last April further highlighted traders’ concerns, as they have repeatedly called for more and better policing to deter the drugs gangs that operate in the area.
“Installing additional CCTV cameras will enhance safety and ensure peace of mind for everyone,” the traders’ group told Inside Croydon.
On the same lines, they say, “Upgraded lighting will improve visibility, creating a welcoming atmosphere and enhancing security during all trading hours.”
The traders are also seeking an electrical system upgrade: “Modernising the market’s electrical circuits is essential to handle higher voltage requirements, preventing overloads and supporting traders’ needs.”
They also want the introduction of permanent stalls. “Introducing permanent stalls will simplify operations, allowing traders to set up and pack down more efficiently. This change will make it easier to trade and encourage wider participation.”
Eight years ago, traders’ pleas for better signage around the area were backed up by the council’s Place Review Panel. But they were both ignored. So here we go again: “Clear signs directing visitors to Surrey Street Market from key areas like East Croydon and West Croydon and the High Street will increase visibility and footfall.
Fresh fruit: Jose Joseph, with his stalls at the Church Street end of the market, is one of the traders calling for urgent improvements
“Better advertising can showcase the market’s unique offerings to a broader audience.”
They also call for “essential public amenities”. They say, “Adding public toilets will significantly enhance the comfort and convenience of visitors, making their experience more enjoyable.” Either that, or they can buy a glass of lemonade in the Dog and Bull…
And another of the ignored pleas of 2017 has been revived: a call for a “Market Archway” at Crown Hill. “A welcoming arch at the Crown Hill entrance will serve as a striking landmark, boosting the market’s identity and appeal,” they say.
Traders are understandably suspicious of promises from the council, and Mayor Perry: it is little more than a year since the council-run Borough of Culture handed £14,000 of public money to a Croydon BID colleague of the Mayor to stage a “Surrey Street Festival”, which never took place (the money was, eventually, returned).
The council says it wants to use the funding from London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan “to protect and drive growth of the historic market; reactivate empty shops and spaces so they can be used by culture, arts and community groups; and create safer, greener public spaces”.
The council says that its “Amplifying Surrey Street” project could take a glacially slow three years – and “is part of the wider regeneration of the town centre, which includes the council’s Town Centre Regeneration Strategy, Reconnected Croydon project and the masterplanning of the North End and Allders site by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield”.
And URW, after all, have proved themselves to be masters at doing nothing much for long periods of time.
Read more: Street market licences fall by 87% after council ‘improvements’
Read more: Murder on Surrey Street Market: police make one arrest
Read more: Only half the stalls return to Surrey Street after £1.1m scheme
Read more: Hipsterdom is alive and thriving at £8 per pint in Surrey Street
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
I miss some of the old stalls at Surrey Street, with their ancient wooden market wagons and the ability to buy veg by the pound rather than the bowl and have it put in paper bags.
The characters were great too, like the Powis family with their tomatoes and boiled beetroot, the chap with the odd sense of humour selling potatoes and carrots from outside the Dog and Bull, and Rosanna Lovett’s flowers and plants, where service came with a smile (unlike that grump halfway down).
But times change, and while the food stalls are a welcome addition, there’s nowhere to sit and eat. If Perry is going to make himself useful, he should provide somewhere convivial for people to have their lunch. That and clamp down on the idiot drivers who think that the sign banning motor vehicles doesn’t apply to them. He should also remove the no entry signs at the bottom of the market, prohibiting access to Crown Hill and Church Street. Council bin lorry drivers have ignored them for years, so why should anyone else be restricted?
Seats would undermine BoxPark…
We used to go there after school to buy sweets. pCroydon used to be thriving, bustling and safe. Now it’s a shabby remnant of those days. Please Siddiq Khan can you visit Croydon and have a look around.