Polaska’s 220-unit ‘later living’ development was deemed ‘wholly unacceptable’ by the GLA last year. Now groups representing hundreds of locals say updated parking proposals could be the ‘death knell’ for businesses in the area. EXCLUSIVE by PEARL LEE, our south of the borough correspondent
Tall order: residents’ associations have objected to the revised Polaska plans as the proposed blocks of rtirement flats are too tall
Seven of the borough’s largest and most influential residents’ associations have roundly rejected the revised plans for the large “later living” development of 220 retirement homes in Purley, on the site of a council-owned multi-storey car park, disused supermarket and the leisure centre.
The RAs released a statement today which threatens to scupper the £70million-plus scheme that has been proposed by shady developers Polaska and enthusiastically backed by Croydon’s Tory Mayor Jason Perry, a local business association and Conservative MP for the area, Chris Philp.
“Whilst all the RAs are very keen to see a new leisure centre built in Purley, serving our area, we believe this should not be at any cost,” the statement read.
The statement was issued on behalf of Hartley and District RA, Riddlesdown RA, East Coulsdon RA, Selsdon RA, Croham Valley RA, Old Coulsdon RA and Coulsdon West RA – whose members are all residents from the usually overwhelmingly Conservative-voting areas of the borough.
It was strong objections from these residents’ associations which forced Polaska to revise its planning application, which was submitted last year but never got as far as the council’s planning committee.
Stooge: planning chair Michael Neal
Polaska’s original version of the scheme had also been rejected by the Greater London Authority as “wholly unacceptable” because of its 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”.
Suitably chastened, Polaska went away to reconsider their scheme, which had included offering to build a new leisure centre with a swimming pool to hand over to the local council, and thus get Mayor Perry off the hook for his broken election promise to re-open Purley Pool.
Their revised plan includes a larger leisure centre, 18 affordable residential units – not even 10% – and some extra parking spaces. The application has been slated to be considered by councillors on the planning committee at the end of February, which according to Katharine Street sources seems suspiciously quick, given that public consultation on the scheme does not end until February 6.
The planning committee comprises five Conservative councillors and five Labour councillors, chaired by an old mate of Mayor Perry, Michael Neal. South Croydon councillor Neal somehow allows himself to vote twice when contentious proposals leave the councillors evenly split.
The proposals to be considered comprise residential blocks of between five and 12 storeys to deliver what Polaska calls “an Integrated Retirement Community”.
The initial planning application from Polaska – who have never handled a development of this scale before, and whose parent company is based in the British Virgin Islands tax haven – attracted more than 1,100 objections. The seven residents’ associations are encouraging their members to object to the new plans, too.
Space at a premium: the developers’ previous application included lies about how well-used the Purley multi-storey car park remains, something debunked by residents’ research
“In addition to our concerns about the financial stability of the developer and the height of the buildings, which do not comply with the current Croydon Local Plan, we are particularly concerned about the loss of the 424 car parking spaces currently available in the public multi-storey town centre car park,” said the RAs’ statement, which was issued at lunchtime today.
“In the new development, there will only be 50 parking spaces available for public use, including five disabled parking bays. There will also be 28 parking spaces available for the Integrated Retirement Community, including four disabled spaces which, although initially will be available for public use, will revert to the retirement community once the apartments have been built and occupied, if they need them.
“Effectively, this means there will not be an increase in the number of car parking spaces from the previous plans submitted. There will only be 50 public spaces in comparison to the current 424 spaces. The RAs believe some of these 50 spaces will also be reserved for electric vehicle charging, as well as five disabled spaces. There will be no priority for users of the leisure centre.
“Additionally, planning permission has been granted for the redevelopment of the Purley railway station car park for 238 flats and up to nine storeys high, plus a new smaller station car park, which is also on Whytecliffe Road South.
Making a splash: the offer of a leisure centre by Polaska does not erase concerns over the lack of parking spaces and affordable homes
“We believe the loss of the 374 spaces from the multi-storey car park together with the reduction of spaces available after the development of the Purley Station site will surely have a significantly detrimental effect on the retail trade in Purley town centre. We know Purley has excellent public transport links, but we also know that many of the surrounding areas containing the customers who come to Purley do not.
“This belief is amplified by the parking projections in the application which show there is a deficit of 14 spaces at peak time in Purley once the 374 spaces are gone. This assumes the Tesco car park will not be available to take the users currently using the multi-storey, an eventuality the council admits is a possibility in the long term.
“Of course, these figures do not include future users of the leisure centre (which has been closed since 2020), or the increase in the number of patients using Purley Hospital. There has been a large increase in the diagnostics at the hospital with a resulting increase in patient numbers, many of whom will need to drive there, and at a time when the hospital has reduced its parking spaces available.
“Additionally, a new significantly larger mosque is currently being built on Whytecliffe Road South. When planning permission was granted in March 2021, it was inferred in the reports that their members would be able to park in the Purley multi-storey car park, the Purley station car park and Tesco car park. This will not be the case for this much reduced council car park.
“The seven RAs believe it is very difficult to see how there will be sufficient parking spaces for the users of the leisure centre, hospital, railway station and mosque, in addition to people wanting to eat and shop in the town after the completion of all these developments and we believe it could be the ‘death knell’ for some shops and restaurants in Purley town centre through lack of custom.
“Also, can the leisure centre be viable with so little prioritised parking?”
Last week, Mayor Perry described the revised proposals as a “milestone”.
Polaska supporter: Croydon’s £82,000 per year Mayor has spent time this week promoting a proposal from a private developer
Perry presides over the council which has a quasi-judicial role in considering planning applications, and therefore is supposedly completely neutral. But the £82,000 per year Mayor has spent much of this week lobbying the public on social media on behalf of the private developers.
Purley shops and companies who are part of the local business improvement district and who would be affected by the loss of parking spaces in the area might also be surprised that Purley BID has promoted the Polaska proposals on their social media.
MP Philp spent years objecting to and delaying what he called “the Purley Skyscraper”, a social housing scheme promoted by a local church. This week, he has said he is “pleased” at the latest application of residential tower blocks from Polaska.
Millionaire businessman Philp has interests that invest in overseas property developments. He has remained silent on the identities of the directors of Polaska’s BVI-registered parent company.
Yet even Philp has expressed reservations over the lack of parking in Polaska’s revised Purley scheme: “I would still like to see more parking”, he said in an email sent to thousands of his constituents this week.
‘And if you think that’s a good idea, I have a bridge to sell you’: erstwhile entrepreneur Chris Philp a multi-millionaire investor for his next big scheme. Apparently…
Inevitably, though, Philp has managed to find someone else to blame, claiming that the demolition of the existing multi-storey car park is all because London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan is “fanatically anti-car”.
Unlike the residents’ associations, though, Philp reckons that there will be a shortfall of only 14 spaces at peak-time. But Philp was Chief Secretary to the Treasury when Liz Truss’s Budget torpedoed the national economy, so maybe numbers aren’t his strong point.
Whatever the outcome of next month’s council planning meeting, Polaska and Perry’s and Philp’s proposal will still need to be referred to the GLA.
The residents’ associations, ever so politely, are meanwhile asking their members to lodge renewed objections to the revised scheme: “Please consider objecting to these new proposals by midnight on Thursday 6 February 2025 on this link to the Croydon Council’s planning website.”
And they direct their members to this: https://publicaccess3.croydon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=S9U0INJLKLR00&activeTab=summary
Read more: Residents ‘deeply concerned’ over developers’ parking claims
Read more: Perry’s Purley ‘milestone’ could become millstone for Mayor
Read more: GLA rejects Polaska Purley Pool plan as ‘wholly unacceptable’
Read more: Tories warn residents: don’t dare complain about Purley pool
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The people bemoaning the reduction in car parking spaces are stuck in the past. They have helped drive climate change to the point of no return.
2024 was the hottest year on record – so far – and saw the biggest increase in CO2 emissions. It was the first year that saw global average temperatures exceed the 1.5°C limit we need to keep the right side of to avoid catastrophic changes to our planet.
Perry’s website includes some insincere waffle about climate emergency and net zero, but you can tell from what he says and does that he doesn’t really know or care about the issues. His partner in eco-crime, Chris Philp, doesn’t even bother to put on any pretence.
Instead of planning for sustainable development and housing for those that need it, they are proposing a hideous block of flats for the elite and no end to the traffic that chokes Purley and is setting fire to our future
‘Sustainable development’ is an oxymoron. Once anything is built it takes up space, its residents use energy and bring their cars with them. It attracts traffic – what’s sustainable about that?
You won’t find out anything meaningful about this development anywhere BUT Inside Croydon. Just sayin’
I am neither local nor familiar with this application, other than ongoing IC coverage.
I do have an occasional interest in spotting how a developer Computer Generated Image is carefully angled to make a tall or large proposal seem entirely ‘in keeping’ or smaller than it is.
Here the image manages to give the impression that a 5 storey building is shorter than a three storey shopping frontage, a tree and even a lamp column.
Zooming in by chance, I see there is a whole, even taller, tower just ‘hiding’ behind the shop front roof eaves.
Yes, I know it is perspective, but such views are all too commonly carefully chosen in developer proposals.
The true size, scale etc is revealed in the obligatory submitted drawings (overhead, various elevations etc).
Everyone knows the whole thing was a total corrupt sham – we’ve had enough of them in Croydon to smell one a mile off. I don’t suppose parking spaces was the *only* reason people are opposed to it (myself includes)…
It’s a monstrosity and not what the people of Purley were thinking of when our useless Mayor promised to reopen the pool during his election campaign. Added to that he’s put the tender out to a company that doesn’t even seem to have built an Airfix model, let alone a garden shed or large development like this. I’d love to see the tendering exercise for this, but no doubt it’s “Commercially Sensitive” It’s a complete and utter shambles.