Category Archives: Planning

Croydon Park to reopen in 2027 as ‘The Canopy’ apart-hotel

A year later than promised, with little more than half the homes proposed in the planning application, and with no sign of the 39- and 36-storey towers that council planners had insisted upon, there are plans for the  Croydon Park … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Botanical House, Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Housing, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, The Canopy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

It’s really time to go when they throw ‘Mix’ into gesture politics

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Are you a ‘Mr’, a ‘Ms’, or a ‘Mx’? You’re unlikely to be a ‘Mix’, unless you’re a member of the Labour Party in its troubled Croydon East CLP. KEN TOWL, pictured right, explains A couple of days … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon East, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Melanie Felten, Nicola Townsend, Planning, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

How to navigate the planning process without getting it wrong

ZAEEM CHAUDHARY, pictured left, offers some expert advice for any Croydon homeowners planning to undertake building works When you are looking to make a home renovation project, one of the first things you need to check is whether you need … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the 24 unaffordable flats

Planning permission was refused last night for a scheme that threatens a South Norwood heritage building which was once home to Arthur Conan Doyle. But this case is not closed yet… And so it came to pass… The first planning … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, History, Housing, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sean Fitzsimons, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

£1.45m Addiscombe landmark building withdrawn from auction

Financial figures published for the sale of Grade II-listed Leslie Arms were altered ahead of the auction date, with a two-bedroom flat shown now to be paying just £800 per month in rent. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Anwar Ansari, the … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Leslie Arms, Planning, Property, Pubs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Report calls urban sprawl ‘forgotten disaster of last 50 years’

A report from CPRE London published today says successive governments over the past half-century have actively enabled urban sprawl into the countryside. Urban sprawl means building low-density housing outside of towns, on green fields, and far from shops, schools and … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Parking, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

How Labour-Tory marriage of convenience is failing Croydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With the Green Party deliberately excluded from the planning committee by a Labour-Tory pact at the Town Hall, new councillor PAUL AINSCOUGH, pictured left, says that the borough’s two largest parties are still not listening to the public … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Fairfield, Paul Ainscough, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Labour’s secret deal with Tories to block Greens on planning

EXCLUSIVE: Once the election results were in last month, Croydon’s Labour leader agreed what’s been called ‘a shabby, short-sighted stitch-up’ to keep Green councillors away from important planning decisions – while also boosting allowances paid to their party. By STEVEN … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Jason Cummings, Mark Adderley, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Ainscough, Planning, Rowenna Davis, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Leslie Arms timeline: sad 25-year decline of heritage building

Between 2000 and 2025, the owner of the Grade II-listed Leslie Arms on Lower Addiscombe Road submitted 13 separate planning applications for the building – 14 if you include his 2009 appeal against a refusal of a planning application. Ten … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Croydon Council, History, Housing, Leslie Arms, Planning, Property, Pubs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Addiscombe’s listed pub building put up for auction at £1.45m

The Leslie Arms, the Grade II-listed Victorian pub building on the corner of Cherry Orchard Road and Lower Addiscombe Road, has been placed for sale by auction next month. The auctioneers’ guide price is £1.45million. Built in 1900, the Leslie … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Leslie Arms, Planning, Property, Pubs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

£40m Trinity School expansion given planning green light

The council’s planning committee has given a green light to a £40million development to expand Trinity School in Shirley Park to ready the independent boys’ school to go fully co-educational by 2031. The scheme is the first major re-build since … Continue reading

Posted in Alasdair Kennedy, Business, Charity, Education, Jason Cummings, Old Palace, Planning, Schools, Shirley South, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Planning control has got worse under developers’ friend Perry

STEVE WHITESIDE has compiled dossiers of evidence that show that nothing much has changed in the council planning department since 2022. In some cases, for the residents living next to some developments that have gone ahead, things have actually got … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Stink from Arkwright Road flats smells of council failures

Jason Perry boasts that he halted the overdevelopment of parts of Croydon, caused by SPD2, the hugely unpopular ‘Suburban Design Guide. STEVE WHITESIDE has compiled dossiers of evidence that show that nothing much has changed in the council planning department … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Purley, Sanderstead, Venetia Reid-Baptiste | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Shared ownership makes Mosaic Place hard to piece together

Even before the latest global economic shock hit the construction trade, house-building in London had slowed to a crawl. JOHNNY DOBBYN looks at one scheme of more than 100 flats in Purley that provides a possible case study to show … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Fount Spring Place, Housing, Johnny Dobbyn, London-wide issues, Mosaic Place, Planning, Property, Purley, The Fold | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Councillors wave through 676 flats with just 20% affordable

Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on the latest tall towers coming to the skyline of central Croydon Deep in the middle of a housing crisis, Croydon Council has broken its own rules by granting planning permission to a £200million housing scheme … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, Delta Properties Ltd, Fairfield, Housing, Planning, Property, Tapestry Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Westfield consult public for 6th time and deliver more delays

Paris-based multi-bilion developers URW today begin another public consultation over the future of the town centre – Consultation No6 – which means that their latest planning application, already two years late, won’t see the light of day until long after … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Campaign ‘delight’ as developers’ Glamorgan appeal is refused

Addiscombe residents are celebrating the Planning Inspector’s decision to refuse an appeal brought by developers who want to demolish the Glamorgan pub on Cherry Orchard Road. The appeal was brought by Butlers Walsall Ltd after the council’s planning committee rejected … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, East Croydon, Planning, Property, Pubs, Sean Fitzsimons | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Trinity submits planning application for £40m co-ed conversion

Less than a year after announcing the £30,000 a year fee-paying school would start offering places to girls, plans have gone in for works that will see its expansion to 1,400 pupils. By STEVEN DOWNES Plans for a £40million extension … Continue reading

Posted in Alasdair Kennedy, Business, Charity, Education, Old Palace, Planning, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

New Addington residents’ worries over farm pit of ‘toxic sludge’

‘If an adult was to slip, trip or fall into it… they would not be able to escape. A child would have absolutely no chance of surviving’ Serious concerns are being raised by residents about the dangers around a large … Continue reading

Posted in Bromley Council, Business, Croydon Council, New Addington North, New Addington South, Planning | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council finally completes sale of houses for Selhurst stand

In the first public update on Selhurst Park’s £200million main stand development for more than a year, Crystal Palace said today that they have finally completed the purchase of six houses on Wooderson Close – five of which have been … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace FC, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Selhurst, South Norwood, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Labour’s new ‘Lord Len’ might yet play role in 445-flat scheme

Political Editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on the revolving door between City Hall, south London councils and lobbying firms, and how that might play a part in this week’s big residential scheme at Croydon’s planning committee Len Duvall, the longest-serving London Assembly … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Fairfield, Housing, Lewisham, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Lord Len Duvall, Planning, Property, Southwark Council, Woburn Court and Bedford Court | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lidl’s Hamsey Green plans get criticism from council planners

Even Croydon’s planners have joined the chorus of disapproval from residents in Sanderstead, Tandridge and Warlingham over the ‘disjointed and generic’ proposals for the Good Companions site at Hamsey Green, reports housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES There is a planning saga … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon South, Lidl, Planning, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Property billionaire in £30m swoop for Apollo and Lunar House

Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on how Criterion Capital have scooped a cut-price bargain on two landmark Croydon buildings, as they plan to deliver the country’s largest office-to-resi development Croydon’s 1960s landmark buildings Apollo House and Lunar House have been sold … Continue reading

Posted in Criterion Capital, Housing, Lunar House/Apollo House, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

MP Jones misses mark with criticism of town centre’s Primark

CROYDON IN CRISIS: One of the borough’s Labour MPs is accused of ‘performatively sending emails’ to a fashion chain’s CEO, when there are bigger issues in the borough, such as Westfield’s continuing delays over redevelopment  Croydon West MP Sarah Jones … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Crime, Croydon BID, Croydon West, Nick Blackburn, North End Quarter, Planning, Policing, Sarah Jones MP, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

After seven years, council dusts off sketches for Minster Green

There is to be a brief exhibition of long-delayed plans for Minster Green staged at Croydon Minster from Tuesday November 25 to Saturday November 29, from 11.30am to 4pm (to 7pm on Wednesday November 26). The issues of creating a … Continue reading

Posted in Church and religions, Crime, Croydon Council, Croydon Minster, Croydon parks, Environment, Planning, Waddon | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments