The government inspector has finally delivered his report on the Compulsory Purchase Order for a vast swathe of central Croydon, giving the go-ahead for the £1 billion Hammersfield shopping mall to be built.
Local Government minister Greg Clark on a visit to Croydon earlier this year. Was he laughing with Tony Newman, or at him?
The Department for Communities and Local Government described the scheme, rather tweely, as “a revamp”. Suppose that’s better than calling it a £1billion Croydon facelift.
You could hear the sighs of relief in Fisher’s Folly over the traffic noise of the Flyover this morning as the inspector’s report was finally released, two months later than had been promised. But hey, what’s a few weeks? Back in 2012, we were told the new supermall was going to open in 2017…
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, issued his decision this morning to confirm the CPO following the recommendation of the inspector, Paul Griffiths.
“This is a day of celebration for Croydon residents,” according to Tony Newman, the leader of the supposedly Labour-run council which, since it took office 18 months ago, has done little to influence the scheme, which is overseen by Australian-owned shopping mall developers Westfield and will see the demolition of the Whitgift Centre.
Much of the 1960s-built Whitgift Centre is expected to be closed for at least three years while the building works take place. The demolition work is not expected to begin until early 2016, although even that may yet be delayed; Inside Croydon understands that all traders within the Centre have been told that they can expect to trade for two full Christmases – that is, 2015 and 2016 – under their new “flex leases”.
In Bradford, site of a previous Westfield venture, the city centre location of a proposed new mall stood vacant, untouched, for a decade before the developers eventually abandoned the scheme. Continue reading →
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