It seems that Croydon Council may finally be displaying some signs of common sense, at least when it comes to their daft idea to build an arena at the Gateway site on Dingwall Road.
If reports in the
Croydon Guardian are to be believed, Croydon Council's opposition to building offices and homes on the site has been ditched.
Given the chronic housing shortage in the South East you would have thought that they would have jumped at the chance, wouldn't you?
Stanhope, the developers, are now reportedly able to start working on the site which has been derelict for 40 years.
Yes, read that again,
the site has been derelict for 40 years; that is inexcusable!.
What does that say about the effectiveness of our beloved Croydon Council?
Some dinosaurs on the council may still claim that they want an arena (why for goodness sake?); yet realistically, as I have said on this site many times, it would mean that they would have to make a compulsory purchase of the site from Stanhope.
How on earth can they afford to do that?
We, the ratepayers and citizens of Croydon, have been let down badly by "our" council over the last few decades.
It is time that the council, and those political parties who vie for our votes every few years, were sent a message that we are not prepared to allow our town centre to decay any further.
The opportunity to deliver that message comes this May, when the local elections are being held.
Those of you who need to have their memories refreshed as to how bad Dingwall Road, one of the main thoroughfares of Croydon, has become; may enjoy a brief "cyberwalk" down this most unlovely and unloved of Croydon's roads.
