Taking The Piss?

I see that The Guardian (the broadsheet not the local rag) notes that Croydon has "improved no end".

Are they taking the piss?

Thinking Big

I am pleased to see that there are finally plans to build on the derelict eyesore which is on the former Randolph and Pembroke House site in Wellesley Road.

This has been a rotting scab on Croydon's landscape since the two buildings were demolished in 1993, and has been featured on this site back in February 2004.

Berkeley Homes have had their plans approved by Croydon Council to build a 44-storey tower and a development that will see a total of 739 flats built across five blocks.

The question is, will companies come to Croydon and use this 44 storey tower?

Of Mice and Men

As the old saying goes "the best laid plans of mice and men..."

This most certainly is the case for the plans for the Park Place development, which have been gathering dust for years now.

Allegedly, the plan is to "regenerate Croydon town centre" (how often do developers and Croydon council use that phrase?), by amongst other things knocking down St George's Walk.

However, despite the developers and the council "talking big" for years about these plans, nothing yet has happened or looks like happening anytime soon.

The Croydon Guardian reports:

"Work was due to start in spring but Minerva and Lend Lease have still not secured an anchor tenant.

St George's Walk is under a compulsory purchase order and was originally set to be demolished late last year.

But it now looks as though it will still be open in 2009 and traders say they are fed up with not getting any answers from their landlord, Minerva."

Meanwhile St George's Walk is rotting.

A cynic might suggest that the plan is to allow the area to rot away to nothing, then force the council to accept a second rate tenant and a third rate development.

Why should the citizens of Croydon be treated in this manner by their council?