Named and Shamed

Named and Shamed

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Squalid roads, buildings and locations in Croydon named and shamed.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Enormous Crocus Approved

As noted on this site in February, Croydon Council have given Berkeley Homes the green light to build a £140M 44-storey tower in Croydon.

The development at Wellesley Square will include a total of 739 flats built across five blocks.

However, Property Week reports that the tower, designed by Rolfe Judd architects, has been designed to resemble a crocus. Seemingly, the name 'Croydon' was derived from the Latin for crocus and valley.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Croydon Selects John Laing

Property Week reports that Croydon Council has selected John Laing Projects and Developments as its preferred partner for a £450M regeneration.

John Laing beat competition from Land Securities Trillium to be selected as Croydon Council's partner to redevelop four council-owned sites and build the council a new headquarters.

The cabinet is set to approve the creation of the 50:50 urban regeneration vehicle on 9 June.

The council said:

"Through setting up a limited liability partnership in which the council and its selected private sector investment partner would each have a 50% stake (through the authority's land assets and the partner’s cash) the council will be able to ensure regeneration takes place in the way it wants and to realise much greater value from the proceeds."

Councillor Tim Pollard said:

"It won't have escaped anyone's notice that some of the most successful companies in the UK are property developers. The council has for some time sold sites to the highest bidder only for developers to take all the profit when land is developed.

The solution we expect to engineer with John Laing will ensure we get a big slice of the future action and make a lasting contribution to Croydon's regeneration
."

I might have more faith in the council's and Tim Pollard's abilities to regenerate Croydon, were it not for their obsession with trying to build an arena in Croydon.