We Made That to lead the strategic vision of the regeneration of Croydon Town Centre

Croydon Council has appointed a multi-disciplinary team led by We Made That to deliver the strategic vision and framework for the regeneration of Croydon town centre through a programme of community-led activities.

Meeting the council’s ambitions to be as inclusive as possible, the series of activities will give all residents, businesses, and partners the opportunity to influence the vision for Croydon town centre over the next 15 years. This strategic vision will contribute to the Council’s regeneration programme being planned for the town centre – a key priority for Executive Mayor Jason Perry.

The team, led by We Made That, also includes experts in the following fields: GHPA (planning); PRD (socio-economic development); Useful Projects (climate change and sustainability); Turf Projects (community engagement); Place Services (heritage and conservation), Civic Engineers (infrastructure and transport); Stockdale (finance).

Key to shaping Croydon’s vision is the borough’s diverse community groups, residents and businesses. The programme of workshops will explore the future of Croydon town centre starting from next week, and will run through to Spring 2024, offering residents, businesses and partners the opportunity to get involved.

The first event was on Friday 8 December at Little Turf in Keeley Road, Croydon, led by local artist Lina Ivanova. Lina’s session, called ‘Roots and Routes – Setting up in Croydon’, was for individuals and businesses who have set up home in the borough to share their experiences and stories.

The activities will continue into the new year and until Spring 2024, with family workshops and activity guides, community created surveys, and a symposium discussing how to make the town centre more accessible – all aiming to make sure the borough’s voices are heard.

This project will add to We Made That’s extensive experience working in Croydon, including the delivery of the mixed-use masterplan for the redevelopment of commercial and industrial space at Purley Way and the £2.8m South End high street transformation.

Mayor Perry of Croydon has been working closely with businesses and partners through the Town Centre Advisory Board to bring forward the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre, this regeneration strategy and the wider regeneration of the town centre.

Six infrastructure and public realm projects took a big step forward to improve connections throughout the town centre, following a successful bid for £18.5m by the council to the government’s Levelling Up Fund. The Reconnecting Croydon projects will enable residents and visitors to enjoy the town centre’s public realm and travel more easily through safer, greener and more pleasant routes.

Tom Fox, Senior Associate at We Made That said: “We’re proud to be building on our work with Croydon Council to continue developing a transformative vision for the future of Croydon Town Centre. As one of London’s largest and most diverse boroughs, key to driving this forward is engaging and collaborating with the whole community, which is at the centre of our approach to developing the strategy with stakeholders.

“This is important work that will refresh the strategic thinking of the council, ensuring that the borough work with partners towards building a prosperous future for all.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily