My apologies for sending you yet another email - this will be the last one for a few weeks I promise. I just wanted to update you on three issues.
Supporting the town centre
I’m delighted to see that the Council, the car park operators, the shopping centres and individual retailers are repeating last weekend’s offers to encourage people to come and shop or eat out in Croydon town centre over the Bank Holiday weekend. Parking on-street is free and you can park all day in any of the multi-storey car parks for just £2. In addition, there are lots of special offers and lots of family entertainment laid on. For all the information, go to http://www.croydontowncentre.com/offers.html.
So come into the town centre this weekend. If we want Croydon to recover we need to support it, not shop in Bromley or Bluewater. Please forward this message to your neighbours and friends in the Croydon area.
In the long term, of course, people are only going to come into the town centre if they feel safe and if the parking charges are reasonable. That’s why I’m campaigning for the current policing levels to be maintained and for a permanent cut in the parking prices in the multi-storey car parks.
Improving street lighting across the borough
On Wednesday I was up in Corbett Close, New Addington to see the first of what will be thousands of new streetlights installed. Croydon and Lewisham Councils have formed a partnership with the construction and development company Skanska, who will take over the day to day responsibility for the maintenance of our street lighting network. Over the first five years of the contract, they will be replacing pretty much all the lights in the borough. The new columns focus the light down onto the road and where necessary additional columns will be installed so lighting levels across the borough will improve. This is great news - not only should it make our roads safer but it will deter some crime and make people feel safer. As well as replacing streetlights, Skanska are replacing the underground cable network in much of the borough and this will make it much easier to identify faults and to raise or lower the lighting levels in particular areas at particular times of the day if required.
As the MP for New Addington, I am delighted that the replacement work has started there. All too often in the past, New Addington has been overlooked - it’s great to see this Council giving it priority. In terms of the other areas that I represent, the provisional plan is that most of Shirley and part of Addiscombe will be done in the first half of next year, the rest of Addiscombe, Woodside, Park Hill and Croydon town centre in 2013/14 and upper Shirley, Addington Village, Forestdale and Monks Hill in 2014/15.
Litter pick in Ashburton Park
Tomorrow morning, the volunteer litter picking team I have recruited will be out in Ashburton Park. If you would like to join us - it’s one small way to make Croydon a better place to live - we are meeting at 10.30am at the car park off Tenterden Road.
Gavin Barwell
MP for Croydon Central
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