It was fantastic to be at Croydon Carnival last weekend for this celebration of our communities and culture. Today we have proudly raised the Jamaican flag at Croydon Town Hall ahead of Jamaican Independence Day tomorrow, in recognition of our Jamaican residents and their rich contribution to our borough.
This week we have opened a survey on our plans to tackle antisocial behaviour in the town centre and I’m keen to hear from residents, businesses and anyone who visits Croydon. Our proposal to introduce a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) is about the council working in partnership with the police to make our streets safer. The Order would cover the town centre from West Croydon to South Croydon and will give the police more powers to crack down on antisocial behaviour when it happens. The survey is here and we are listening so please do have your say.
As I have spoken about previously, making our town centre safer and cleaner is the first step to getting Croydon back on track and restoring pride in our town, but we also need long-term investment to kickstart our regeneration. Croydon’s year as London Borough of Culture 2023 is a great opportunity to do this, by showing off our borough and all its fantastic attributes and drawing in investment. Through the Ignite Fund we are creating opportunities for hundreds of artists and cultural organisations to be part of our programme. The Ignite Fund is now open and I really encourage local people to apply.
I have also heard from many of you about your frustration with the proposed extension of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer London, including our borough. I have written to the Mayor of London to express my concerns and share those views. We all want our borough’s air to be cleaner, but I believe the way to achieve this is by improving our public transport network and making it safer for people to walk and cycle – not by penalising residents and businesses in Croydon. We have recently submitted a bid for £20m of government Levelling Up funding, which if successful, will be used to redesign pedestrian routes and road layouts, to do exactly this.
Jason Perry
Executive Mayor of Croydon
