The road works on Coulsdon Common which has closed Coulsdon Road and access to Caterham is not finished and will be extended by 2 weeks and possibly up to 4 weeks.
This will mean the 466 bus will terminate at Old Coulsdon with at least 2 buses per hour continuing to serve Caterham via the A23, Hooley and Shepherds Hill.
The 404 will continue to terminate and start from Lacy Drive Old Coulsdon.
You may remember that it was published here and elsewhere (including Inside Croydon) in February 2024 that the Council had put the Calat Centre site up for sale on the open market after 8 years of struggling by Residents’ Associations, Coulsdon businesses etc. and 2 years by Chris Philp MP’s attempts in discussions with CEX of NHS South West London and Ministers to get a Health Centre for Coulsdon, only to have disappointment following disappointment. The south of the Borough only has 7 medical facilities (reduced from 9) as opposed to the 49 in the rest of the Borough, acknowledged as only 7 in the presentation from the NHS. That publicity of the sale resulted in hastily issued press releases by the Council and Chris to says that agreement has been reached by the Council and the NHS to sell the site to the NHS, including trying to blame ‘local activists’ for delaying the process.
Residents’ Association representatives met with Mathew Kershaw, CEO of Croydon NHS on the 18th March 2024 to discuss the Coulsdon Medical centre on the Calat site. Mathew assured us that the NHS had now purchased the site, NHS England had now released the funding and they were pressing ahead with the design. We asked when we could share the news. He said it should be by the end of the month – March 2024.
We received the PowerPoint presentation that also includes the design this morning. Chris Philp MP seems to have it received yesterday.
The important issues are:
The PowerPoint presentation by NHS South West London can be viewed here.
Not bad for a bunch of activists.
The change to bus stops in central Croydon took place at the beginning of February. The 60, 166 and 466 northbound now stop in St Georges Walk, while the N68 still stops in Park Lane. The 405 now terminates in Park Lane. Southbound the 60, 166, 405, 466 and N68 all leave from Park Street. Superloop SL5 from Croydon to Bromley via Shirley and Eden Park with Single deck buses started in February from St George’s Walk. It is the first time that there has been a bus direct from Croydon to Bethlem Hospital.
The postponed Sutton and Croydon changes: The main splitting of the 407 has been delayed until the existing tender runs out. It is believed that the other changes to 166, 312, 434 and 439 and withdrawal of 455 will go ahead in March 2024.
Bus Usage Stats from TfL – Coulsdon Routes for the year 2022/2023: 60 5,628,532; 466 3,458,891; 405 1,388,941; 463 1,021,321; 166 942,343; 434 218,127 404 185,277; N68 343,751 The busiest route in Croydon is the 109, 608, 923 and the 60 is 4th Busiest route and one of only three that has exceeded its pre-COVID usage. Source: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/buses-performance-data#on-this-page-3
Nonna Rosa has now reopened after refurbishment by new owners Emanuele and Wanni
Marie will also be returning soon.
At the November meeting the ECRA committee welcomed Cllr Scott Roche to provide us with some updates. Cllr Roche is the Cabinet member for Streets and Environment on Croydon council.
We raised the issues of parks maintenance, refuse disposal and the proposals for parking.
Cllr Roche has a lot of priorities for parks maintenance. We were particularly concerned about grass cutting in Marlpit Lane park, the maintenance of the putting green, the need to reinstate the junior football pitch and the failure to maintain Chaldon Way Gardens. We continue to seek a meeting with him and his officers to improve this situation.
At the January meeting we raised the problem of the water logged area outside Pistachio’s café and some cracking on the new perimeter path. We have asked for a meeting for the friends of Grange Park with the officers and contractors.
The consultation on parking proposals closed recently and the results are being evaluated. Cllr Roche expects that the changes will be implemented next year after further trials in some local areas. It appears that a mobile phone will be essential although some local shops may be designated as Pay Points. ECRA committee continue to press for 1 hour free and 1 hour paid parking.
We raised further concerns about the parking trial in January in Addiscombe, New Addington and Purley which reduces the one hour free parking to 30 minutes and the need to use an app or phone RingGo. We feel that this will lead to a reduction in people shopping locally.
Croydon council are reviewing the bin collection arrangements and the “failure rate” of bins and the timescale for replacement.
Cllr Roche did not have any further information on Red Clover Gardens/Lion Green Road.
We raised this again at the January meeting as they have now been empty for 10 months. We also asked who is responsible for snagging when people do move in.
Croydon Council is introducing cashless parking in three District centres – Purley, Addiscombe and New Addington – from today (Tuesday 2nd January 2024). This is despite hundreds of objections raised during and after a previous trial in South Croydon.
This reduces the free period from 1 hour to 30 minutes. You will no longer be able to obtain a ticket from a parking meter as these will be turned off. To park you will have to use the Parking app RingGo (https://ringgo.co.uk) or phone RingGo (020 3046 0010) quoting the RingGo location code, which are indicated on signs and pay by Bank card.
The alternatives are:
You can phone Ringo in advance from home, but there is no guarantee that there will be a free parking bay when you arrive.
You can pay at a shop that operates PayPoint in Purley. The PayPoint location in Purley can be found at the Londis store at the Shell Foxley Garage on the corner of Godstone Road and Foxley Hill Road (which is not exactly convenient for Purley Town centre).
Croydon council welcomes any comments on this trial via an online survey, available at:
https://www.croydon.gov.uk/NewAddingtonCPSurvey – for any questions please phone 020 8726 6000.
The survey will close on Monday 22 January 2024. It is noted that the Mayor failed to mention this in his Christmas News Message.
It is expected that these changes and charges will come to Coulsdon and other district centres in the near future.
The letter from Croydon Council advising of the changes can be downloaded from Hartley and District Residents’ Association website https://hadra.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Purley-Cashless-Parking-Letter.pdf.
Head to the Junction of Coulsdon Rd & Court Ave on Saturday 25th November, 4-6pm (lights to be switched on at 5pm) and enjoy Santa’s grotto, carol singing, refreshments and much more. Please continue to provide your support as we fund raise to allow us to continue bringing the Christmas Lights to Old Coulsdon.
Croydon Council is currently reviewing how parking is managed across the borough, with a number of options being considered including removal of all ticket machines and moving to payment by mobile app being one of their preferred options.
Public drop-in sessions where further information can be obtained, as well as provide you with a forum to provide feedback can be attended at our local Coulsdon Library on the following dates:
More information on the consultation including how to provide your feedback can be found on the Croydon Council website (https://www.getinvolved.croydon.gov.uk/draft-croydon-parking-policy-2023).
Update: ECRA’s response to Croydon Council’s Parking Strategy can be read here.
Celebrating 75 years since the excavations of Brian Hope-Taylor, it will include walks, talks, exhibitions and activities for children.
For further details visit Friends of Farthing Downs & Happy Valley.
From Saturday 19 August, the X26 will become the SL7 with an increased frequency. Route SL7 will run an enhanced service every 15 minutes all day every day, instead of every 30 minutes on route X26. Around half of the buses will have dedicated luggage space for customers travelling to and from Heathrow airport.
Route SL7 will run an express bus service between West Croydon and Heathrow Central, serving all the same stops as route X26 except the last bus stop at West Croydon will move (about 175 metres) around the corner, into West Croydon bus station.
Some bus stops in Kingston, New Malden, North Cheam, Teddington and Wallintdon Green have been renamed to better reflect their location.
For more information on the upcoming changes you can visit TFL: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/bus-changes
What is Superloop?
The main change to buses will be the introduction of the Superloop express buses around London:
As a result, the new route from Croydon to Bromley will become SL5 and the X68 will become the SL6. There wil be no change to existing toute 119 from Croydon to Bromley.
Further information is available on the TFL website.