I am sure that you are aware that Croydon Council has financial difficulties and one of the causes is loans and non-payment of dividends by BrickbyBrick to the Council. The Council has now reviewed the remaining and ongoing BrickbyBrick projects. This review has resulted in all existing BrickbyBrick projects that have been started will continue. All the remaining projects will be put on hold while they are reviewed and this could mean abandoning, selling the sites, transferring them back to the council.
As there are a lot of rumours floating around about the BrickbyBrick sites, suggesting the existing Community centre in Barrie Close was about to be sold. ECRA has been in discussions with Croydon council to establish where we are with BrickbyBrick sites in Coulsdon.
Tollers estate and Lion Green Road are continuing with BrickbyBrick. The new Lion Green car park should be completed by the end of March. There is a delay due to discussions with UK Power on how to deal with the High Voltage power cables that run under the car park. Construction of the blocks of flats will continue.
The two projects of concern to us have been the Medical Centre and the New Community Centre on the Calat site in the Town Centre and the related to this the existing Community Centre site at Barrie Close.
I am pleased to say that the council and the NHS have both agreed that a new medical centre is required in Coulsdon and the Calat site is the preferred option. The council can also see the value of moving the Community centre to the town centre and the Malcolm Road side of the Calat site. This would then allowed the Barrie Close site to be sold to another developer.
As a result, the Council will now directly take charge of the project I am pleased to say this has the backing of both the new leader of the council and the local councillors. However, there are still some hurdles to overcome. The first will be to either renew or extend the planning permission on all three sites which will run out in April 2021. The second is to finalise the design and actual needs of the NHS in line with their latest plan of Autumn 2020. Finally, to ensure the new community centre is in line with what was agreed with BrickbyBrick.
Croydon have agreed to keep both the RAs and the Community centre informed of progress.
Due to the new Covid restrictions local trains services will be reduced at both Coulsdon South and Coulsdon Town stations from Monday 18th January 2021.
In general a number of early and late services will be cancelled.
At Coulsdon South the Thameslink Horsham to Peterborough service will be reduced to hourly.
The Southern Reigate trains will continue to be every 30 minutes.
At Coulsdon Town the Tattenham Corner service will be reduced to an hourly shuttle service to Purley.
There will be some additional trains in the off peak and evening to and from London Bridge all stations to Coulsdon Town.
Please check on Southern, Thameslink and National Rail web sites and apps before travelling.
If you are over 80 there are three ways you might be contacted to get your vaccination. Please do not try to book a vaccination if you have not received a letter.
Using a local GP service: GP services are working together in your area to vaccinate as many people as possible. You may be contacted by a different surgery to the one you usually go to.
Local hospital services: You might be contacted to have the vaccination as an inpatient or outpatient.
At a vaccination centre: If you live within 30 to 45 minutes of a vaccination centre, and haven’t already been vaccinated, you have have received a letter asking you to book an appointment online at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination. Or if you can’t access the NHS website you can call 119 free of charge.
If you can’t travel to a vaccination centre, or there is another reason you can’t book an appointment at the nearest vaccination centre, you can choose to wait until your local GP services contact you if they haven’t already. If this is your preferred option – you don’t need to do anything now – wait for your GP service to make contact. More locations will become available through www.nhs.uk or 119 in the coming weeks so you could also try again there later.
If you receive a letter and already have an appointment booked to have your vaccination at a local service please ignore the letter. There is nothing you need to do and please attend your appointment.
If you have had your first jab, you will be contacted about getting your second.
The Covid-19 vaccine is now available for residents in Croydon. However, it is a big task and there is a priority order for the vaccine.
The vaccine will first be offered to those who are living in a care home for older adults, frontline healthcare workers, frontline social care workers, and carers working in a care home for older residents.
The vaccine will then be offered in age order to:
those aged over 80 years
those aged over 75 years
those aged over 70 years
adults on the NHS shielded patient list
those aged over 65 years
adults under 65 years with long term conditions.
Those aged 50-64 will be offered it later.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine is safe and effective. It will give you the best protection against coronavirus. The vaccine is part of our defence – we need to continue with hands, face, space.
Some people should not have vaccine at this stage.
if you are pregnant – you should wait until you have had your baby,
if you are breastfeeding – you should wait until you have stopped breastfeeding.
If you are trying to get pregnant, you should wait for 2 months after having the 2nd dose before getting pregnant.
If you having some cancer treatment.
If you suffer from allergic reactions.
There is no evidence it is unsafe if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. But more evidence is needed before you can be offered the vaccine.
The NHS will let you know when it is your turn to have the vaccine. It is important not to contact the NHS for a vaccination before then.
For more information please see leaflet below or from the NHS web site www.nhs.uk/CovidVaccine
Information provided by the South West Health & Care Partnership
Who will get it when
An independent group of experts has recommended that the NHS first offers vaccines to those at highest risk of catching the disease and of suffering serious complications or dying from COVID-19
This includes older adults in care homes and frontline health and social care workers. When more vaccine becomes available, the vaccines will be offered to other people at risk as soon as possible
The phased vaccination programme will see patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, among the first to receive the life-saving jab
Care home providers are also being asked by the Department of Health and Social Care to begin booking staff into vaccination clinics. GPs are also expected to be able to begin vaccinating care home residents.
Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19
Where the jabs will be administered
There are 50 hospital hubs in the first wave and more hospitals will start vaccinating over the coming weeks and months as the programme ramps up
GPs and other primary care staff are also being put on standby to start delivering the jab. A small number of GP-led primary care networks will begin doing so during the following week (week beginning 14 December) with more practices in more parts of the country joining in on a phased basis during December and in the coming months.
Vaccination centres treating large numbers of patients in sporting venues and conference centres will subsequently stand up when further supplies of vaccine come on stream.
Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers to patients. It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain ahead of use
The COVID-19 vaccine does not contain any animal products or egg.
In a position statement published on the 6 December, the British Islamic Medical Association recommend the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for eligible at-risks individuals in the Muslim community. Further information is available here https://britishima.org/pfizer-biontech-covid19-vaccine/.
How safe is the vaccine?
The vaccine approved for use in the UK was developed by Pfizer/BioNTech.
It has met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Any coronavirus vaccine that is approved must go through all the clinical trials and safety checks all other licensed medicines go through. The UK has some of the highest safety standards in the world.
Other vaccines are being developed. They will only be available on the NHS once they have been thoroughly tested to make sure they are safe and effective.
During the trial thousands of people were given a COVID-19 vaccine and no serious side effects or complications were reported.
As is common with new vaccines the MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely on the first day of the national roll out. Both are recovering well
You can read about the MHRA approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 on the GOV.UK website
Where can I get my COVID-19 vaccination?
Vaccines will be offered in a range of settings.
Some vaccination teams will visit people to offer the vaccine, for example in care homes, other people may have to go to the nearest centre. Because some of the vaccine has to be stored in a very low temperature freezer, you may not be able to get the vaccine in your normal GP surgery.
How effective is the COVID-19 vaccine?
After having both doses of the vaccine most people will be protected against coronavirus.
It takes a few weeks after getting the 2nd dose for it to work.
There is a small chance you might still get coronavirus even if you have the vaccine.
This means it is important to:
continue to follow social distancing guidance
if you can, wear something that covers your nose and mouth in places where it is hard to stay away from other people
COVID-19 vaccine side effects
Most side effects are mild and should not last longer than a week, such as:
a sore arm where the needle went in
feeling tired
a headache
feeling achy
You can take painkillers, such as paracetamol, if you need to.
If you have a high temperature you may have coronavirus or another infection.
If your symptoms get worse or you are worried, call 111.
It is very rare for anyone to have a serious reaction to the vaccine (anaphylaxis). If this does happen, it usually happens within minutes.
Staff giving the vaccine are trained to deal with allergic reactions and treat them immediately.
What if the centre I am offered is not easy to get to?
Please try to attend the vaccination centre you are offered. If you cannot attend that centre you may have to wait to get the vaccine in a more convenient location.
Can I pay for a COVID-19 vaccine privately or at a pharmacy?
No, the COVID-19 vaccination is only available through the NHS to eligible groups and it is a free vaccination
Is it mandatory?
There are no plans for a COVID-19 vaccine to be compulsory.
Why do I have to wait?
The COVID-19 vaccines will become available as they are approved for use and as each batch is manufactured. So every dose is needed to protect those at highest risk.
The NHS will let you know when it is your turn to have the vaccine.
Some people who are housebound or live in a care home and who can’t get to a local vaccination centre may have to wait for supply of the right type of vaccine. This is because only some vaccines can be transported to people’s homes.
When the lockdown was announced in March it was clear that the ECRA committee could no longer functional as normal. We had to postpone our AGM and cancel our social events including the Quiz nights. We were fortunate that we had already printed the Spring Review and with the help of our road stewards who didn’t have to self-isolate and some additional volunteers, we were able to distribute it without knocking and collecting the annual subscription (this accounts for the reduction in subs and reserves in the accounts).
We have continued to act in your interest by having committee meetings online by zoom and in back gardens where we could maintain social distancing. We have continued to engage on your behalf with the outside bodies such as the Croydon council, TfL, Network Rail, the NHS, BrickbyBrick, etc. by zoom, MS Teams, email and phone.
We now find ourselves in position where it is clear we will not be able to hold the AGM in the Autumn, our Stewards’ night or the Christmas Dinner. I am pleased to say that the committee have all volunteered to carry on until we are in a safe position to hold an AGM which may be well into next year.
We will continue to engage with those outside bodies on your behalf and we will also publish and distribute the Review for the rest of the year. You can find the accounts for the year 2019/20 in this PDF.
As you can see our main sources of income is subscriptions and adverts. It is important that we collect as many subscriptions as possible. This enables us to maintain the subscriptions at £3.00 and to use any surplus money on your behalf in the community.
If you have not paid yoursubscription this year. You can help us and our road stewards by paying your subscription by Standing Order or Bank Transfer. To do this please contact us on and we tell you how to do this. Alternatively, you can pay by cash or cheque (payable to ECRA) direct to your road steward or you can put the £3.00 in an envelope with your address on it through my door at 50 Reddown Road.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a very serious issue and it is important we do what we can for ourselves and others to keep safe. It is pleasing to see how the Coulsdon community has pulled together to help each other. Please stay safe.
Charles King Chair : East Coulsdon Residents’ Association
TfL have made proposals to change bus routes in Sutton and Croydon. There are a few changes which we believe can be improved upon.
The changes that affect Coulsdon are :
They intend to withdraw route 455 from Old Lodge Lane to Croydon via Pampisford Road and then on to Wallington via Wandle Valley and Roundshaw – as this route is very long, unreliable and difficult to regulate.
They intend to extend the 312 from South Croydon to Old Lodge Lane.
Divert the 166 round the Purley loop, along Pampisford Road and via South Croydon station.
Route 434 Coulsdon To Whyteleafe South to extend Caterham, but via a diversion to the top of Kenley adding 5 minutes to the journey time.
The change to the 166 will add anything up to 8 minutes on the journey to Croydon and will lose its Purley Town centre and Purley Hospital Stops.
The extension of route 434 to Caterham is positive but should continue to be via the existing Northwood Avenue route.
You can object / give feedback by filling in the questionnaire on the TfL consultation web site, by email to or write to FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS (Ref: Sutton – Croydon bus changes)
The Friends of Farthing Downs and Happy Valley have relaunched their nature trail on Farthing Downs and in Happy Valley Coulsdon, with the help of an all-star cast of celebrities. There are 29 marker posts with QR codes and with your mobile phone you can a narrative about the location by one of a number of celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Tony Robinson and Martin Jarvis.
In conjunction with this they have issued a new booklet which costs £2 and is on sale at Advanced Print Brighton Road Coulsdon.
From the start of the autumn school term TFL are requesting that school buses (starting with a 6**) are used only by school children. In our area: 612, 627, 633, 654, 663, 664, 685 and 689.
Some other buses will also become dedicated school buses around school times. This will include the 60 and 466 that start from the Oasis Academy in Old Coulsdon and the 405 from Harris Academy.
In addition, some buses on the following routes will at school times have some buses dedicated for school children and some for ordinary passengers. In our area: 60, 109, 127, 154, 157, 194, 197, 198, 289, 312, 410, 466 & 468.
The following local buses will have additional buses at school time: 130, 405, 434, 455, & 463.
All children over the age of 11 unless exempt will have to wear a face covering.
At present fares for 11 to 16 year olds will remain free for children with a zip card.
