Campaigners battle to stop Smitham station from being renamed
by Lucy Buckland
lucy.buckland@essnmedia.co.uk
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All change? Campaigners want Smitham Station to keep its name rather than be changed to Coulsdon Town
Campaigners have vowed to battle against Smitham station being renamed Coulsdon Town.
Councillors spearheaded the renaming as part of the Coulsdon Regeneration Project which aimed to get more people into the town.
But campaigners claim not enough consultation was done on the new name and want Smitham to remain in some form.
The area around the station used to be called Smitham Bottom.
Through a Freedom of Information request, one campaigner revealed Coulsdon Town got 34 votes from the public while no change got 27.
Traffic campaigner Peter Morgan said: "We were told Coulsdon Town was a name which was the most popular but as we can see from these results only 34 people actually wanted it. Is that enough to justify such a huge change?"
Croydon Council said it would only cost Coulsdon taxpayers £2,000 to change the name but train operator Southern, which runs the station, said the cost to its company could not be calculated.
A council spokeswoman said if people objected to the name they needed to direct their concerns to Southern or the Government.
She added: "There was recognition that rail travellers who were unfamiliar with the area tended to travel to Coulsdon South and then face a relatively lengthy journey back into the town."
But although the council has signed off the new name, commuters will not be stepping off onto a Coulsdon Town station until the name has been agreed by the Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis.
13 Comments
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by Mark K Smitham, Croydon
Thursday, September 09 2010, 11:32PM
“I agree with Arfur and Rosa. Why not add "for Coulsdon Town" to the sign and announcements. No name change necessary.”
by Mr.Angry, The Estate
Tuesday, March 02 2010, 7:56PM
“Make that 35 with me,some sturdy stickers to cover the out of date Smitham name should not cost two grand!”
by RPB, coulsdon
Tuesday, March 02 2010, 3:54PM
“Nick. Don't be daft. Your idea is logical, constructive, forward-thinking, and would benefit commuters and the town itself. It will never happen.”
by Mike, Old Coulsdon
Monday, March 01 2010, 6:16PM
“why change the name and waste tax payers monies.... leave it as it is !”
by Nick, Coulsdon
Monday, March 01 2010, 5:08PM
“As I've said before, there's a badly underused triangle of land bounded by the two railway tracks and the bypass. The whole thing could be turned into a station covering both lines with a supermarket/shopping precinct and a couple of layers of car park underneath and maybe offices on top to help pay for it all. The poorly postioned Coulsdon South could then be removed.”
by Rosa, Coulsdon
Monday, March 01 2010, 3:14PM
“Another unnecessary change that it going to cost taxpayers money. If we have managed for years with it being called Smitham, why waste our money to change it. I agree with the comment about adding 'for Coulsdon Town' to the station signs. If it's good enough for East Croydon 'home of Nestle' it should be good enough for Smitham.”
by Arfur Towcrate, Staffycher
Monday, March 01 2010, 7:17AM
“Croydon Council said it would only cost Coulsdon taxpayers £2,000 to change the name - actually it will cost Croydon taxpayers that amount.
They could keep the current station name and just add to the Smitham sign "for Coulsdon Town Centre" - announcements on the train could be made in the same way.”
by The3rd, Croydon
Sunday, February 28 2010, 9:13PM
“Just change the name and be done with it.”
by RobinHood, Sherwood
Sunday, February 28 2010, 8:49PM
“Just shut it down...problem solved.”
by Peter, Wallington
Sunday, February 28 2010, 5:56PM
“Being a non resident, I shouldn't have any say in this, but as a non resident I had no idea where Smitham station actually was until about a year ago.
I got a call from my son at 1am to collect him from Smitham station, off I went into Coulsdon, turn right and along Chipstead Valley Road towards Kingswood. A quick call to him, and a U turn later and he was picked up.
I had always thought that Smitham was called Coulsdon anyway.”