Croydon could get Westfield shopping centre

“The Wandle will not be raised - it will be revealed once more - deculverted, like they are doing in Zurich - see http://tinyurl.com/cg4gb23”

“If they haven't started raising the wandle then at least tell me that part of the partial boating lake is being worked on.

Or have the foundations been dug for the bandstand? or the fountain

..........or did they invest the 3.4 million in Iceland, Greece or Italy”

“Mr Shed - I don't think they have even started raising the river Wandle yet! Perhaps someone from the local area could advise?

Actionmen - A very bleak, but very true statement about Croydon. I've been saying this for years, Croydon has been left to rot.”

“I've just fallen in (no, Ivor, not into the raised Wandle). I can see what's going on.

Several developers want to build glass tower blocks to house the young professionals with no sense who apparently currently live near their offices in London. They won't like Allders, the Whitgift as it is now, Centrale etc. so we have to have a new shopping centre for them as well. Presumably they won't like Sainsbury's either so will need a Waitrose as well and probably a street market selling trendy jewellery if we can find space for one.

Where will all these bright young professionals live when they have a couple of kids in a few years time? Not Croydon, apparently. Is it impossible to do anything to improve Croydon without demolishing and rebuilding everything? In the current financial climate with the country and most of us on the brink of bankruptcy it is refreshing to learn that developers have money to spend, but shouldn't we wait and see how many retailers survive this Christmas and New Year before discussing building a new centre full of empty shops?”

“it will not happen.
politically croydon is being left to be run down.
an 'outpost' for the unwashed and unwanted from other areas.
the powers that be are fed up with irritating croydon and its city status bid and by blocking investment and development it will become the wasteland that they wish it to be and can therefore stop this ridiculous city status bid.
croydon is meaningless, we are seeing that. other towns have over taken it as a retail destination. Really big names don't come here or if they do move on.
great for primark,poundland,mcdonalds,99p store.

no individual upmarket shops, no smart delicatessens or independent coffee shops.no individual anything.not even a cornish pasty company!! croydon is fast food central and doesn't have one of those. again too upmarket.
the area behind the market, the cultural quarter. what a joke, empty units. no plan in place to get some independent,classy bars,restuarants in there.
not surprising as on one side there is a council estate and on the other the market. either open in the day or an eerie empty road at night.plus the goose on the green pub with all the hard faced drinkers smoking outside.
such a shame. it could be a great, vibrant place, but it is becoming a scruffy, down at heel wasteland.”

“Do we really need a Westfield shopping centre? Will that make Croydon a better place to live?
IMO, we do not need it - it will ruin any small independent shop that is left and we will have even more of the same high street rubbish...
So soon Croydon will have skyscrapers, casinos and a Westfield - I am all for regeneration, but aren't they taking this 5 steps too far too soon?
To build up a reputation (good one, mind you) they will have to come up with something different...”

“I remember the St.George's walk redevelopment - it came just after the era when there used to be shops there - Like Turtles - the shop that stocked all the things you han't realised you needed.

I remember the area behind East Croydon - easy - it is still there.

But I don't remember raising the Wandle - I remember it being raised in 1967 (68?) when I lived in Mitcham and the water level reached our front door (as was 2 feet deep in some houses) but that was divine intervention and long before Global Warming was invented.

Hold on - I just googled it. is this the scheme where the council have given £1m and the lottery £2m and Boris £400k and it should be finished in 2012?

The money will be used to raise the River Wandle, which runs under the park, for the first time in 40 years, and it says the funds will "help restore the park's original Victorian character" by reviving features such as the bandstand, water fountain, ornamental planting and part of the original boating lake.

I'm looking forward to it already - a brass band and some 'partial boating'”

“If it happens, great. However, given the history of proposed developments in Croydon I won't believe it until I see builders on-site working on the changes. It would be funny though if they ended up redeveloping the Whitgift Centre into something special before the debacle that is the Stanhope Schroders development ever happens.

It is nice though to see articles in the press that are positive for Croydon. We just need ten more per day for the next five years and people might actually beging to think it is a nice place.”

“Well seeing as my post refused to load on the other thread, here is a list of "forgotten" schemes:

Who remembers the St Georges Walk redevelopment?
Who remembers the arean behind East Croydon?
The raising of the river Wandle?

And stop using John Lewis in your articles. They do not want to come to central Croydon. If they did, they would have been here years ago.”

“As per my other comment; this will never happen. Come to Croydon, the land of shattered dreams and broken promises. Where countless ideas to update the town centre have just vanished.”