What a difference a few months makes in the world of Croydon's regeneration.

While the council was very much in bed with Arrowcroft as the favoured developers of the key Gateway site at East Croydon, rival developers Stanhope/Schroders were treated at times with almost open hostility.

Not so now that the Arrowcroft arena has disappeared out of sight leaving Stanhope/Schroders with a clear run.

Now we can expect to see the once shunned developers sharing pride of place with the council on its stand at this year's MIPIM international development exhibition being held in Cannes.

We also see Stanhope/Schroders' development of homes, offices, a new Warehouse Theatre and a major park trumpeted in the just published Croydon Economic Recovery Plan as a key project in bringing about the town's regeneration.

The council is not disguising its new friendship with Stanhope/Schroders and this is resulting in the creation of a positive atmosphere about the future of a site which has remained derelict for 40 years.

Before the Arrowcroft scheme's demise and more importantly before the recession started to rear its ugly head, Stanhope/Schroders were champing at the bit to start their project once the obstacles were out of the way.

Inevitably that champing seems to have died down and one suspects a lot of thinking and talking will be going on to turn a positive atmosphere into reality.

Key will be finding an anchor tenant for the main offices planned for phase one of the development.

If the first phase can be secured then, as we come out of the recession, the future of the development as a whole will become much brighter.

It may be that the final development will not be quite as it is envisaged now but the challenge is to see something which leads Croydon's charge towards future prosperity.

Closer co-operation between the council and the developers must help get that charge under way.

IN an appalling and totally inexplicable rush of blood last week, I referred in a piece on the Waddon by-election to Councillor Alison Butler as Cllr Alison Roberts.

Getting the name wrong was bad enough but the error is made worse by the fact that Alison Roberts, who like Cllr Butler represented Bensham Manor ward, died some years ago.

Apologies to Alison Roberts' family and to Cllr Butler for the mistake.