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PWRA 72nd AGM, 2007

The AGM was held on Wednesday May 16 at Purley URC Halls,

Guest Speaker: Helen Dumbleton, Purley Town Centre Manager

Plus a presentation on the extension of the Webb Estate Conservation Area

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Coulsdon Inner Relief Road Events - Dec 2, 2006

A fine day greeted the fun runners and spectators who previewed the new relief road at Coulsdon. Named Farthing Way by Mayor Janet Marshall, with the help of children from St Aidan and Chipstead Valley Schools, the new road was sufficiently completed to allow a special bus to take residents on a circular tour. Others walked the route and discovered hidden gems of Coulsdon on the way, as well as old friends. Notable amongst them was Charles Hancock, stalwart of the Coulsdon Forum whose lobbying in the 1970s has finally born fruit in this relief road. Stalls and Jazz Bands were found at the CETS Centre in Malcolm Road, and art & photography were on show in an empty shop opposite the Library. The following pictures give a flavor of the events of the day, organised by Graham Lomas with Croydon Council, Hochtief TfL and others:

and soon after opening, stuck in a traffic jam at noon on Dec.19,!!

	Photographs © by Paul Sandford
The following images were captured on the morning of December 28, 2006, ten days after opening to traffic .......
U-turning to escape the tailback heading north. Southbound no problem	LHS: Painted out sign - Rethink on the right turn to the Coulsdon North Industrial Estate
Signs of vandalism on the easern footpath	The footpath to Coulsdon Woods from Smitham Station
New pedestrian railway bridge at Smitham Station	Northern approach to Farthing Way, the Coulsdon inner relief road. Note free flowing traffic southbound but nose to tail northbound.

AGM 2006

The 2006 AGM was held at the Purley United Reformed Church in Brighton Road on May 24. Highlights of the meeting included a positive message about local policing from the new Borough Commander, and an uplifting introduction to the new Leader of Croydon Council, Cllr Mike Fisher. The meeting was delighted to hear that Cllr Graham Bass was now Deputy Mayor and Cllr Steve O'Connell was deputy Leader. The AGM approved the raising of subs to £5 to cover postage for the Journal 3 times a year.

2006 Annual Report from the chairman, Tarsem Flora

I get the feeling that, since the May Council Elections, there is a New Beginning in Croydon! Somehow I feel re-energized as I sincerely believe that the new Conservative regime in Croydon Council will be more beneficial to the future welfare of Purley. However, let us not forget, we have had them before ……and memories don’t fade that easily!

But, as always, I remain an optimist. We now have new leaders re- emerging from Purley:

Cllr Derek Millard has taken a double Chair of corporate services and Chair of £500m Croydon Council Pension Fund

Cllr David Osland - is the new chairman of the Planning Committee and

Cllr Graham Bass, our Hon. President, has been appointed Deputy Mayor

Cllr Steve O’Connell, from Kenley has become Liaison officer for police - all excellent news for us in this part of the borough.

On behalf of PWRA may I congratulate our councillors and wish them best of luck in their respective offices and also look forward to a happy and mutual relationship as indeed we have enjoyed in the past.

Purley, as we all know has slipped down quite considerably over the past 25 years but significantly so in the last 10-12 years - all because of the

• Much higher densities of development.
• Infilling and backland developments
• Infiltration of flats – now creeping up on
  Russell Hill, Plough Lane and Foxley Lane
• Loss of parking facilities and sale of public carparks – and new developments, with minimal or no parking spaces
• Inadequate amenity space in all new projects
• Gradual loss of tree cover
• Influx of care homes
• An accumulation of some £750 000 raised under section 106 of Planning Act for recent approvals of various projects in Purley. Law requires this money to be spent in Purley.

Now let me remind you of the 10 commandments which appeared in our journal some 5 years ago -soon after when Neighbourhood partnership meetings began:

1. Resolve the A22 –A23 Purley Junction
2. Make the district centre sustainable
3. Make the centre “environment friendly” and facilitate easy shopping
4. Stop piecemeal developments within the district centre
5. Produce a strategic policy plan for Purley *
6. Establish a network of pedestrian routes
7. Introduce public art into the district centre
8. Provide sufficient level of security
9. Provide basic community facilities
10. Provide adequate parking

Have we achieved any of these objectives ?
Out of the 10 we have achieved one – a strategic plan for Purley – all the rest still has stil to be addressed by the council.

We do, of course, remain acutely aware of the fact that Coulsdon bypass will be ready in October this year and traffic jams in Purley, as a consequence, will be much worse. To date, no funding has been set aside for any of the road improvement schemes which formed part of the Purley Strategic Plan. PWRA remains committed to supporting the 1st option of rerouting some of the traffic through the back of Tesco. But it appears that Tesco is asking a very high price in return. We also understand that Tesco wants to expand the store to the front , sideways and upwards to a height of some 6 storeys. You can guest what that means.

Our District Centre is expected to see a lot of changes in the next 5-10 years. We understand that the

• The hospital building is expected to start soon
• Purley Baptist Church are making progress albeit slowly on the Purley triangle – we are expecting a good mix of community facilities there although a final scheme has not yet emerged.
• Christ Church in Brighton Road will be demolished and replaced with a brand new one, once funds have been raised. New adjoining halls we understand will be built in Phase 1.
• Whytecliffe Road will see a complete transformation with various multi-storey buildings fronting on to it.
• The Sainsbury site/swimming pool/multi-storey car park is expected to be demolished and replaced with new facilities, possibly incorporating the Purley Library but also 200 flats and other leisure uses but whilst this is being rebuilt Purley will without doubt suffer an acute shortage of parking spaces!! The Council has to resolve this issue very carefully indeed
• Next door to this church, a proposal has been put forward to develop over the site of the Russell Hill Place carpark. Its impact on this church and the business community is likely to be serious and we remain opposed to the proposals. Purley’s shops cannot survive or remain sustainable if adequate and proper parking facilities are not maintained in the town
• Out side of the town centre, the character of residential areas is changing fast. PWRA has successfully resisted some infilling but can do very little until the council reviews its policies. I know that the local councils can, if they so desire , resist the government’s policies.
  
  I would therefore urge the new Council to review the recently adopted UDP and publish supplementary guidance notes to safeguard the heritage of places like Purley.

A suggestion has also been made to extend outwards the conservation status of the Webb Estate. Some parts, if not all of Purley can indeed qualify for such status – e.g. the Woodcote Estate. I leave the thought with you but certainly if progressed, Purley’s future could be assured.

Planning of course always remains in the forefront of all what PWRA does. We continue to offer full co-operation and assistance to local residents when asked for and very often (though not always) support the local views. The executive committee reviews all known applications and decide if and when we need to object.

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I am grateful to all members of our Executive Committee, who, please believe me, do work very hard on your behalf. Let me say a big thank you to each one of them.
They deserve it !! In addition PWRA could not work effectively without the enormous assistance of so many road representatives who collect subs and also distribute journals and in addition do a lot of Public relations exercise.

Our journal is also going from strength to strength and in this instance thanks are due to its Editor Phil Reed and team members, Ann Horne and Tony Foxton.

I am also very grateful to Pat Hewitt who has acted as membership secretary for many years and to Jean Shields for taking minutes at every meeting and getting them typed. Pat is now stepping down as membership secretary but will stay in the committee. Jean takes over her role, somewhat reluctantly, but hopes with her husband helping, she will be able to manage.

This of course leads me to say thank you to all the partners of committee members who give lot of help behind the scenes. I personally could not do all the work if it was not for my wifeVisuni helping me.

I must not forget to appreciate the tremendous work our local councillors Graham Bass, David Osland, Derek Millard and Cllr Donald Speakman do. I greatly value all the help this association gets from them.

Lastly but not least I have a very pleasant duty to perform. This is to make a short presentation to a person who has over some 25 years served your committee with total commitment. He was the editor of PWRA newsletter for many years and more recently its Vice Chairman. He has now decided to step down, much to our loss - Paul Sandford.

Ed: Paul will remain a Road Rep and the PWRA webmaster ‘behind the scenes’ !

Update on the state of Purley

At the end of 2003, we found a number of un-resolved local issues, listed below in blue. Beside each, in red, is the status three years on, in early 2006.

• Shops remain empty in the Town Centre. More new shops and businesses have opened up, detailed in our Journal. However, some major retail outlets such as the Sainsbury's site by Purley swimming pool remains empty. Rather ironic that, in June 2006 Sainsbury announced plans for a new store with housing above it in Coulsdon, opposite Waitrose.

• No replacement activity in sight for either of the ex-Sainsbury's sites. Purley Baptist Church has bought the Brighton Road ex-Sainsbury site, which has been empty and derelict for over 20 years. While PBC move ahead with plans to develop the 'island site' there are no improvents to the traffic situation in sight.

• New hospital plans raise more questions than answers. The contract was signed in February 2006, with a prospect of work starting from Pampisford Road by end of 2006, with the demolition of the mental health facility and temporary relocationof this service in the old hospital buildings.

• Litter bin re-instatements still awaited. Some improvements, but we need to be vigilant and report deficiencies.

• Parking arrangements and charges are still not satisfactory, if we are to regenerate Purley. Parking remains a live issue, with the closure of Dale Road CP, threatened reduced capacity at Russell Hill Close CP to make way for social housing and over-reliance on TESCO's limited duration free parking.

• A Strategic Plan for Purley is not yet on the table ; meanwhile piecemeal redevelopment is likely. The latest Strategic Plan document is less than decisive, and still lacks credibility. A key player, TfL, has no budget for 5 years for road schemes in Purley. The plan prepared for Coulsdon Town Centre is more credible, and is being implemented in March 2006.

The highlights of 2006 include:

• The completion of the Coulsdon Inner Relief Road, with impact on traffic flows and access across Brighton Road

• A continuing debate over TfL's options for trunk road improvements through Purley

• Planning applications reaching a new record as the government demand for high density housing continues

• The opening to the public by the Corporation of London of a portion of the farmland, comprising Lot 49 adjacent to Farthing Down, which a PWRA donation helped to purchase

• Heritage issues coming to the fore, with changes still expected to Purley Council Offices building, the Library and Christchurch. In June 2006, work started on the Council Offices site with the demolition of the garage at the rear.

• Provisions in the new Croydon Unitary Development Plan will leave areas of ambiguity

• Tesco expecting to announce changes to the entrance and exit points to their site. In May 2006, word was received of a TESCO bit to modify their Purley store with flats above in a 6-story development!

• The opening of a warden assisted home for the elderly by the United St Saviour's Charity at Old lodge Lane and Brighton Road.
• Opening of the Sunrise Home at Russell Hill and Foxley Lane, its architecture blending in well with the local character

  Readers may well have other observations. Please email them to us via the Webmaster

Finally, consider playing a more active part in the PWRA. We need Road Reps and other volunteers to further our work for a better Purley. Your expertise may be just what we need. Contact our Chairman, Tarsem Flora   Chairman@purleywoodcote.org.uk

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