No update on town centre plans two years after Westfield proposal axed

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

There is still no clear idea of what Croydon town centre could look in years to come.

It has been nearly two years since it was announced that plans for a new Westfield shopping centre had been ditched.

Since then, the Croydon Partnership, a combination of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Hammerson, has insisted it “remains committed” to the town.

But a long-awaited review of the scheme is still yet to be seen.

This uncertainty coupled with the impacts of the pandemic means the town centre is in desperate need of support.

The previously promised £1.5 billion new shopping centre was supposed to have started being built back in 2018.

When the review was announced the Croydon Partnership said it would be looking at reducing the number of shops with more offices and restaurants instead.

The organisation has still not set out a timetable of when the review will be completed or work will start.

A spokesperson for Croydon Limited Partnership said: “Key parties and stakeholders have been working together to build a new approach to our long term, community directed vision for the town centre that responds to the changes in people’s lives brought about by technology and the impact of the pandemic.

“We continue to support existing Centrale and Whitgift occupiers and we look forward to the further lifting of restrictions as we engage our customers through a programme of family events and initiatives intended to support the Croydon community.

“The focus will be to continue to amplify the sense of place and local character through further larger-scale initiatives and continued new uses over the coming years.”

A Croydon council report, published in 2021, suggested that any future regeneration of the Whitgift Centre and surrounding land would happen in phases rather than one big overhaul.

In August 2021 the authority approved £50,000 to engage businesses and locals about what the next steps should be.

Pictured top: A mock-up of the now-axed Westfield shopping centre