Jason Perry, Croydon’s first directly elected Mayor addressed KENDRA’s Autumn General Meeting on 26th October. What follows is a summary of his comments. (For a full but precised version of the Mayor’s opening talk please click here)
The Mayor started by saying it was a great privilege to be Croydon’s first elected Mayor and expressed his gratitude to KENDRA, and the other residents’ associations, who campaigned so hard for a referendum. He said the widespread support for the DEMOC campaign ‘surprised everybody, on both sides of the argument.’
He described his new job as ‘challenging, frustrating, disappointing’ but at the same time ‘hugely rewarding.’ Since his election in May he said his main focus has been listening to residents, learning what issues concern them most, and delving into the complexities of the Council’s finances.
One huge frustration for the Mayor is the cost of servicing the £1.5 billion debt run up by the previous administration. At around £50 million annually, he said this has to be paid before providing any services. And selling off the Council’s assets to cover the cost, was not a long term solution.
The legacy of mismanagement is still being felt. He gave two examples; the winding up of Brick By Brick, which is likely to end in a £50 million loss, and the revelation that Croydon Council is paying several million pounds in housing benefit to recipients who are not entitled to it.
Many of those responsible for the financial chaos are no longer with the Council. However an ongoing investigation into the Council’s past financial dealings may still result in prosecutions. He said the lack of proper governance was astonishing, but it was now being restored.
He opposes the extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to the outer London Boroughs, claiming it did little for air quality, but hit hardest those who could least afford it. Some councils have refused to let their infrastructure, such as cameras, to be used for the monitoring of the ULEZ zone.
On the positive side, he had been able to reverse some of the worst aspects of Croydon Council’s planning policy, particularly the scrapping of SPD2. He recognised that much of the momentum behind DEMOC was driven by residents’ anger toward the Council’s planning policy across the Borough.
He has reinstated the Graffiti Removal Team as part of an effort to clean-up Croydon and restore pride in the town. If the local area looks like nobody cares, then bad people will take advantage. He referred to it as a ‘broken windows’ policy; we repair the windows and clean the streets, it shows people are watching what’s going on and taking care of their neighbourhood.
Plans to kick-start the regeneration of Croydon are underway, but hampered by the lack of funds, something he has been discussing with Central Government. The Mayor said the Westfield plans were not dead and talks were still going on.
A small step to bring footfall back to the town centre are plans to open the ground floor of the Allders building as a music venue, hopefully this would happen well before Christmas.
The Mayor took questions from the floor and stayed until the end of the meeting, which was appreciated by all attendees. He committed to having regular contact with the residents’ associations, possibly as a group at larger meetings.
For a detailed version of his opening remarks please follow this link Mayors Speech. A full Minutes of the Autumn General Meeting will be published in due course.