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In this Issue
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Showing the proposed new public square of
Bishops Court: This project is favoured by the Croydon Society
over the alternate proposal by Park Place because as this illustration
shows, Bishops Court is more appropriate to Croydons heritage.
The Alms Houses are shown in an enhanced setting and there are
no glass bridges over George Street blocking views of the Alms
houses and the long view to the Parish Church.
See Article on this
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Two Futures For Our Town Centre
Chairman's Notes
Membership News
Donald Brian Robbins
Working Group News
Transport
Amenities Office Garden Competition
Talks
Greater London Update
English Heritage Explained
Cicely Mary Barker Commemorative garden
Fear of Flying
Roundel for the Surrey Iron Railway
Croydon Open House & Christmas Cards
Visiting Local
Green Belt Violation At Cane Hill
A Memorandum
Words From The Editor
Two Futures For Our Town Centre
The Park Place redevelopment scheme, described in our Spring
issue as the largest application we have been faced with since
the Society was formed, was approved by the Council' s Planning
and Traffic Committee on 3 August. Nobody voted against it, though
several members admitted to reservations about aspects of the
scheme highlighted by the Croydon Society and Conservation Area
Panel, ie parking, traffic congestion, bus penetration, urban
design and conservation. The view of our politicians was that
"Croydon cannot be a museum" and, if this scheme is
what is needed to make the town a competitive regional centre,
the environmental price must be paid.
If this was the end of the story, one would expect mass resignations
by despairing members of the amenity movement. In fact, there
are still strong grounds for hope.
The first is that the Council' s decision has to be ratified
by the Government Office for London. As I write, three months
after Council approval, this "formality" has apparently
not been achieved. In the meantime, the GLA has made a powerful
submission to the Secretary of State containing criticisms of
the scheme strikingly similar to our own. The GLA has no formal
locus on schemes that predate its formation on 3 July, but at
least we now have powerful friends - on this and many other issues.
The second reason for not succumbing to despair is the new Bishop'
s Court scheme illustrated on our cover. This proposal by the
Whitgift Foundation offers an alternative way of providing a
new Allders store which does far less damage to the environment
whilst being more sustainable than the Park Place scheme. The
Croydon Society and the Conservation Area Panel have both given
it their support with only minor reservations.
It is clear, however, that the Council is determined to see
the Park Place scheme implemented as an essential element in
its vision of Croydon as a vibrant C21 city. The Whitgift Foundation
owns some of the land needed for Park Place, so in theory has
the whip hand. But the Council is apparently prepared to use
its compulsory purchase powers to ensure that its favoured scheme
is implemented. Also the Council owns the Allders car-park which
would need to be demolished for the Whitgift Foundation scheme.
A long period of conflict seems to lie ahead of us.
George Parish
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Chairman's Notes
I went to the Voluntary Associations of Croydon Annual Meeting
(CVA) held at the Hilton Hotel on the Purley Way. There must
have been over 400 people there. Each organisation in its own
area and own way supports activities of many kinds, raising money
and giving physical and mental assistance to the community. It
is a great raft helping people to cope, and many great links
are forged through these societies.
I also went to the Agenda 21 meeting, which in its own way
is another raft of voluntary societies in a different area but
it links in many ways with the CVA voluntary bodies. There was
at least 250 people attending. The input from both societies
was tremendous and there were no shortage of ideas.
The Croydon Society supports many other groups and we also
have support
from them so that when action is needed we can help each other.
We have supported various residents associations at planning
enquiries, for instance,
and as we go into the next year of this new century we will be
joining together to work with the Council to form the next Unitary
Development Plan.
This is commonly called the UDP and it deals with all the
land in Croydon,
both open spaces and built on and spaces which could be built
on. This Plan holds good for future years and it is essential
to get it right, especially with all the plans now floating around
just for the centre of Croydon! Residents also have developers
making inroads into the District Centres - Selsdon is one good
example.
People were very incensed at the Graffiti and Litter morning
I went to. This was co-ordinated by the Council (Public Services
and Works) and the Police (Neighbourhood Watch) and rightly so.
Our town is still disappearing under vast masses of dumped litter,
abandoned cars and graffiti. As fast as one lot of rubbish or
graffiti is cleared, or an abandoned car removed - another takes
its place.
People were asked to help to clear this mess up and so volunteers
and residents' associations were again asked to do a bit more.
At all of these gatherings the spirit was willing both from the
Council the Police and the voluntary bodies - all agreed that
it ought to be possible to stop the vilification of our town
at source
If only
there was a bus conductor on the vehicle
a park keeper in the park
more policemen on the beat or at least more policemen tackling
these fly-by- nights who nobody seems to see or hear.
Will the Council please give a thought to what they call 'best
value' (for money) and do their little bit? Trained staff in
parks, knowing the regular people and aware of strangers could
catch more dumpers and destroyers of equipment.
It's not best value when volunteers plant trees and hedges
and they get pulled up or mown down by contractors unfamiliar
with the site.
Volunteers can get unresponsive and lose their enthusiasm.
We all need to be less complacent and ask ourselves who and
what is in that car being parked on your street. If it is unknown,
what is the person doing there? When after several days it has
been filled up with old batteries and garden rubbish did you
see who put them there - this is dumping as well.
Do you throw your cigarette packets and fag ends down? Toffee
papers? Cake bags? Take them home. You keep your house tidy don'
t you?
I am sure you are all saying 'We don't do it.' Good for you
- but some
surprisingly clean and decent people do. Have you a way that
you ask them
not to without being involved in the ever increasing foul language
in use
today? I' d like to know!
On my way along by Woodside Green I caught up with a fast
walking lady with a big wheel and she informed me she came from
Public Services and Works Department of the Council and she was
walking and noting works which needed to be done in her patch
and that it took her six months to list all the items. A tree
gone here (or becoming dangerous etc) cracks in the tarmac becoming
trip traps; overgrown evergreens/trees: from people' s front
gardens. Blocked up drains also - but she stressed that a resident
could clear the drain if it's only the top grill that
is blocked up. Litter between cars is hard to get at and if you
clean your car on the street you should take your litter into
your house and dispose of it there. All the time we were talking
she was walking along and marking down things on her pad. Some
things had been reported by Residents (you can get cards from
the Library to do this or you can fill in the electronic version
on line at the Council Website (www.Croydon.gov.uk). Do this
to report litter, street lighting defects, kerb stone problems,
dangerous pavements, dumped cars, blocked drains etc) About six
weeks later all the tarmac is being taken up and relayed. So
the Council is listening and doing its bit
I was invited to the 25th celebration of the Croydon Male
Voice Choir at the Parish Church. This was a delightful evening
of good humour, friendliness by the people in the audience to
one another and best of all the lovely voices of the singers.
Their voices rose to the rafters of this mellow building. During
the interval I spoke to several people who admitted that they
had never been inside this lovely building. Even my friend who
sings in the Choir had never been there.
He enthused about the building and the way it helped to bring
out the resonance of their voices and of the awe of being in
such a holy building.
Have you ever been there?
Did you know that you can go into the almshouses of John Whitgift
and also to Old Palace and the Windmill? They are open at certain
times and of course during the recent Open House weekend (See
notes by Steven Aselford). Do we neglect our local area in our
search for visits further afield? Have you been in the Council
Chamber in the Town Hall? Should we make some local visits? If
you want to do so please let me know because we can gain access
to most of these 'out of season'.
There again the Male Voice Choir is voluntary and there are
many many
local-singing groups. Long may the voluntary sector bloom.
May I take this opportunity of wishing you all a very happy
Christmas and
if you don't celebrate Christmas - a good New Year - Has the
2Oth century
now to be celebrated again? We have had a very interesting year
with this
one - but the next may be even better - only time will tell.
Best wishes to everyone.
May Johnson
The views expressed in Focus or any other Croydon Society
publication are not necessarily the views of the Society
Back to contents page
Membership
News
New Members
We are delighted to welcome the following people into membership
of the Society.
Mrs H Dean, Mr RK Biddle, Mrs J Humphrey Gaskin and Mary Wolf.
William Stanley the story of a self made man
by Eloise Akpan.
This excellent new book is available at the special price
of £5.95. Please see the order form at the end of this
edition of Focus.
Graveney Greetings Cards we have a range of these
marvelous cards A5 folded to A6 with matching envelopes.
Please see attached list at the end of this edition of Focus
and send your order in!
Save our Greens!
That is the latest call from the Croydon Society. Soon the
Borough Council will start discussions on the Unitary Development
Plan UDP for Croydon (in planning terms it is the blueprint of
what Croydon is and could be). The Society has decided to try
and get all Greens be they in front of your house, a square,
oval or round.
Our interest in this started when a developer tried to get
a row of houses built immediately in front of an oblong green
- what we call Highway Greens - He failed but let it be a lesson
to us as pressure mounts to build on every piece of open space
in the borough. Developers have been successful in building on
Greens in other boroughs.
If you have a green then let us have your green's name, street
boundaries etc so that we can put it forward for inclusion in
the UDP. e mail the society at UDP@CroydonSociety.org.uk
Back to contents page
Donald Brian Robbins
1930 2000
Five members of the Croydon Society attended the funeral of
Don Robbins, who died of Motor Neurone Disease on 30 July. The
service was held in the Bosham United Reformed Church, a stone's
throw from the boats and sea-birds which drew Don to the Chichester
Harbour area when he moved there ten years ago on his retirement
from the Foreign Office.
A full Account of Don's Activities while A resident of Croydon
would have to be the work of many hands. I knew him best as the
Planning Officer for the Park Hill Residents Association and
as a member of the Croydon Society' s Executive Committee, which
he persuaded me to join before resigning from it himself when
he moved down to the coast. He continued his membership of the
Society, however, and was a close reader of Focus. He had also
been one of the Society's representatives on the Mid-Croydon
Conservation Area Advisory Panel, whose more senior members are
still full of praise for the work he did there.
More important than any of these things, he was a greatly
loved man with quiet but firm religious and social beliefs. His
widow, Esme, intends to remain in the house at Emsworth where
they spent their last ten years together.
George Parish
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Working Group News
Transport Group
News
Croydon's Walking Strategy
The council are promoting WALKING as a sustainable mode of
transport. There is general agreement that walking is a reliable
mode of transport and is good for your health. However, few people
consider walking as a practical alternative to the private car
because most of the journeys they make by car are considered
to be too long to walk. There is a great reluctance to consider
changing the destination of a journey to make it short enough
to walk.
The council, however, does intend to use its town planning
powers to make pedestrian routes shorter and less contorted whenever
opportunity arises. Nevertheless, we note that the construction
of Tramlink has meant that the council has increased the distance
between many bus stops in the town centre and bus passengers'
destinations. Moreover, the Strategy does not include any economic
pressure on people to shorten their journeys. It is even suggested
that increasing pedestrian activity means more people walking
and fewer people using cars yet we have all experienced traffic
increasing to fill available road space.
In practice, for the foreseeable future, the low marginal
cost of travel by car means that car use is likely to increase
irrespective of the number of people who substitute walking for
car journeys. There may even be a significant increase in the
number of people who walk to work because they find increasing
traffic congestion results in walking becoming their fastest
and most reliable mode of transport.
Promoting WALKING for leisure may encourage some of the "inactive"
element of the population to take more exercise. However, most
of the proposals will be more effective in encouraging the "active"
element of the population to walk more than in stimulating the
"inactive" element to start. Nevertheless, we do welcome
the publication of this Strategy. Twenty years ago, few town
and transport planners considered walking as a mode of transport
and even to day, many transport surveys fail to acknowledge walking
as transport. Our town planners now have to consider walking
as transport in their plans and must begin to think about making
pedestrian routes pleasant for the walker, avoiding contorted
routeings and locating pedestrian crossings on natural walking
routes rather in places where they minimise the disruption to
motor traffic.
Congestion Charging
Professor David Begg, chairman of the Commission for Integrated
Transport, believes that the introduction of "Congestion
Charging" is needed to solve our transport problems together
with an improvement in public transport. We have to agree that
we will not solve our transport problems unless we improve public
transport. One of the most effective ways of improving public
transport is to increase the operational speed of local buses,
which means that we need to reduce traffic congestion. Thus far
we agree with Professor Begg.
Professor Begg advocates reducing Vehicle Excise duty and
fuel duty and then introduce "Congestion Charging"
where drivers pay a charge to use roads depending on the level
of congestion expected. This means charges would be high in town
centres during the working day and would reduce, possibly to
nothing, in the evenings. In the country, charges
would generally be much lower -- they would be highest on motorways,
less on trunk roads and even lower on country lanes again varying
by time of day.
It would mean that the motorist would be heavily discouraged
from using his car in town centres during the working day but
there would be no discouragement from using country lanes in
the evening. Given that the marginal cost of use of a small car
is significantly cheaper than public transport travel, we would
expect diversion of travel to public transport to be small. However,
we would expect there to be a significant reduction in car use
in town centres during the working day with an increase in car
use in the countryside as people, commerce and industry move
from the cities into the countryside. Overall, it is likely that
within a few years there would be an increase in car use and
a reduction in travel by public transport as people's journeys
lengthen and become more diverse. In parallel, there would be
pressures for planning policies restricting development in the
countryside to be relaxed while economic activity would drain
out of inner city areas.
We believe that mileage-based road pricing would be better.
There would be no variation in rate per mile by time of day or
location but charges would increase as vehicle size increased.
This would encourage people to shorten their journeys thereby
making them more amenable to walking, cycling and public transport.
This would encourage people, commerce and industry to locate
in towns and cities and, if the rate was sufficiently high, would
give people a fiscal incentive to walk, cycle or use public transport.
It would also encourage people to work and shop in their own
locality - it would help to keep village shops open as well as
maintaining the economic vitality of cities. Moreover, the technology
to implement mileage-based road pricing is available now.
There are people who could not support any form of road pricing.
They may not acknowledge that it is generally cheaper for the
motorist to travel in his own car whenever he can avoid parking
charges than leave it at home and use public transport. They
may well not acknowledge that endemic traffic congestion and
unacceptable levels of atmospheric pollution in towns and cities
result from excessive use of the car and that car use is increasing
as people's activities become more and more geographically dispersed.
They will not want to acknowledge that society is becoming extremely
dependent on oil for nearly all its transport needs and is, consequently,
liable to be held to ransom by those with power to disrupt supply
lines.
Sustainable Transport Policy
It seems that every council and every public body has a "Sustainable
Transport Policy" but they all seem to be different. The
only thing they have in common is that their authors describe
them as "environmentally friendly". It seems that "Sustainable"
has become a waffle word.
I consider that the objectives of a "Sustainable Transport
Policy" should be:
to reduce atmospheric pollution
to reduce the production of "Greenhouse Gases"
to improve accessibility
In practice, the objectives will not be achieved if the policy
adopted requires substantially higher expenditure in the transport
sector of the economy. The requirement to reduce atmospheric
pollution is often suggested as a reason for encouraging the
use of electric traction. However, producing electricity from
coal or oil to power a vehicle involves the production of a greater
quantity of greenhouse gases than is produced for a similar vehicle
with a petrol or diesel engine so it is only when hydro-electricity
is available that electric traction is clearly the most sustainable
traction.
Diverting travel from the private car and public transport
to walking and cycling is clearly sustainable. Similarly diverting
travel from the private car to public transport is also sustainable.
However, I do not regard Croydon Tramlink as sustainable because
it has generated a significant volume of public transport travel
-- travel which would not have occurred had the system not been
built. It was also assumed that building Croydon Tramlink would
have "non-user benefits" which is a contorted way of
saying that "more cars would travel along parallel roads".
A transport policy cannot be "sustainable" if it increases
motorised travel. It is particularly important to reduce motorised
travel for the journey to and from school because of its impact
on traffic congestion and the very high cost of providing public
transport for the school journey (much of which is disguised
by cross-subsidy or hidden in education budgets). In general,
it is also important to reduce journey lengths, as long journeys
are generally less amenable to public transport, walking and
cycling than short ones. Suitable planning policies can reduce
the need, but not the desire, to travel. Consequently a sustainable
transport policy requires a fiscal element -- at present, the
motorist with a small car travelling to a destination where he
can park free often pays over 20p per mile to travel by public
transport yet may only save 10p per mile by leaving his car in
the garage. Similarly avoiding the parking fee at his local shopping
centre may pay for the additional distance to the out-of-town
shopping centre.
I, therefore, conclude that a "Sustainable Transport
Policy" needs a planning element which reduces the need
to travel by encouraging people to be educated, work and shop
locally and fiscal elements which discourage the public transport
user from lengthening his journeys and which discourage the motorist
from using his car. The latest policies that are being advocated
by government to discourage the motorist from using his car are
Congestion Charging" and "Workplace Parking Charges",
both of which are, in practice, likely to stimulate car use as
motorists discover they can be avoided by additional travel!
The most " effective deterrent to car use to-day is traffic
congestion which reduces "accessibility" for everybody.
Chloride
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Central Croydon's
Office Garden Competition
Mayor Councillor Mary Walker duly presented our Yearly Garden
Competition Awards in the grand surroundings of the Mayors Parlour.
The Winners of these awards were Direct Line of Edridge Road
and First Church Christian Science, Altyre Road.
A Certificate was also awarded to The Warehouse Theatre for
their eye-catching display of hanging baskets. All have been
previous winners, which shows their consistency in maintaining
standards.
Over coffee and biscuits, kindly provided by the Mayor, we
discussed the good and bad aspects of some areas in Central Croydon.
The Mayor mentioned her own attendance at the London in Bloom
Awards, at which she had the pleasure of collecting awards for
Croydon. However it was noted that Tower Hamlets acquired many
more awards covering a wide range of decorations undertaken for
their Borough.
The first two companies each sent two representatives. Not
being familiar with the inside of the TownHall, they felt it
was a double bonus to be given a guided tour of the Parlour and
Council Chamber by The Mayor and The Mace Bearer, which together
with the impressive Foyer, Staircase and Anti Rooms of this listed
building, would leave them with a lasting impression of their
visit.
A BT advert, "It's good to talk" was endorsed by
Direct Line's Mark Chester, who drew our attention to the recent
innovation of companies sponsoring the planting and upkeep of
such things as roundabouts etc. for a mention by a not too obtrusive
advertising plaque. It gives the Amenities Group something else
to think about.
This small group of active members are always looking for
possible suggestions for making our Borough more attractive and
also further members to take an active part.
Bev Sale
Chairman of the Amenities Committee
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Talks
Greater London
Update
In his talk to the Society on 19 September Councillor Andrew
Pelling, member of the Greater London Assembly for Sutton and
Croydon, gave a valuable update on the activities of the Mayor
for London, Ken Livingstone, and the Greater London Assembly.
Andrew Pelling has been for some time a Croydon Councillor, at
first representing the Croham Ward and then moving on to represent
Heathfield, he was elected on 4th May to the Greater London Assembly,
representing Sutton and Croydon. Valerie Shawcross, also a Croydon
Councillor at the time of the election, was elected to represent
Lambeth and Southwark.
The Assembly comprises fourteen constituency members and eleven
members elected from a London List nominated by the various parties
or as Independents. The aim was to allow Londoners to choose
assembly members representing their own areas and also reflecting
the share of the votes cast for each party and independent candidates.
The composition of the Assembly elected on 4th May is:
Constituency members
8 Conservative
6 Labour
London List Members
4 Liberal Democrat
3 Green
3 Labour
1 Conservative
The Assembly oversees the activities of the Mayor and his
officials and is
responsible for approving the Mayor's budget. In the interests
of openness,
there are regular question times for members and also public
question sessions four times a year.
The Mayor appoints his own staff and advisors, but the Assembly
has
Responsibility of appointing the Head of the Mayor's Paid Service,
the
Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer. The Mayor appoints
a
number of other people to assist him in developing policies.
The Mayor and the GLA have responsibilities in eight main
areas:
Transport,
Planning,
Economic development and regeneration
The environment
Police
Fire and emergency planning,
Culture and
Health.
Appointments had been made to key advisor posts in most of
these areas, and strategic plans were being drawn up for each
of them.
Although work has still for the most part in the preparatory
stages, examples
of areas of the Assembly's activities so far were: the deficiencies
of rail
services; the provision of TB vaccines in schools; possible extensions
of
Tramlink; the safety of communications masts and the regulation
and safety of mini-cabs.
On Planning and Development, the Mayor would draw up a Spatial
Development Strategy, to which the Development Plans of the32
Boroughs must conform. Within the Strategy affordable housing
would be important, the percentage being increased from 25 to
40 per cent of all new housing. Much of the emphasis would be
on re-development in East London and the Thames Gateway.
On Transport, the Mayor had been sceptical of the Coulsdon
Inner Relief Road, but had been persuaded by elected members
of the Assembly to include it in his roads programme. The Mayor
anticipated the success of congestion charging, although the
cost of setting up a scheme might be as much as £2OO-3OOM
against a required annual return of £400 M. The extension
of Tramlink to Sutton and Crystal Palace, and to serve the centre
of Mitcham were possible: a limitation might be the capacity
of the central Croydon loop. Other current issues included the
funding and extension of the Underground system, where the Government
favoured a public/private partnership, and the Mayor the issue
of bonds. The remit of Transport for London (TfL) did not include
the National railway system and its operators, but working relations
would be established with them. An integrated and sustainable
transport system was high in the Mayor's priorities and his draft
transport strategy, was to appear in November.
Transport was recognised to be an issue extending beyond the
boundaries of the outer London Boroughs, and the Act required
the Mayor to consult with adjoining local authorities.
In discussion, members of the Society' s Transport Group considered
the proposed dual carriageway of the Coulsdon Inner Relief
Road too grandiose,
and likely to aggravate congestion at Purley Cross. A single
carriageway road would be in keeping with the A23 on either side
of Coulsdon and would still give the needed environmental benefits
in Coulsdon Town Centre.
There was also emphasis on the need for integration of transport
provision,
including cyclists and pedestrians, for a better interchange
between Connex trains, buses and trams at West Croydon bus station,
and for reconsideration of plans to link Croydon with the Underground
to ensure a useful and practical link to the whole tube network
and not just a peripheral part of it at New Cross Gate.
Other speakers stressed the need for effective links between
the Mayor and the Assembly and consultative bodies such as the
London Green Belt Council and the London Forum of Amenity Societies.
Back to contents page
English Heritage
Explained
Paul Calvocoressi of English Heritage, Historic Buildings
Inspector for Kensington and South London, gave an illustrated
talk to the Society on 17th October. He described the work of
English Heritage as comprising (1) Looking after historic buildings
and monuments and displaying them to the public e. g. Kenwood,
Marble Hill House, the Ranger' s House Blackheath and Eltham
Palace. (2) Looking after statues and public sculpture in London
and such structures as the Wellington Arch; (3) Blue plaques,
commemorating eminent persons, continuing the tradition established
by the former London County Council - the first being to the
poet Dryden on his house in Gerrard Street, Soho - and now out
of London where at Liverpool they included the late John Lennon.
A further major area of responsibility, and one to which most
of Mr Calvocoressi's talk was devoted, was the designation and
control of Listed Buildings.
The main criterion for determining the listing of a building
or other structure by the Department of CuIture Media and Sport
was whether it was of "special architectural or historic
interest". English Heritage was the Department's principal
adviser. All pre-1700 buildings which survived in anything like
their original form were listed; for example the Whitgift Almshouses
and the Old Palace in Croydon and some unexpected buildings of
ancient provenance such as 120 Church Street, which contains
behind a later facade, 17th century timber framing. Buildings
of the Queen Anne and Georgian period (1700 -1840 approx.) were
included on a more selective basis, taking account of architectural
merit and historic significance. In this category were Wrencote,
Ruskin House (formerly Coombe Hill House), 25 Surrey Street and
62 Church Street. Of buildings from the Victorian and Edwardian
period (1840-1914 approx.), only those of outstanding quality
and interest were eligible, especially those by prominent architects,
such as the architect JL Pearson' s church of St Michael and
All Angels at West Croydon (Grade 1 listed). The Town Hall in
Katharine Street was Grade 2 listed, although the architect Charles
Henmam Jnr. was not considered to be of the first rank.
Post-war architecture (1914-1970) was increasingly being considered
for listing. Only buildings over thirty years were eligible al
though exceptions might be made for structures of outstanding
quality and under threat: the Millennium Dome and the London
Eye might be candidates.
The administration of listed building protection was described.
Once listed by the Minister for CuIture Media and Sport, the
protection of buildings was through the requirement to seek listed
building consent from Local Planning Authorities and was under
the ultimate control of the Department of Environment Transport
and the Regions. The aim of the system was not to prevent change,
but to ensure that change respected the built heritage and where
possible enhanced the built environment. Applications from building
owners and developers for changes affecting listed buildings
must be in full not outline. The importance of detail, including
finishes, the replacement and refurbishing of worn or damaged
parts and the retention of original fitting were all important.
An example of this was the retention of the original architect'
s carefully detailed bronze window frames of the SEGAS building
in Park Lane, forming part of the Minerva proposals.
Other aspects now relevant to the work of English Heritage
included the protection of important views e.g those of the river
at Richmond and Greenwich. The demolition of listed buildings
was also regulated, following regrettable episodes in the past,
such as the Firestone Building.
Changes in the system of control were about to be promulgated
by a direction from the Secretary of State, which would increase
the responsibilities of Planning Authorities in relation to Listed
Buildings. Already English Heritage had in practice done much
delegation to the London Boroughs. Some help towards the costs
of conservation officers in the Boroughs had been provided.
A lively discussion followed Mr Calvocoressi's talk, in which
reference was made to English Heritage's attitude to the Minerva
proposals, in particular to the proposed pedestrian bridge over
George Street, where their favourable comments on the architectural
merits of the proposed bridge appeared to condone the damage
to the view towards the Parish Church, which was deplored by
the Conservation Area Panel. The flexible interpretation by English
Heritage of its policies against "facadism" for example
the Grants redevelopment - and against the relocation of old
buildings was commented on. It appeared that the limited powers
and resources of English Heritage often compelled them to consider
measures of mitigation rather than to oppose outright schemes
which impaired or threatened the built heritage.
Mr Calvocoressi's talk was illustrated by many excellent slides,
all relevant to the points he was making. The Society was delighted
to welcome him back, he having previously talked to us in September
1995.
Information on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas in
Croydon is contained in the Society' s publications Conservation
Areas of Croydon (1987) and Croydon's Built Heritage (1995).
Two valuable evenings, the Society is grateful to Councillor
Andrew Pelling and to Paul Calvocoressi's for both talks.
Geoffrey Myers
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Cicely Mary
Barker Commemorative Garden
On a sunny morning walking through the lush, waterlogged lawns,
on our way to the Walled garden at Park Hill (overwatered by
a thunderstorm the night before) was a pleasant if foot wetting
experience! 20 people gathered together armed with trowels ready
to get to work. Alison Plant from Parks who is directing the
project brought seeds, bulbs, compost, trowels wires etc. and
displayed them on the seat. We showed where we wanted the various
things to do and allocated jobs and soon all was a hive of industry.
Geraniums were taken out, honeysuckle was tied up to stakes and
wires; daffodils, tulips, muscari hyacinths, scilla, and tulips
were planted and seeds were scattered about and compost put all
over.
John Hawkins took some photographs, one of which we sent to
the Croydon Advertiser, this showed a goodly selection of 'bottoms
up' as we did our planting. Jenny Black of the Park Café
brewed up cups of coffee. The temporary sign was replaced as
it had faded. The new sign is still not the permanent one as
this will be bigger and in a frame. More seeds will be planted
in the Spring. These may be planted in the nursery in pots to
protect them from frosts, but some seeds will be planted straight
into the ground. We also planted four fuchsias and some pinks.
We were pleased to have at the planting Mr Martin Barker and
his wide (who is a smashing dedicated gardener) who came from
Guildford and joined in and Effie Dimmock the original Lavender
Fairy. Through Martin's permission we were able to have a portrait
of Cicely as a young woman to replace the one as an older person
on the commemorative panel.
Thanks to all who came on what was really a fun though
hard working morning. See you in the Spring. There were
some 'oldies' from the sheltered homes nearby and they thanked
us for inviting them and we in return were happy to have an audience
to spur us on. They are going to keep watch over the site and
will report back. The herb garden had just been cut down. This
is the next plot to ours and was started by Mary Walker some
years ago and there was a pungent smell of chives and rosemary
and lavender in the air.
May Johnson
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Fear Of Flying
Kingsley Amis, novelist and poet (1922-1995), has been in
the news again this year, five years after his death. A 12OO
- page volume of his selected letters and a memoir by his equally
famous son, Martin, have both been best-sellers. The South Bank
Show has conducted long interviews with Martin and his mother,
Hilly, Lad y Kilmarnock, and step-mother, Elizabeth Jane Howard,
whilst most recently BBC1 has dramatised Kingsley' s fourth novel,
"Take A Girl LikeYou."
Kingsley Amis was born in a nursing home on Clapham Common,
"a child of the suburban middle classes, beset by constant
anxieties." His first childhood home was 16 Buckingham Gardens
in Norbury, which now has a Croydon Green Heritage Plaque to
commemorate him. In his memoirs and in one of his novels he described
it as "a little semi-detached box of a house" in a
suburb which "like half the places south of the river, were
never proper places at all, just collections of assorted buildings
filling up gaps and named after railway stations and bus garages."
His first secondary school, Norbury College, "a biggish
house with sheds", had only two well known alumni, himself
and Derek Bentley of "Let him have it" fame. It was
here, however, that his interest in poetry was awakened by a
sympathetic master. His paternal grandfather lived five miles
away in "posh and semi-rural" Purley and he was first
attracted to John Betjeman' s verse by his poem "Croydon",
since Amis too knew "bramble-berried" Coulsdon Common
and nearly became a "satchel on back" pupil at Whitgift.
Even in his light-hearted youth, Amis never bore much resemblance
to the reckless hero of his first novel, Lucky Jim. One of his
many phobias was a refusal to travel by air, indeed a reluctance
to travel at all, especially "abroad." His Somerset
Maugham Award for Lucky Jim was conditional on three months foreign
residence or travel. He chose Portugal and his mixed experiences
in that country furnished the material for his third novel, "I
Like It Here," here meaning England.
In the first of two letters written in his mid-fifties, Amis
attributed his fear of flying to a flip from Croydon Airport
in 1934 (when he was twelve) in a De Havilland Dragon Rapide
(a small twin engined biplane, better known to those of us who
first flew with the ATC during the war as a Dominie).
In his second reference to this episode, however, only two
years later, Amis gave the date as 1932, declaring that "until
aeroplanes run on rails not more than 8 feet from the ground,
I'm staying away from them." His biography, written in close
collaboration with its subject and published shortly before his
death, also gives the date as 1932, describing how "ground
that should have been under his feet suddenly disconcerted him
by appearing beyond his shoulder."
Given these feelings, it is understandable that his two visits
to America in the 50s and 60s were made by the slow but safe
Cunard Steamship Company. At the age of 58, when the failure
of his second marriage had re-awakened another of his phobias,
a fear of solitude, Amis declined an invitation to live with
Robert Conquest in California on the grounds that "the idea
of climbing into a jet and being taken anywhere at all appeals
to me about as much as that of walking a tightrope across Niagara
Falls." His phobia about this was "deep-seated and
incurable." But did it start in 1932 or 1934?
After consulting my small library of aviation history, I am
inclined to think that Amis got the date of his frightening experience
right the first time he mentioned it. The Dragon Rapide did not
enter service or fly from Croydon until 1934, when Hillman's
Airways, soon to become part of British Airways, were the first
airline to use it. In 1932 Amis could only have flown in the
Rapide's slower predecessor, the Dragon, also used by Hillman'
s but not until the very end of that year. He remembered the
machine's tapering wings, a feature of the Rapide, but "spatted"
wheels, which sounds more like the Dragon, the Rapide's under
carriage being fully faired. This, coupled with his uncertainty
about the year, makes him a less than ideal witness, Martin's
recent reference to "a five bob flip at the seaside in 1932"
is even less helpful.
On balance, it still seems more likely to have been aged twelve
in a Rapide than aged ten in a Dragon that Kingsley Amis acquired
in the skies above Croydon the fear of flying which severely
restricted his ability to travel for the rest of his life. During
his last 14 years, a heavy drinker cared for in a strange menage
by his first wife, Hilly, and her third husband, a Social Democratic
member of the House of Lords, he rarely ventured further than
his local (The Queen' s) in Primrose Hill or his club (The Garrick)
in Covent Garden. When the club closed for its summer holiday
and to give Hilly a break, he would stay with friends in Swansea
then, if his usual volunteer chauffeur was not available, pay
a local taxi-driver he knew and trusted to bring him home to
Primrose Hill, rather than make the 350 mile journey alone by
train.
In this final phase of his life, spending four or five hours
a day at his typewriter, Amis still managed to produce a steady
flow of entertaining books which show a shrewd understanding
of many aspects of the human condition, albeit from an increasingly
right-wing standpoint. He received a CBE in 1981, a Booker Prize
in 1986 and a knighthood in 1990, but was saddened by the death
of friends - Tibor Szamuely, Philip Larkin, John Betjeman and
George Gale which intensified his fear of loneliness. In
Swansea in August 1995 he had the last of many falls, dying in
London two months later aged 73.
George Parish
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Roundel for
the Surrey Iron Railway
Earlier last year I wrote of the visit to Merton Abbey Mills
to the launch of Mapping the Wandle and the founding of a Youth
Group - the Jet Set, which was based at the Snuff Mill in Morden
Hall Park. You will be pleased to know that the trout has successfully
been introduced to the waters of the Wandle. Mr Alan Suttie who
is the driving force of most of these events is very pleased
that this is so as this means that the water is getting cleaner.
The trout is the emblem of the Wandle Valley and is recalled
in Izaac Walton's 'The Complete Angler' as having' spots like
tortoises'. At the turn of the Century a group of local gentry
formed the Wandle Fisheries Association, with the avowed intention
of conserving fish stocks and generally improving amenities.
A water bailiff Mr Henry Bourne was employed residing in the
Fishery Cottages and an old building in the nearby Watermeads.
This attempt failed in the late 1920s, so it is good to know
that the attempt has been successful. It will help to inspire
to-day' s users of the Wandle to keep it unpolluted.
Mr Jessop was engaged to plan The Surrey Iron Railway and
was involved in the construction of this track and got his ideas
from those in use chiefly in mines in the North of England. It
passed through Croydon at a spot now occupied by Reeves Corner
and we are hoping to have our roundel placed on a triangular
green which we are also having called Pitlake Green. The roundel
is being made and will be handed over at a ceremony at the Ram
Public House in Wandsworth in November. We will then proceed
with our bit of the commemoration in Croydon. We will let you
know when all this takes place but it might not be until next
year. We have paid for the roundel from our funds.
Today's tramlink may be going over the route from Wimbledon
Marsh to Mitcham.
May Johnson
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Croydon Open House
We visited the Almshouses of John Whitgift on 17/9/00 when
we saw the inside of the Quadrangle through the doors. The building
built in 1596 has an audience chamber for John Whitgift, Chapel
and flats for 16 older people from the parish of Croydon, Canterbury
or retired staff from the Archbishop of Canterbury. We visited
the Common Room, Chapel and Audience Chamber.
Many customs take place. As an example each Friday at 10am
the oldest resident rings the chapel bell, each resident then
receives a small amount of money which is part of the income
of the foundation - a token of John Whitgifts original stipend.
It was only in the refurbishment of 1983 when all flats were
self contained until then the bathrooms were in each corner
of the almshouses and residents had to get their supply of water
from a well in the quadrangle.
All windows are clamped with leaded frames to hold them in.
This was because for many years they could not make any bigger
glass windows. How times have changed!
When the open day is on next September it is worth getting
a ticket to see for yourself. There is a booklet with the history
o f the Almshouses from the foundation offices at North End.
Costs £2.50. Called "Looking through the Gates."
Christmas cards
Sets of Painted Views of Croydon are available for £3.50.
These are packs of 10, 2 each of: Water Tower, Parish Church,
small tram cards, large tram cards.
They are available as single cards at £0.35 each for
small cards or £0.50 for the large tram card.
Telephone 020 8255 5743 or write to Croslink Print Section,
3 Imperial Way, Croydon Airport, CR00 3PR.
Stephen Aselford
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Visiting Local
I went by tram to Phipps Bridge which leads directly into
Morden Hall Park. The unsightly footbridge has gone and the path
onwards has been raised - with help of funds from Railtrack plc
- and one now no longer
has to walk through the reeds in wellies and it is accessible
to wheel chair users. I was with the South London Botanical Institute
on a Worker' s Educational Association course on Wild Flowers.
Although I
am retired (and so are several others) we are acceptable to this
life - learning course.
The tram links up many delightful spots along the Wandle Valley
and we will be going along there on one or two walks in the Spring
of next Year. The Morden Hall Park is open all year and so too
is the café which has
hot meals available, and is a very warm refreshing area when
the weather becomes angry and inclement.
I also visited the Croydon Airport House, once, on a Sunday
on a very hot day and there was display of aeroplane models of
the past and in the reception hall were historic pictures in
some cases obscured by clothes
and ephemera of the 1940s. My son who was with me had hired a
flying officers suit for the occasion and later joined in with
the workshop on how to jive and other dances of the 194Os. One
person was dressed
as a pilot complete with fleece jacket, trousers and fur-lined
boots and helmet. He soon got too hot and was disrobing! We then
also went back a few weeks later when the control tower was opened
and we looked
at the pictorial history on the way up the several flights of
stairs.
A lift has now been put in for disabled. In the Control Tower
there are some activities which you can indulge in. It is hoped
to have it opened on the first Sunday in the month. Adrienne
Bloch, Heritage Officer, was
dressed in a yellow 1940s outfit, complete with the little hats
worn in those days. She must be congratulated in getting the
whole show together. It was a nice touch having men who were
actually there describing life
in those days - Volunteers again. The Croydon Airport Society
was present with its bookstall and have a new book out describing
its work and events over the years.
Emmetts Garden Visit
The Society went to this Garden on a beautiful mellow sunny
day in late October - the only one squashed between several wet,
wet, wet ones.
We were taken in cars and we would like to thank the drivers
for their excellent routes to the pub at Ide Hill where we had
a ploughman's lunch in this idyllic spot. We also looked at the
village green and what we think must have been a pump and their
commemorative shields to those lost in several world wars, and
as the Church was open, we popped in there and admiredthe floral
arrangements.
At Emmetts we joined with others to be conducted around by
the GardenerGeorge, whose tongue slipped without effort around
the Latin names of the trees, some in flower, or with colourful
fruit and foliage. We had clear views of Bough Beech with yachts
sailing on its reservoir, and because the site
is so high and sloping all the rain water had run off so we were
able to walk on springy grass. The colours were amazing. On the
way down we were conscious of the Autumnal hues of our surroundings
and even more so as we returned to Croydon. We have some very
lovely areas in our own hometown.
May Johnson
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Green Belt Violation
At Cane Hill
What follows is the text we have sent to Croydon Council application
from the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust to build a Medium
Secure Mental Health Unit for 120 patients on farmland in the
Green Belt forming part of the estate of the former Cane Hill
Hospital
Memorandum By The Croydon Society
Planning Application 99/0463/P: Medium Secure Mental Health
Unit on site of former Portnalls House, Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon.
This document sets out the response of The Croydon Society
to the letter dated 23rd October from the Planning Department
of the London Borough of Croydon, confirming the objections of
the Society to the proposals of this planning application from
the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. It develops and supersedes
our previous memorandum.
The Society supports the objections of local residents both
individually and collectively as represented by the Coulsdon
Forum. We urge the Council to consider most seriously their objections
based on the perceived lack of security of the Unit and doubts
about safety of local residents of all ages; the inhibiting effects
of such a Unit on any appropriate future development of the Cane
Hill site and on the amenity and marketability of properties
in its vicinity.
In our view, the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust has not
made adequate effort to identify suitable locations for the Unit
within its own area, and is seeking to avoid the adverse consequences
of doing so by attempting to export its problems to a site at
Cane Hill in the London Borough of Croydon.
This Society's chief concern however is with the violation
of the London Green Belt which this proposal would entail. The
consequences of this go far beyond the Coulsdon area, and indeed
beyond the London Borough of Croydon. We understand that the
Council at an earlier stage requested that the application should
be called in with a view to decision at central government level,
but that this request was refused at least until the Council
had itself come to a decision. In this connection the Town and
Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2000 (SI 2000 no 1493)
may be relevant. It provides that for every application of potential
strategic importance received after 3rd July 2000 the Mayor shall
be given the opportunity to consider and if he thinks it appropriate
direct refusal of permission if such application would be contrary
to the Mayor's spatial development strategy or otherwise be contrary
to good strategic planning in Greater London.
The proposed development on the Portnalls House site is clearly
contrary to the general principles of Green Belt protection as
set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note No 2. The consultants
to the agents for the developers, David Lock Associates, have
sought to justify an otherwise unacceptable intrusion into the
Green Belt by reference to the exceptional rules applying to
major developed sites (MDS) set out in Annex C of PPG 2. That
such a possibility exists is in our view wrong and wholly adventitious.
The designation of the entire Cane Hill property as a single
Major Developed Site, including both the northern developed part
of the site as well as the southern farmland, in which the Portnalls
House site lies, was made in the Council's Unitary Development
Plan adopted in January 1997, but was the subject of Public Inquiry
much earlier. In a letter dated 13th March 2000 to the Secretary
of the London Green Belt Council, the Department of the Environment
Transport and the Regions has stated" It is not unusual
to find that where a site includes both developed and undeveloped
land, the boundary of the MDS identified in the development plan
is restricted to the developed portion of the site. "No
such restriction was made in the 1997 UDP although with hindsight
it clearly should have been. To the best of our knowledge no
reference to the possibility of the rules governing major developed
sites being used to justify development on the Cane Hill Green
Belt farmland was ever raised in the UDP hearings, and we doubt
if such a possibility was then contemplated by the Council as
the originators of the UDP.
But even if the developers' interpretation that the designation
of the whole of the Cane Hill site as an MDS carried the presumption
that "footprint" might be transferred to the hitherto
undeveloped portion of the site were accepted, it would be still
be essential to respect the safeguards built into the Annex regarding
redevelopment.
The Proposal fails at the first test: C4 (a) of the Annex.
This is that redevelopment should have no greater impact than
the existing development on the openness of the Green Belt and
the purposes of including land in it, and where possible less.
The erection of a building of over 7000 square metres on an
island site in Green Belt land cannot fail to have a considerable
adverse impact on the openness of the Green Belt. Nor would it
"contribute to the achievement of the objectives for the
use of land in Green Belts" as set out in para 1.6 of PPG
2, which include the retention of attractive landscapes and their
enhancement near to where people live. On the contrary, it would
substantially detract from this.
In response to the requirement of PPG 2 Annex C para C7, that
in proposals for redevelopment of Major Developed Sites in Green
Belt should be considered as a whole, David Lock Associates have
produced a document dated September 2000. It is surprising in
view of their extensive experience in assisting developers with
designs on the Green Belt, that they did not meet this requirement
earlier. The document is stated to be issued "on behalf
of the Secretary of State for Health" but it is not clear
whether that Minister is a party to any decisions relating to
the Science Park or the use of the remainder of the site for
recreational and other purposes.
The fundamental flaw in this document is that the different
parts of it are not in synch. The Medium Secure Unit is a firm
proposal from the Health Authority who as far as we know are
ready willing and able to go ahead. The Science Park, the subject
of a separate Planning Application 99/0676/P, is no more than
a concept. The Feasibility Study for it was undertaken as long
ago as 1995. Although those conducting the study judged the market
prospects for such a scheme to be good, no developer has yet
given any public indication of interest, still less put its name
to a planning application. The Health Authority as the landowner
is not going to find the funds. Nor has any academic partner
an essential element In Science Parks to date yet emerged.
The extensive but ill-defined public access and amenity provisions
of the consultants' report similarly lack solid ground and contain
no guarantee of their implementation. It is presumably the as
yet unidentified developer of the Science Park who will be expected
to foot the bill. This is a further disincentive to a developer,
the other not inconsiderable ones being the limitation on "footprint"
by reason of the Green Belt status of the site and the substantial
take for the MSU. Accessibility for vehicles, despite the claims
of the report, may also be a discouragement to a developers when
they see the traffic jams on the A 23 at peak times and the continuing
doubts about the construction of the relief road at Coulsdon.
We urge the Council to reject this application. If the Health
Authority then chooses to appeal, the various arguments, for
and against, may be heard at a Public Inquiry at which all parties
will have a full opportunity to state their case.
The Croydon Society
12th November 2000
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Editors Notes
Here we are with the last edition of Focus for 2000
with this edition you will receive a copy of the special edition
of Focus to celebrate our Silver Anniversary. I hope you enjoy
reading all the articles and contributions from members looking
over key activities of the Society during our first 25 years.
A few notes on how to make a contribution to the next edition
of Focus due out in February/March 2001
Send your article or news to me at home, my details are in
Who's Who at the front of Focus along with other members of the
society please feel free to get in touch with any of us!
The best way to get get in touch is via e mail editor@croydonsociety.org.uk
or send me a disk of your work in basic text format or in Microsoft
Word. If you can not put it on disk, please type it onto clean
white paper and please only use one side. This is so that I can
scan your text in to my computer using special software. If you
hand write something please ensure that it is double spaced or
very clear I can cope with most hand writing so please
do not be put off putting something in writing to me!
This is your Focus, it is what you make it. I look forward
to your next contribution!
Please remember to send me diary dates for What's On so that
I can keep our Web site up to date at WWW.CROYDONSOCIETY.ORG.UK
On the Web site you will find past copies of Focus and our
new on-line bookshop so that you can download order forms for
local publications and many other items Keep an eye on
developments visit today!
Timothy Godfrey
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The Next edition of Focus is due for
publication in February
If you would like to write an article
of interest to Croydon Society members please feel free to send
your contribution to the editor, at editor@croydonsociety.org.uk
The next copy deadline for Focus is
22 February 2001
Remember to visit the What's On page
for the latest diary of Croydon Society events.
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