Plans to close Croydon subway and replace it with new crossing in £6million town centre upgrade

Wellesley Road in Croydon town centre with the Whitgift Centre in the background
-Credit: (Image: Charles Bowman/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)


Plans are being put in place for £6 million worth of improvements around North End in Croydon. The focus of the investment which Croydon Council is set to agree with developers Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) will be on improving safety, security and cleaning in the town centre.

A major part of the plans involves removing the Wellesley Road subway and replacing it with a surface level crossing instead, to make it safer for people to cross over to the Whitgift Centre. The investment - a mixture of funding payments and 'development activities' - is set to be agreed at a council cabinet meeting on Wednesday (September 25) and has been secured as compensation from URW due to the delay in the long-awaited Westfield redevelopment.

Croydon Council says the five areas of focus for the £6 million package are activities on North End ranging from pop-ups, installations and performances, partly aimed to help reduce antisocial behaviour. There will be a further programme aimed at reducing crime and antisocial behaviour around North End and a space in the Whitgift Centre will be leased to Croydon Urban Room, to create hub for exhibitions, workshops and events all about the town centre regeneration.

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It will also include a "contribution towards the design and build" of a level crossing across Wellesley Road, near Lansdowne Road and the closure of the subway in this location. Finally the package will include the already announced plans to transform the groundfloor of Allders into five shops and two restaurants.

An exterior of Lunar House, the headquarters of 'UK Visas and Immigration', a division of the Home Office on Wellesley Road, Croydon
The new level crossing is planned near the junction between Wellesley Road and Lansdowne Road -Credit:Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images

A Croydon Council spokesperson said URW are currently developing their masterplan framework for the area of land they own in the town centre, ahead of the submission of a new major planning application. It is anticipated that this will include a wide range of uses such as retail, restaurants, commercial and leisure, as well as new homes.

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, said: “The council is using all its powers to drive forward our town centre regeneration, from bidding for external funding, to doing everything we can to encourage and bring forward the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre and other key town centre sites. This £6million of funding from the Council’s agreement with URW will bring immediate improvements to North End, whilst we work with them to shape the longer term plans for the town centre, that will make it a vibrant, successful place of which we can all be proud.”

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