The Croydon Mayor wants to transform the Whitgift Centre and the town centre into a “vibrant” place.

Council and community leaders, local businesses, developers, and investors involved in the town's regeneration met at the Develop Croydon Conference to discuss the progress.

Executive Mayor Jason Perry declared at the event that Croydon is primed for change and there will be changes in the upcoming months.

The council aims to devise a Town Centre Regeneration Strategy to ensure Croydon's vibrancy.

Residents will play a big role in Croydon’s future through the digital Urban Room where any views can be expressed.

A team, led by We Made That, is entrusted with engaging the community groups, residents, and businesses.

Executive Mayor Jason Perry said: “This is an exciting time for the regeneration of our town, and it was great to see so many investors, policymakers, and business leaders at the Develop Croydon conference, who are invested in Croydon and delivering a future vision for our vibrant borough. 

“We are delighted to launch the development of the new town centre vision and hope that our many communities will get involved through the Urban Room and other events, to help to shape the future of our town.

“But I am not just waiting for regeneration to happen before we take steps to restore pride in our town centre.

“I am intent on taking action to ensure we are fixing the broken windows of our borough and making our town centre cleaner, healthier, and safer.”

The council is working with real estate agency Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) as it develops a masterplan for its 10-hectare area of land in the centre, which includes the Whitgift and Centrale shopping centres, office buildings and multi-storey car parks.

Adam Smith, Strategic Development Director at URW, said: “The URW team were delighted to join a fantastic line up of speakers at this year’s Develop Croydon conference, our first since taking full ownership of our scheme in London’s next major and most exciting regeneration zone.

“We talked about the journey ahead to uncover the huge potential that Croydon has to offer as we finalise our team and external partners to allow us to move to the next stage.

“We have an intensive period ahead including engagement, vision setting, master planning and submission of plans, however, we want to reassure everyone that we are heavily investing in the long-term success of Croydon.

“The transformation and investment into their town centre will not be a flash in the pan but a considered approach which will deliver a sustainable, creative and diverse destination that is right not just for 2024, but for 2040 and beyond.”