Email from South Croydon Conservative MP, Chris Philp. I could’ve put this in the Purley tower block thread maybe, if I googled it.

Dear All,

Many of us are in despair at the way Croydon Council’s planning committee is granting almost every planning application that comes before it – especially destroying family homes and replacing them with blocks of flats. Neighbouring councils Bromley and Sutton do not do this, and there is nothing in national planning policy that means Croydon has to.

Of course we need more homes for young people – but new flats should be build in town centres and brownfield sites. Destroying family homes, as Croydon is choosing to do, means that there will not be enough homes for future families and it is in danger of changing the character of the neighbourhood.

I totally oppose what the council is doing. So do Residents Associations and thousands of residents. Residents Associations, local councillors, people living here and I have all tried so hard to make the council listen over the last few years. I have arranged petitions, personally objected to dozens of the worst applications, we have organised demonstrations at the Town Hall and I have met with the council leader repeatedly to plead the case.

But the Labour-run council just ignores us, time after time. They do this because they can keep control of the Town Hall based on just a few marginal seats (called Wards) in the centre of the Borough. So they ignore everyone else, including our area. There is only one way left to fix this.

A group of Residents Associations from across the Borough wants to fix this by changing the way Croydon is run to a Directly Elected Executive Mayor – where we directly elect an executive mayor. This means all our votes would count equally wherever they are cast, and whoever runs the Town Hall will have to listen to everyone across the Borough if they want to win. If about 14,000 signatures are collected, the council legally has to hold a referendum on adopting a Directly Elected Mayor. If the referendum is positive, then the council is obliged to implement a Directly Elected Mayor. Four London Boroughs have done this already. It would work like a mini Mayor of London, but for Croydon.

I am fully supporting this campaign – because changing the way Croydon is run is the only way to make the Town Hall listen to us. Please go the Residents Group’s website and donate to their campaign and/or download their petition sheet (it has to be done on paper). When you have downloaded the petition sheet, please get as many of your neighbours to sign as possible and post it back to the campaign at the address they give.

Donate here: [Link]

Download the petition forms here: [Link]

We are all sick of being ignored by the council and watching them ram through planning applications against residents wishes virtually every week. This is now the only way to stop the council doing this. Please join me in supporting the Residents Association’s campaign. This is really important because otherwise the Council will just keep on ignoring us all.
Best wishes,

Chris

Email from South Croydon Conservative MP, Chris Philp. I could’ve put this in the Purley tower block thread maybe, if I googled it.

Dear All,

Many of us are in despair at the way Croydon Council’s planning committee is granting almost every planning application that comes before it – especially destroying family homes and replacing them with blocks of flats. Neighbouring councils Bromley and Sutton do not do this, and there is nothing in national planning policy that means Croydon has to.

Of course we need more homes for young people – but new flats should be build in town centres and brownfield sites. Destroying family homes, as Croydon is choosing to do, means that there will not be enough homes for future families and it is in danger of changing the character of the neighbourhood.

I totally oppose what the council is doing. So do Residents Associations and thousands of residents. Residents Associations, local councillors, people living here and I have all tried so hard to make the council listen over the last few years. I have arranged petitions, personally objected to dozens of the worst applications, we have organised demonstrations at the Town Hall and I have met with the council leader repeatedly to plead the case.

But the Labour-run council just ignores us, time after time. They do this because they can keep control of the Town Hall based on just a few marginal seats (called Wards) in the centre of the Borough. So they ignore everyone else, including our area. There is only one way left to fix this.

A group of Residents Associations from across the Borough wants to fix this by changing the way Croydon is run to a Directly Elected Executive Mayor – where we directly elect an executive mayor. This means all our votes would count equally wherever they are cast, and whoever runs the Town Hall will have to listen to everyone across the Borough if they want to win. If about 14,000 signatures are collected, the council legally has to hold a referendum on adopting a Directly Elected Mayor. If the referendum is positive, then the council is obliged to implement a Directly Elected Mayor. Four London Boroughs have done this already. It would work like a mini Mayor of London, but for Croydon.

I am fully supporting this campaign – because changing the way Croydon is run is the only way to make the Town Hall listen to us. Please go the Residents Group’s website and donate to their campaign and/or download their petition sheet (it has to be done on paper). When you have downloaded the petition sheet, please get as many of your neighbours to sign as possible and post it back to the campaign at the address they give.

Donate here: [Link]

Download the petition forms here: [Link]

We are all sick of being ignored by the council and watching them ram through planning applications against residents wishes virtually every week. This is now the only way to stop the council doing this. Please join me in supporting the Residents Association’s campaign. This is really important because otherwise the Council will just keep on ignoring us all.
Best wishes,

Chris