South Croydon Community Meeting

July 1, St Augustine’s Church

What South Croydon residents told me they loved about our area:

1) Green spaces

2) Communities

3) Transport

There were also three big issues for change:

1) Crime and safety

2) Street Cleaning

3) The Council

1. What can we do about crime and ASB?

We need more police on our streets. Right now, many of Croydon’s officers are regularly drafted into central London to help with protests etc. I will work with the Borough Commander to make the case Croydon needs more officers on the beat here given the scale of our needs.
There must be stronger support in place for vulnerable people who are clearly addicted to drugs and alcohol. I will work with organisations like Change Grow Live and ThamesReach to reach out to those who need help and give them support to get into housing and employment and break the cycle of anti-social behaviour.
When people refuse help and continue to offend, we must enforce action against them, using prosecution, fines and removal powers if necessary. Crime cannot be left unchallenged on our streets.

2. What can we do to clean up the Streets?

Introduce proper enforcement. Croydon has become the fly-tipping capital of England under the Council’s Conservative Mayor. This is because offenders are being allowed to get away with it. We will use CCTV, fines, penalties and prosecutions to make sure criminals are caught, named and shamed for their behaviour to deter further fly-tipping.
Introduce Big Skip Days. Large skips will be taken to neighbourhoods that struggle with fly-tipping so everyone can dispose of their waste responsibly for free. This particularly helps people without cars who can’t afford to get to the tip.
Let community talent make our streets beautiful. In Kent, school children were each given a step to design a mosaic on. It was really beautiful and cost so little money. It also built community pride in the area.

3. What can we do to fix the Council?

We desperately need a deal with national government on Croydon’s debt, which is projected to sky-rocket. We also need fair funding for Croydon, which currently receives less money than inner London boroughs. As a Labour Mayor, I have good relationships with the Labour government and would be in the strongest place to negotiate a deal for our town.
We need to get a grip on the Council’s culture. As Mayor, I would make it clear that we treat every resident as if they were a member of their own family, and every penny of public money as if it was their own. I would publicly celebrate and reward those officers who did this, and move on anyone who was not treating the public with due respect.
We need to make different choices. Right now, the Council’s Conservative Mayor has bought 4,000 new laptops for his staff and wasted millions on agency workers and consultants. He’s done that whilst closing libraries and lollipop officers. If I was Mayor, the precious money we have would be used to prioritise what we care about – keeping streets clean and safe.