Sandrock Redevelopment - Croydon Advertiser (Facebook interview)

Note from your Editor!

I was approached on Facebook by a journalist from the Croydon Advertiser called Luke Jarmyn. He asked for a telephone interview but as it was the 
end of a long working day I declined. I did however write my thoughts down for him:

"Hi Luke To be fair I would not seek to represent the views of all residents. I live in Sandpits Road and the following represents my personal opinion. Many people attended the public consultation (from which a report exists on the planning pages of Croydon’s website) and made their feelings known then, I would suggest you have a read of this public document. Essentially I feel that the consultation was a tick box exercise, the planning application submitted is pretty much EXACTLY the same as what was presented and what was disliked by the about 90% of people who attended. Personally I have no issue with development, goodness knows the pub needs it and retention of an 151 year old former staging post is a good thing. Also I have an understanding that Croydon is in need of new housing ... new, affordable housing, not apartments that will cost circa £350K+ The development is too large for such a small place, the proposed new buildings are modern, three storey “boxes”, not in keeping with local buildings, not least the style of the pub. The pub development: Accommodation for the pub manager will be on part of the first floor (existing footprint) and the existing second level. Also on the first floor will be a new one bedroom flat, the second residence. An extension (a dining area) will be built to the side where the current car park entrance is. This will be a two storey add on with the first floor being the third new residence - a two bedroom flat. This new build will be directly adjacent to the entrance to Sandrock Place, apparently overlooking number 6 Sandpits Road. However... The 2 other three storey buildings will consist of 8 flats each. These will be of varying bedroom size (minimum 1 bedroom, maximum 3 bedrooms). One of these blocks will be in the existing Sandrock garden/car park. The second block will be seemingly built in what is currently woodland, and appears to be directly adjacent to and overlooking 1a Sandrock Place. Access to these new residences will be via Sandrock Place. The positioning of the new “driveway” into the car park for the new residences, appears to be directly on the (blind) bend of Sandrock Place. Speaking of the car park, there are 16 parking spaces in the main area (separating the two blocks) with a proportion of them being disabled bays. There are two further parking bays in front of the new dining extension accessed from Sandpits Road - this is the only designated parking for the pub. That’s 18 parking spaces for 19 residences and pub customers! The artists impressions of the new residences seem to imply that they will be boxy, and modern, not in keeping with the look and feel of a nineteenth century inn. Moreover the commitment to retaining trees seems to have been overlooked as the rear block of 8 flats will be built in what is currently woodland, and, as already surmised, the residents of 1a Sandrock Place will be overlooked. The official report on the trees is misleading because it boasts of retaining trees that were never likely to be felled anyway, as they are either on the sloping part of the site or they line Upper Shirley Road. I feel that the pub renovation is a red herring and that a couple of years down the line it might “fail” and be turned into housing. Croydon Council seem to be blinkered about issue of parking. They are keen advocates of using local public transport, so parking on its own is not high on their radar. Public transport on the hill is hit and miss, especially in the winter. They also seem to be thrilled at the inclusion of 30+ cycle racks (because people cycle to pubs halfway up a steep hill!). They claim to have carried out a survey of the local parking spaces and surmised that there are plenty, they neglect to mention that they are about to extend the double yellow lines and red route in this area. There’s likely to be around 60 new residents housed in this development. Sandrock Place residents have already reported that they constantly have issues with the ageing sewage system, which the new development will feed into. The documentation states that “this will be sorted” but what will the upheaval be for existing residents? There is no additional infrastructure planned for this part of Shirley, no more surgeries, dentists, shops. Schools are already oversubscribed and traffic is at a standstill most mornings. The road access to the new development is off Sandrock Place, a narrow road with blind bends. There have been several “near misses” here already. Sandpits Road is a quiet culdesac, a cut through for school children, ramblers, dog walkers and horse riders. This is an impractical, ill thought out concept, the design is frivolous rather than sympathetic and over crowds the site it is intended to be constructed in. If Croydon Council truly believe in providing affordable housing why not redevelop the post office building at East Croydon which has stood empty with no plans for the site. Why not build the housing at this and other similarly empty sites?"

An addendum to this is that two articles about the redevelopment appeared online by the end of the week .