Residents and Labour force U turn on Mayor over Thornton Heath Pond

Croydon’s Conservative Mayor has been forced to scrap his decision to exclude Thornton Heath Pond from the new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) following a successful campaign led by Croydon Labour which prompted hundreds of local residents to object to the Conservatives’ misguided and reckless plans.

Mayor Perry had initially decided to exclude the Pond from the council’s new PSPO for Thornton Heath. This was despite the fact that the council were aware of regular and ongoing incidents of anti social behaviour taking place at the Pond, including intimidating behaviour, drunkenness and disorder and urinating in public.

Not only would this have been a missed opportunity to tackle the existing ASB problems at the Pond; it would have led to ASB problems being displaced to the Pond – making things EVEN WORSE, a concern that the police also raised.

Local Croydon Labour councillors Stuart King, Janet Campbell & Chrishni Reshekaron are grateful to the hundreds of residents who signed their petition and completed the consultation survey.

“We are delighted that the Mayor has been forced to scrap his reckless plans. But we are angry that his refusal to listen to local voices meant that so many residents were left concerned and alarmed by his misguided proposals. This whole saga has shown how out of touch the Mayor is with Thornton Heath.

Whilst we are pleased the Conservative Mayor has been forced to abandon his reckless plans, we are worried that his original decision is yet another example of him being out of touch with residents in Thornton Heath, indeed the whole of Croydon.”