Last night, Croydon Council’s planning committee voted to approve the Purley Pool planning application. This is a vital step on the road to getting a new pool for Purley, which is why I went along and spoke in favour of the application. Thank you to everyone who signed my petition, which was reported in the planning documents and referenced in my speech.
The new scheme has a six lane 25 metre pool, a learner pool, an 80 station gym, a soft play area, a restaurant and a new public square. It will not only provide a new leisure centre for south of the Borough, but will also help regenerate Purley town Centre and increase footfall (helping shops), which is why the Purley Business Association and the Purley and Woodcote Residents’ Association support it.
The £19m construction cost of the centre will be subsidised by the construction of flats above, which are reserved for older people. I would have like to see more parking (since the multi story is also being demolished to make way for this project), but the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who also has to approve this application, ideologically opposes parking for schemes of this kind and his London Plan policy T6 prohibits parking completely. There are 78 parking spaces, but I think given Sadiq Khan’s fanatical anti-car policy it would have been impossible to get any more parking in this scheme. I’ll keep you updated as this project continues to progress.
Chris Philp MP
Croydon South
