Croydon Gateway
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- Further information: Croydon Vision 2020
Croydon Gateway (or Ruskin Square) is the name given to a project to redevelop a block of land between East Croydon railway station and the existing town centre of Croydon in South London. It is part of the major Croydon Vision 2020 regeneration scheme. It has been subject to substantial public debate which has featured in the national media.
Croydon is the principal office district in South London, having been rebuilt on a large scale in the 1960s, but much of the office stock is now dated. Croydon Council wishes to reinvigorate the area with new office buildings and new landmark attractions. The "Croydon Gateway" site, a former railway goods yard which has been largely unoccupied since the 1960s, represents the largest single development opportunity in the district. The Arrowcroft Gateway scheme was included in the Croydon Expo 2007.
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[edit] Proposals
There have been two main proposals to develop the site.
[edit] The Stanhope Schroders Scheme: Ruskin Square
The first plan has been prepared by the developer, Stanhope, who own the land, and their financial backers, Schroders;[1] the proposal includes 560 homes with 50% affordable housing, office buildings, a replacement Warehouse Theatre and an urban park. There would be a 41-storey skyscraper which is intended to act as the defining feature of Croydon's planned revival. Occupiers could include names like Carluccio's, Strada, Café Rouge, Giraffe, Las Iguanas, Wagamama, Ciao Baby, Pizza Express, Loch Fyne and All Bar One. Norman Foster's firm are the principal architects of the scheme.
[edit] The Arrowcroft / London Borough of Croydon Scheme
The London Borough of Croydon supports an alternative proposal, developed in partnership with property company Arrowcroft,[2] which would involve the construction of a new state-of-the-art 12,500-seat indoor arena, named the Croydon Arena, as well as 59,234 m² of offices and 874 homes—including affordable housing. Unlike the Stanhope scheme, this proposal has received the full backing from Croydon Council, but it now must go to a public inquiry after being 'called in' by Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State (now the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. It also requires compulsory purchase of the site (the majority of which is now owned by Stanhope). The Council has made a Compulsory Purchase Order to assemble the land required and the objections to which will be considered at the same public inquiry. The public inquiry took place between September and November 2007, and the outcome is likely to be announced early in 2008. [1]
The provision of a new arena is a matter of wide significance. It would be the only large indoor arena in South East England south of central London and thus would serve a wide catchment area. Present trends in the demand for live music are claimed to be sufficient to keep the arena in use.
In 2004, an appeal by Stanhope to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was dismissed. Subsequently in 2006, Stanhope were able to secure planning permission for their development, which includes a doctor's surgery and a replacement for Croydon's Warehouse Theatre. The Theatres Trust have objected to the Arrowcroft scheme on the grounds that at the time it did not replace the Warehouse Theatre, but in further legal papers submitted in June 2007 Arrowcroft have included space for the Warehouse Theatre, though Arrowcroft have not included the theatre in their actual revised planning application, only as a possible legal agreement (s106). Grave doubts exist about how genuine the Arrowcroft offer is because clauses within the agreement return the capital sum to Arrowcroft if the Warehouse Theatre fail to provide a satisfactory business plan to the developer's satisfaction or fill the funding gap. Arrowcroft have also made this offer without any detailed discussions with the theatre on technical requirements. This is to be left to after planning permission is secured and the CPO is confirmed.
[edit] Site progress
| “ | A new branding for the development took shape and all hoardings were brought up to standard ready for the commencement of works. | ” |
Throughout September to November 2005, the last office block located on the site, Wettern House, was slowly demolished under a protective wrapper to protect the rail infrastructure and surrounding buildings.
Between February and April 2006, the site was cleared of all occupiers (car parks and car rental, etc.) with the exception of the Warehouse Theatre, with new hoardings now marking the boundaries of the main site. Stanhope Schroders now own large parcels of land to the north of the main site as well as office blocks in Croydon's central business district.
July and August 2007 saw the company Mace appointed as site managers by Stanhope. Further clearance works (enabling works) are now underway. Final designs of all buildings are being worked up by Foster + partners prior to foundations being dug this Autumn.
During September 2007, a new branding for the development took shape and all hoardings were brought up to standard ready for the commencement of works. Meanwhile, Croydon Council was under significant pressure to agree the final 'technical' planning conditions (such as the lighting scheme, drainage etc) to enable the Stanhope Scheme to commence its construction phase. On 12 September 2007, Stanhope announced that the scheme would be renamed Ruskin Square.
In October 2007, Croydon council continued to sit on the release of the final planning obligations on the Ruskin Square development. It is not known if the delay was connected to the public inquiry / Arrowcroft.
On June 2, 2006, Stanhope and Schroders were granted formal planning permission for their proposed Gateway scheme. Ms Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government endorsed the report of the local planning inspector and granted permission. The planning inspector Keith Durrant said of the scheme:
The appeal scheme can, I conclude, be a landmark development of world class quality and function. In doing so, it can significantly further the objectives of national, strategic and local planning policies that seek to regenerate urban land, and provide a well designed and sustainable mix of land uses that can serve both the commercial and community needs of Croydon. There are no cogent arguments against granting planning permission.
The new Conservative administration which took over in Croydon in May 2006 endorsed competing Arrowcroft project, which enabled the Compulsory Purchase Order by which the Council planned to acquire the site to enable its development with Arrowcroft to proceed, to be made in January 2007. The CPO was dealt with separately from the issue of compensation, which will assess the compensation value of the site to be paid, potentially in proceedings in the Lands Tribunal if the order is confirmed. The gap in value is currently around £50Million. Arrowcroft assumed a purchase price of £25Million and Stanhope nearer £80Million as a selling price. Nevertheless, assumptions had to be made about the value of the site, and this was based on the value for development since Stanhope have secured permission. Looking at the Croydon property market, this is the largest piece of land in a single ownership in Croydon. Recent sales suggested a land value higher than the Arrowcroft estimate.
Arrowcroft have the financial backing of Frogmore Real Estate Partners, According to Frogmore "The fund raised £330m of equity and envisages leveraging at 65%, giving a total buying capacity of approximately £1bn" Frogmore have so far provided only £3Million funding to Arrowcroft for the purposes of the public inquiry, they have then stated that they will provide 'assistance' and 'enable' funding of the project. This is in part due to the nature and terms of the funds.
[edit] High Court
Arrowcroft issued proceedings in the High Court against the decision by the Secretary of State to issue planning permission on the grounds that the inspector misinterpreted the planning policy for the site (A section 288 Challenge). The same information was provided by Arrowcroft to the inspector and Secretary of State prior to the decision being issued and was deemed not to be material to the case.
On 22 February, Arrowcroft withdrew their proceedings against the Secretary of State arguing that any planning issues would now be finalised in the CPO hearings.
If the CPO is not confirmed, Arrowcroft may face the cost of compensating Stanhope for its costs in the inquiry. Already Stanhope have applied for a partial award of costs following Arrowcroft changing the transport witness and much of their evidence during the inquiry.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ruskin Square
- Croydon Gateway
- Windows Local Live 3D aerial shot of site after demolition of Wettern House
- Information and images of the Arrowcorft scheme
- Community Campaign 'Croydon Against The Arena'
- Public Inquiry official web site into Arrowcroft Planning application and the Compulsory Purchase Order
- Warehouse Theatre
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