Last Friday I visited the Coulsdon Health Centre Public Engagement Event with colleagues Cllr Mario Creatura and Luke Shortland.
The Coulsdon Health Centre we’ve fought for over many years alongside the residents’ associations appears to be coming to fruition.
If you missed the event you can see all the plans and images at the bottom of this blog.
The brand new Health Centre will be placed next to the old CALAT building and will give our community much needed infrastructure to help with the health pressures faced locally. It's anticipated that it will be completed by Summer 2023.
The adjacent plot of land, where the old CALAT building is located, will be turned into a dialysis unit. This is something that residents in the south of the borough have needed for a long time. Those requiring the facility have spent several years travelling too far for treatment.
Those who have followed the plans for this site will be aware that the original Brick by Brick plan was for the old CALAT building to be turned into a new Community Centre, and that the current Community Centre on Barrie Close would be turned into housing. As much as Croydon needs new houses and homes, Barrie Close is not the right place for them and, knowing the Council, they would probably not be of a design we would choose with adequate and much needed parking spaces. There are enough infrastructure pressures in the area without adding to them, especially in this particularly sensitive area that has suffered overflowing sewage problems for all too long.
The Council recognises that particular plan is no longer viable and so the Community Centre will remain on Barrie Close retaining its parking spaces and with a much needed 25-year lease extension. This is something local councillors and the management of the Community Centre are satisfied with as it means they can plan for a long-term future to continue to benefit our local area.
So, all in all we're happy with the proposals but as ever will watch carefully as the development progresses through the planning process.
Cllr Ian Parker, Coulsdon Town
