{"id":39443,"date":"2020-11-13T20:56:40","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T20:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=39443"},"modified":"2020-11-13T20:56:40","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T20:56:40","slug":"cashless-council-croydon-council-declares-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/cashless-council-croydon-council-declares-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Cashless council: Croydon Council declares bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Croydon Council has declared bankruptcy after racking up debts of \u00a31.5 billion with emergency restrictions being rushed into place.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i>It\u2019s no secret that Croydon has had a number of financial issues over the years, but nobody could have predicted the severity of the situation which has now arisen.<\/p>\n

The news of bankruptcy comes just two weeks after a report, highlighting gross financial mismanagement was released, according to MyLondon<\/p>\n

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Croydon Council headquarters, Croydon | Photo by: Ella Webster<\/p><\/div>\n

The main question which now faces Croydon Council is why and how the financial state of the town was allowed to deteriorate so much.<\/p>\n

One factor which has led to the demise of the town is the falling through on various business projects and unfulfilled proposals.<\/p>\n

Most notably the proposal of turning Croydon\u2019s Whitgift Centre (shopping centre) into a Westfield shopping centre seen in the likes of Stratford and Shepherds Bush.<\/p>\n

According to Inside Croydon, the scheme to re-develop the shopping centre was first brought about in 2012, with plans for it to be completed by 2017.<\/p>\n

Since then, not a single bit of re-development has gone ahead, and in 2019 the Westfield company made the decision to \u201creview\u201d the agreement to build in Croydon indefinitely.<\/p>\n

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The Whitgift Centre first opened in 1968 | Photo by: Ella Webster<\/p><\/div>\n

Alongside the scheme for the shopping centre which has now been put on the backburner, in 2016 the Council also entered into Brick By Brick, a property scheme with the intention of accelerating the \u201cdelivery of new homes for Croydon residents\u201d.<\/p>\n

To date, Croydon Council has lent Brick By Brick close to \u00a3200 million pounds, with nothing to show for it in return.<\/p>\n

In 2019, Inside Croydon reported that Brick by Brick \u201cwill not be delivering on its council-set target of 50% affordable housing\u201d and there is now a high possibility of Brick By Brick as a company being sold to a private investor.<\/p>\n

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The re-vamp of Fairfield Halls went over budget by \u00a311 million alone | Photo by: Ella Webster<\/p><\/div>\n

So, what does this mean for local residents?<\/p>\n

The affects of this revelation are likely to hit local residents hard. Council taxes will unsurprisingly rise, and social and community care will ultimately suffer.<\/p>\n

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The Ship Pub dates which dates back to 1640 can now be seen boarded up | Photo by: Ella Webster<\/p><\/div>\n

The labour-run Croydon Council have been both frivolous and careless with the money of its residents, and as a result have put the town in a financial position which they are unable to escape anytime soon.<\/p>\n

In a place which has so much history and potential, the future looks bleak.<\/p>\n

Words by: Ella Webster | Subbing: Grace Staley<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Croydon Council has declared bankruptcy after racking up debts of \u00a31.5 billion with emergency restrictions being rushed into place.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s no secret that Croydon has had a number of financial issues over the years, but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":39448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uknews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t