Residents and traders have questioned whether the removal of benches in Croydon’s North End will have any impact on antisocial behaviour in the town centre, as they believe the issue will simply be pushed further along the street.
Croydon Council removed a number of benches outside M&S on the North End shopping street last week, following complaints that they attracted large groups and antisocial behaviour (ASB). The council highlighted shopkeepers’ concerns that shoppers were being put off from visiting that part of the town.
While Croydon Council claims the move makes the area safer, residents, shopkeepers, and police argue it moves the issue elsewhere while not addressing deeper social problems.
One local resident, who asked not to be named, questioned the effectiveness of removing seating when approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). “In essence, you’re just inviting a different kind of behaviour somewhere else or within that space,” they said. “It is where that community of people exist at that time.”
Jeyda Atkinson lives in Crystal Palace but has been shopping in Croydon town centre for years. However, she told the LDRS how the town centre no longer feels as “welcoming” as it did 10 years ago.
“Croydon has changed a lot,” she said. “In my honest opinion, I don’t think it is safe at night,” she added. “If you can’t stop looking over your shoulder once or twice in the day, I can’t imagine what night-time would be like.”
She believes removing benches is a short-sighted move. “I feel a measure like that is quite drastic,” she said. “Homelessness and addiction can’t be changed by removing seating.”
Instead, she called for investment in support services. “There should be more services for people struggling with addiction and mental health,” she said. “A community hub would be great.”
“They have the crisis hub in Croydon [University] Hospital,” she continued. “But a community crisis hub in the town centre would be great.”
The decision to remove the seating was driven by conversations with the Croydon Business Improvement District (BID), which represents business owners in the town centre.
Shaun Webster, Director of Operations at Croydon BID, welcomed the move as a win for local shop owners. He said: “Seating in this part of North End had become a hotspot for persistent ASB, often linked to alcohol misuse.”
“This was having a negative impact on nearby businesses and deterring customers from the area,” he added. “The area now feels noticeably calmer and more welcoming, a much better environment for staff, customers and trade.”
However, some are not as convinced. George, who works at the Phone Centre shop opposite M&S, said the changes haven’t addressed the bigger issue. He told the LDRS: “We are having too many people drinking, smoking and leaving their waste out there. They come in groups and start shouting… it is going to affect our business.”
He added: “You are not going to have ladies and young children come into the shop. Not if you have drunk people and people with mental health issues coming in.”
He noted the remaining bench isn’t adequate. “The council took three down and left one so elderly people could still have a seat,” he said. “But when elderly people see that other people have just taken them, they are not going to use them.”
George said many shopkeepers are frustrated by the lack of long-term solutions. “My landlord would definitely have liked to have seen more from the council,” he said.
“There’s no discipline, there’s no morals, there’s no nothing. There was a guy who sat outside HSBC in a chair last week, stopping people from coming in… it took two or three hours for the police to convince him [to move].”
When asked how he handles the unwanted issues that come with working in a shop in Croydon, he replied: “I have been here 30 years and I am used to it, but not many people could get used to it.”
Police officers dedicated to patrolling Croydon town centre even admitted to the LDRS that the problem of ASB won’t disappear just because seating has. “It’s just going to move the trouble further down the street,” one officer said.
While they admitted that the removal was part of a wider effort to address the issue, they noted that the vandalised phone boxes dotted along North End were in fact their “biggest issue”.
The almost obsolete phone boxes are commonly used for drug dealing, drug taking and public defecation. Yet, according to one town centre officer, efforts to remove them are proving difficult.
“It’s extremely difficult to get rid of them because there are different partners,” said the officer. “People are trying, but it is about who owns the box and who owns the wires.”
These officers are part of the Town Centre Taskforce, made up of the council, police, BID and community groups. Over the past year, it has cleared unauthorised encampments, repaired damaged street furniture and removed rubbish from public paths and underpasses.
In a statement published last week, Croydon Council said outreach teams were sent to work with individuals involved in the ASB and that enough seating remains for those who need to rest.
In that statement, Executive Mayor Jason Perry defended the council’s decision, saying the goal was to make the area more welcoming.
“We want to ensure that everyone can enjoy our town centre and feel safe while in North End,” he said. “It is a shame that a few people were consistently being antisocial, which was affecting our businesses and those walking past these groups.”
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