Trams Pass in Addiscombe Road Photograph taken opposite the Lebanon Road tram stop
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Location Croydon, London

Community, community, community: WHO IS IT FOR? Apr 29, 2021[1]

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The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of 87 km2 (33.6 sq mi). It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; while other urban centres include Coulsdon, Purley, South Norwood, Norbury, New Addington, Selsdon and Thornton Heath. Croydon is mentioned in Domesday Book, and from a small market town has expanded into one of the most populous areas on the fringe of London. The borough is now one of London's leading business, financial and cultural centres, and its influence in entertainment and the arts contribute to its status as a major metropolitan centre. Its population is 390,719, making it the largest London borough and sixteenth largest English district.

Networks and sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]

Community resources[edit | edit source]

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Upper Norwood Joint Library is a community managed library in Upper Norwood, South London. It stands on Westow Hill, in Crystal Palace town centre, within the London Borough of Lambeth, but on the edge of the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. It is funded largely by Lambeth Council, and in part by Croydon Council, with the building itself managed by a community-run independent charity, the Upper Norwood Library Trust. It is part of the Lambeth network of libraries, and thus accepts Lambeth library membership cards.

Onsite is one of the first Library of Things, a self-service borrowing initiative active across local communities which lends objects instead of books from a conventional library. These objects include anything from garden tools to sports gear, toys to electro-domestic equipment. The Upper Norwood Library Hub, the operations arm of the Upper Norwood Library Trust, manages the building itself, and runs various classes, workshops and initiatives within the space. The library also has space available for private hire through the Hub.

Climate action[edit | edit source]

Environment quality[edit | edit source]

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Open spaces[edit | edit source]

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The London Borough of Croydon has over 120 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, ranging from the 200 acre (80ha) Selsdon Wood Nature Reserve to many recreation grounds and sports fields scattered throughout the Borough. Croydon covers an area of 86.52 km², the 256th largest district in England. Croydon's physical features consist of many hills and rivers that are spread out across the borough and into the North Downs, Surrey and the rest of South London. Some of the open spaces in Croydon form part of the well-known London LOOP walks where the first section was opened on 3 May 1996 with a ceremony on Farthing Downs in Coulsdon. As a borough in Outer London it also contains some open countryside in the form of country parks. Croydon Council is associated with several other boroughs who are taking part in the Downlands Countryside Management Project. These boroughs are Sutton; and by Surrey County Council; the City of London Corporation; the Surrey districts of Reigate and Banstead and Tandridge; and the Countryside Agency. An additional partner is Natural Britain.

Duppas Hill was Croydon's first public recreation ground, bought by the Board of Health in 1865. Addington Hills is a major floodplain in London for the Thames Valley and is recognised as a significant obstacle to the growth of London from its origins as a port on the north side of the river, to a large circular city. Mitcham Common also forms part of the borough although it is only partly in Croydon, the London Borough of Merton has the dominant half of the common, while Sutton make up most of the south side.

The Queen's Gardens, Park Hill and Norwood Grove are examples of ornamental gardens in the Borough.

There are also many recreation grounds such as the one in South Norwood which is currently undergoing major refurbishment works. Examples of meadows include Heavers Meadow and Brickfields Meadow both located in South Norwood.

Communities online[edit | edit source]

Croydon online

Community and voluntary action[edit | edit source]

Community currencies activism[edit | edit source]

Croydon LETS

Cycling activism[edit | edit source]

Croydon cycling campaign

Although hilly, Croydon is compact and has few major trunk roads running through it. It is on one of the Connect2 schemes which are part of the National Cycle Network route running around Croydon. The North Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty popular with both on- and off-road cyclists, is so close to Croydon that part of the park lies within the borough boundary, and there are routes into the park almost from the civic centre. W

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Waterlink Way is a cyclepath and walking route in South East London. It extends from South Norwood Country Park (near Elmers End station) to the Cutty Sark ship in Greenwich, a total of eight miles.

The Waterlink Way connects a number of parks and green spaces in South East London – including Ladywell Fields and Brookmill Park – while following the Pool and Ravensbourne rivers. The route was designed to be accessible, with a large number of railway stations including Kent House, Lower Sydenham, Ladywell, Lewisham and Greenwich en route.

Ethical consumerism[edit | edit source]

Croydon Real Nappy Network

Food activism[edit | edit source]

  • South Norwood Community Kitchen, using the power of food to bring our community together and to make it stronger in order to build collective action. "We are determined to create free, equal and accessible community spaces where people can build relationships, have a voice and access what they need." added 12:39, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

Sustainable transport activism[edit | edit source]

  • Crystal Palace Low Traffic Neighbourhood , a group of independent people who live in the LTN who are campaigning for a safe, quiet and non-polluted environment for our neighbours and safe roads for the increased number of walkers and cylists who are using Auckland Road. added 15:48, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in south London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in London since 1952.

The network consists of 39 stops along 28 km (17 mi) of track, on a mixture of street track shared with other traffic, dedicated track in public roads, and off-street track consisting of new rights-of-way, former railway lines, and one right-of-way where the Tramlink track runs parallel to a third rail-electrified Network Rail line. W

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The Wandle Trail is a 12.5-mile (20 km) walking and cycling trail that follows the River Wandle from Croydon to Wandsworth in south-west London.

News and comment[edit | edit source]

2015

New cycle hub and Brompton Bike Hire scheme set to open in Croydon town centre, August 11[2]

Reporting noise? App's the way to do it, January 19[3]

2014

Lots of happy talk as residents do the Sensible thing, February 18[4]

External links[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Keywords london borough
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 2 pages link here
Aliases Croydon
Impact 691 page views
Created March 7, 2014 by Phil Green
Modified July 11, 2023 by Phil Green
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