Croydon Council has announced it will permanently close a subway near East Croydon station after it became an anti-social behaviour hotspot.
The 60s-built subway on Alytre Road has now been boarded up with fencing to crack down on unlawful camping and crime in the town centre.
Councillors have also told the local democracy reporting service (LDRS) how the subway has seen a dip in pedestrian usage in recent years.
The closure of the subway comes as part of a wider effort to move people towards “safer” overground crossings.
In an announcement made yesterday (July 30), Croydon Mayor Jason Perry acknowledged the subway’s troubled history, which involved a fire that ripped through the subway in 2021. Half of the subway was damaged in the blaze but there were no reports of injuries.
He said: “I want to ensure that people in Croydon are safe as they go around the borough. The antisocial behaviour in this subway resulted in a serious fire which gutted the site and for safety reasons, it was closed.
“The subway was not safe to reopen as a public right of way. Our community outreach teams sensitively supported all those involved and continue helping anyone involved in such incidents to prevent problems from happening again.”
Subways were introduced across Croydon during the 1960s rebuild and saw thoroughfares like Wellesley Road brought through the centre of town. However, regular complaints of anti-social behaviour caused by a lack of surveillance and lighting have lessened the appeal of subways among members of the public.
The subways are also frequented by members of Croydon’s homeless population, who use them for shelter. Earlier this year, Croydon Council announced that it will be using its new anti-social behaviour taskforce to clear out some of these “Unlawful encampments.”
Labour Councillor for the Addiscombe Wets ward, Clive Fraser, told the LDRS how plans to close the subway are a welcome response to the concerns of many Croydon residents. Fraser said: “We support the proposal for three reasons, number one is that there has been a lot of anti-social behaviour in the tunnel.
“Me and my colleague, Patricia Hay-Justice, visited the site a year ago at the instigation of the owners of NLA tower (No.1 Croydon). They pointed out to us that people had been camping in the tunnels and bottles of urine everywhere.”
Fraser acknowledged that pedestrians had largely stopped using the underpass in the years following the fire in 2021. The Council have stated: “Pedestrians wanting to cross the road will not be impacted by the closure and will be able to do so using the designated crossings.”
Fraser also pointed out that the closure of the subway is linked with plans to develop the former City Link house building into a 28-storey luxury co-living apartment complex opposite the NLA Tower (also known as No.1 Croydon.) The developers, Squire & Partners, won planning permission to build on the site to the south of NLA Tower last June.
The plans were initially rejected by Croydon planning officers following concerns that the 28-storey building would impact its iconic neighbour.
Planning officers said: “The height and massing would be substantially larger than the height and massing of the NLA Tower and given the proximity to the NLA Tower, it would not appear subservient to the building when viewed in both the immediate context and in views from the north and south of the site and would thus have a negative impact upon its setting.”
The subway, according to Fraser, was due to be closed anyway as part of the planning consent for the new 28-storey complex. He added: “I don’t know if this is a pre-commencement action or something the Council is taking on itself.”
Finally, Fraser welcomed the closure of the subway as the start of the borough’s move towards “at-grade crossing,” meaning pedestrian crossing based at ground level. He believes this is safer and easier to navigate for pedestrians.
The area outside East Croydon station is undergoing large-scale public works redevelopment. It is expected that alternative crossings will link up to the area in front of the station once they are complete.
