Minutes 5th September 2006

Minutes of Meeting on 5th September 2006

CRYSTAL PALACE & NORWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
HELD AT 1ST FLOOR, LORENZO'S RESTAURANT, WESTOW HILL

1. Present
Honorary Chairman - Mervyn Hing - Silk Route Dry Cleaners
Honorary Secretary - Andrew Parfitt - resident
Sharon Baldwin - Town Centre Manager, Croydon
Sally Bishop - Second Hand Shop
Kathryn Bonds - Phoenix Community Centre (*)
Kim Bygraves - Way Ahead
Kevin Carleton-Reeves - transport consultant
Roy Hall - architect
Nigel Harris - The Railway Consultancy
Bernie Jinks - Royal Albert
Kennex Kanagarajnam - Pizza Express
Tony Kemp - Lawrences
AN Other - Lawrences
Mary Kennedy - The Tanning Shop
Franck Lissimore - Amphlett Lissimore
Karen Morgan - Crystal Palace Foundation
Stan Morris - Shinebright Window-Cleaning
Sue Nagle - Bambino
Janet - Living Water Satisfies
Dynesh Patel
Mandy Raven - Glitter & Twisted
Yogi Shah - Macdonalds Discount Store
Sergio - Sergio's Delicatessen
Rosaria Trivellini - Il Restauro

(NB. These were the names recorded on the attendance sheets. Apologies in some cases where handwriting was difficult to read).

* - at the invitation of Sue Nagle

2. Apologies

Peter Runacres and three Councillors.


3. Minutes of Previous Meeting

item 8: Karen Morgan drew attention to the firework display which the Crystal Palace Foundation would be organising on the weekend of 25-26 November to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Crystal Palace fire.

The minutes of the 4 July meeting were formally adopted.

4. Matters Arising

Water supply

Nigel Harris said that his business had been affected by another five-hour cut in water supply that day.

5. Crystal Palace Exhibition Centre scheme

At the invitation of Mervyn Hing, Ray Hall gave a presentation of his organisation's proposals for building an exhibition centre on the top site of the Crystal Palace Park. The building would be based on a scaled-down version of the 1851 Crystal Palace, with the aim of "giving back to South London a focus" and making Crystal Palace strong again as a destination.

Half of the estimated construction cost of £60 million had already been secured through a private contribution, and the target date for completion would be 2010. The centre would be run by a designated charitable trust, with any operating surplus going towards the Park.

In response to questions, Ray said that the centre would have an auditorium which could seat 3,500 people, suitable for theatrical and musical performances, conferences and exhibitions. Gallery areas would also be provided. There would be an opportunity for incorporating a four-star hotel and restaurant within the building as well.

Secure car parking would be provided for the hotel, but otherwise visitors to the centre would be expected to arrive predominantly by public transport. Kevin Carleton-Reeves suggested that the area above the planned East London Line terminal at Crystal Palace station could be used as a car park.

Ray said that his organisation would need to work up the proposals further and submit detailed planning proposals to the LDA, including traffic, economic, social and environmental impact assessments.

Sue Nagle circulated a form to members present for further written comments.

6. Tramlink Extension

Karen Morgan said that she had attended a presentation by Transport for London (TfL) at Bromley Council on the extension of the Tramlink to Crystal Palace. There were three options:

1) running up Anerley Hill, terminating at the bus station;
2) terminating at Crystal Palace station;
3) running by Ledrington Road inside the border of Crystal Palace Park, terminating at the bus station.

Public consultation would start in mid-October and continue until December.

Karen provided details of the Head of the Consultation Unit at TfL (Mike Bartram tel. 020-7126-4206, mikebartram@tfl.gov.uk)

7. Current Traffic System

Mervyn introduced the form which would be used to survey the views of traders and businesses. He said that the aim was to make a case to Croydon Council based on the collective views of the business community.

Nigel Harris expressed the view that the one-way system had been poorly executed but was not necessarily bad in itself. The previous two-system had led to gridlock, negative effects were amplified by the period of the supermarket closure and, in any case, reinstatement of two-way traffic flow would create further disruption. Through relatively small improvements such as more pedestrian crossings and speed restrictions, the system could be made to work better for business interests.

Few present supported this view. Sue noted that over 60 businesses had closed since the system's introduction. Others pointed out that gridlock still occurred. Mervyn was convinced that two-way traffic could be restored relatively cheaply (much of the £2 million cost of the one-way system had been on pavements) and disruption could be minimised through good project management.

A show of hands demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of those present wanted a return to two-way traffic. A more comprehensive survey would be carried out over the coming weeks. Sue said that if there were sufficient support amongst businesses and traders, it would be worth campaigning strongly for the one-way system to be abolished.

8. Any Other Business

LEGI

Sharon said that once the issue of the traffic system had been dealt with, there would be an opportunity for the Chamber to consider other priorities. For instance, the town might wish to apply for funding from the £77 million of funding awarded to Croydon under the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI), http://www.croydon.gov.uk/business/legi

Contact details

Sharon said that her phone number had changed to 07786-277-681.

Triangle Traders and Chamber of Commerce merger

Mervyn said he was continuing to discuss with Sue. The two organisations were determined to work more closely together and the aim was to achieve a merger by the end of the year.

Best of Business awards

Sharon said that nominations were being sought for these.

Peter Pan on Ice

Sharon said that this was being held in the Sports Arena in November, and shops were invited to display posters.

The meeting ended at 8.30 p.m.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday 3rd October at 6.45 for 7 p.m., Lorenzo's Restaurant