Council leader Tony Newman outlined plans to change the perception of the borough ‘once and for all’ as he opened the Develop Croydon Conference 2017.
Hundreds of delegates have packed into the Croydon Park Hotel to listen to a variety of speakers, investors and developers discuss the future of the town over the next few years.
Mr Newman welcomed the guests to the borough and admitted it was an easier task to generate interest in the borough than it was when the first Develop Croydon Conference was held seven years ago.
“I remember the first one of these in 2010, it was a hard sell back then,’ he said. “Well, we’re not a hard sell anymore.
“The change in the borough is clear for all to see. There is now so much great growth, so much development. The key is to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to cope with that.”
Mr Newman, whose Labour group has controlled Croydon Council since 2014, spoke about the council’s ambition of being named London Borough of Culture in 2019.
“Culture is at the heart of the regeneration,” he said. “This is about people, about culture , with the £30million development of the Fairfield Halls at the heart of that.
“We are changing Croydon and the perception of Croydon once and for all.”