Why are Croydon's Labour-run Council leaving so many shops empty while we wait for the Westfield/Hammerson development?
When it comes it'll be a huge boost to our local economy - £1.5bn investment, creating 5,000 jobs mainly for local people.
But while we're waiting, local businesses particularly on the High Street in the town centre are understandably moving on. They don't need to be there when the bulldozers come in and construction starts.
It's that gap that I'm concerned about. A time period that's been ill-defined by our Labour-run Council, and that has meant many empty units are littering our high street - units that could be used even temporarily to help struggling start-ups, local charities and support small businesses.
So I've launched a campaign to call on Croydon Council to actively focus on helping to push 'meanwhile uses' for the empty premises while we wait for the Westfield/Hammerson development to get going.
What would you like to see on out high street? Will you sign my petition to get the Council to work on this? Let me what you think below.
Our high street is too precious to allow it to die while we wait for the bigger development - let's get creative with saving our shops!