Towards the end of 2011 rumors started to emerge that the global retail chain Westfield intended to buy Croydon's Whitgift shopping centre from the Whitgift Foundation. Clearly those plans have progressed apace because today (2/7/12) I and I assume everybody else in Croydon received a letter informing us that Westfield are putting their development plans on public display this coming weekend as part of the planning process.
Although the letter was more about how to get information rather then information itself I suspect that the deal will see the Whitgift Foundation remain as owners of the site while Westfield take over as operators and sink some USD1.6bn into totally redeveloping the site. They have a website; http://www.westfield-croydon.co.uk but until I look at it I don't know much but whatever the details it'll be big for Croydon. In fact if I remember correctly from my time studying urban geography at Croydon College the Whitgift Centre is considered the centre of the universe with all the transport links (roads, buses, trams, trains etc) focused on getting people to and from it.
Mind you at this point I'll happily agree to anything provided the new shopping centre contains a drug store selling micropore tape and painkillers. Oh and my home internet connection is down.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2
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