Wandle Park café closure causes rise in anti-social behaviour

It has been left unoccupied for nearly two years and has now reportedly become a hot spot for anti-social behaviour and drug-taking.

The café was the centrepiece of the 2013 restoration, which reportedly cost Croydon Council £3.5 million.

The park is Croydon’s only Green Flag-accredited park and holds large events like Croydon Pride and is easily accessible by bus and tram.

However, residents believe the park’s current state does not reflect its former glory. 

One said: “They spent all that money on the park, just to let it fall apart ten years later.”

The focus of residents’ concern is the closed café, which sits by the east entrance of the park.

After opening to much fanfare in July 2014, the café closed its doors during the lockdown after the leaseholder moved on.

Before closure, the café sold a range of food and drinks and regularly hosted children’s parties and charity groups.

Crucially, the café also contains the only free and accessible toilet in the entire park.

However, despite frequent pressure from councillors and residents, the café has been dormant for the past two years.

The Friends of Wandle Park, a residents group, are leading the charge to get the café reopened.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a member of the Friends said: “The previous leaseholder has now been out of the café for nearly two years.

"When they left we started emailing the council to make sure the café wasn’t being forgotten.

“It was proving extremely difficult to get a response from them. Even when we went to the councillors, they struggled to get anything back from the council.

"We eventually got two council officers to do a walk around the park in November 2022."

They added: “They were shown around the café, and at that point, one of the council members said they aim to have the café open from Easter 2023. It’s January 2024 and I don’t think we’ll even get it this month.

“We understand the council has a lot of property and may not see a park café as that important but it is important. It’s about getting people out, getting people active, and encouraging people to get to parks.”

Despite this, Croydon Council does appear to share the belief that the café is important to the community. In an interview with the LDRS, Mayor Jason Perry confirmed that he was ‘keen to see it reopened.’

He added: “I think cafés are really important to parks because they bring footfall, activity, and natural surveillance. When you’ve got a local park with a café, it changes the look and feel of the place. It just makes for a much nicer environment.”

“Although it’s relatively new, we have had an issue with the roof which has caused some internal damage.

"We were due to start the letting process, found this damage, and are now working with contractors who I hope are finished with it now. We will be going to market on that imminently so we have a provider in there as soon as possible.”

However, many feel this process has been delayed and that the Council has taken too much time to act on what they see as an easy ‘win’ for the local authority and the community as a whole.

However, according to the cafés previous owners the café has still experienced some issues.

Along with the roof issues, which they say spoiled their produce, the owners also complained that the café was often blighted by anti-social behaviour and crime.

Speaking to the LDRS, they said: “Two months before we gave the café up, there was a homeless man who had broken in and made himself at home and was sleeping in there. By the end, he had stolen anything of worth.”

They also spoke of finding needles and other drug paraphernalia in the accessible toilet.

Sadly this trend of anti-social behaviour has not diminished since the café’s closure.

Residents and Met Police agree that crime in the park has increased.

A Friend of Wandle Park told the LDRS: “I have seen people do drugs, and urinate behind it. Sometimes even worse. There’s also a lot of graffiti there. There are CCTV cameras around the building, but I don’t think they’ve worked for some time.

“Some people have come to the park, seeing there’s no toilet and saying I’ll never come here again. This has also led to people going behind the café and weeing up against the back of the building.”

The absence of an accessible toilet has been a long-running issue for residents, especially considering the borough’s shrinking number of public toilets. However, the lack of a toilet in the park has had real consequences according to one Friend of Wandle Park.

She told the LDRS: “We used to host Croydon Mencap there, but sadly with the closure of the café, they couldn’t access the toilets so they all had to be moved to be moved to Park Hill.”

However, there is still a lot of optimism regarding the café’s potential. The Friend added: “There is a goldmine waiting there for someone that wants to take it over. You can hold children’s parties and have plenty of tables and chairs around. It’s amazing what could be done there.”

This optimism is shared by a local businessman, who told the LDRS of his eagerness to take on the café and turn its fortunes around. Speaking to the LDRS, he said: “The café is done beautifully, it’s new and they spent a lot of money on it. It’s right in the middle of the park, right next to the play area.”

“I walk through the park every morning for an hour and a half, as it’s only five minutes from me. I see a lot of people there, especially at the weekends. It is beautiful in the summer, and a lot of young families go there.”

The absence of an accessible toilet has been a long-running issue for residents, especially considering the borough’s shrinking number of public toilets. However, the lack of a toilet in the park has had real consequences according to one Friend of Wandle Park.

She told the LDRS: “We used to host Croydon Mencap there, but sadly with the closure of the café, they couldn’t access the toilets so they all had to be moved to be moved to Park Hill.”

However, there is still a lot of optimism regarding the café’s potential. The Friend added: “There is a goldmine waiting there for someone that wants to take it over. You can hold children’s parties and have plenty of tables and chairs around. It’s amazing what could be done there.”

This optimism is shared by a local businessman, who told the LDRS of his eagerness to take on the café and turn its fortunes around. Speaking to the LDRS, he said: “The café is done beautifully, it’s new and they spent a lot of money on it. It’s right in the middle of the park, right next to the play area.”

“I walk through the park every morning for an hour and a half, as it’s only five minutes from me. I see a lot of people there, especially at the weekends. It is beautiful in the Summer, and a lot of young families go there.”

Despite his excitement, the prospective owner feels he is being ignored by the council despite having ample interest and experience in running a café.

He told the LDRS: “I used to run a successful coffee shop in the Hackbridge area. I tried to give everybody very low prices and good quality food and coffee. When I started in Hackbridge I didn’t even have one customer and ended up doing good business there for 15 years.

“I first got in touch three years ago. We have tried everything and got no response. They only return with an email once. I’ve got hygiene and safety certificates, I know how it works.”

For the past few years, Waddon councillors Ellily Ponnuthurai and Rowenna Davis have supported the community in trying to get the café reopened. The Labour councillors believe reopening the café would benefit both the community and the council itself, which is looking for alternate streams of income.

They told the LDRS: “Opening this café is a no-brainer. It would bring joy to the park, work for local people, and some much-needed income to the Council.

“Local residents were told it would be open by last Easter at the very latest. Almost a year on and it’s still shut. It’s a shocking waste and residents feel ignored.

“Everyone is paying more Council tax, but our park feels more dirty and less safe. The Mayor needs to get this done. We will keep campaigning with local residents until our café is open.”

Croydon Council was approached for comment but did not respond in time for publication.