Council Engagement

A big part of making changes happen in Croydon to improve conditions for cyclists involves working with the Council.  Here we attempt to show all we have learned about engaging with Croydon council so new campaigners can get up to speed quickly and start making a difference immediately.

Contacting the council

Lobbying the Council is very important. The biggest barriers to improving conditions for cycling in Croydon are political.  Every letter or e-mail that is received has an impact.  The council currently receives very few e-mails about conditions for cyclists, so our voices are drowned out by those of the motoring lobby, so cycling issues are not on the radar.  Every letter is a big step forward for cycling campaigning in Croydon.  However, do not make the mistake of sending your correspondence to the Croydon council contact centre.  Every letter received by the central contact team regarding cycling gets forwarded to the borough cycling officer.  While the borough cycling officer is happy to receive suggestions for cycling improvements in Croydon, they are already pro-cycling. Target specific individuals, but don’t be shy when it comes to cc’ing in some if not all of the below key people.

Key Councillors (councillors are elected officials who control the council)

Councillor Tony Newman – Tony.Newman@croydon.gov.uk – Leader of the Council

Councillor Kathy Bee – Kathy.Bee@croydon.gov.uk – Cabinet member for transport and the environment

Councillor Robert Canning- Robert.Canning@croydon.gov.uk – Deputy Cabinet member for transport and the environment

Councillor Steve O’ Connell – steve.o’connell@croydon.gov.uk – GLA member for Croydon & Sutton

Councillors on the Cycle Forum

Councillor Oliver Lewis – Oliver.Lewis@croydon.gov.uk

Councillor Richard Chatterjee – Richard.Chatterjee@croydon.gov.uk

Key Officers (council employees who work for the council/councillors)

Nathan Elvery – nathan.elvery@croydon.gov.uk – Council Chief Executive

Carole Crankshaw –  Carole.Crankshaw@croydon.gov.uk – Borough Cycling Officer

Sue Ritchie – Sue.Ritchie@croydon.gov.uk – highways engineer responsible for cycling projects

Peter Macdonald – peter.mcdonald@croydon.gov.uk – School Travel Advisor

Council Meetings

Council meetings take place on a weekday evening in the Town Hall on Katharine Street.  Members of the public are free to attend as observers, or can even ask to speak in favour or against measures on the agenda.  These are where you need to go if you want to know who is really helping cycling and who is hindering. Meeting dates are posted in the local magazine ‘Your Croydon’ as well as online.  Meeting agendas and minutes are here.  If you do decide to go along to one of these meetings, extra points for carrying a cycle helmet in with you!

Key Meetings

Cycle Forum – The cycle forum takes place three times a year and consists of the two councillors above and representatives from all the active cycling organisations in Croydon.  The Croydon Cycling Campaign is entitled to two seats at this meeting.  Again, members of the public are welcome to attend, so please do come along if interested.

Cabinet Transport Committee – Quarterly meeting where cabinet members approve schemes to make amendments to transport infrastructure (mostly roads)