Introduction
Croydon is the economic and
social hub of a vast regional area in the South East, with many
business interests, wonderful open spaces and parkland, and unrivalled
shopping, leisure and cultural opportunities.
T
he London Borough of Croydon
is an Outer London Borough on the southern edge of Greater
London, and extends from Upper Norwood in the north to Coulsdon
East in the south. It covers an area of 33.4 square miles and
is the 10th largest local authority district in England and Wales.
In 1996 it had a population of 333,780, which is the largest
population of the 33 London Boroughs. Approximately one fifth
of the Borough's population are from minority ethnic communities.
However, these figures mask variations within the Borough ranging
from 50% in the more deprived West Thornton to 5% in the more
affluent Coulsdon East. Just over 70% of households are owner-occupiers,
12% live in private rented housing and the remaining 17% in Council
or housing association homes.
Croydon was part of the 'Edge City Network',
with partners in Belfast, Dublin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Athens
and Lisbon who are distinct 'cities' in the suburbs of capital
cities, in Croydon's case London. Croydon is formally twinned
with Arnhem in the Netherlands and has a newer link with the people
of Guyana, South America.
T
he Borough is coterminous with
three Parliamentary constituencies - Croydon
Central, Croydon
North and Croydon
South.
Croydon Central includes most of Croydon City Centre, as well as much
of the east of the Borough - Addiscombe, Woodside, Shirley, Addington,
Park Hill, New Addington and Fieldway for instance. This is an
electorate of approximately 80,000, one of the largest in the country.
Croydon South includes Purley, Coulsdon and Waddon, with Croydon North
covering Thornton Heath, South Norwood, Crystal Palace and Norbury.
Croydon
Council is controlled
by the Labour
Party, who have 37 councillors out of 70. The
current leader is Cllr Tony Newman, with Cllr Mike Fisher being leader
of the opposition. Cllr Maggie Mansell is Mayor of Croydon 2005/06.