Purley and Coulsdon residents could lose their largest and most historically significant public meeting house if a plan by Croydon Council to turn it into housing goes ahead.

The old council chamber upstairs at Purley council offices, which date to 1930 when the Lord Mayor of London officially opened them, has been used virtually unaltered for meetings and functions by thousands of residents and dozens of community groups since soon after 1965 when the urban district council merged with the borough council.

The council claims the landmark Brighton Road building as currently used is uneconomical. But the decision to make it available for use as housing has met stern opposition from residents, who claim they were not consulted before hearing on the grapevine that staff had been ordered not to accept any more bookings.

Bourne Society and Purley Bourne Residents Association spokesman Frank Newitt, told the Croydon Guardian that for most people who have used the facility, there will be no other local alternative.

"There would be no other space for public meetings anywhere else in Purley or Coulsdon," he said.

"For more than 30 years it has provided catering facilities for wedding receptions and seating for up to 200 people and nowhere else is big enough."

The council hopes to win support by retaining the exterior of the building and applying for Grade II listing, but residents claim that is not enough.

Mr Newitt added: "To apply to have it listed to protect it then to change it to this extent seems to me to be a sham."

The rear of the building provides Purley with a social services link, which could be relocated to the new Purley Hospital site in 2003.

Croydon's cabinet member for economic development, Coun Clive Fraser, claimed Purley will be better served by the new arrangement: "The building no longer meets standards for office accommodation."

November 27, 2001 16:00