While Cllr Perry says that Heathfield’s historic house is not on sale, opponents say that a 125 -year -old lease is equivalent to delivering it to a private owner for more than a century.
In a heated council meeting last week, residents and opposition councilors accused Mayor Perry of rejecting a plan led by the community fully financed to save the building that is quoted in Grade II.
They also claim that he ignored the repeated calls of transparency and public consultation.
Around 2,400 people have signed a petition that asks the Council to keep Heathfield House in public hands. Activists say their efforts to involve the mayor have been silent.
Mrs. Atherton, co -director of the local beneficial organization of the artistic beneficial organization, told the meeting that the house had been “left vacant and without guarantee for years”, which caused damage to decomposition and squatting.
She said the grass presented a plan in 2022 to make it a center of creativity, learning and care, at no cost to the Council.
The proposal also included a new home for Cherry Orchard Garden Center, which closed under the leadership of Cllr Perry. “If money is the problem … Why reject the sacrifices that are null for the counter and have available patrimonial subsidy funds?” Atherton asked.
Instead, he said, the building was in silence to a private owner without public consultations. “Decisions are still taken behind the doors closed by a few,” he said.
Cllr Perry defended his record in response, stating that “Heathfield House is not on sale and never has bone.”
He blamed the confusion to a Savills fogging list, which said he was quickly eliminated once informed and for what he apologized.
The fears were triggered earlier this year after the residents saw an announcement of Savills a 125 -year lease contract in a “substantial” property of 12 bedrooms in Coombe Lane. The list, now eliminated, mentioned the redevelopment potential and a “wonderful location” with open views.
Cllr Perry called the house the “jewel in our crown” and told the Chamber that a lease was the best option to “restore her to her old glory and take her back to proper use.”
He also pointed out his decision to eliminate a previous plan to fence the surrounding land in 2022. “The lands have always opened to the public and will always be under my leadership,” he said.
However, the leader of the Labor opposition, Stuart King, criticized Perry’s approach to Croydon’s assets.
He also reminded the Chamber that the central government told the councils that they underwent capitalization measures, such as Croydon, not to sell valuable communication sites and heritage.
CLLR King said he had written Mayor Perry six weeks ago asking for a list of protected assets that the Council undertook to maintain. “He never replied, which is not a surprise,” he said.
Activists argue that the lease contract includes the surrounding land and even the parking bays for disabled, from eliminating the public.
Mrs. Atherton said: “The Council even said that the lease sale was not a form of sale actually, it will grant exclusive possession to a private owner for at least a minimum century.”
Heathfield House has long been a popular place for dog walkers and was used to send the duration of pandemic education. More recent, it has a bone kept safe by the guardians of the property on the site.
A liberty response last year suggested that there would be consultations once the options were defined. Two months later, the lease was silent, causing public protests.
Mrs. Atherton said: “The use of public property spaces such as Heathfield forms that is visible, valued and are given opportunities in our district and, nevertheless, in Croydon, even when a strange Mady led by the community is found.
Local councilor Robert Ward, who reacts to Selsdon and Addington Village, told the Chamber that the Chamber needs a large investment, that the Council simply cannot pay. “There is no rear pocket where this money can come from,” he said.
But critics say that rejecting a zero cost proposal backed by subsidies contradicts this point. Mrs. Atherton attacked Cllr Perry, saying that Croydon’s council had “agitated savagely in indecision” on this building for three years.
Charles Barber, a resident who attended the meeting, summed up the frustration of the community in an online publication: “By selling the building in a 125 -year lease and insisting that it is not a sale, the mayor is anxious to believe that our great grandchildren could
Cllr Perry added: “It is not about negligence; it is about doing the right thing. It is about protecting Heathfield, the public access and the financial future of our district.”
Despite the growing pressure, Cllr Perry has not yet committed to a complete public consultation on the future of Heathfield House.
