On Friday, we were able to meet with Southern Rail - alongside supporters including Natasha Irons MP, a representative for Sarah Jones MP, local councillors Sean Fitzsimons, Chris Clark and Clive Fraser, and a representative from the East Croydon Community Organisation.

A special thanks to these MPs, councillors and ECCO for supporting our campaign!

The meeting was a good opportunity to set out why secure bike parking is so desperately needed on the east side of the station.

The fact Southern met with us is also a great sign our campaign is working. They were clearly rattled, and we have definitely got the attention of higher-ups at Southern.

Despite that, however, Southern confirmed:

• They still intend to remove the bike parking at some point in the future
• As we suspected - they will be replacing the bike parking with car parking spaces for staff!
• No commitment on a timeframe for how long the "pause" on removal will last
• No commitment to written public consultation, and no details of any other activities they have planned to engage with the community

Overall, their answers were very disappointing. Southern were not even able to answer basic questions about how much secure bike parking there should be at a station the size of East Croydon (Hint: it's more than 10 spaces!). It's clear they have still not thought through the changes at all.

Southern suggested they will look to slightly expand the overcrowded bike parking on the West side of the station, and "aspire" to further improvements on Billinton Hill in future. It was all very vague, and very weak.

This response is not good enough. Croydon deserves better.

We explained to them why bike parking on the West side (which is always full to capacity) is not a substitute for parking on the East side of the station. The front of the station is already overcrowded at peak times - do they really want/expect people to wheel their bikes through busy crowds as people get off the tram to enter the station?

We presented them with several better options - such as:

• Fencing off the existing bike parking from the wider staff car park and allowing separate access
• Installing a car barrier to the staff car park but retaining pedestrian/cycle access
• Options for alternative bike parking elsewhere on Billinton Hill

We hope Southern will reflect on these viable solutions and reconsider their position.

During the meeting, Southern also made claims about the Billinton Hill bike parking facility not being used. But their claims didn't stack up with my experience - I regularly see 10 - 20 bikes using the facilities on my commute.

So we need your help - please send us your pictures of the Billinton Hill bike parking being used! Southern claimed they haven't seen it used by more than 4 bikes at a time, so pictures with any number higher than that are useful to prove them wrong. You can send them to chrisgalpinaddiscombe@gmail.com.

Other ways you can help out:

1. Keep sharing the petition! - on whatsapp, facebook and other social media. Let's get to 1,000!
2. Write to Southern Rail - https://www.southernrailway.com/help-and-support/contact-us. Be polite, but firm, and mention the "asks" set out above.
3. Write to Cllr Scott Roche calling for him to publicly support out campaign - Scott is the council member responsible for Streets & Environment, which includes cycling. So far he still hasn't made any comments to support our campaign or criticise Southern Rail's decision. (Again - please be polite but firm.)

Thanks,

Chris