Save the Wandle Park Cafe: Demand the council hands over the cafe to the community!
The Issue
Save the Wandle Park Cafe!
Hand it back to the community so it can be put back into community use!
We demand that Croydon Council reopen the Wandle Park Cafe by letting local people operate it.
Wandle Park is one of the most popular parks in Croydon. It used to have a nice cafe that was funded by the national lottery and provided much needed public toilets. Unfortunately, the cafe has been closed since the covid lockdown despite constant promises from Croydon Council to re-open it. Previous bidders to operate the cafe have complained that conditions imposed by the council would make running the cafe unprofitable.
In summer 2025, a local group occupied the cafe for a month. They reopened the cafe building. Letting the public use the toilets, offering free beverages and a free clothes exchange as well as facilitating activites and events for all the people that enjoy Wandle Park. The occupation had wide support from the community until it was illegally evicted by the council. The cafe now remains unused and the community is still barred from enjoying it.
The occupation of the cafe demonstrated just how much it has been missed by the people of Wandle Park. It also showed that the cafe should not be run for profit but by the people of Croydon for the people of Croydon. That is why we are demanding that the council hand over the cafe to the community so that it can be re-opened and put back into community use.
The model we propose is based on what Croydon Council has done with its closed libraries. The closed library buildings were offered to local community groups to bid on potential future uses. The council offered the former libraries on rent free leases subject to the community groups paying the costs of operating the buildings (energy, insurance, ect.). If Croydon Council agreed to a similar arrangement for the Wandle Park cafe, a charity or community interest company would be setup. The new charity/company would take on a rent free lease and cover the costs of running the cafe through fundraising and grants. The broad local support for the occupation of the cafe has proved that there are many people in Croydon that would help put this plan into action.
Big Up The Cronx!!
131
The Issue
Save the Wandle Park Cafe!
Hand it back to the community so it can be put back into community use!
We demand that Croydon Council reopen the Wandle Park Cafe by letting local people operate it.
Wandle Park is one of the most popular parks in Croydon. It used to have a nice cafe that was funded by the national lottery and provided much needed public toilets. Unfortunately, the cafe has been closed since the covid lockdown despite constant promises from Croydon Council to re-open it. Previous bidders to operate the cafe have complained that conditions imposed by the council would make running the cafe unprofitable.
In summer 2025, a local group occupied the cafe for a month. They reopened the cafe building. Letting the public use the toilets, offering free beverages and a free clothes exchange as well as facilitating activites and events for all the people that enjoy Wandle Park. The occupation had wide support from the community until it was illegally evicted by the council. The cafe now remains unused and the community is still barred from enjoying it.
The occupation of the cafe demonstrated just how much it has been missed by the people of Wandle Park. It also showed that the cafe should not be run for profit but by the people of Croydon for the people of Croydon. That is why we are demanding that the council hand over the cafe to the community so that it can be re-opened and put back into community use.
The model we propose is based on what Croydon Council has done with its closed libraries. The closed library buildings were offered to local community groups to bid on potential future uses. The council offered the former libraries on rent free leases subject to the community groups paying the costs of operating the buildings (energy, insurance, ect.). If Croydon Council agreed to a similar arrangement for the Wandle Park cafe, a charity or community interest company would be setup. The new charity/company would take on a rent free lease and cover the costs of running the cafe through fundraising and grants. The broad local support for the occupation of the cafe has proved that there are many people in Croydon that would help put this plan into action.
Big Up The Cronx!!
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 9 June 2025