New Addington is a town in South

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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, within the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

. It is located 5 miles south east of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, south of Addington Village and north of

Biggin Hill Biggin Hill is a settlement on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Kent, prior to 1965 it was also in the administrative county of Kent. I ...

History

Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addington was farmland and woodland in the southeast of the ancient parish of Addington. The farms were called Castle Hill, Addington Lodge and Fisher's Farms. At the time, central Croydon and London more generally had overcrowded slums causing concern to the authorities. In 1935, the First National Housing Trust purchased 569

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (2.3 km²) of Fisher's Farm with the intention of erecting a '

Garden Village The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...

', with 4,400 houses, shops, two churches, cinema, and village green. The Chairman of the Trust was

Charles Boot Charles Boot JP (1 October 1874 – 14 June 1945) was an English businessman and film producer who was the driving force behind the growth of Henry Boot & Sons in the inter-war period. As well as creating one of the largest contracting and hous ...

, hence the earliest part of New Addington is sometimes called ''The Boot's Estate''. By 1939, when the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

suspended construction, 1,023 houses and 23 shops had been built. The new estate was popular, but the provision of amenities had not kept pace with the house building. Only one of the proposed schools and few of the shops were in operation. For employment, decent shopping and entertainment, the residents had to travel off the estate. This heralded a long history of isolation for the estate, then nicknamed ''Little Siberia'', because it is much colder than the rest of Croydon. The isolation was partly remedied 60 years later with the arrival of

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

route 3, mentioned below. Tramlink runs alongside Lodge Lane, the main (northern) road access. There is only one other point of access by road, where King Henry's Drive connects with minor roads to the south. After the war, there were concerns about the amount of green space being used for building around London and much of the countryside around the developing estate was designated as

Green Belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

land. The County Borough of Croydon bought the unused First National Housing Trust land and a further 400 acres (1.6 km²) to add to it, for extensive further development. Many dozens of single-storey, detached, prefabricated houses (commonly known as " prefabs" of the "Arcon" type using corrugated cement asbestos panels fixed to a bolted steel frame as photographed in "A 1950s metal UK prefab at the Rural Life Centre, Tilford, Surrey.") were built in the Castle Hill area of the estate. These were inhabited until the 1960s when they were demolished and replaced with brick-built two-storey homes. At the same time as the smaller prefabs were built, larger two-storey semi-detached houses were also built. These houses, which had metal upper skins, still survive around the King Henry's Drive area near Wolsey School. This was more development than had originally been envisaged but it brought about the structure of the estate as seen today. Many more houses, blocks of flats, churches, factories and Central Parade with its shops, were built. The London Borough of Croydon obtained permission for a further 1,412 houses, which were completed in 1968. This area, at the Croydon end, is known as the Fieldway Estate and has developed its own identity to an extent. The total population counted by the 2011 Census was 22,280, of which 10,801 were in New Addington ward, with 11,479 in Fieldway ward.

Reputation

The distance from Croydon and other centres, with patchy bus services being the only main transport links for many years, prevented New Addington residents from being able to access a full range of employment and educational facilities or indeed shops. A significant improvement was the arrival of

(route 3) in 2000, providing a connection with

and

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in a little over 30 minutes, and from there connections to

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. This provided the opportunity of a greater choice of schools and jobs. Several 'feeder' 'bus routes were also introduced to connect with Tramlink, along with general enhancement to bus services in the area. The area was declared one of the first Education Action Zones by the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government, with extra investment and opportunities for partnership for schools. The London Borough of Croydon increased its investment in the remaining housing stock and in the leisure and youth facilities. It also organised a neighbourhood partnership for the estate which local people lead to hold public institutions to account. New Addington has however continued to suffer from various reports of violence and public upset for several years, reflecting upon anti-social behaviour and gang violence involving youths on the estate from the 1970s to the present, as well as the perceived poor standard of schools, low educational and health standards, and a reported high number of teenage mothers, particularly in Fieldway. In a ''

Croydon Advertiser ''The Croydon Advertiser'' (with locally branded editions) is a paid-for weekly newspaper with five editions covering the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and two neighbouring towns and with a free up-to-the-minute maintained web presence. Ci ...

'' survey in 2013, New Addington, in comparison with other areas, was said to be the worst in Croydon to live, based on life expectancy, incapacity benefit claimants rates and income support, unemployment, crime, school exam passes, public transport accessibility and access to open space and nature. The area was affected during the

2011 England Riots The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...

. A supermarket was destroyed by firebombs and stolen property was found in the area. An inquiry supported the provision of a local police station. A councillor praised local recovery from the riots, claiming the area was now a stronger community than before and rates of anti-social behaviour were beginning to decline. The Fieldway estate came under criticism in 2011, following local resident Emma West being arrested and charged with a racially aggravated public order offence, weeks after a video was uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

of her racially abusing passengers on the Croydon Tramlink, attracting 11 million viewers by 2012. Her detainment on remand at

HMP Bronzefield HMP Bronzefield is an adult and young offender female prison located on the outskirts of Ashford in Surrey, England. Bronzefield is the only purpose-built private prison A private prison, or for-profit prison, is a place where people ar ...

attracted a protest from the

Britain First Britain First is a far-right, British fascist political party formed in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP). The group was founded by Jim Dowson, an anti-abortion and far-right campaigner. * ''See also'': The organ ...

movement. On 1 July 2013 she was sentenced to 24 months' community service and ordered to be put under a supervision order, as well as receive mental health treatment. The estate was also the scene of the disappearance and death of 12 year-old Tia Sharp in 2012. Residents of New Addington refuted comments from journalists who they felt inaccurately cited her death as an example in reflecting the area's issues. In 2013, the area was featured three times in the same episode of ''

Crimewatch UK ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was or ...

'', predominantly focusing on the area's gang culture.

Demography

In the 2011 census, New Addington ward was

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

(76%),

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

Black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

(14.2%), Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (3.8%),

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

Asian British British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...

(3.4%) and Other ethnic group (1%). The largest single ethnicity is White British (72.7%). The most common household tenure were those rented from council (31% of households), followed by 29% of homes owned by a mortgage or loan. 7% of the economically active population were unemployed. The median age of the population is 34. 0.3% of the population (as well as Fieldway ward) commuted to work by bicycle, the second lowest in Greater London and only higher than Kenton East in Harrow. The

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...

identifies a New Addington Built-up area with a 2011 population of 22,280, made up of New Addington ward (10,801) and also Fieldway ward (11,479).

Politics

Politically, New Addington has traditionally been a Labour stronghold, providing the only five Labour councillors out of 70 in the London Borough of Croydon between 1982 and 1986. Four of the last six leaders of the Labour Party on Croydon Council have been councillors representing the estate, including Geraint Davies, the area's former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, and

Val Shawcross Valerie Shawcross is a British politician who served as Deputy Mayor of London for Transport from 2016 to 2018. A member of the Labour Co-operative parties, she was Member of the London Assembly for Lambeth and Southwark from 2000 to 2016. ...

, now a

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

member. From 1965 to 1978 the area was covered by one ward,

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

. The population of New Addington increased following the construction of the Fieldway estate and it was split into two wards ahead of the 1978 Croydon Council election,

, which now covered the southern end of the New Addington area and Fieldway which covered the northern end of New Addington area and the Fieldway estate itself. The boundaries were modified slightly ahead of the 2002 Croydon Council election. In 2006 the two ward had two Labour councillors each, both wards seeing strong challenges from the BNP. In the 2010

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

, New Addington ward elected Tony Pearson, its first

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Councillor since 1968. Labour won all seats on the estate at the 2014 elections and voted for Sadiq Khan in the 2016 Mayoral Election and heavily for Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum. In the snap 2017 General Election, Gavin Barwell was unseated as the Conservative MP and replaced with Labour's Sarah Jones. In 2018, following a boundary review, New Addington ward was renamed New Addington South and Fieldway ward was renamed New Addington North with minor adjustments to their boundaries. The Conservatives missed out on winning a seat in New Addington South by 180 votes, with Labour once again holding all four seats.

Facilities

The Good Shepherd RC church, New Addington CR0 - geograph

The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church of New Addington is St Edward's Church at the end of Central Parade, built in 1957. Fieldway, however, is part of Addington parish, under the 11th century St Mary the Blessed Virgin Church in Addington village. There are also a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church, the Good Shepherd

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Church, the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

and several other smaller places of worship. Although most of the rest of Croydon has the London telephone dialling code '020', New Addington has the

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...

code for BT customers of '01689'. In recent years, cable telephone providers have entered the estate, using 020 for completely new customers, but existing BT customers transferring over to cable can retain the 01689 number if they so wish. New Addington is in the CR0 postal district, the largest (by population) in the country. Since the beginning of 2006, Croydon Council have started a consultation with the local community with a view to regenerating the Central Parade shopping district and bringing in a partner to develop new housing and a supermarket retail outlet.

Transport

Rail

The nearest

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

stations to New Addington are Hayes, located 3.6 miles away and

East Croydon East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of t ...

, located 5 miles away.

Trams

The area is served by three Tramlink stops ( Fieldway, King Henry's Drive and

, linking the area with West Croydon and

Buses

New Addington is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 64 (24 hours), 130, 314, 464 & 664. These connect it with areas including

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

, Hayes,

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

Gallery

New in service at New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1607118.jpg, Bus no. M1167 on its first day serving route 130B in 1985 New Addington tram terminus - geograph.org.uk - 823538.jpg, The tram terminus on the first day of service, 2000 Bus stop 'D', New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1611920.jpg, A bus stop scene in 2009 Jewels Wood, between New Addington and Biggin Hill - geograph.org.uk - 42378.jpg, Jewels Wood, between New Addington and Biggin Hill The Man on the Moon pub and Headley Drive shops - geograph.org.uk - 748209.jpg, The Man on the Moon pub Hutchinson's Bank 4.JPG, Hutchinson's Bank New Addington tramstop look north.JPG, New Addington tram stop Parkway, New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1321600.jpg, Parkway Central Parade, New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1320701.jpg, Central Parade

References

{{LB Croydon Districts of the London Borough of Croydon Areas of London District centres of London