The ‘time is now’ for Croydon as politicians and business leaders took their fight for devolved powers to Westminster.

In front of the Chancellor’s parliamentary private secretary at the House of Commons, Robert Halfon MP, borough representatives outlined the case for devolution.

Croydon Council is pushing for powers to give it the ability to collect locally generated taxes on all developments.

The council says tax powers focussed on a ring-fenced town-centre "growth zone" would help funnel £5.25bn into the local economy by 2031, creating 8,300 new homes and 23,600 new jobs.

The ways this money would be raised include a stamp duty pilot which would see any stamp duty on new homes delivered in the opportunity area ring-fenced raising around £100m in the next 20 years.

And also by keeping all business rate increases on new commercial developments, raising around £30m per year by 2031.

Speaking at the breakfast reception Croydon North MP Steve Reid said: "We all know that for some years now Croydon has failed to reach its’ potential.

"Croydon is one of the greatest areas of growth in the whole of the south east and the link with Gatwick is very interesting.

"This is not just a bid for Croydon, it stretches all the way from Croydon to the south coast.

"There are moments that come along that are to be seized and this is ours.

"We need the support from all tiers of Government to make this real."

And the Labour politician said he and the Conservative Croydon Central MP, Gavin Barwell, are completely united on this.

He added: "On this issue you could not get a fag paper between us because all parties want to see this happen.

"Scotland has got devo-max, we have just seen Manchester get devo-manc and now it is time to see devo-croy."

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Mr Barwell said: "What we have witnessed in Croydon is a relative decline over my adult life and we want to see that turned around.

"There is huge potential and most of all the potential for the people that live there.

"It is one of the most diverse parts of the country with huge amounts of talent that is there to be exploited.

"For years and years we have not built enough homes [across London] and there is huge potential in the town to build some of that housing.

"The challenge that goes with that is around infrastructure, how the council can put in place the infrastructure needed to support that additional housing and how that is going to be done when the money [from Government grants] is in short supply.

"The council has come up with a really interesting plan and there is a real opportunity here.

"There is a real debate about devolution and devolving powers through to our cities.

"I would like to see the Government looking at the proposal to do a city type deal for our town."

And Croydon Council leader Councillor Tony Newman told the breakfast reception that devolved powers need to be granted so the borough does not end up as a weary suburb.

He said: "As a new administration we did not think that was acceptable, we want it to be a vibrant European city - a place where people choose to spend their leisure time as well as work and also choose to live there.

"This is a once in a generation opportunity to transform Croydon forever.

"This is about saying if we are delivering and being creative and getting on with it then allow us to have a bit more freedom in terms of the economic growth that is being generated.

"As the proposal document says ‘Our time is now’.

"We want to say to Government, ‘Give us a little bit more power, give us the backing and we will get out there and deliver."