Croydon Council is concerned plans for a fully enclosed glass walkway in Westfield and Hammerson’s new £1.4bn shopping centre will “close off” the town centre.

The redevelopment of Whitgift Centre presented to the council’s planning committee last night could make the area less inviting, fear councillors.

The updated plans include a new flagship Marks and Spencer department store, an IMAX cinema, up to 1,000 homes, as well as an extra floor and a new car park in Wellesley Road.

The two retail giants, working together as the Croydon Partnership, also want to widen Poplar Walk to create a new public square and improve the setting for heritage listed St Michael’s and All Angels Church.

But committee members raised concerns about a plans for an enclosed walkway, open for 24 hours, connecting North End and Wellesley Road.

RELATED: Westfield and Hammerson's £1bn Croydon shopping centre plans expanded to include more homes, IMAX cinema and new M&S anchor store

Cllr Paul Scott, deputy cabinet member for planning, said: “A key aspect we have felt strongly about all the way through the development of the proposals was the open, or partially enclosed roof of the 24 hour walkway running east to west through the site – a protected street if you like, rather than a shopping mall sense of space.

“I am conscious of the Westfield development at Stratford for example, which is an open street with the shopping mall as part of it.

“I am not very keen on the idea of a closed environment. Those other places work with a protected but open environment, so why can’t we do it here?”

Cllr Jason Perry, shadow cabinet member for economic development, planning and regeneration, said: “On the east-west route, the loss of openness is a concern for me, it plays with the way the centre works with its environment.

“I think we always envisioned the centre looking out into the existing high street and there was always a desire that the centre reached out into West Croydon, reached out into Old Town and reached out in George Street.

“I think with the introduction of those walls and screening, it is almost as if the centre is closing itself off and looking more inwards, and I think that would be a shame.”

John Burton, Westfield's head of development, said the developers would look to reach a “compromise” with councillors.

He added: “I am not saying we can’t achieve a compromise here in terms of this.

“I could go through some of the issues that still exist at Stratford. Because of the weather conditions there we have finally decided with the authority to put some sort of cover on it.

“Certainly our concept of cross-through is probably the most controversial piece of work we still have to do with the officers in terms of its design versus the level of protection versus safety.

“That is a discussion that we are certainly not stepping away from because we have to explain our thinking at the same time as listen to the councillors and officers view on this.”

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An impresion of what the new centre will look like

The provision of housing, jobs and a community space was also raised at the meeting.

Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed, deputy cabinet member for homes and regeneration, said: “In Croydon we clearly have a demand for family houses. I know it is in its early stages but can we look at how to include that?”

She added: “We have a small amount of community space for the community and voluntary organisations to come and use.

“In the Whitgift centre currently there is a space that Croydon College uses to hold its fashion show and there are events there like Chinese New Year.

“In an application of this size it would be really great to see a space that the community could come and use.”

Mr Burton said the developers wanted to create a community space that had the capacity to stage events.

He said the development is expected to create 5,000 to 6, 000 jobs, adding: “What we will propose is to work with the council to establish what is essentially a skills centre and its priority will be to work with retailers and occupiers coming into the centre to identify job opportunities well in advance, to listen to them in terms of what training they need and direct that to the people who need those opportunities most.”

Public consultation events on the revised plans will be held at the Whitgift shopping centre from May 12 to 15.

For more information visit thecroydonpartnership.com.