If Croydon is carving itself out a niche as the capital’s city of culture then surely the time is now for there to be a music venue.

Lead singers need to stand on the stage of this place and be able to shout out “How you doin’ Croydon?” just as they do in Wembley and Greenwich.

Memories need to be made and relationships need to be formed.

Maybe people will even name their children Croydon just like Posh and Becks did with their son Brooklyn because of the fun they have at the venue.

It does not need to be as big as Wembley though.

The town needs somewhere with an upstairs and a downstairs, a bit like the Garage in Highbury, so smaller acts can play at the same time as big ones.

At the moment there are places where bands can play, but these pub venues are only suitable for musicians on their road to success.

When they have got to the stage that they could attract an audience of more than 500 they have to find a venue in central London and those places are getting knocked down by greedy developers who are taking the musical heart out of the city.

Fairfield Halls has attracted big names in the past like Kraftwerk, Genesis, Status Quo, Morrissey, Pink Floyd and the Beatles and it might do again when it gets revamped.

But the past few years have proved that this venue is not enough for south London and what Croydon really needs is a whole new venue.

We have the public transport system for people to come in from elsewhere so everyone from across the region and beyond can get here and home again when the band has finished its last encore.

To do this the people with the money need to remember that the arts is more than paintings, sculptures and plays starring people who used to be in Emmerdale.

Music is the thing that gets me up in the morning and makes me smile, seeing me through the bad times and making the good times even better.

I will be backing any plan that involves a gig venue that puts Croydon on the map – for good reasons rather than bad.

JESSICA HARTLEY
Norbury