Croydon will be a leading commercial city of the third Millennium, said the Minister for London Nick Raynsford this week.

Mr Raynsford was speaking at the official launch of the Croydon Vision initiative by Croydon Council held at the Selsdon Park Hotel on Monday.

He told 200 delegates from the property, business and community sectors: "Croydon has a vitally important position not only in the sub-regional economy but also in that of London as a whole.

"That said, recent economic trends in office demand and retail patterns have put pressure on Croydon. The perception still lingers in some quarters that the town centre is very much a product of the 1960s with its best days firmly behind it.

"In today's competitive world, no town centre can afford to stand still. I'm delighted that the response from Croydon to these challenges has been so positive."

He singled out the Tramlink and Skyline schemes, as well as the developments at the former Grants department store and the Whitgift shopping centre, for particular praise.

Council leader Valerie Shawcross described the Croydon Vision scheme as "probably the most exciting and innovative town centre regeneration activity currently underway in the UK."

She said she wanted Croydon to continue to be a "city of opportunity" through continued investment from leading businesses.

The Vision's design and development strategy will give the town's key landowners, occupiers and potential investors more freedom to influence and develop ideas to improve the quality of the town centre. That should result in the town's growth being implemented in a cohesive way.

The strategy is being developed by EDAW, the consultancy who masterminded the renewal of Manchester city centre after the 1996 IRA bombing.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.