Mayor of Croydon won’t rule out legal action to get bus shelters installed

The contract was signed with VALO Smart City UK with the aim of bringing in smart shelters with real time journey information, digital screens, CCTV and free WiFi.

At the time, the council said it was expected to bring in nearly £7 million of income through digital advertising.

At a council meeting last week, Conservative councillor Mark Johnson asked why “pensioners and disabled people” had been left without bus shelters for “almost a year and a half”.

He asked what the Croydon mayor, Jason Perry, would do to bring in the new bus shelters.

Councillor Perry said: “We have had to really push with the new supplier of these bus stops, we are making some progress but if we need to we will go to legal recourse to make sure we get bus stops back on our streets.

“The fact the previous administration left our pensioners, disabled people and vulnerable people with no bus stops at all in the borough is a disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

He added that there is a “big issue” with the procurement and management of contracts.

He said: “We will be procuring differently and managing differently most of the large contracts of this council were not managed properly.”

It was originally though that the new bus shelters would be rolled out in March 2022 subject to planning permission.

The latest raft of 22 planning applications were only submitted by VALO this month for shelters in Broad Green to Selsdon.

The company had 10 approved in June and another 16 between February and May.

One of the latest applications said public benefits include: “Croydon’s agreement with Valo will enable the council to broadcast a ten second slot during every 60 second cycle for community messaging, public events, public awareness campaigns as well as emergency public messaging in real-time.”

VALO Smart City UK has been contacted for comment.