New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey.
History
Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addington was farmland and woodland in the southeast of the ancient parish of Addington. The farms were called Castle Hill, Addington Lodge (later Fisher's Farm).
At the time, central Croydon and London more generally had overcrowded slums causing concern to the authorities. In 1935, the First National Housing Trust purchased of Fisher's Farm with the intention of erecting a 'Garden Village', with 4,400 houses, shops, two churches, cinema, and village green. The Chairman of the Trust was Charles Boot, hence the earliest part of New Addington is sometimes called The Boot's Estate. The isolation was partly remedied 60 years later with the arrival of Tramlink route 3, mentioned below.
The area was affected during the 2011 England Riots. A supermarket was destroyed by firebombs and stolen property was found in the area. An inquiry supported the provision of a local police station. A councillor praised local recovery from the riots, claiming the area was now a stronger community than before and rates of anti-social behaviour were beginning to decline.
The Fieldway estate came under criticism in 2011, following local resident Emma West being arrested and charged with a racially aggravated public order offence, weeks after a video was uploaded to YouTube of her racially abusing passengers on the Croydon Tramlink, attracting 11 million viewers by 2012. Her detainment on remand at HMP Bronzefield attracted a protest from the Britain First movement. On 1 July 2013 she was sentenced to 24 months' community service and ordered to be put under a supervision order, as well as receive mental health treatment.
The estate was also the scene of the disappearance and death of 12 year-old Tia Sharp in 2012. Residents of New Addington rejected comments from journalists who they felt inaccurately cited her death as an example in reflecting the area's issues.
In 2013, the area was featured three times in the same episode of Crimewatch UK, predominantly focusing on the area's gang culture.
Demography
In the 2011 census, New Addington ward was White or White British (76%), Black or Black British (14.2%), Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (3.8%), Asian or Asian British (3.4%) and Other ethnic group (1%). The largest single ethnicity is White British (72.7%).
The most common household tenure were those rented from council (31% of households), followed by 29% of homes owned by a mortgage or loan. 7% of the economically active population were unemployed. The median age of the population is 34.
0.3% of the population (as well as Fieldway ward) commuted to work by bicycle, the second lowest in Greater London and only higher than Kenton East in Harrow.
The Office for National Statistics identifies a New Addington Built-up area with a 2011 population of 22,280, made up of New Addington ward (10,801) and also Fieldway ward (11,479).
Politics
Politically, New Addington has traditionally been a Labour stronghold, providing the only five Labour councillors out of 70 in the London Borough of Croydon between 1982 and 1986. Four of the last six leaders of the Labour Party on Croydon Council have been councillors representing the estate, including Geraint Davies, the area's former Member of Parliament, and Val Shawcross, now a London Assembly member.
From 1965 to 1978 the area was covered by one ward, New Addington. The population of New Addington increased following the construction of the Fieldway estate and it was split into two wards ahead of the 1978 Croydon Council election, New Addington, which now covered the southern end of the New Addington area and Fieldway which covered the northern end of New Addington area and the Fieldway estate itself. The boundaries were modified slightly ahead of the 2002 Croydon Council election.
In 2006 the two ward had two Labour councillors each, both wards seeing strong challenges from the BNP. In the 2010 local elections, New Addington ward elected Tony Pearson, its first Conservative Councillor since 1968.
Labour won all seats on the estate at the 2014 elections and voted for Sadiq Khan in the 2016 Mayoral Election and heavily for Leave in the 2016 EU Referendum.
In the snap 2017 General Election, Gavin Barwell was unseated as the Conservative MP and replaced with Labour's Sarah Jones.
In 2018, following a boundary review, New Addington ward was renamed New Addington South and Fieldway ward was renamed New Addington North with minor adjustments to their boundaries. The Conservatives missed out on winning a seat in New Addington South by 180 votes, with Labour once again holding all four seats.
In 2022, however, the Conservatives won both council seats in New Addington South and one of the seats in New Addington North, with Labour winning the other.
Facilities
thumb|St Edward the Confessor's Church, New Addington
thumb|Church of the Good Shepherd, New Addington
The Anglican parish church of New Addington is St Edward's Church at the end of Central Parade, built in 1957. Fieldway, however, is part of Addington parish, under the 11th century St Mary the Blessed Virgin Church in Addington village. There are also a Baptist church, the Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church, the Salvation Army and several other smaller places of worship.
Although most of the rest of Croydon has the London telephone dialling code '020', New Addington has the Orpington code for BT customers of '01689'. In recent years, cable telephone providers have entered the estate, using 020 for completely new customers, but existing BT customers transferring over to cable can retain the 01689 number if they so wish. New Addington is in the CR0 postal district, the largest (by population) in the country.
Since the beginning of 2006, Croydon Council have started a consultation with the local community with a view to regenerating the Central Parade shopping district and bringing in a partner to develop new housing and a supermarket retail outlet.
Transport
Rail
The nearest National Rail stations to New Addington are Hayes, located 3.6 miles away, and East Croydon, located away.
Trams
The area is served by three Tramlink stops (Fieldway, King Henry's Drive and New Addington), linking the area with West Croydon and Wimbledon.
Buses
New Addington is served by London Buses routes 64 (24 hours), 130, 314, 464, and 664 (school route). These connect it with areas including Biggin Hill, Bromley, Croydon, Eltham, Hayes, South Norwood, and Thornton Heath.
Gallery
<gallery>
New in service at New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1607118.jpg|Bus no. M1167 on its first day serving route 130B in 1985
New Addington tram terminus - geograph.org.uk - 823538.jpg|The tram terminus on the first day of service, 2000
Bus stop 'D', New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1611920.jpg|A bus stop scene in 2009
Jewels Wood, between New Addington and Biggin Hill - geograph.org.uk - 42378.jpg|Jewels Wood, between New Addington and Biggin Hill
The Man on the Moon pub and Headley Drive shops - geograph.org.uk - 748209.jpg|The Man on the Moon pub
Hutchinson's Bank 4.JPG|Hutchinson's Bank
New Addington tramstop look north.JPG|New Addington tram stop
Parkway, New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1321600.jpg|Parkway
Central Parade, New Addington - geograph.org.uk - 1320701.jpg|Central Parade
</gallery>