A BID for almost £5million to fund of flood prevention measures is being submitted as the first anniversary of winter flooding in the south of the borough approaches.
In February 2014, dozens of residents were forced to leave their homes after the Caterham Bourne, which flows from Woldingham into Croydon, flooded.
Now, Croydon is included in a joint bid from Tandridge District council and Surrey County Council for £4.2million from the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, to fund work to help avoid a repeat of the damage caused last year.
Surrey County Council is also set to provide a further £700,000, making a potential total flood prevention fund scheme of £4.9million.
If successful the scheme, to start in summer 2015, will provide new drainage between the M25 and Croydon. Parts of the A22 will be resurfaced and improvements will be made between Wapses Lodge roundabout and New Barn Lane, Kenley.
Tandridge council said these plans will ensure water is diverted away from homes and roads.
Surrey County Council has already built two reservoirs to control the amount of water going into drainage systems when levels in the Bourne are high. And a CCTV survey of the Caterham Bourne Culvert, to control the flow of water from these reservoirs towards Croydon, is nearly complete.
The announcement from Tandridge comes shortly after Croydon Council revealed the expansion of the Purley Oaks balancing pond to hold the equivalent of three Olympic sized swimming pools of floodwater.
The council is also investing £45,000 in flood prevention for Kenley, as well as creating a floodwater storage area between the town centre and Purley Cross.
Councillor Kathy Bee, Croydon Council's cabinet member for transport and the environment, said: "From increasing the capacity of an emergency balancing pond to clearing drains in Kenley, we're spending £850,000 to better protect Croydon residents.
"We, along with Surrey County Council and the Environment Agency, are also funding specialist work to map Caterham Bourne groundwater flooding hotspots."
