Norwood Lake is having a fun day: June 8

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

Norwood Lake signThe Lakes Playground Action Group, which wants to regenerate the South Norwood lake playground, is holding an event for all the family on Saturday, June 8, with lots of activities for children including storytelling by Little Supernovas, a bouncy castle supplied by Bubbly Bees, cake stalls, a raffle, lucky dip and arts and crafts.

The event is free, and the action group urges people, “Why not pop in, have some fun, and find out more about the action group?”

Formed in October 2012, the group is aiming to raise funds to help to regenerate the park.

Steve Reed, the local MP, said: “South Norwood Lake and grounds is a much-loved local park, and I support the initiative to create innovative play spaces for all of the local community to enjoy.”

LPAG will also be staging its annual meeting during the event. “The team would love to hear your ideas about what improvements you’d like to see. There’s a fab competition for kids, too, to design a plaque that will go on display in the new playground.” Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Environment, Lakes Playground Action Group, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Channel 4 producers seek youngsters to face pay day alone

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

Pay day

Continue reading →

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Inside Croydon’s Hero of the Week: Wilfried Zaha

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Cometh the hour and a half, cometh the man.

Zaha header

Heading the right way: Wilfried Zaha scores Palace’s first goal in the play-off against Brighton

Even some of Wilfried Zaha‘s most devout fans had acknowledged that, well, maybe the young winger had seemed a little weary, perhaps even distracted, since his stunning start to the season, which had seen him win his full England cap and a multi-million-pound transfer to Manchester United.

And going into Monday’s Championship promotion play-off second leg at Brighton, Palace looked to be up against it. Crystal Palace had been in a form slump going into the play-offs, and goals had been in short supply. They finished the league season sixth in the table, loathed rivals Brighton were third.

The 0-0 first leg had seen Brighton dominant for long spells. Going to the Amex for the second leg, Palace would be taking on the division’s meanest defence without their injured top goal scorer, Glenn Murray. So where were the goals going to come from?

Oh we of little faith… Continue reading →

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Seni Lewis case raises “profound and frightening” issues

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

The death after police intervention of a 23-year-old IT graduate from South Norwood, Seni Lewis, was raised in the House of Commons yesterday by Croydon MP Steve Reed, who told parliament, “The questions that this case raises are profound and frightening.”

Seni Lewis: died at age 23 after being taken to hospital for treatment

Seni Lewis: died in 2010, but CPS and the Met are blocking an investigation

Reed said: “Two years and eight months after their son’s death, the Lewis family still do not know how or why he died. The public hearings scheduled for July 2012 and then March 2013 were both delayed without explanation.

“Seni Lewis deserves justice. The Lewis family deserve justice and they must not be kept waiting any longer.”

Reed addressed parliament after repeated approaches to government ministers on behalf of Lewis’s family had failed to produce any action, and with the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police apparently unwilling to consider compelling new evidence or to allow officers to be interviewed as part of an investigation which the Independent Police Complaints Commission wants to conduct. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon North, Policing, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

UKIP’s solution on hot local issues? Hold a vote on them

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Is there a better way? PETER STAVELEY, a UKIP candidate at next year’s Croydon Council elections, says his party would stage a public vote on important issues such as the incinerator

ballot boxWhen the controversial proposal for an incinerator at Beddington was given planning permission by Sutton Council this week, it was clear was that there had been little official consultation and there was a lot of opposition to the proposal from residents, especially those in Croydon.

It was also interesting that in the end, the councillors involved in the decision voted together in party blocs, rather than follow their individual feelings or even the feelings of their ward constituents.

All UKIP councillors are expected to vote for the best interests of their constituents, not just toe the party line. UKIP does not prescribe what they will do and there is no “party whip”.

There are, though, some general principles which UKIP councillors follow which are:

  • less regulation
  • smaller (local) government
  • retaining frontline services but making savings in administration and reducing bureaucracy

One of the complaints about the Beddington incinerator proposal was that voters did not have a say in the matter, let alone get a vote.

In this year’s UKIP manifesto for the county elections, the policy of local referenda was restated. Since that UKIP policy has existed for many years I am sure it will be in our manifesto for next year’s local elections in London’s boroughs, including Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Addiscombe, Peter Staveley, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Hammersfield choose architects for Croydon’s re-design

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

The architects selected to redesign the Whitgift Centre and Centrale were named today as London firms Allies and Morrison and Leonard Design Architects, as a brief news story in Property Week suggested that the joint scheme between developers Hammerson and Westfield now carries a £1.5 billion price tag – a cool 50 per cent hike since Boris Johnson claimed credit for sealing the deal as recently as January.

Some of the early architects' drawings from Westfield for their Croydon plans

Early architects’ drawings from Westfield for their Croydon plans

However you cut it, it amounts to the most expensive Croydon facelift in history.

Allies and Morrison, the Blackfriars-based practice, have previously worked on the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall, a building and public realm area that dates from the 1950s where the architects’ work might be instructive in how they could approach some of Croydon town centre’s public areas.

They also worked on the Media Centre at the Olympic Park, which anyone who worked there last summer will tell you was little more than a pretty basic use of a vast shed-like building.

The other firm, Leonard Design Architects, did much work on Stratford City, the impressive Westfield-owned centre that is the gateway to London’s Olympic Park. Less auspiciously, Leonard are also linked to Westfield Bradford, which is also known as a decade-old hole in the ground. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ashes to ashes: Only Boris can stop Viridor incinerator now

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Did Sutton’s LibDems last night grant planning permission to Viridor for its £1bn incinerator project at Beddington Lane just so that someone else could make the tough decision to block it? Contributing editor ANDREW PELLING says that nothing he saw at the meeting offered much hope for local politics

Opponents to the Viridor incinerator outside Sutton Civic Centre last night: not that their views were listened to at all

Opponents to the Viridor incinerator outside Sutton Civic Centre last night: not that their views were listened to at all

The health and well-being of generations of children in south London is now firmly in the hands of Boris Johnson, after the majority of Liberal Democrat councillors on a Sutton Council development planning committee last night opted to wash their hands – like Pontius Pilate – of any responsibility for the Beddington Lane incinerator.

In front of an audience of 200 unhappy local residents, after three hours of mainly impassioned arguments against the scheme, the proposal from Viridor to build an incinerator on a site on the boundary between Sutton and Croydon was granted planning permission by five Liberal Democrat votes to two Conservative votes against.

Even as he voted in favour of the Viridor scheme, John Leach, the chairman of the meeting, made some extraordinary and contradictory comments. Leach urged the opponents of the incinerator – Tories from Sutton, Labour councillors from Croydon, Green activists from across south London – to put together as big a campaign as possible to get Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to use his powers to block the proposal, which could otherwise see Viridor burning waste at Beddington until the year 2040, in return for £1billion in public contracts. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Boris Johnson, Business, Croydon Greens, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Outside Croydon, Paul Burstow MP, Planning, Simon Hoar, St Helier Hospital, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Coulsdon residents call for more school places and new library

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

A Coulsdon residents’ group has called on the council to ensure that a new primary school is provided to cope with the anticipated increase in roll numbers as a result of developing nearly 700 family homes on the site of the old Cane Hill Hospital.

cropped-coulsdon.jpgAs Inside Croydon reported last week, Barratt Homes has been given the rights to develop the £250million public site. But except a (relatively modest) £9 million payment from Barratt towards community facilities, and likely to be spent across Croydon, the builders are trying to avoid having any school on the site, ludicrously claiming that there will be only 220 children living on the new housing estate.

Parents in Coulsdon already struggle to place their children in the heavily over-subscribed local primaries, and they fear that nearly 700 new homes being build in the area will make that situation far worse. Continue reading →

Posted in Cane Hill, Community associations, Coulsdon, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Education, Libraries, Planning, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disability group meets to discuss benefit cuts: May 30

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

DPAC disability against cutsCroydon and Bromley Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is a group campaigning for the human rights of disabled people in the context of austerity and cuts to services and benefits.

DPAC is holding a benefit justice meeting in Croydon from 7pm on Monday May 30 at Acts Ministries, Acts House, 30 Union Road, Croydon, CR0 2XU. It’s an opportunity for people affected by the cuts to get some support, and for everyone to join our campaign against the cuts. Continue reading →

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Sutton Council looking to run energy company with Viridor

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

Sutton Council has been trying to register a commercial company that would manage the energy produced by the Beddington Lane incinerator – even before the proposals from Viridor have received planning permission from … Sutton Council.

Sutton councillor John Drage: no role in the planning decision for the Viridor incinerator. Just best mates with the Viridor CEO

Sutton councillor John Drage: no role in the planning decision for the Viridor incinerator. Just best mates with the Viridor CEO

The decision on the Beddington Lane incinerator was deferred last month, when Sutton councillors on a development committee reached a split decision on the controversial scheme. A second meeting has been hurriedly arranged for tomorrow night, with growing concerns from residents about the influence of Sutton LibDem councillor John Drage, who admits to being a long-standing friend and former business colleague of Viridor’s chief executive, Colin Drummond.

Drage, a councillor for Wandle Valley, has been on Sutton Council since 2006. He has properly declared his association with Drummond, who he says he has known  over five decades, and from whom he has received gifts, gone to concerts and been a guest at dinner. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Greens, Environment, Planning, Simon Hoar, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What do Croydon women want? Open meeting, May 25

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

LEE WEBSTER issues an invite to all women living and working in Croydon to an important meeting later this month

Women use public services more than men, according to the Fawcett Society, since they have maternity needs, are more likely to be lone parents and primary carers, more likely to experience domestic abuse, are on average poorer than men, and live longer, often living their final years alone.

Guest speaker: London Assembly Member Fiona Twycross

Guest speaker: London Assembly Member Fiona Twycross

So women have a vested interest in ensuring that local services – from the NHS, to education, housing and policing, meet their needs. Yet decisions about those services are largely made by councillors who are more often than not male – even at Croydon Town Hall, where 42 per cent of Labour councillors are women, it remains that only 26 of the borough’s total of 70 councillors are women.

An important meeting this month will give women in Croydon – all women, from any party or no party, from a local organisations or as individuals – to discuss the issues that matter to them locally, which will feed into Croydon Labour’s manifesto for the 2014 local elections. From more police on the streets, to better housing, to protecting our libraries, it will be an open space for women to share, and to influence. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Alison Butler, Community associations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Streatham Crewe heads to Trinidad for a new scrum

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

Charlie Crewe, Streatham-Croydon’s scrum half, is to spend the summer playing rugby with Trinidadian champions Harvard.

Caribbean mission: Charlie Crewe in action for Streatham-Croydon

Caribbean mission: Charlie Crewe in action for Streatham-Croydon

Crewe was put in touch with Harvard on the recommendation of club captain Garvin Toussaint, a former Harvard player. Harvard are the Trinidad and Tobago league champions and cup-holders, having won both for the first time in their history in 2012.

Crewe has been Streatham’s regular first choice at scrum half for the last five seasons and has also played at fly half, centre and full back for the Thornton Heath-based club. The son of former player and under-11s coach Harvey Crewe, Crewe junior’s impressive performances have also earnt him a call up to the Surrey county representative side. Continue reading →

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Korfball club seeks new recruits to back-up latest success

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Korfball actionCroydon Korfball Club secured a third straight season in the England Korfball League next year, following victory in the Champions Trophy over the Bank Holiday.

Korfball is a dynamic mixed team sport, originally from Holland. It’s a great way to keep fit, and since korfball teams need men and women, it is both sociable and competitive. Continue reading →

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Livingstone’s having a laugh in Croydon: May 17

Posted on May 13, 2013 by
Having a laugh in Croydon: Ava Vidal

Having a laugh in Croydon: Ava Vidal

It’s a good job Ken Livingstone says he will not seek elected office again, because he would never again be able to refute suggestions that he’s a right comedian after this Friday night in Croydon.

The former Mayor of London – more droll than his successor, and far less of a buffoon – is one of the headline “acts” at a Stand Up for Labour comedy night being staged at Ruskin House on Coombe Road on May 17.

And just to ensure that there are some real laughs to be had, the line-up for the evening also includes Joe Wells, impro from two Comedy Store players, and the biting humour of former London prison warden-turned-TV comedienne Ava Vidal.

Vidal said, “I am honoured to share the stage with Ken Livingstone – London’s original and best Mayor.” And she was not joking. We think. Continue reading →

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Councillor acts as delivery boy for £1bn incinerator company

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

A senior Conservative councillor in Croydon has refused to answer questions about why he spent much of Saturday distributing leaflets in his ward, apparently as an overpaid delivery boy on behalf of multi-billion rubbish burners Viridor.

Delivery boy: Simon Hoar

Delivery boy: Simon Hoar

Simon Hoar, councillor in Waddon ward and the £43,339 a year member of Mike Fisher’s inner cabinet responsible for “community safety and public protection” (yes, the man who did such a bang-up job on the day of the riots in 2011), went door to door in his ward, pushing 12-page newsletters from Viridor through his residents’ letter boxes.

This leaflet drop comes just days before Viridor’s application to build a waste incinerator at Beddington Lane goes before Sutton Council on Wednesday evening, for the second time in a matter of weeks. Sutton councillors were split at the meeting last month and deferred the decision. The civil servants at Sutton Council are clearly very keen to push through the Viridor proposals, despite widespread, cross-party opposition in Sutton and Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Clare Hilley, Environment, Mike Fisher, Simon Hoar, Sutton Council, Tony Harris, Waddon, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments