Upper Norwood library: Croydon wants to abandon the library, possibly with an eye on selling off the building

Local library campaigners are demanding that Croydon Council explains yet another cock-up with its website, one which has undermined the already shoddily organised consultation on the future of Upper Norwood Joint Library.

Croydon Council’s website was offline yesterday, “for maintenance”, preventing the public accessing the Upper Norwood library consultation online before the official deadline, which was to be midnight on Sunday, May 20.

Following complaints, the council extended the deadline by a day, until midnight on Monday May 21 – although being a weekday, with many residents at work, it may prove less convenient than being able to fill in the form at the weekend. Click here for the link to the consultation is here.

Croydon staged a controversial public consultation meeting last week, attended by at least 160 people, many of them concerned at the way Croydon has unilaterally broken its joint agreement with Lambeth for the funding and management of the historic library.

At the meeting, Councillor Sara “Book Token” Bashford had five security guards in attendance, as if the presence of her Tory front-bench Town Hall colleague Tim Pollard was not reassurance enough. Bashford repeatedly told her audience that the council took residents’ views seriously, and that they should email their comments to the council.

Trouble is, Bashford never managed to get round to mentioning where residents were supposed to address their comments. How convenient.

It would have been reasonable to expect that many of those who attended, or who heard about the Upper Norwood library’s plight as a result of reports of that meeting, will have wanted to lodge their comments online over the weekend. Yet Croydon Council made that impossible.

No where on the council’s website was any email address listed for residents to lodge comments or questions on the consultation. There was no such email address included on the consultation paper or on the poster produced by the council. Nor was the address given out at the consultation meeting.

It is 18 months since Bashford, in her role in charge of Croydon’s libraries, presided over a previous consultation, when she tried to propose that six of the borough’s 13 libraries might close, after having argued that it would be cheaper for the council to hand out book tokens than fulfil its statutory obligations of loaning books from libraries. Bashford was wrong both in fact and in principle.

In the 2010 library consultation, there were more than 5,000 respondees, the overwhelming majority opposed to Bashford’s Philistine closure proposals.

After that exercise, the council said it would not close any libraries, but claimed that more than 400 residents had expressed a view that they would prefer the management of Croydon’s libraries to be outsourced to private, for-profit organisations, rather than closed. The council has never been able to produce any record of the comments it claimed were made by residents who were in favour of outsourcing the borough’s libraries.

How convenient.

• Inside Croydon: A news source about Croydon that is not based in Redhill. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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A shrink as the borough’s spin doctor in chief. It might just be the most apposite appointment Rouse has ever made.

Click here to see our original report. It is worth re-visiting.

And so it has come to pass. Despite firm denials at the time of our original report by the council’s Ministry of (Un)Truth, Hayley Lewis, as we predicted, is now “head of customer communications and strategy” at Taberner House.

To mark Lewis taking on her new role (according to her recently updated LinkedIn profile), we thought we’d share with you another sample of her writing. This she published on the Friday after last August’s riots had left Croydon scarred, physically and, some might suggest, psychologically.

As someone who is a chartered psychologist, a local government manager (at Croydon Council) and a resident (of Croydon), I have been handling the aftermath of the riots from different perspectives.

We’re now beginning to see the trauma and distress emerge for those directly affected by the riots – those made homeless, who lost their livelihoods, or who witnessed the acts of violence and destruction.

As such, I’m putting out a call to all psychologists, with the requisite skills, to come forward and volunteer some time to help us support those affected by the riots. This can be our way of helping with the #riotcleanup (to coin the Twitter trend).

This is something that hasn’t just affected Croydon so why not contact your local council, in affected areas, and ask if they need your help? If you are interested, willing and able please either drop a line to either the BPS Twitter feed @BPSOfficial, my own feed @haypsych, or even better my email address hayley.lewis@croydon.gov.uk

Yes, that’s right: a Croydon Council manager calling on psychologists to descend on Croydon to provide “help”.

Ever felt more patronised, Croydon?

Here at Inside Croydon Towers, we are unaware of Lewis’s appeal to her fellow shrinks having any success. But if our loyal reader happens to spot the men, and women, in white coats descending on Taberner House any time soon, you will, of course, let us know. It can only be a matter of time.

• Inside Croydon: A news source about Croydon that is not based in Redhill. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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Kenley gets a Spitfire fly past this afternoon

From 1940, this part of London was the frontline in the aerial war: the rail yards at Norwood Junction and Clapham Junction were important targets for the Luftwaffe bombers seeking to destroy the capitals transport infrastructure. But with high-level bombing rarely accurate, there was much damage elsewhere.

The deep craters left in Lloyd Park and some of the area’s golf courses, now overgrown with trees and vegetation, are reminders of the devastating destructiveness of the bombs that rained down on south London.

Before 1939, Croydon was Britain’s main airport – the naive Neville Chamberlain, waving the piece of paper with Hitler’s signature and declaring “peace in our time” after his mission to Munich, did so on the steps of his aircraft at Croydon. At the outbreak of war, Croydon airport was turned over to the RAF as a fighter station.

South London was ringed by RAF fighter bases, Biggin Hill probably the best remembered, the stations for squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires, sent up daily and at the peak of the Battle of Britain in September 1940, despatched on several sorties in a day, to try to intercept the German bombers and their fighter escorts.

Kenley was one such bastion in the Battle of Britain, so today’s fly past is a fitting recognition of its war-time role.

A Spitfire in flight is a awe-inspiring sight. A war machine first, the RJ Mitchell-designed aircraft is nevertheless admirable as a spectacular feat of engineering, the purring sound of its Rolls Royce Merlin engine always distinctive as it swoops into view.

Now, more than 70 years after the Battle of Britain, such flights will inevitably become increasingly rare. So if you get a chance, try to catch a glimpse of the Kenley Spitfire today, and imagine how life must have been for the people of Croydon, and the fighter pilots, eight decades ago.

• Please post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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Tayo Aluko as the inspirational American singer, Paul Robeson, in the play of his life, a story of racism and civil rights campaigning

BELLA BARTOCK’s mascara is running, as she sheds a tear not just for the powerful production of Call Mr Robeson, but for the closure of Croydon’s Warehouse Theatre

The Warehouse Theatre, another essential strand of Croydon’s cultural fabric, closes this week, a combination of council cuts and rising debts forcing it into administration.

Its final production, Call Mr Robeson, was a fitting send off. Nigerian-born Tayo Aluko, the play’s sole actor, pulls off a fantastic biographical account of the life of the American singer and actor, Paul Robeson.

Robeson, like the theatre that hosted this performance, fought against the grain. Although he was highly successful as a student, a football player, an actor and a singer, he decided fame was not enough.

Through Robeson’s world travels he stumbled across socialism after witnessing a group of Welsh miners marching on London. The struggle of the Welsh miners put alongside the struggle of the black population in America proved to Robeson that this was a global issue.

Robeson’s father escaped from slavery, his mother died in a house fire, and the oppression of the black population all over America was clear to see. Despite his fame, this context haunted him.

These tragedies ere passionately displayed by Aluko through a mixture of both Robeson’s songs and historical mementoes from Robeson’s life. Despite Aluko being a baritone rather than the bass for which Robeson was so well known, the songs were still powerful.

Aluko, who has been touring with the play for more than four years, told of the artist’s many affairs in great detail, one of whom was believed to have been with Croydon’s own Peggy Ashcroft, whom he played opposite in a West End production of Othello. His troubled love life is shown by Aluko to define the man himself, with numerous affairs with white ladies failing to result in marriage due primarily to his race.

His career on stage and screen gave Robeson fame, but his politics brought him crashing down to ground. This is the main focus of the production and the effect of it on the audience was clear to see. The audience was captivated by the tale of Robeson performing at the Peace Arch on the Canadian-American border following the cancellation of his passport due to “unAmerican activities”.

Aluko recreated the interrogation of Robeson in front of the United States Senate following a suicide attempt. As a lone actor performing for an hour and a half, this looked to be hard work. Being able to pull it off with such emotion and power is a rarity.

The performance ended with a short Question and Answer session regarding Robeson’s life.

Sadly however, such a fantastic production, which has been rated 4/5 by the Guardian and given 5 stars by the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Review was not done justice by the sense of impending doom hanging over the Warehouse. The theatre that began production 35 years ago this week was plunged into administration during Call Mr Robeson‘s final week there.

Cate Blanchett, the sort of global star who has graced the stage at the Warehouse Theatre

Despite struggling financially from the start, the theatre remained relatively sound until the slashing in 2006 of a grant from Croydon Council. No matter where the blame lies, for such an amenity for Croydon to close is devastating for the arts scene in the town.

The closure of the theatre, which has a strong link with the local BRIT school, means that in the short-term home-grown productions such as Dick Barton and artists from the BRIT would not be seen in the town that produced them.

The Warehouse has hosted many tremendous stage shows such as Three Men in a Boat and Sweet Phoebe, starring Cate Blanchett, alongside an inspiring Saturday morning’s children’s theatre. Without the Warehouse, Croydon will struck off the map for performances such as these.

Following its run at the Warehouse, Tayo Aluko’s Call Mr Robeson visits North America before returning to the UK later in the year at:

July 13: Fundraiser for Stop the War, Liverpool (Selection of songs from the show)
August 26, 27: Greenbelt Festival, Cheltenham Racecourse
October 6: Capstone Theatre, Liverpool
October 13: Otley Courthouse
October 22: Hawth Theatre, Crawley
October 24: Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury
October 25: Ashcroft Arts Centre, Fareham
October 27: Forest Arts Centre, New Milton
November 18: Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
November 21: Rhodes Arts Complex, Bishop’s Stortford

• Inside Croydon: Living life on the fringes of Croydon. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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Kinghams, the South Croydon dealership, received the new model yesterday, and has it on public view for the next four days only.

This stunning new coupe has received huge acclaim, including this Top Gear review.

Be the first to view the BRZ on display in our showrooms at 39/41 South End, Croydon.

Opening time as follows

Saturday to 5pm
Sunday 10am – 4pm
Monday 8am – 6pm
Tuesday 8am – 6pm

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Croydon-born film director David Lean: two Oscars, but not good enough for the council’s list of all-time local greats

Take, for example, this week’s half-cocked announcement on the council website of “the Croydon portrait bench”, a public art project in which three figures will be created in life-sized portraits around a bench located on a new walking and cycling route.

The council has nominated 10 famous figures for the public to choose who ought to feature by the bench, and yet they cannot even manage to do the great and the good of Croydon the simple courtesy of spelling their names correctly.

Please note, Croydon Council:

it is Cicely Mary Barker.

[May 21 UPDATE: Much as the people in the Ministry of (Un)Truth at Croydon Council try to pretend that Inside Croydon does not exist, it is evident that people on the seventh floor at Taberner House are among our most avid readers. This post was first published just after 7pm on Friday May 18. Some poor lackey at the council was clearly dispatched first thing on Monday morning to correct Baker to Barker, since the council's website has been quietly updated. No need to thank us for our help to you, Croydon Council]

Croydon’s 10-strong shortlist also smacks of pernicious political manipulation by the council, as it seeks to whitewash out of the borough’s memory one of its greatest sons of the 20th century.

Cynics might suggest that they have done this to avoid any embarrassment for Councillor Sara “Book Token” Bashford, because it is barely a year since she closed the cinema that carried the name of double Oscar-winning movie director Sir David Lean.

Don’t get us wrong, Dave Prowse – Darth Vader’s body double in the Star Wars films, who lives in the borough and is included in the council’s list – is a great bloke. But in any pantheon of Croydon greats, would you really champion his claim to be featured in a piece of public art ahead of the director of Lawrence of Arabia, Brief Encounter and The Bridge on the River Kwai?

As if to underline how the exclusion of Lean appears to be politically inspired, the council has put forward Peggy Ashcroft (who lends her name to the theatre at the well-funded Fairfield Halls) as a candidate for the portrait, and manage to reference her role in a film directed by Lean.

It could be a mystery that even Sherlock Holmes might not solve, working out why his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is not on the council’s list of great people who have lived in Croydon

When you consider that anyone included on the council nominated shortlist does, by definition, have a far stronger chance of being voted for than someone who is not on the council’s list, you have to wonder about some of the other big names that do not feature in the Croydon nominations.

Underlying Croydon Council’s tendency to Philistinism, their uncultured list overlooks the claims of Emile Zola (mais oui), DH Lawrence and even Sherlock Holmes, or at least the world’s most famous fictional detective’s creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, all of whom at some points in their inspired lives found a home somewhere in Croydon.

They even manage to miss out the thunderingly obvious: supermodel Kate Moss, whose face has graced millions of magazine covers, is not good enough to grace a walkway in her home borough, according to our gaffe-prone council.

Croydon’s commendations for the people that they have chosen damn them with faint praise. In addition to the artist Barker, Ashcroft and Prowse, the council suggests:

“Ronnie Corbett – Comedian: Has lived in Croydon for many years.” Oh, well, that’s a shoo-in then. “Starred in the TV comedy series The Two Ronnies and The Frost Report.” What, no mention of Sorry? Note to Croydon Council: The Frost Report was not a comedy series. It was a weekly news satire show.

We suspect the council is keen on including Ronnie, who inspired the creation of the Save The David Lean Cinema Campaign, because any life-sized portrait of him will save on paint.

“John Whitgift – Archbishop: Founded the Whitgift School, Croydon in 1595 which is still, today, a prestigious institute of learning.” That should keep the Foundation people happy.

Croydon’s Donna Fraser, right, congratulates winner Cathy Freeman after one of the greatest women’s 400m races of all time, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics

“Tasha Danvers – Athlete: Born in Croydon, bronze medalist in the 400m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.” Not a bad call, but…

What about Donna Fraser, who was fourth placed in the 400m at the 2000 Sydney Games, and unlike Natasha remained loyal to Croydon Harriers throughout her career, and now coaches in the area? Or what about Gordon Pirie, who trained in army boots on Farthing Downs before setting a series of track world records in the 1950s?

“Samuel Coleridge Taylor – Composer: Born and died in Croydon, he incorporated African-American folk music into his compositions.” This is a good example of what we mean by under-selling the achievements of some on the list.

Jacqueline du Pre, who died tragically young, but not before recording some unmatchable renditions of cello music, another Croydon great overlooked by our council

SCT would be a splendid choice, as would be Brit School graduate Katie Melua, or Kirsty MacColl, or Ralph McTell, or Jacqueline du Pre, or Jeff Beck, or Desmond Dekker…

Indeed, how about Raymond Burns? At least Captain Sensible sang a song called “Croydon”.

“Bernard Weatherill – Politician: Elected seven times Conservative MP for Croydon NE, elected Speaker and made a Life Peer on his retirement.” And was, according to all who met him, a thorough-going splendid fellow who will have been less than impressed with the current mob running the Town Hall.

But were Bernie’s portrait to appear by the bench, would anyone under the age of 40 know who he was? We suspect that Weatherill’s inclusion on this list is an effort to underpin the council’s decision to name its new glass palace of an HQ, part of its secretive £450 million Hub scheme, after the former MP.

“Charles Burgess Fry – Sportsman: Born in Croydon, academically brilliant he represented England at cricket and football, he was also a great athlete.” This is another where Croydon’s summary does the candidate no credit.

Consider David Beckham, combined with Kevin Pietersen, and yet also having the ability to set the world record for the long jump. Because Fry was all of that, and more. He was so world famous, Albania asked him to be their king (he declined). And yes, Stephen Fry is a descendent of the great man.

Ian Wright: another forgotten by our council

But more recognisable, more recent Croydon sports stars, surely, could include Mark Butcher, the former Surrey and England batsman (who is now one of Inside Croydon‘s growing band of Twitter followers); or Ian Wright, the Palace, Arsenal and England striker; or Roy Hodgson or Chris Robshaw, the current England football manager and rugby captain respectively.

Luol Deng, the Chicago Bulls NBA star, is excluded from consideration on the grounds of requiring too much paint (see Ronnie Corbett, above).

“Malcolm Muggeridge – Journalist: Born in Sanderstead, credited with popularising Mother Teresa, in later years he became a morals campaigner.” Well, the single word “journalist” ought to disqualify Muggeridge. But “popularising Mother Teresa”? Surely the influence was the other way, helping to turn the former Fleet Street firebrand into a sanctimonious old git in his later years, infamously claiming that The Life of Brian was heretical.

Fortunately, the council’s website does offer the opportunity for residents to nominate people of their own choosing.

So we suggest that the David Lean Cinema Campaign, and all other right-minded people, ensure that they click on this link and nominate Sir David Lean before the closing date of June 16.

Click here to vote – remember to scroll to the bottom of the page to register your choices.

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Upper Norwood library: Croydon wants to sell-off the building

Around 200 locals attended the meeting, where cabinet members Sara “Book Token” Bashford and Tim Pollard’s presentations received an often hostile reception over Croydon’s withdrawal from a joint arrangement with Lambeth over the running of the historic library.

No one contacted by Inside Croydon who attended the meeting considered there was ever any threat to anyone’s safety.

Bashford and Pollard insisted that no recording or photographs were allowed at the meeting at the request of the owners of the hall, the Salvation Army. The owners of the hall have dismissed this claim as untrue.

And last night, Matthew Bennett, a Labour councillor for Gipsy Hill ward in Lambeth, submitted a Freedom of Information request questioning the presence of the security guards.

Bennett’s FOI says:

Dear Croydon Borough Council,

At the Croydon Council UNJL public consultation at the Salvation Army Halls on Westow Street, Crystal Palace on the evening of the 16th May 2012 there were several private security guards in place.

I would like:

1) All documents relating to the decision to procure private security for the above event, including a breakdown of any costs for the evening.
2) Copies of emails either from elected members to officers, from officers to elected members or between officers requesting or discussing the decision to procure private security for a public meeting.
3) A clear breakdown of cost for the security guards for the duration of the meeting.

Croydon Council, as a matter of policy, delays answering FOIs for the maximum period, so it may be mid-June before Bennett receives any form of answer.

Of course, no number of security guards can protect “Book Token” Bashford from the deserved public ridicule she receives over her mismanagement of the borough’s library provision and her inability to provide cogent or credible answers to residents’ questions on her conduct.

Bashford receives nearly £70,000 per year in allowances and payments from the public purse from her roles on the council and as a paid constituency worker for Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell.

Inside Croydon understands that at least one resident video’d Bashford’s less-than-assured performance, and it is expected to soon be a YouTube hit, alongside her recent starring appearance in Private Eye.

• Inside Croydon: The website that brings you real news about Croydon, rather than front-page stories about dogs stuck down badger holes. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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All change at Centrale, which is to get a £50m makeover

But the approval only came after the councillors on the committee were given firm guidance – in effect a warning – by a Town Hall officer that “competition is not a planning consideration”.

This was necessary because the Whitgift Foundation – the borough’s major land owner – oppose the Centrale plans, as the Foundation is in the midst of a tug of war for the future of the Whitgift Centre. The Foundation’s preferred developers, Australian firm Westfield, was also submitting outline plans for consideration at last night’s meeting.

With the chairman of the planning committee, Coulsdon West councillor David Osland, and the cabinet member for planning, Croham’s Jason Perry, both having close family members attending Whitgift Foundation fee-paying schools, it appears that council officers took the view that a reminder of the committee’s duties was required to ensure a fair hearing for Hammerson.

Hammerson bought Centrale last year for £100 million.

The first phase of the redevelopment will cost them £50 million – for which they have recently sold off some of their commercial office block interests – and should create more than 300 full- and part-time jobs. Further developments are also in the pipeline, offering up to £90 million more investment in Croydon over the decade.

In reality, many of Hammerson’s plans will simply tidy up short-comings left by Centrale’s original development when it opened in 2004, expanding the previous Drummond Centre.

Hammerson, as the chosen developers of the majority freehold-owners of the Whitgift Centre, is expected to draw up plans for the larger centre soon, though last night it was rival, Westfield, that made a 20-minute presentation of their outline scheme.

John Burton, director of development at Westfield, told the planning committee of ambitious plans for £1 billion investment and 4,000 jobs in Croydon. The scheme would involve demolishing the 1960s Whitgift Centre, replacing it with pedestrian walkways linking North End and Wellesley Road and Poplar Walk and St George Street, more cinemas and a bowling alley, plus four high-rise apartment blocks along Wellesley Road.

What Westfield could not address was where they would get the money to pay for such a scheme – a similar project in Bradford has stalled for lack of retailers committing to taking space in that centre – or overcome the issue of how they are not the preferred developers at the Whitgift Centre.

To experienced Croydon development watchers, Westfield’s bold paper offers of mega-millions and thousands of jobs sounds all too familiar to the last time that the town was the subject of what amounts to an ego-driven pissing contest between rival developers, over the doomed Arena scheme.

While Hammerson has sold assets to raise the cash to pay for Centrale, Westfield was unable to specify how it would raise the £1 billion required.

“The reason there’s an undeveloped building site at ‘Ruskin Square’ beside East Croydon station is because the developers can’t find anyone to buy into the proposed office space,” Inside Croydon was told today by a Town Hall source. “But at least the developers at Ruskin Square own their site. Westfield don’t have any rights to the Whitgift Centre as yet.”

The Westfield scheme proposes building a massive, two-storey car park over the top of their shopping area. “It’s as if they plan to build a shed and stick a car park over the top of it,” said the source, who also had reservations about the short-termism of the Westfield scheme.

“They said they did not want to put the residential property over the top of the shopping area because they may want to redevelop that in 30 years,” the source said. “That’s hardly long-term planning for Croydon’s future, is it?”

• Inside Croydon: The website that brings you real news about Croydon, rather than front-page stories about dogs stuck down badger holes. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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Shirley Poppies, grown on the grave of the Rev Wilkes in St John’s churchyard

Shirley church St John’s hosts its flower festival from Friday until Sunday, May 18-20.

The exhibition takes place inside the historic, Grade II-listed church from 10am till 5pm, except on Sunday when the show is from noon till 4pm.

The first 65 visitors each day will benefit from a free handcrafted tote bag.

St John’s floral links go back to Rev William Wilkes, the church’s vicar from 1879 to 1912.

Wilkes was secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society and it was he who he developed the Shirley Poppy.

After enjoying the flower festival there’s a treat in store at the festival tea room, live music from local groups and schools to listen to, and the famous churchyard to visit, with the Lloyd family memorial and the tomb of the parents of the romantic poet, John Ruskin.

The Ruskin family tomb in the churchyard at St John’s Shirley

Click here for the church’s website.

St John the Evangelist church is at Shirley Church Road, Shirley, Croydon, CR0 5EF

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Dudley Mead: deputy leader of Croydon Council, and a big fan of Fairfield Halls

The Warehouse Theatre, stripped of its £30,000 annual grant from Croydon Council, is now facing closure.

There is an appeal to try to raise money from the theatre’s supporters in a bid to re-open the venue, but there is also a growing anger at Croydon Council for allowing this to happen.

Inside Croydon thinks there might be a good deal more anger when the people of Croydon and across south London who cherish the Warehouse Theatre discover how much money Croydon Council spent with the nearby Fairfield Halls in April 2012:

£226,900.20.

In one month alone. More than seven times the value of the Warehouse’s annual grant.

Chubby Brown: regular star turn at Fairfield Halls who has his audience rolling around with laughter

The Fairfield Halls, which has also received millions from the council for capital works, has on its governing board none other than Dudley Mead, the deputy leader of Croydon Council and the cabinet member responsible for finance in the borough.

This, our lawyer, Mr Ebenezer Grabbit, of Messrs Sue, Grabbit & Runne, advises us to point out, is all purely coincidental.

Anyone who, despite paying the same amount of Council Tax that they paid in 2009 but for a considerably reduced level of services, has some spare dosh that they want to donate to the Warehouse Theatre cause, should click here.

• Inside Croydon: The website that brings you real news about Croydon, rather than front-page stories about dogs stuck down badger holes. Post your comments on this article below. If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, email us at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

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