More problems with recruitment and retention at the cash-strapped council as the woman tipped for top job heads for the exit. KEN LEE reports
Jenny Rowlands, who was hired in February as the council’s £166,000 per year assistant chief executive, is quitting Croydon to take up another job with the Local Government Association.
At a council increasingly noted for its “churn” of staff, Rowlands lasted two months in her role.
Churn: Jenny Rowlands has quit
It has been reported that Rowlands will take up her new position from May 11 (the week after the local elections). Rowlands has been paid more than £3,000 per week by Croydon Council.
“That was quick,” one slightly exasperated Katharine Street source said today.
“We all knew that Rowlands was hired on a short-term, interim basis. But no one imagined it would be quite so short-term.”
Rowlands was brought in at the request of Elaine Jackson, Croydon’s interim chief executive, who had been promoted into that role following the abrupt departure of her former boss, Katherine Kerswell, last October. Continue reading
After the mass resignation a fortnight ago of around a dozen members, including some candidates, Reform is trying to re-stage its New Addington walkabout tomorrow morning, with a promised ‘star guest’. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Reform, the limited company being passed off as a political party, is hoping to be out and about in New Addington tomorrow morning, promising a “VERY SPECIAL GUEST” – their choice of caps lock – as they try again to stage the walkabout stunt that collapsed in disarray last month when around a dozen members, including several election candidates, quit the party in disgust over the imposition by Farage party HQ of Ben Flook as their candidate for Mayor.
Millionaire grifter: Farage, hoping to con the Croydon public
Flook is Reform Ltd’s fourth choice of candidate to run for election as Croydon Mayor, and was a somewhat rushed choice, having been named as candidate less than 48 hours after Dan Milner-Tebbutt, until recently the chair of Croydon Reform, had been lined up for the role.
Both Milner-Tebbutt and Flook had only recently joined Reform after previously being members of the Conservative Party.
Milner-Tebbutt had also previously been an elected Labour councillor in the Midlands.
Flook, a teacher of politics at Wallington County Grammar School, was a Conservative Party candidate in the 2024 General Election. He has made no statement of how he intends to proceed if elected as executive Mayor on May 7, with his pupils in Wallington still having two months of the school year to complete. Continue reading
CROYDON COMMENTARY: As the row over Rowenna Davis’s censored manifesto rumbles on, former Labour councillor JERRY FITZPATRICK, pictured right, explains how international affairs can very properly be matters of local importance
In no particular order, I want the Mayor of Croydon to fix the budget, improve services, sort out the town centre, restore the Fairfield Halls to its former glory and much more. I’m not holding my breath, however.
Does it follow from that local political leaders should be silent on national and international issues which are outside their direct control?
That is what Croydon South’s Conservative MP Chris Philp thinks.
He told the Jewish Chronicle: “This is a local election and when I speak to residents across Croydon, they are concerned about improving high streets and roads, local planning issues and fighting crime.”
Philp was taking exception to the view of Labour’s mayoral candidate, Rowenna Davis, that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide against Palestinians, and that she objected to the Council’s pension fund being “used to support arms companies that are supplying Israel at this time”.
Tory stooges have taken up Philp’s weasel words and are dutifully repeating them on social media. Continue reading
NON-LEAGUE NEWS: A place in the promotion play-offs has been secured by Croydon FC, but fans were surprised by the timing of the resignations of two members of the board with three, possibly four, big games still to come at the climax of the season
Four years’ service: Gavin English has stepped down as chair of Croydon FC
It was around the same time that Crystal Palace were securing a place in their first European competition semi-final last night that their non-league neighbours in South Norwood, Croydon FC, were beginning their search for a new club chairman.
Gavin English announced on social media that he was stepping down with immediate effect as chairman and director of the Croydon Arena-based club, just as the Trams have clinched a place in the end-of-season promotion play-offs, with their best chance in eight years of moving up from Step 6.
In an exclusive interview with Inside Croydon, English today maintained that his decision is based entirely on his work and family circumstances – he works at an independent school in Southwark – and that he is confident that the right people are in place at Croydon FC to maintain the progress made since his arrival at the club in 2022. Continue reading
The A237 Brighton Road by Coulsdon South Station is to be subject to closures for at least a week, with works to begin next Thursday, April 23, as Network Rail seeks to complete the fitting of a safety beam across the railway bridge which has been subject to frequent collisions from HGVs and double-decker buses.
“Fingers crossed it actually happens this time,” according to officials from the local residents’ association, whose latest newsletter carries the front-page headline: “Take Three!”
“Having failed to get the work done on two previous attempts, we have been informed that the A237 running in front of Coulsdon South Station will be closed a number of times between April 27 and May 1 to facilitate the final installation of the safety/protection beams for the railway bridge,” the Coulsdon West RA posted on its social media. Continue reading
Shared ownership: Fount Spring Place has come on to the market almost two years late. Are house-buyers wising up to the problems of ‘shared ownership’
Even before the latest global economic shock hit the construction trade, house-building in London had slowed to a crawl. JOHNNY DOBBYN looks at one scheme of more than 100 flats in Purley that provides a possible case study to show why government housing targets seem unachievable
Nearly two years later than anticipated, Southern Housing has released on to the housing market a huge scheme of flats in Purley called Fount Spring Place.
Southern Housing is among the country’s largest housing associations and registered social landlords, with 80,000 dwellings across London, the south-east and Midlands, which together house more than 167,000 people.
Fount Spring Place is Southern’s latest development, and forms part of the mega “Mosaic Place” scheme around Banstead Road that also includes sites such as Purley Baptist Church, Russell Hill Parade and on the Brighton Road.
Fount Spring Place is the “South Site”, as opposed to the Purley Tower’s “Island Site” across the road. It is part of a Purley planning saga that stretches back almost 10 years, to December 2016, and has involved a public inquiry and a call-in by the Secretary of State.
Fount Spring Place had planning permission for 106 flats, and construction started in early 2021, but it has been plagued by delays owing to a lack of proper safety documentation and a satisfactory Fire Risk Assessment. The delays have continued and the scheme’s launch announcement in February is now looking premature. Continue reading
Flying Tiger is the latest retailer to join the exodus from the largely vacant Whitgift Centre, as the land-owners appoint a new CFO
Becky Allison is to move into the Whitgift Foundation’s offices on George Street from June as the new chief financial officer of Croydon’s largest landowners.
Finance chief: Becky Allison takes over as CFO of the Whitgift Foundation
Allison is to take over from Michael Webb, who is retiring after having been the Foundation’s CFO since 2020.
The Foundation’s finances have been stretched over the past decade by the failure of Westfield to deliver on their promises of regenerating Croydon town centre, including the Whitgift Centre shopping mall, most of which is ultimately owned by the Whitgift Foundation.
Retailer Flying Tiger pulled down the shutters on its Whitgift Centre store this week, the latest business to join the exodus from the mall. Every vacant unit in the Whitgift Centre – and the floors of empty office space in the tower blocks above – represents reducing rental revenue for the Whitgift Foundation, which uses its property income to run its Almshouses and care home and to provide burseries at its two remaining fee-paying schools. Continue reading
Free bags and gift vouchers are on offer to the first customers next Friday and Saturday at Decathlon’s new store within Ikea off the Purley Way.
Opening event: Decathlon’s new store within Ikea Purley Way has special events planned for April 24 and 25
Decathlon is trialling some retail “co-habiting”, as previously reported by Inside Croydon, giving up their own, bespoke Purley Way premises to snuggle in with Ikea.
The new store is almost ready to open on April 24, with customer giveaways and activities for all ages also planned for Saturday, April 25.
Doors open at 11am on Friday April 24, where the first 100 customers through the doors will receive a Quechua NH100 10L backpack and a £20 gift voucher “to kickstart their next adventure”. According to the small print, a membership account will be required to qualify for the goodies, though you can sign up on the day.
The momentum continues on Saturday April 25, with the first 100 shoppers also receiving a free Quechua bag. Again a Decathlon membership account is required to receive the inducements. Continue reading
Reform, the limited company that selected a dead woman as their candidate for Croydon Mayor, now includes among its nominees for the council elections next month someone who has written a published article which suggests that the covid pandemic which claimed the lives of millions around the world was a conspiracy led by the United States military and global elites.
Purley resident David Booth is one of two Reform Ltd candidates standing in Kenley ward on May 7.
Pensioner Booth, 80, describes himself as having “a long career in research and teaching”.
Tin-foil hat: Reform Ltd candidate David Booth says covid was a global elites conspiracy
But in September last year, Booth wrote in something called The Journal of 9/11 Studies where he referred to the covid pandemic as a “staged event” that was designed by “powerful forces” to control the population.
Booth is a conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxer, the kind of person who when they were members of one of Reform leader Nigel Farage’s previous parties, UKIP, they were described by former Prime Minister David Cameron as “fruitcakes” and “loonies”.
Kenley candidate Booth gives “fruitcakes” a bad rap. And “loonies”. Continue reading
Murderer: Simon Ghebremedhin
Simon Ghebremedhin has been sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 19 years, for the murder of 26-year-old Marjama Osman in her own home on Frith Street, just off Surrey Street Market, in May last year.
Ghebremedhin, 34, of Streatham High Road, was found guilty by a unanimous jury decision at the Inner London Crown Court earlier this month.
The police described Ghebremedhin as “a devious killer”, after CCTV showed that after stabbing Osman, he had returned inside her house where he wounded himself, in order to claim self-defence. Continue reading
House fire: firefighters from five stations, including Croydon and Purley, were called out to the fire on Roe Way yesterday afternoon
Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called to a fire at an end-of-terrace house on Roe Way in Wallington yesterday. Continue reading
Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s chief executive who issued three Section 114 notices of effective bankruptcy during her time in charge at the council, was taking home salary and pensions totalling £223,838 in the year before she left Fisher’s Folly.
Yet Kerswell was far from being the highest-paid council staffer in south London.
That’s according to figures published in the latest Town Hall Rich List, which show that under Kerswell, in 2024-2025 Croydon Council had 21 employees being paid £100,000 or more. Continue reading
A six-year-old from Croydon saved her mother’s life by remembering she could phone 999 to call out an ambulance for a medical emergency.
Brave girls: Pearl (second left) and her sister Amelia, with their certificates from the London Ambulance Service
Mum Carole, 36, collapsed at home last summer after suffering a seizure and losing consciousness. She was alone with her daughters, Pearl, aged six, and Amelia, four.
According to the London Ambulance Service, “Despite being frightened, Pearl acted immediately.”
The six-year-old unlocked her mum’s phone, dialled 999 and told call handler Gen Hinds: “She’s lying on the sofa… she’s not awake. Her eyes keep on opening and closing.” Continue reading
Tall orders: fire engines from four stations, including Woodside, attended the fire in Beckenham Place Park yesterday morning, where a special ladder was used to douse the flames from above
Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called to a fire at a lodge in Beckenham Place Park in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Most of a roof, an entire lean-to as well as a three-metre boundary fence, some fascia on a neighbouring property and two solar panels were destroyed by fire. No injuries are reported. Continue reading
Government-appointed Commissioners are pushing through the appointment of a new finance director at the Town Hall – regardless of who might become Croydon’s new Mayor. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
The wasteland: Croydon Town Hall presides over massive debts and a decayed town centre, yet they can still find the money for £200,000 per year top jobs
Croydon Council, which has debts of £1.4billion, is about to hire its fifth employee on pay of around £200,000 per year or more.
And they are carrying out the recruitment in a bit of a rush, with the decisive, final interview to be conducted on April 30 – exactly one week before the local elections take place, when, as seems likely, the political outlook at Croydon Town Hall for the next four years could be completely changed.
The recruitment of the legally required Section 151 officer is being conducted during the period of “purdah” at the Town Hall, when much council business has been shut down ahead of the local elections, which means that it is virtually impossible for the matter to be raised, questioned or debated.
It is entirely possible that the interview for the key position of corporate director of resources will be conducted without the new Mayor or anyone from their political party on the panel. Continue reading
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Even before her own party bosses censored her manifesto, there were spending commitments being made by Rowenna Davis, Labour’s candidate for Croydon Mayor, that just don’t add up. LibDem candidate RICHARD HOWARD, pictured left, explains
Rowenna Davis’s mayoral manifesto is, at first glance, full of energy, compassion and ambition.
It speaks to many of the real challenges facing Croydon: crime, housing, transport, opportunity for young people and the need to restore pride in our borough. On paper, it is everything a manifesto should be.
‘Uncosted pipedream’: the Labour mayoral candidate’s manifesto is where ‘good intentions meet financial illiteracy’ according to Richard Howard
But scratch beneath the surface, and a far more troubling picture emerges.
This is not a serious plan for running Croydon Council. It is an uncosted pipedream – a classic example of where good intentions meet financial illiteracy.
At no point does the manifesto set out what these proposals will cost, how they will be funded, or what trade-offs will be required to deliver them. That is not a minor omission. It is the central test of whether any political programme is credible – and it is a test this manifesto fails completely. Continue reading
City Commons, who oversee four commons and the South London National Nature Reserve, are now having to deal with dumped garden waste in conservation areas. PLUS: dates for guided walks and volunteer sessions
Keep to the paths: the red-list endangered bird needs to be given a bit of space at this time of year
The rangers who oversee Coulsdon Common, Farthing Downs, Riddlesdown and Kenley Common have issued an appeal for the public to take extra care when walking over the commons to avoid disturbing nesting skylarks.
The small, brown birds may be easy to overlook, but their song is unmistakable – a continuous, joyful stream of notes delivered as they rise high into the sky before gently drifting back down. Continue reading
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