CROYDON IN CRISIS: It has taken the borough’s £86,000 per year Mayor more than a week to make an official statement on his unlawful LTN moneyspinners. But he still doesn’t know how the cash-strapped council will refund the PCN fines. By STEVEN DOWNES
Ten days after he was ridiculed in a High Court judgement for his hypocrisy and shifting position over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Croydon’s failed Mayor Jason Perry has finally made a formal statement through the council press office to confirm that the Town Hall will be refunding motorists who were issued with Penalty Charge Notices for driving in the six traffic zones now ruled to be unlawful.
The refunds could amount to at least £5million, while Croydon’s cash-strapped council will incur untold costs in administering and verifying the refund payments.
No-go zones: Tory Mayor has been ordered to remove the unlawful LTNs
And Transport for London has today confirmed that it is in talks with the council over the status of grants handed to Croydon for implementing “safer neighbourhoods”, with millions of pounds more now at risk.
Some Katharine Street sources fear that the overall cost of scrapping the six LTNs and paying refunds to drivers could reach at least £10million – money that the council does not have, while it has expected income from the road fines budgeted at £2.5million for each of the next two financial years.
Croydon is having to pay the costs of Tory Mayor Perry’s big mouth, after he said publicly that he needed to keep the LTNs to generate revenue for his budgets. Continue reading
EXCLUSIVE: In our latest Andrew Fisher Interview with candidates to become Croydon Mayor in the local elections on May 7, Richard Howard says that he would work on a cross-party basis at the Town Hall, would look at ways of ending the borough’s contract with the toxic polluters at the Beddington incinerator and he would get rid of tiers of expensive bureaucracy at the cash-strapped council
Property searches are one of the most important steps in buying a home, yet many buyers underestimate their significance. These searches uncover hidden issues that could affect your property’s value, your safety, or your legal rights. Without a thorough examination, you could inherit serious problems that’ll cost thousands to fix.
The country’s largest women’s organisation, famous for its jam-making and cake bakes, the singing of “Jerusalem”, but above all its general good deeds and fellowship, is coming to central Croydon.
CROYDON CHRONICLES: An outstanding producer-director at The Old Vic who performed alongside the likes of Sir Henry Irving and Sir Laurence Olivier, and appeared in some of the most notable films of the 1940s and ’50s, Harcourt Williams’ acting talent was first spotted at Whitgift School.
