10 invoices show council is keeping failed heat network afloat

Posted on June 2, 2026 by insidecroydon

INSIDE SUTTON: Chief exec and company director refuse to explain why £265,000 has been paid in ‘consultancy’ fees to the authority’s own energy company. EXCLUSIVE by DAVE BURTON

Sutton Council’s official registers of payments include 10 invoices, paid between February 2024 and March this year, which suggest the authority has been trying to keep its failed heat network company afloat.

SDEN, Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Ltd, is the council-owned heating company. Since 2024 it has been paid £265,000 of public cash for “consultancy services”. It’s just that no one at SDEN or in the council offices is prepared to say what services the company has provided to the local authority.

SDEN has been controversial since Day One, with CIPFA, the public accountancy body, finding that it was established by the council based on false financial assumptions with “income” from 75 homes that didn’t actually exist and funding from non-existent government grants.

There were even questions raised in the House of Commons.

SDEN was, from the start, a sham. Continue reading →

Posted in Dave Burton, Helen Bailey, Nick Mattey, Richard Simpson, SDEN, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Glasner’s farewell letter to Palace fans: ‘Together, we believed’

Posted on June 2, 2026 by insidecroydon

Oliver Glasner, the most successful manager in the 120-year history of Crystal Palace Football Club, has said a final farewell to the club’s fans.

Cup-winners: Oliver Glasner (left) and the Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish with the Conference League trophy last Wednesday

The 51-year-old Austrian’s open letter was published on the club website this morning.

Glasner’s final game in charge after a little more than two years in charge was last Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final, in which Palace beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0. It was Palace’s first time in European competition, and followed their FA Cup and Community Shield wins at Wembley in 2025.

In his letter to fans, Glasner described last week’s final as “the most magnificent evening in Leipzig”. Continue reading →

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Help at the Minster on Sunday with sleep packs for refugees

Posted on June 2, 2026 by insidecroydon

In this Volunteers’ Week, Croydon Minster is asking for people to come along this Saturday to help assemble sleep packs for young refugees.

The Minster is partnering again with The Separated Child Foundation, and is seeking help this Sunday, June 7, from around 11.30am (straight after the 10am service).

“The sleep packs provide essential comfort and items for separated child refugees arriving in Britain, ” the Minster says. Continue reading →

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New Addington Carnival 2026, Milne Park, June 13 and 14

Posted on June 2, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Old Coulsdon Village Fair, Grange Park, Sat July 4 from noon

Posted on June 2, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Labour’s secret deal with Tories to block Greens on planning

Posted on June 1, 2026 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Once the election results were in last month, Croydon’s Labour leader agreed what’s been called ‘a shabby, short-sighted stitch-up’ to keep Green councillors away from important planning decisions – while also boosting allowances paid to their party. By STEVEN DOWNES

Secret deal: Labour’s Stuart King (left) and Tory Jason Cummings have worked together to marginalise elected Greens

Croydon Labour entered into a secret deal with the Town Hall’s Conservatives to block the Greens from having a seat on the all-important council planning committee, Inside Croydon can reveal.

The behind-closed-doors deal led to the planning committee being reduced in size from 10 seats to just eight, in order to make it impossible to include a Green councillor, under council rules which are supposed to distribute committee seats proportionately among the five political parties now represented at the Town Hall. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Jason Cummings, Mark Adderley, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Ainscough, Planning, Rowenna Davis, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

We’re glad all over! The Croydon Insider looks back on Leipzig

Posted on June 1, 2026 by insidecroydon

Celebration time: Andrew Sinclair, iC’s football correspondent, was in Leipzig to witness history being made. In our latest Croydon Insider podcast, he answers the question ‘What happens next?’ for Palace post-Glasner

The Croydon Insider returns to its more eclectic look at recent local news, with a visit from the website’s football correspondent to share his experience of travelling to Leipzig for the European Conference League final.

Plus, the panel discusses how an entire school career at the borough’s biggest private schools can cost £200,000 while our council is paying £100,000 per pupil per year to private education businesses who provide places for those with SEND – special educational needs and disabilities. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, Andrew Sinclair, Annabel Smith, Croydon Council, Croydon Insider, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Education, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Old Palace, Schools, SEND, Tom Bowell, Trinity School, Under The Flyover, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

At Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, Abba becomes a five-piece band

Posted on June 1, 2026 by insidecroydon

Thank you for the music: the wholesome fivesome as Abba plus one on stage at the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon

KEN TOWL has a night out in Croydon, but not for the first time, he’s heard it all before

Mamma Mia! Here I go again!

My, my, how can I resist the Fairfield Halls when they put on yet another tribute act?

This time, it is Thank You For the Music, a five-piece tribute to the Swedish 70s supergroup Abba. Five piece? I hear you ask, surely Abba were a foursome, namely Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad? Continue reading →

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We Run Croydon, meeting Addiscombe, every Wednesday

Posted on June 1, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Biggles and the curious case of the curate from Croydon

Posted on May 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

Airborne adventure: between 1932 and 1968, WE Johns (who was never really a Captain), wrote almost 100 Biggles adventure stories – many of which were adapted into comic strips in different languages, ‘By Jove!’

CROYDON CHRONICLES: One of the most-read fictional action heroes of the 20th Century was based at Croydon Airport. DAVID MORGAN pulls on his sheepskin helmet and goggles and goes in search of adventure

Biggles, the character James Bigglesworth, appeared in almost 100 books written by William Earl Johns, a First World War pilot, between 1932 and 1968.

The books, and the characters, are rather out-of-fashion now, written in a style and from perspectives that are very dated. But in their time, they were popular Boys’ Own tales, regarded as “Terrific!”, or “Spiffing!” by generations of (generally) boys in the middle of the last century.

And one important section of Biggles’ fictional career took off from right here in Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Airport, Croydon Airport Society, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strike up the band! CSB is ready for its Fairfield concert date

Posted on May 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

By PETER GILLMAN

In control: David Cox, the Croydon Symphonic Band’s musical director, wields a mean baton

What do you do if the orchestra you want to join turns you down?

The answer’s easy. You start your own orchestra.

That, in a nutshell, is what Sue Thom did back in 1973. She was 16 when she auditioned to become one of two clarinet players with the Croydon Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. Sue admits she was nervous and may have “fluffed” some scales, but she still felt deflated when she was rejected.

No matter. With the encouragement of her parents, Sue formed the Croydon Symphonic Band which, 53 years later, is still going strong and contains no fewer than 16 clarinet players among its 60 members.

The CSB is due to stage a concert at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls on June 24, a sign of its progress and ambitions.

The Croydon Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, meanwhile, is no more, although its related body, the Croydon Symphonia Orchestra, is going strong. Nonetheless Sue (now Sue Reeves), feels that the CSB deserves more recognition for its achievements and contribution to Croydon’s cultural life. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Croydon Symphonic Band, Fairfield Halls, Music, Peter Gillman | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Happy Circus, Park Hill School, Stanhope Road, June 10

Posted on May 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Junction Road Street Party, South Croydon, Sat June 6

Posted on May 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

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LibDem Lewis accused of holding secret meeting with Reform

Posted on May 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

Bitter Basher: Sutton council leader Barry Lewis (standing) lost the plot during Tuesday night’s exchanges at the annual council meeting

How it all adds up: Sutton’s LibDems spent Tuesday evening divvying up public money among themselves

SUTTON SKETCH: This week’s council meeting to kick off the new four-year administration turned nasty as the ruling Liberal Democrats handed themselves more than £1m in special payments.
CARL SHILTON reports 

If Sutton council leader Barry “Basher” Lewis thought last Tuesday’s annual council meeting would be a good-natured celebration for him and his Liberal Democrat colleagues, families and friends, he was in for a rude shock.

Following the LibDems’ near-clean sweep in the Council elections on May 7, when they won 51 of Sutton’s 55 council seats, Lewis could have approached the evening’s proceedings with humility and magnanimity. Instead, he got wound up and bodged it, as he rubber-stamped awarding more than £1million in allowances for his own party.

Basher went on to use the occasion to launch a bitter personal attack against independent councillor Nick Mattey.

Mattey had survived the election, despite the LibDems running a dirty campaign targeting him, carpeting his Beddington ward with leaflets and, it has now emerged, with Lewis holding secret meetings with Reform Ltd to try to rid themselves of the troublesome anti-incinerator campaigner. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Long, Barry Lewis, Bobby Dean, Christopher Woolmer, Dave Tchil, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sam Martin, Sutton Council, Tim Foster | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sight-loss charity appeals for volunteers for Croydon group

Posted on May 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

A volunteer is needed to help run a leading sight-loss charity support group in Croydon which helps people affected by macular disease.

Offers of help: the Macular Society needs volunteers to help run its regular support group

The Macular Society Croydon Support Group gets together every second Monday of the month, at Croydon Vision, Bedford Hall, 72-74 Wellesley Road, CR0 2AR.

The south London-based group, overseen by sight-loss charity the Macular Society, is welcome to everyone, be that new or existing members, those newly diagnosed with macular disease, their family, friends and carers.

Volunteers help to run and co-ordinate the group meetings, such as arranging guest speakers and days out. Continue reading →

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Visit Croydon College on its open evening, Wed June 17

Posted on May 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

Croydon College and Croydon University Centre will welcome prospective students and local residents to a campus open evening next month, giving visitors the opportunity to learn more about the range of courses and training available.

The open evening is from 5pm to 7pm on on Wednesday June 17 at the College Road campus. Continue reading →

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Volunteer Open Day, Selsdon Clubhouse, Tue June 2

Posted on May 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Songbird Showcase Night, The Oval Tavern, Fri June 5, 8pm

Posted on May 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

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Add poor time management to Mayor’s long list of failings

Posted on May 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

No sense of urgency: Mayor Jason Perry (third from left) could not even manage to run Wednesday’s meeting to finish before 8pm

TOWN HALL SKETCH: Jason Perry missed the kick-off of the big match in Leipzig, and managed to deliver his annual ‘state of the borough’ speech without a single mention of the cash-strapped council’s finances.
By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor

Jason Perry can’t manage.

He can’t manage his own diary. If he could, Croydon’s failed Mayor would have been at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig on Wednesday night, and not at Croydon Town Hall, where the council’s annual meeting went ahead because Perry had failed to foresee the likely “fixture clash”, and had failed to use the powers available to him to get a council date switch, when he had the opportunity.

Perhaps he didn’t think Palace would make it to the final of the UEFA Conference League? Perhaps he didn’t think he would win the May 7 mayoral election? That match was certainly a good deal closer than Palace’s encounter with Rayo Vallecano, and the Eagles only won 1-0. Continue reading →

Posted in Adam Kellett, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, New Addington South, Scott Roche, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

After 73 years, Sanderstead’s sign is removed for a paint job

Posted on May 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

Sanderstead’s “village” sign has been taken down for another refurb.

Sign of the times: erected in 1953, Sanderstead RA’s ‘village’ sign needs a lick of paint

The sign has been a landmark roadside fixture by the pond and All Saints Church at the busy junction of Sanderstead Hill and Limpsfield Road for more than 70 years – having been commissioned to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

It’s so old, it still refers to Sanderstead as “Surrey”, the local government status that changed in 1965 when Croydon became a borough in Greater London.

In 2021, Inside Croydon reported that the original sign was “deemed to be beyond repair”, with the local residents’ association saying that it was “looking in rather a sorry state”. Continue reading →

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Riddlesdown win English Schools cup double with record score

Posted on May 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

It’s not just Crystal Palace who are winning football trophies every time they reach a final. Last week, the under-15 boys’ team from Riddlesdown Collegiate won two English Schools cups, in finals played just 14 hours apart.

Celebrations: the Riddlesdown players celebrate the decisive goal that clinched their first final win last Thursday

Riddlesdown is where Kate Moss went to school. Now, the Croydon secondary is producing model footballers.

With the finals of two competitions both played at Stoke City’s Bet365 Stadium, Riddlesdown won the first, the English Schools’ FA EA Sports FC Futures Boys’ Under-15 Elite Schools’ Cup, by beating St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Academy from South Tyneside, 1-0. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Riddlesdown, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Met Police missing person appeal: Please help to find Piotr

Posted on May 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

Missing: Piotr, from Croydon, was last seen on April 17

The Metropolitan Police is appealing for the public’s help to find a missing 37-year-old man from Croydon.

The Met has released several images in an effort to trace him.

Piotr was last seen on Friday, April 17, wearing a black hoody, black tracksuit bottoms with white strips down the side, black trainers and a black backpack.

Piotr, whose middle name is Bartek, is around 5ft 9in tall and of slim build with shaven hair. Continue reading →

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Desperate Perry is denied his victory parade for a second year

Posted on May 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

Victory parade: Palace players revelling in the fans’ support at the 2025 FA Cup victory parade in South Norwood. They don’t seem to want to drive through central Croydon

Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed and increasingly desperate Mayor, has been snubbed for a second time in 12 months, as Crystal Palace Football Club announced today that there would be no immediate trophy parade following their triumph in the UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig last night.

Reflected glory: Town Hall failure Perry has tried to piggy-back Palace’s football success

Perry had made the fact that he is a season ticket-holder at Selhurst Park a part of his election campaign, which earlier this month saw him elected for a second four-year term by a narrow 1,113-vote margin.

And last night, within minutes of the final whistle in Leipzig, he was pleading with the Palace board to stage a victory parade, offering to host some kind of civic reception. It was almost as if Perry wanted to hijack the event for his own political ends, and personal aggrandisement.

After all, Perry was only offering to pay towards the event out of public money, from a local authority which under his leadership is now is £1.7billion in debt. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Crystal Palace FC, Football, Mayor Jason Perry, Oliver Glasner, Selhurst, South Norwood, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Three arrested after woman dies at Furze Road, Thornton Heath

Posted on May 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

Two men and a woman remain in police custody following the death of a woman at a house on Furze Road, Thornton Heath, yesterday morning.

Paramedics called police to the house just after 9am on Wednesday May 27 “following concerns for the welfare of a woman”, according to Scotland Yard.

Despite the efforts of the ambulance crew the woman, who was aged 53, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The cause of death is yet to be confirmed,” a statement from the Met Police said today. Continue reading →

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Wharton, ‘the Wilpshire Pirlo’, makes World Cup case to Tuchel

Posted on May 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

In a great team effort to win Crystal Palace’s third trophy in 12 months, one player stood out. By STEVEN DOWNES

In control: Adam Wharton gave a masterful display in the Conference League final in Leipzig last night

Adam Wharton is 22 years old.

Last night in Leipzig, he produced a performance that places him firmly among the best midfielders in Europe, a string-pulling display on the major stage of a European final. his passing, tackles, interceptions, seamless transitions from defence into attack with 40-yard defence-splitting balls, providing the masterclass upon which Crystal Palace won the UEFA Conference League final.

It was Wharton’s left-foot shot from 20 yards, early in the second half, which set up Jean-Philippe Mateta for the only goal of the match. Though Palace ought to have beaten Rayo Vallecano by more. Wharton’s deliveries from set-pieces, corners and free-kicks, were often misdirected wide of the woodwork. Continue reading →

Posted in Adan Wharton, Crystal Palace FC, Eberechi Eze, Football, Holmesdale Fanatics, Oliver Glasner, Sport, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment