Day 1 at MIPIM 2015 in Cannes. Note how busy the Connected Croydon (and Ruskin Square) stands are. Not.
When the Conservatives were in power in Croydon, the spending on sending a delegation to Cannes for the annual developers’ champagne “junket” (© Tony Newman) was at least announced at a council meeting in the Town Hall.
This year, under a Labour council elected on a platform of “openness and transparency”, nearly £8,000 of tax-payers’ money has been spent on sending three senior Croydon officials to the four-day MIPIM conference, a decision which was never discussed, nor aired or challenged, in a public forum. Executive director Jo Negrini was able to use her “delegated authority” to book her plane tickets to the south of France.
Read our report on MIPIM and Croydon Council’s lingering love affair with the event here.
Yesterday was the first day of the 2015 conference, and as our photograph, above, shows, it looks to be eight grand very well-spent, at a time of austerity, job cuts and loss of frontline services around the borough.
We are sure that Westfield and the other private developers with a stake in the borough will be delighted with Negrini’s prudent use of public money on their behalf.
- Negrini signs-off on £8,000 MIPIM junket to the south of France
- Property investor Philp comes up short on Purley ‘skyscraper’
- Inside Croydon Events: for dates and links to what’s happening in and around Croydon, updated daily, click here
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What will Croydon do if UKIP are elected in May, there’ll be no more immigration so they won’t be able to sell property oversees or justify long weekends on the Riviera. House prices will crash, day will turn to night and some of the homes might even become affordable to local families. Not that I’m suggesting voting for Winston McKenzie might be a good thing just pointing out an unforeseen consequence
They have just charged me £120 and a court summons for paying £100 balance on my council tax 4 days late. So desperate for money to go to MIPIM.
My hard earned money is being wasted by champagne socialists who complained about the former administration.
They are doing exactly the same under the leadership of Tory Newman.
Croydon Labour needs leadership who can care for people not a Tory who is a Labour member.
People voted for a Labour administration to do things better and not to continue with the Tory policies.