Cash-strapped council admits it leased out the site for a long-promised medical centre in Coulsdon without any reference to councillors, while ‘the NHS is yet to confirm the latest forecast completion date for the project’
Croydon Council has admitted that the decision to lease a Coulsdon car park to a vehicle dealership was taken by an unaccountable council staffer, entirely without reference to councillors or the public. And, the council says, “the NHS has yet to confirm” when it might finally deliver a medical centre that has long been earmarked for the site.
Medical centre: there does not appear much chance of delivering the NHS facility while Kia are on site
As exclusively reported by Inside Croydon last week, Kia Coulsdon is paying for a 12-month lease of the CALAT car parfk, eight months after the cash-strapped council said that it had sold the same site to the NHS.
The CALAT site has been at the centre of development plans for almost a decade, part of property deals originally laid out for Brick by Brick, the housing firm that did much to bankrupt the borough.
The site of a former Coulsdon primary school has been earmarked for a much-needed NHS medical centre, and in March, Jason Perry, the borough’s Tory Mayor, and MP Chris Philp, announced that the site had finally been sold to the NHS. Work would begin in the next few months, Philp promised voters in the summer.
“Once final NHS project approvals are obtained, which I am hoping will be successful and happen very soon, a planning application will then rapidly be made and physical work on site should then start by the summer,” Philp announced, when desperate for electors’ votes.
But earlier this month, dozens of Kia cars were parked on the site, with the business telling residents that they had secured a 12-month lease to use the car park – which suggests that any building work would now not begin until November 2025, at the earliest.
According to a council spokesperson, this lease arrangement “was authorised by the director of commercial, investment and capital”.
Unaccountable: council official Huw Rhys Lewis BSc BArch MSc MRIBA MRICS MAPM
The council spokesperson failed to identify the director by name, but it seems very likely to be Huw Rhys Lewis BSc, BArch, MSc, MRIBA, MRICS, MAPM, the same unaccountable director who caused a storm by issuing a threat of legal action against homelessness charity Croydon Nightwatch for the heinous offence of… giving out meals to homeless people.
The council has confirmed that the decision to lease out the CALAT car park space by-passed the borough’s elected councillors and was never discussed at cabinet or full council, “since delegated authority sits with the director in question”.
This is all hugely embarrassing for Coulsdon’s clueless Conservative councillors, who knew nothing about the lease to Kia until residents started questioning the possible delay to the delivery of the medical centre.
What the councillors – Banstead resident Mario Creatura, Luke Shortland and Ian Parker – today described as “the preponderance of Kia’s cars on the former CALAT car park” caused them to issue an urgent statement, in which they admitted their ineffectiveness against the nameless bureaucrats who are really in charge at the council.
The councillors trotted out the hastily-agreed party line that it is all a “win-win situation for Coulsdon and Croydon and our Council Tax-payers”.
No consultation: the first notice locals got of the car park’s handover to Kia were sniffy notes slapped on their windscreens
Of the medical centre, they claimed, a tad forlornly, “This will not delay the development.”
But according to council sources at Fisher’s Folly, “The proposals for a medical centre on site are very much in progress, with the NHS.” Note the use in that sentence of the buck-passing comma.
“The NHS is finalising its project proposals for the site and work on their planning application.”
In their next sentence, the council confirmed that the Coulsdon medical centre could yet still be years away: “The NHS is yet to confirm the latest forecast completion date for the project.”
Yet they also tried to claim: “This temporary let will have no impact on the NHS proposals.” Apart from the presence of dozens of Kia cars on the site until October 2025…
The use of the site for commercial storage has also infuriated residents, who had been using the CALAT site as a temporary 32-space public car park to help ease Coulsdon’s chronic congestion. That’s not thought to have been a factor for Huw Rhys Lewis BSc, BArch, MSc, MRIBA, MRICS, MAPM when he opted to cut his secret deal with Kia.
“We weren’t even asked, let alone told,” one angry business owner told Inside Croydon.
“Croydon Council decided to lease a public car park to a car dealership without any notice or public consultation. They didn’t even put it up for tender, so there was no chance for locals to have their say or propose alternative uses.
“It’s a community asset, and we should’ve been involved in the decision.”
And in today’s urgent round-robin, the Coulsdon councillors also made it clear that as well as being ineffective, they are of no real consequence on planning matters, too, as council officials by-passed them over another car park plan.
Clueless in Coulsdon: Tory councillors (from left) Shortland, Parker and Creatura didn’t know about the CALAT car park and couldn’t do anything over the Aldi planning decision
Recently, Aldi has been allowed to restrict its car park to customers of the supermarket, breaking its original promise to let the general public park there, too, which had been a condition of being granted planning permission to build the large store.
“Regrettably, planning officers approved the amendment without taking the decision to the planning committee,” the Tory councillors said. “We were very disappointed,” they simpered, having been shown to be completely powerless, as well as clueless.
“We have objected strongly to this decision which should have been taken by elected representatives.” No shit, Sherlocks…
More than halfway through Jason Perry’s term as borough Mayor, it’s clear that it is council officials, such as head of planning Heather Cheesbrough and Huw Rhys Lewis BSc BArch MSc MRIBA MRICS MAPM, who are really making the decisions in Croydon.
Read more: Long-planned Coulsdon medical centre in ‘critical condition’
Read more: Perry’s council threatens legal action against homeless charity
Read more: Coulsdon ‘shafted’ by Tories as NHS centre site put up for sale
Read more: ‘Underhand’ Tories blame residents for medical centre delays
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
The mandate that comes from executive power being drawn from a direct popular vote does give whoever holds the Mayoralty the option of using that mandate to provide for accountability of officers to the voters’ representative.
You’d think.
I doubt that Major Howard would stand for any insubordination.
Is this the same Council director that handed over the title deeds to Red Clover Gardens estate without concluding the agreement with subsidiaries of Mears Group plc?
Has the stated £38million actually been paid to the council and administrators of Brick by Brick Croydon Ltd?
The head of planning, Heather Cheesbrough, and Huw Rhys Lewis BSc BArch MSc MRIBA MRICS MAPM, are making the decisions in Croydon.
It feels like a Perry Perry moment waiting for approval behind the doors at the local restaurant ‘
Where’s Mr Philp when you need him?
The same council officer also made the recent decision about Heathfield House
It is starting to look as if the bloke with more qualifications than scruples may be fulfilling a specific role, to get income for the Council without getting tied up in red tape. He may offend elected Councillors, and Council Tax payers, but we didn’t appoint him. There is a murky level of local government, apparently hidden from those who thought they were in control. Whatever next? I rely upon Inside Croydon to keep us informed!
Of course we didn’t appoint him! The councillors WE ELECT agreed a system to appoint which normally involved senior bods. In very senior positions councillors sit in on the interviews.
The poor bloke can only operate under ‘delegated powers’ that are agreed by the men and women we elect. This covers all aspects, including the size of any financial transaction or contract. If he exceeded his powers he’s in the sh1t.
If anyone thinks ‘council officers’ are running the show, running amok, then the councillors have lost control and need to DO SOMETHING!
Huey Rhys Lewis BSc, BArch, MSc, MRIBA, MRICS, MAPM may not have personally asked for all his qualifications to be included – it looks daft when it’s an isolated case. At least he’s not being asked or forced to choose a pronoun!
Huw Rhys Lewis BSc, BArch, MSc, MRIBA, MRICS, MAPM is how he pompously signs his official, council emails.
Diana nailed it in her comment.
We’ve seen time and time again how Heather Cheesbrough has disregarded law, policy and residents’ rights. It seems others are doing the same. The views and rights of residents and their elected representatives are simply a minor inconvenience. However, the actions of Heather and Huw Rhys Lewis reduce public participation, transparency and accountability – destroying the democratic process and we shouldn’t underestimate how dangerous that it is (not least because that is what bankrupted Croydon). Thank you (again) IC.
Huw Rhys Lewis BSc, BArch, MSc, MRIBA, MRICS, MAPM reminds me of Professor Theodor von Schwarzenhoffen in the Laurel and Hardy classic, The Music Box, with his string of letters after his name: “M.D., A.D, D.D.S, F.L.D, F.F.F und F”
I will vote for the Mayoral candidate that promises a forensic investigation into the Planning Department and Ms Cheesbrough.
One candidate did that in 2022. The received a warning from the council as to their “conduct”.
Yes – Heather Cheesbrough shamelessly complained it would harm future prospects with other employers. As if her reputation and track record for failure haven’t already.