It appears that Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon Council’s former “director of planning and sustainable regeneration”, has been busy trying to rewrite history since leaving her £130,000-plus job earlier this month.
New LinkedIn profile: but same old half-truths from former planning chief Heather Cheesbrough
An internal council memo gave the reason for Cheesbrough’s departure as the desire to take a “career break”.
It’s not clear how long the career break was supposed to last, but since she stepped out of the exit door of Fisher’s Folly for a final time, 57-year-old Cheesbrough has used social media to try to polish the turd that is her record of nine disastrous years in charge of planning in Croydon.
Cheesbrough joined Croydon Council in 2016, as the first and most significant appointment made by Jo Negrini after she had become chief executive and was seeking her own replacement at director level.
Cheesbrough’s somewhat high-handed approach towards the borough’s residents and councillors saw her swiftly become a figure of public distrust and anger second only to “Negreedy” herself.
Cheesbrough’s cover-up of an undeclared relationship between a senior member of her planning staff and private developers (usually a sackable offence), her secret promotion within her department of someone who had been working for a developer, and years of highly dubious reports by her staff sanctioning questionable, sometimes even unlawful, overdevelopment around the borough, saw Cheesbrough come to embody residents’ frustrations with their council.
Cheesbrough championed the unpopular planning policy, SPD2, which helped to push through block after block of flats in a relentless overdevelopment of suburban areas. Mayor Jason Perry scrapped that planning policy.
During her time in charge, using her online profile on LinkedIn, Cheesbrough also made false claims about her membership of a professional body. She still describes her profession as “landscape architect”. With Cheesbrough, old habits, it would seem, die hard.
This is how the head of the newly formed Heather Cheesbrough Associates is describing herself on LinkedIn now…
“After over nine eventful years at Croydon, it’s time to step away, take a breather and consider new opportunities and avenues to explore,” Cheesbrough writes.
“During my time at Croydon, I am proud to have played a part in bringing forward a wealth of new tall buildings and development to transform the town centre, attracting a new urban population and generating vibrancy and creativity to shape Croydon’s next chapter. Key highlights include Greystar’s tallest modular build in Europe, the iconic Box Park.”
It is actually Boxpark, and whatever it might be, it ain’t iconic.
Planning blight: the town centre has been left to decay by 15 years of development delay, and poor decisions by the council’s planners
Cheesbrough’s laying claim to “transforming” Croydon town centre, beyond creating a wind tunnel down George Street that regularly knocks pedestrians off their feet and has ripped the glass awning from the front of East Croydon Station, might be judged to be a bit rich by anyone who has seen the way the town centre has been devastated by a decade on stubborn non-development by Westfield.
Cheesbrough does not dodge the W word, though… “Throughout this time, I worked closely with Westfield, Hammerson and latterly Unibail Rodamco Westfield (URW) to navigate the complexities of shopping centre regeneration to prepare new consents and a masterplan framework to adapt to rapidly changing retail and lifestyle behaviours.”
“Worked closely”, she claims. And with what result?
“… In the wider borough, I worked on estate regeneration and the redevelopment of over 30 large and small sites by Brick by Brick delivering over 50% affordable housing with award-winning new homes.”
Yes, that’s Cheesbrough bigging up the company that bankrupted the borough. Cheesbrough makes a false claim about Brick by Brick delivering “over 50% affordable housing” (it did not), while forgetting to mention that many of the people now living in BxB-built properties are finding a worrying number of faults and flaws with their homes.
“As a football philistine, it was a mind-expanding journey to deliver two new stadium consents for Crystal Palace Football Club…”. It was actually planning consent for a single stand, rather than a whole stadium (you’d expect a planning chief to recognise the difference), and all for a stand which some are wondering whether it will now ever be built.
“While in Purley, newly consented sport facilities underpin regeneration proposals to deliver a replacement leisure centre and swimming pool within extensive public realm.” This is a development that her own officer’s planning report said would cause “harm” to the local community.
Those who have suffered at the brusque carelessness of Cheesbrough’s planning department in Croydon might be surprised to see her claim, “it has been an absolute pleasure to grapple with… the importance of seeking fair and equitable outcomes for both individuals and wider society”.
Further on in her desperately deranged plea for work, Cheesbrough writes: “Integral to my role has also been improving resident’s [sic] life chances.” Maybe it was just a single resident?
She even tries to claim some credit for the council’s adult education service getting a “Good” rating from Ofsted.
Planning approvals: the council’s own figures seem to suggest that Cheesbrough’s claims on workload have been exaggerated
Cheesbrough’s dodgy CV includes other errors and exaggerations…
She calls the deeply unpopular SPG “trail-blazing suburban intensification”, although she does not mention that that policy has been binned.
She then claims credit for “the transformation of a busy planning service dealing with over 5000 applications a year”.
Croydon Council’s own official figures for housing approvals, going back 20 years, suggest that it might be a bit of a stretch to claim that its planning department has ever handled 5,000 applications in one year. Approvals got to a peak of around 3,800 in 2014-2015 – before Cheesbrough arrived in Croydon. By 2023-2024, the latest full year for which figures are available, the number of approvals handled by Cheesbrough’s planning department was fewer than 500.
In 2022, the council’s planning department under Cheesbrough had been assessed as being “all but broken”, according to a Planning Advisory Service report. That report found “a hollowed-out department”, which was unable to recruit “good people” because of the council’s “toxic reputation”.
If Croydon, and its planning department, has a toxic reputation, it is one which Cheesbrough played an important part in creating.
Cheesbrough wraps up her exercise in self-praise and sycophancy by claiming to have transformed Croydon’s building control service, and she concludes: “Throughout all the nine years, none of this would have been possible without my wonderful and professional colleagues, who were a joy to work with and made every day one of learning, enrichment and development.”
Well, Cheesbrough has certainly been personally enriched, and there has certainly been plenty of bad developments. So she was correct, at least, in that regard.
Read more: How the council’s planners help developers dodge conditions
Read more: Suspicions over secrecy surrounding Slominski’s return
Read more: Council in cover-up over planning’s husband and wife act
Read more: Council delays and lack of enforcement cause residents misery
Read more: Director of planning’s bogus claim over Institute membership
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Colm Lacey did a similar rewrite of his history and that of Brick by Brick when he departed.
One would have thought, by his LinkedIn CV, that he had delivered the Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Colossus of Rhodes at the same time, in just 18 months, well within budget and with 98% affordable housing plus a bucket of awards. Oh, and he’d got Elvis to play at the Fairfield.
Not a hint of being a key factor in the bankrupting of Croydon. Strangely. The word ‘delusional’ has rarely been more accurately applied, but Madame Cheeseboard is clearly having a crack at it.
“Cheesbrough championed the unpopular planning policy, SPD2, which helped to push through block after block of flats in a relentless overdevelopment of suburban areas. Mayor Jason Perry scrapped that planning policy.” <– This must be the ONLY good thing which Piss-Poor Perry has done as mayor, but can't be enough of an achievement to base a whole re-election campaign on !
“Throughout this time, I worked closely with Westfield, Hammerson and latterly Unibail Rodamco Westfield (URW) to navigate the complexities of shopping centre regeneration to prepare new consents and a masterplan framework to adapt to rapidly changing retail and lifestyle behaviours.”
Even though it doesn't describe their inactions, "rapid" and "rapidly" never belong in the same sentence as Westfield and whatever other name they are using this week!
Everyone on LinkedIn is full of shit. Let’s get real here. People always say “congratulations’ or ‘ happy birthday’ just to suck up to one another. I sometimes go on there for a good chuckle as it is so cringe.
Whilst I appreciate she wants to find another job, her lack of self-awareness, remorse or humility are astounding. It was her self-promoting arrogance that caused so much damage to Croydon and to the reputation of the planning department. That she cites Brick by Brick and Westfield – two of the biggest disasters – as achievement says it all. Her only transformation of the town centre was to contribute to the destruction of a once busy shopping and social centre, leaving it desolate and irreparably damaged. Improving life chances? Say that to the people who have to pay increased Council Tax for her and others’ mistakes. Say that to the people who lost their jobs at the Council because of the incompetence of those involved in Brick by Brick – including hers. Say that to the residents whose neighbourhoods have been blighted by oversized and ugly developments.
Let’s hope any potential employer does their due diligence and reads Inside Croydon. She should never be in receipt of any penny of taxpayers’ money.
I suspect getting a public sector job now is all about mastering the STAR technique…
Stuff ’em
Totally
Aftermath
Revise
Besides which she can always retire comfortably
on her no doubt gargantuan
Public Sector Pension
And we still have Dodgy Gentry, Slimy Slominski, and Talentless Townsend creaming it off the taxpayer. We can only hope any new Director of Planning will do what Kerswell and Perry wouldn’t – investigate and get rid of them.
I have plenty of evidence about Cheesbrough, Ross Gentry and Nicola Townsend – as do other residents. Thanks to IC and Steve Whiteside, many of us are connected. There is a dossier of evidence to give to the incoming Mayor/Director of Planning/CEO. At some point Perry and Kerswell will have to be held accountable for their defence of the indefensible.
Westfield has been a total disaster for Croydon leaving the town centre more or less like a derelict hole in the borough.
However, to put my head above the parapet, I think the high rises have been a great contribution. As a resident of one, it makes it much easier to rent in the area rather than having to go for a grotty flat above a shop or some poorly converted office block or HMO. It’s nice to have something at last for those of us who are young professionals.
No mention of lying, withholding documents unlawfully, misleading committees, misrepresenting developments, ignoring laws relating to information requests, data subject access, legal planning notice, mandatory planning policy, or repeated threats of High Court action from the Information Commissioner then?
She left Croydon in literal ruins. Ten Degrees can be her grotesque monument, casting a shadow over Croydon. It wouldn’t surprise me if she ended up working for Greystar, much like how Negreedy bagged a role with Arup.
Farewell cheeseburger, don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out!
She was never the brightest crayon in the box, but I am surprised that even she would cite achievements that are provably untrue. Future employers will take account of how her self-perception contrasts starkly with the reality on the ground. Her legacy is one of controversial decisions, poor community engagement, and along with Nicole Townsend and Ross Gentry, creating a planning culture that was opaque, questionable and dismissive. Anyone who looks up planning in Croydon will see the well-documented disconnect between her narrative of achievements and tangible outcomes. Instead they will see community opposition and mistrust, planning disputes, bankruptcy and reputational damage to the council. All a result of her poor judgment and terrible leadership. She’s just hammered another nail into the coffin of her career.
Not really sure about that. I have heard that she has form with at least a couple of previous councils.