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Measure the effectiveness of councillors, not just the casework
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our report on councillors’ casework and the volume of residents’ enquiries they handle is only a very limited way of measuring their effectiveness, according to ROBERT CANNING (pictured left). He’s even done an equation to prove it… Your … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Robert Canning
Tagged Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Robert Canning, Waddon
9 Comments
Time to end the drip-drip feed of private profits for water firms
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Thames Water paid our council almost £1m in fines in five years. But the leaks and road works have still continued. Fairfield ward councillor ESTHER SUTTON, pictured right, wants to plug the flow of our cash to the … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Fairfield
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Green Party, Thames Water
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Time to take a walk and witness the damage we’re all causing
CROYDON COMMENTARY: It is not only the Evening Standard that is supporting the London-wide expansion of ULEZ, the Ultra Low Emission Zone, as loyal reader DAVID SQUIRES explains ULEZ is an interesting issue. The ultimate problem is that we need … Continue reading
Posted in Commuting, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion
Tagged Croydon, David Squires, London, Mayor, Mayor of London, Mayor Sadiq Khan, ULEZ, Ultra Low Emission Zone
8 Comments
Council bureaucrat gives red light to Love Lane Green’s future
CROYDON COMMENTARY: A children’s play area, reclaimed from wasteland by volunteers over the last eight years, has had its important status erased with the stroke of a pen by a senior council official. EMMA HOPE-FITCH and the other Friends of … Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Environment, Gardening, Property, South Norwood, Wildlife, Woodside
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Emma Hope-Fitch, Friends of Love Lane, Friends of Love Lane Green, Gavin Handford, London Borough of Croydon, Love Lane Green, South Norwood, Woodside
3 Comments
Perry has no plan to improve our borough’s toxic air pollution
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The borough’s Conservative Mayor, Jason Perry, is failing to protect the health of Croydon residents, says Councillor RIA PATEL (pictured left) We all know that Mayor Jason Perry has been very vocal about opposing ULEZ, the Ultra-Low Emission … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Environment, Fairfield, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, ULEZ expansion
Tagged Air pollution, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Ria Patel, Tory, ULEZ, Ultra Low Emission Zone
16 Comments
Another record for the Brit School: a Faiths Together visit
CROYDON COMMENTARY by JOHN WOODHOUSE A group from Faiths Together in Croydon was invited to the Brit School last week to speak about faith in our lives. The Brit School is known around the world as an outstanding Croydon school … Continue reading
There’s something for everyone to enjoy in our year of Culture
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The council’s cabinet member responsible for the arts, Councillor ANDY STRANACK, pictured above (he’s the one not wearing a tracksuit) outlines his plans for the Borough of Culture Last weekend saw the launch of This is Croydon, a … Continue reading
Musical open house brings crowds flocking back to Fairfield
CROYDON COMMENTARY: There’s been widespread praise for the performers and performances at the Fairfield Halls for the Borough of Culture opening event, which LEWIS WHITE thoroughly enjoyed I went to the Sunday session of the Oratorio of Hope at the … Continue reading
How blind man took on the council – and won £66,000 in costs
CROYDON COMMENTARY: It has long been established that the council is far from infallible. It nonetheless takes a great amount of courage to launch a High Court challenge against the authority, with its deep pockets and well-paid lawyers. YUSUF OSMAN, … Continue reading
Perry says there’s no alternative to his budget. But there’s lots
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Former Conservative MP and Labour councillor ANDREW PELLING, pictured right, an independent candidate in last year’s mayoral election, says that the Mayor has broken a fundamental promise to the borough’s residents Mayor Jason Perry has adopted a ham-fisted … Continue reading
No Council Tax hike without seeing the assurance panel reports
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Michael Gove is not only permitting the borough’s Tory Mayor to hike Council Tax without a referendum, he is doing so while withholding reports from his own panel of inspectors. Which suggests the government has something to hide … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle
Tagged 15% Council Tax hike, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Gove, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Tory
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Fixing our ‘home grown’ problems has to start right here
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Having sought government permission to increase Council Tax from April by three times the nationally capped level, Conservative councillor JASON CUMMINGS sets out his reasons why We have all watched with a sense of horror over the last … Continue reading
It cannot be fair to hike Council Tax and not deliver services
CROYDON COMMENTARY: They say that the true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis. But in imposing a 15% Council Tax hike, Mayor Jason Perry could have made the cost-of-living crisis much worse for thousands of … Continue reading
Ignore ULEZ scare stories – it will reduce traffic and save lives
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Some 80% of vehicles in Croydon are compliant with requirements of the Ultra Low Emission Zone and so will not incur charges. If we want to improve London’s toxic air quality, doing nothing is not an option, says … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Peter Underwood, Sadiq Khan, ULEZ expansion, Waste incinerator
Tagged air quality, Conservative, Croydon, Green Party, Liberal Democrats, London, London Assembly, Mayor, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Mayor Sadiq Khan, Peter Underwood, Ruth Dombey, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, Tory, ULEZ, Ultra Low Emission Zone
21 Comments
Town centre’s skyscrapers are ‘kind of psychological pollution’
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our report that US build-to-rent developer Graystar, who is behind the building of two pairs of tall towers at East Croydon, has now acquired another town centre site has caused concern for reader LEWIS WHITE Something about these … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Perry about to giveaway millions in social housing flog-off
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The new Mayor wants to run a ‘minimal council’, and is getting pensioners and the worst-off to pay for its financial turmoil while he arranges a £36m property deal that seriously undervalues public assets, says ANDREW PELLING Nothing … Continue reading
Planners’ misdeeds continue to pile disgrace on our borough
CROYDON COMMENTARY: After the latest revelations of deceit and delay by the council’s planning department, costing the borough tens of thousands of pounds when supporting a profit-hungry developer, iC reader IAN KIERANS says it is time that the Mayor and … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Park Hill and Whitgift, Planning
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Ian Kierans, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Park Hill, Planning, Tory
5 Comments
Who do you think you are? Census data offers many insights
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The latest release of data from the 2021 national census has given PETER UNDERWOOD, pictured right, much to consider I have always been fascinated by the sort of data contained within the latest release from the 2021 census, … Continue reading
Bankrupt council paid firm of solicitors £2m over two years
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council used to have a senior official known as the ‘Borough Solicitor’. These days, the cash-strapped council is out-sourcing much of its legal work to a single firm of solicitors, at huge cost. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Inside Croydon, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Julie Belvir, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, The Penn Report
Tagged #PennReport, Blackstone Chambers, Browne Jacobson, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane Mulcahy KC, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Penn Report, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, The Penn Report, Tory
24 Comments
Mayor Perry must get at least £33m for BxB’s Coulsdon flats
CROYDON COMMENTARY: In our first public platform article of 2023, former MP and Mayoral candidate ANDREW PELLING, pictured right, says that it is essential to get maximum value from the cash-strapped council’s assets – and having more than a single … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Property
Tagged Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Lion Green Road, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Red Clover Gardens, Tory
8 Comments
Now is the time to make our libraries more accessible, not less
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The 10-day closure over the Christmas holiday of the borough’s public libraries may see the council failing in its legal duties, suggests IAN KIERANS With the decision to close the borough’s 13 public libraries for a 10-day period … Continue reading
How real-life Indiana Jones put together the Scrolls of antiquity
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The archives at Croydon Minster contain many varied treasures, some of them with links going back to the dawn of civilisation, as DAVID MORGAN discovered Among the many and varied artefacts in the archives at Croydon Minster are … Continue reading
How ‘Lost’ soon became an apt metaphor for Perry’s mayoralty
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The council’s continuing financial woes are due in the main to the Conservative government’s policies nationally over the past 12 years, says reader DEREK THROWER So Part-time Perry, our Croydon Conservative Mayor, is lost in self-pity. We can … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Art, Business, Croydon Council, LOST, Mayor Jason Perry, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Derek Thrower, Develop Croydon, Fabien Riggall, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Lost, Mayor Jason Perry, Secret Cinema, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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‘Uncertainty faced by all local authorities is unprecedented’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Katherine Kerswell, the council’s chief executive, this morning told staff that despite a third Section 114 Notice in two years, she and her senior managers have been making progress with the bankrupt borough’s finances. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN … Continue reading
NHS urges fans to take a shot for England at the World Cup
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Groups gathering together in pubs and bars to watch matches in the football World Cup could increase the risk of spreading flu and covid warns Dr CHRIS STREATHER, the medical director for the NHS in London, pictured right … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon NHS Trust, Health
Tagged coronavirus, covid, Covid-19, Dr Chris Streather, Football, Harry Kane, NHS London, World Cup
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