Author Archives: insidecroydon

About insidecroydon

News, views and analysis about the people of Croydon, their lives and political times in the diverse and most-populated borough in London. Based in Croydon and edited by Steven Downes. To contact us, please email inside.croydon@btinternet.com

Minutes show plan to end services to 200 families in Sutton

EXCLUSIVE: Sutton Council has been criticised by a local MP for being ‘insensitive’ to parents of children with SEND, while an official complaint has been lodged over a senior LibDem councillor’s conduct. By our Sutton investigations editor, CARL SHILTON Confidential … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Education, Health, Marian James, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Whitgift School offers tributes to former head David Raeburn

A private family funeral service is to be held at 3pm this afternoon for David Raeburn, a former headmaster at Whitgift School and Oxford University academic. Raeburn died at Abingdon Hospital on February 1. He was 93 years old. He … Continue reading

Posted in Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Despite all the walking and talking, every day is like Sunday

CROYDON COMMENTARY: ‘Every day is silent and grey…’. Lockdown has stirred memories of songs and sitcoms for RICHARD PACITTI (right) During the coronavirus restrictions, a friend sent me an email with the heading No Particular Place To Go, a light-hearted … Continue reading

Posted in Comedy, Health, Music | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Councillors demand urgent sight of Town Hall bullying report

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Claims that the council might be more ‘open and transparent’ ring hollow, as questions are raised at the bankrupt borough over other serious allegations. By STEVEN DOWNES Councillors from both political parties at Croydon Town Hall have … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Joy Prince, Katherine Kerswell, Pat Clouder, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Council admits its ‘pub protection policy’ may not work

City Hall has ruled that a developers’ scheme to demolish a previously thriving East Croydon pub and turn the site into (yet another) block of flats does not meet local planning regulations. But Croydon’s own planning department looks ready to … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Community associations, London-wide issues, Planning, Property, Pubs, Sean Fitzsimons | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Mayor Khan announces further £30m to tackle London crime

In the midst of what he called “huge financial challenges”, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has today announced a further £30million investment in policing to ensure that more than 1,000 Met officers will continue to patrol the streets of the capital … Continue reading

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Park life: Shawcross has plenty of appeal in her new role

EXCLUSIVE: Val Shawcross, the former leader of Croydon Council and Deputy Mayor of London, spoke to CLARA MURRAY about her new role as chair of the Crystal Palace Park Trust and the excitement over their latest projects Crystal Palace Park … Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Community associations, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace Park Trust, Friends of Crystal Palace Park, History, Ken Livingstone, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Purrrrley Way store hands £2,000 over to Croydon cat charity

Cats Protection Croydon received a surprise donation of £2,000 over the weekend to help provide for pets in its care during the pandemic. The donation was made by Support Adoption For Pets – the UK’s largest grant-giving animal charity started … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Charity, Purley Way | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘Unintended consequences’: government scraps pay-off cap

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Political editor WALTER CRONXITE finds that the era of half-million-pound rewards for failure might not be over at the council just yet Those council exec directors on six-figure salaries who are sweating on the outcome of a … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Shifa Mustafa | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Removal of LTNs was unnecessary says cycling campaign

Croydon Council acted prematurely in removing its Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes in Crystal Palace and South Norwood, according to the London Cycling Campaign. The council decided to remove the planters and other measures following a ruling from a High Court … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Cycling, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, South Norwood, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Rebel councillor kicked off traffic committee on eve of meeting

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest twist in the saga of the borough’s Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes Pat Ryan, the veteran councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood ward, has been removed as a member of the … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Cycling, London-wide issues, Pat Ryan, Shifa Mustafa, South Norwood, Steve Iles, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

MyT: Easy Accounting with software from Croydon-based firm

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Posted in Advertisement features | Tagged | Leave a comment

Wool, perriwigs and rotten boroughs: the Gorgeous Georgians

MARVELS OF THE MINSTER: Many old memorials for rich, influential families placed in the Parish Church were destroyed by fire 150 years ago. But DAVID MORGAN has managed to track down the story of one of the lost tombs of … Continue reading

Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Police make 28 drug- and violence-related arrests in one week

More than 200 people were stopped and searched and 28 arrests were made in the past week, as extra police took to the streets of West Croydon as part of Operation Cleveland, in the aftermath of the spate of knife … Continue reading

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Policing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Council staff to start six-week covid-19 testing programme

Nearly a year since the country first went into lockdown because of the covid-19 pandemic, frontline staff at Croydon Council are to be part of a six-week rapid testing programme for coronavirus, starting from Monday. In an email to staff … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Health, Katherine Kerswell | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Newman presided over ‘shocking bullying’, claims councillor

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Questions have been raised over Labour’s decision not to suspend the former deputy leader of the council, while Town Hall chiefs prepare for a flurry of disciplinary meetings next week Yesterday’s “administrative suspension” of councillors Tony Newman … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Paul Scott, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Weekend rail services into Victoria to be disrupted until June

Tomorrow will see the start of a near-two-year programme of signalling engineering works on the railway lines into Victoria Station which will see services into the London terminus from East Croydon cancelled or diverted on eight weekends through until June. … Continue reading

Posted in East Croydon, Transport | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Berry’s mayoral campaign goes for solar-powered bus stops

The Green Party has today unveiled plans for a vastly improved new bus stops for London’s streets. Sian Berry, the Greens’ candidate for Mayor in the London elections on May 6, has pledged that she will commission a full redesign … Continue reading

Posted in Caroline Russell, Croydon Greens, Environment, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sian Berry, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Purley Station’s new artworks offer inspiration from history

Purley BID’s efforts to enhance their district centre has seen them commission three giant artworks for the local railway station. A collaboration of works by Dan Cimmermann and Morgan Davy, the project was supported by Southern Rail, with the art … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Business, Purley, Purley BID | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Newman and Hall are ‘administratively suspended’ by Labour

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Five months after their resignations, two of the key figures in the financial collapse of the council have had their party membership suspended. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Tony Newman, a councillor in Croydon since 1994 and leader … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

We’re in the money! Bexley gets its government bail-out

While Croydon Council waits on anxiously for the deliberations of Whitehall civil servants over whether it will be allowed its multi-million-pound bail-out, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government last night announced that it would be granting permission to … Continue reading

Posted in Bexley, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Outside Croydon, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Surge testing’ for South African variant starts in Streatham

Lambeth today began carrying out “surge testing” for the South African variant of covid-19 in Streatham. It is the second area bordering Croydon to be subject to surge testing in a week, following cases of the South African variant being … Continue reading

Posted in Health, Lambeth Council | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Kerswell cull: ‘This is a really difficult situation’ says CEO

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest bulletin to council staff intended, perhaps, to keep up morale In the vintage (and not very “woke”) BBC sitcom Are You Being Served, the doddering old proprietor of … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Shifa Mustafa | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Croydon BME Forum: Well-being workshop, Feb 25

Posted in Community associations, Croydon BME Forum | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Kerswell cull begins: five senior council execs go ‘off-grid’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Monday night’s constitutional changes at the Town Hall were quickly followed by ‘unprecedented’ action from the interim CEO. By STEVEN DOWNES Almost the whole of the senior leadership team at the council “went off-grid” today. Inside Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hamida Ali, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments