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

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

CEO Kerswell gets ready to reorganise council’s senior officials

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A meeting last night showed that no one had bothered removing former leader Tony Newman from an important committee, while councillors lacked the power to sack the chief executive or other senior officials. WALTER CRONXITE reports That … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Hamida Ali, Heather Cheesbrough, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paula Murray, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Purley’s 117-year-old fountain is back in working order

Purley BID has completed their restoration project for the water fountain located in the gardens of Purley Library. The fountain has been a Purley landmark for more than 100 years, and now it is back in full working order.

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

BME Forum: Health and Well-being, Feb 10, Feb 24, Mar 10

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

£100m questions on Ali’s ‘transparent, open and honest’ pledge

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on the growing row over council secrecy over Brick by Brick and the fire sale of property assets The secrecy over the consequences of the council’s plan to wind-down failed housing developer Brick … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jason Cummings, Property, Stuart King, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Police launch stop and search operation in West Croydon

Croydon police have today launched Operation Cleveland, with an increased presence of officers on the streets around West Croydon “carrying out high visibility foot patrols to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour”. The move comes after the outbreak of knife attacks … Continue reading

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, Knife crime, Policing, Selhurst, West Croydon | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

‘Email us if you are unable to access our online consultation’

Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on the council’s latest blunder over a public consultation for the badly polluted Purley Way and false claims for ‘the highest environmental standards’ Croydon Council, which already has a diabolically bad reputation for the way … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Mayor of London, Planning, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Purley Way, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Waddon, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Report: Incinerator is ‘as polluting as coal-fired power stations’

An investigation published by the Daily Telegraph reports that hundreds of millions of pounds of public money has been handed over to the incinerator industry based on false claims that burning waste generates cheap, green energy. The Telegraph investigation, published … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Climate Crisis Commission, Croydon Council, Environment, Planning, Refuse collection, Sutton Council, Veolia, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Croydon BME Forum: Should we take the vaccine? Feb 11

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

Time for a show of leadership on Croydon’s climate crisis

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With children struggling to maintain good mental health in the pandemic, and while the lockdown is seeing declining physical activity levels among some youngsters, AMY FOSTER calls on the council leader to provide real support for one of … Continue reading

Posted in Commuting, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Cycling, Environment, Hamida Ali, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Police begin murder inquiry as ‘senseless’ stabbings continue

Croydon police yesterday began a murder investigation into the events that led to a man in his 20s dying from knife wounds after a stabbing in Selhurst on Friday night. Yet even as senior officers were reassuring MPs and council … Continue reading

Posted in Andy Brittain, Broad Green, Coulsdon, Crime, Hamida Ali, Knife crime, Policing, Selhurst | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

One dead and 10 stabbings in Croydon night of savagery

Unconfirmed reports suggest a turf war between south London gangs could be behind the outbreak of violence on Croydon streets last night, with too few police to prevent such deadly incidents In a couple of hours of unprecedented savagery in … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Crime, Fairfield, Knife crime, Policing, Selhurst | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Reprieved! Buss recommends scrapping dozens of build plans

Among the recommendations contained in the report on the future of Brick by Brick going before next Tuesday’s scrutiny committee is a list of sites which are no longer to be developed by the loss-making council-owned builder. The biggest site … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, College Green, Croydon Council, Paul Scott, Planning, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council set to take £100m hit as it winds down Brick by Brick

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough is looking for a buyer for its failed development company, as a secret report to next week’s scrutiny committee balances the costs of selling off sites currently under development against the price of persisting with … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, College Green, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Homes, Hamida Ali, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Property, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Developers of £180m towers deny delay is due to cladding

The owners of the world’s tallest block of prefabs have denied that prospective residents of 101 George Street’s towers have been stalled for more than six months because of issues with the buildings’ cladding. Inside Croydon revealed earlier this week … Continue reading

Posted in 101 George Street/Ten Degrees, Business, Croydon Council, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Virtual Comedy Night for Croydon Athletic, Feb 11

Posted in AFC Croydon Athletic, Comedy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Builders pay £56m to strip Grenfell cladding from Croydon flats

Barratt, the housing developers, took a £56million hit on its profits to fix fire safety and structural problems in “legacy properties”, the bulk of which was spent in removing flammable cladding from their Citiscape block in Croydon. The 95 flats … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Business | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

£650,000 cost of mayor ballot is not ‘essential expenditure’

Town Hall leaders threaten to pull referendum on directly elected mayor if the pot-less council is unable to fix its finances. By KEN LEE Councillors will get to vote on Monday on whether to stage a referendum on the issue … Continue reading

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Community associations, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Veteran councillor Ryan under investigation over ‘outburst’

Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on the latest allegations of rule-breaking by a veteran Labour councillor “Pat has lost it.” That’s the view of a senior member of the Labour Party in Crystal Palace after a month in which their … Continue reading

Posted in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, John Wentworth, Nina Degrads, Pat Ryan, Stephen Mann, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sutton heating ‘disaster’ has residents seeking compensation

CARL SHILTON, our Sutton correspondent, reports on a badly-organised meeting – part Muppet Show, part Orwell’s 1984 – at which shocked residents saw their new ‘luxury’ homes reduced in value potentially by tens of thousands of pounds because of a … Continue reading

Posted in Ben Andrew, Elliot Colburn, Housing, Jayne McCoy, London-wide issues, Property, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coulsdon councillors distance themselves from plotter Morgan

Our fringes of Surrey correspondent, PEARL LEE, on the latest developments in the intrigue and dispute around a residents’ association Coulsdon’s Tory councillors have finally called time on the illicit takeover of a residents’ association. Coulsdon Town councillors Ian Parker, … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Ian Parker, Luke Clancy, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Changing the culture of secrecy must be the turning point’

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on the council leadership’s reaction to yesterday’s announcements from the local government ministry “We have a very long way to go,” the council leader, Hamida Ali, said, more than once, as she accepted the findings … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Robert Ward, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

£2,400 per day – the high cost of council’s ‘improvement’ panel

The annual cost of having Croydon officials’ work checked by Whitehall-appointed experts comes to ‘three-quarters of a Negrini’, as KEN LEE reports The Improvement Panel imposed on Croydon by the Tory government to check that the cash-strapped council is running … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments