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Category Archives: Mark Watson
Scott and Butler lined up to receive council service award
Councillors who presided over Croydon’s financial ruin could soon be honoured by the very borough they helped bankrupt, thanks to the council’s flawed constitution. By Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE Tony Newman, Alison Butler, Paul Scott, Simon Hall and other … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Bernadette Khan, Croydon Council, Donald Speakman, Hamida Ali, Helen Pollard, Mark Watson, Mayor Jason Perry, Pat Clouder, Paul Scott, Paul Smith, Simon Hall, Steve O'Connell, Stuart King, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman
Tagged Alderman, Alderwoman, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, STUART KING, Tony Newman
9 Comments
Labour councillor’s leaflet causes anger in Addiscombe
An Addiscombe couple, whose business has cosy links to Labour’s General Secretary David Evans, has shocked and angered party members by distributing a leaflet which tries to pass itself off as official Labour literature. The efforts of Maddie and Mark … Continue reading
Council deputy Butler fails to declare company directorship
WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, on the nexus of connections between a senior Town Hall figure, an ex-councillor’s charity and local Tories It almost looks like she’s getting the old gang together again. There today, in the official records of … Continue reading
Street market licences fall by 87% after council ‘improvements’
The number of casual licences issued to stall-holders to trade on Surrey Street Market has fallen by 87 per cent since one of council leader Tony Newman’s closest colleagues at the Town Hall shut down the ancient market to squander … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Mark Watson, Surrey Street, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon Council, Labour, Mark Watson, Surrey Street, Surrey Street Market, Tony Newman
1 Comment
‘Addiscombe West Bypass’ proves to be a car crash of a policy
JEREMY CLACKSON, our transport correspondent, on the continuing angst caused by traffic levels off the Addiscombe Road The wretched legacy of Mark Watson’s time of power and influence within Croydon Council is still being felt by some of the former … Continue reading
Controversial chair of planning Scott gets promoted to cabinet
WALTER CRONXITE reports on the latest egregious example of Town Hall patronage, and all done at your expense – including one of ‘Tony’s Cronies’ getting £6,000 per committee meeting Despite managing to bring together 17 residents’ groups in opposition to … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Jane Avis, Louisa Woodley, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mark Watson, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Planning, Simon Hall, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Alissa Flemming, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Jane Avis, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Louisa Woodley, Paul Scott, South Norwood, STUART KING, Tony Newman, Woodside
8 Comments
Council’s figures show traders in exodus from Surrey Street
Town Hall reporter KEN LEE has been doing some digging into how a £1.2m ‘improvement’ scheme has driven away businesses from the town’s historic street market The legacy of Mark Watson’s £1.2million, council-funded artwashing and gentrification of Surrey Street is … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Mark Watson, Surrey Street
Tagged Mark Watson, Surrey Street, Surrey Street Market
2 Comments
Signs of the times: Watson’s whim is now back on message
It has not been in position for two months yet, but Councillor Mark Watson’s whimsy on the newly pedestrianised bit of the High Street has now got a second sign. The art-installation seating, which looks as if it was made … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Mark Watson
Tagged Croydon Council, Croydon High Street, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson
6 Comments
Council warning that Watson’s whim is dangerous structure
Less than a month since Mark Watson, the senior Labour councillor, heralded it as “a popular addition” to the town centre, his latest costly piece of whimsy in the High Street has now effectively been declared as a hazard and … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Mark Watson, Planning
Tagged Croydon Council, Croydon High Street, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson
2 Comments
Watson ‘backing’ business, after halving his charity’s income
Above is the scene in Surrey Street Market in early afternoon yesterday, Wednesday January 3, 2018. It is about six months since the council, in a plan pushed through by the soon-to-be-ex councillor Mark Watson, spent £1.2million, on “upgrading” the … Continue reading
Road works in town centre force bus routes on diversion
Councillor Mark Watson’s whimsy of closing a stretch of the High Street in the town centre has encountered an unforeseen complication since the weekend, as Thames Water has dug up the road on Katharine Street, close to the Town Hall, … Continue reading
Posted in Mark Watson, Planning, TfL, Transport
Tagged Croydon Council, Croydon High Street, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson, TfL, Transport for London
1 Comment
Disability groups never consulted over latest Watson whim
Members of two bodies which seek to represent the interests and needs of Croydon’s disabled and elderly – one of which is organised by the council itself – have confirmed that there was no consultation held with them before Croydon … Continue reading
‘Elderly and disabled avoid town centre as it is too dangerous’
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Former Labour councillor ADRIAN DENNIS, pictured left, accuses the current Town Hall administration of failing to fulfil its legal responsibilities over the closure to traffic of a short stretch of the High Street While there were very good … Continue reading
More changes on the buses thanks to Watson’s whim
Transport for London has been forced to make more changes to bus routes in the town centre as a consequence of the “Watson whim” closure to vehicles of the High Street between Park Street and Katharine Street. From Monday, January … Continue reading
Posted in Mark Watson, TfL, Transport
Tagged Croydon Council, Mark Watson, TfL, Transport for London
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Latest ‘Watson whim’ generates ridicule and confusion
As well as little proper consultation over the closure of a stretch of Croydon High Street, there doesn’t appear to have been much thought gone into what Mark Watson, the soon-to-be-ex councillor behind the scheme, and the council intend to … Continue reading
High Street closure to be permanent, says council consultant
The closure of Croydon High Street, between Park Street and Katharine Street, imposed on the town centre in October after only the briefest of “consultations”, is intended to be permanent, according to correspondence obtained by Inside Croydon. When it was … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Mark Watson, Planning, Pubs, Restaurants, TfL, Tony Newman, Transport
Tagged Croydon Council, Croydon High Street, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson, Rise Gallery, St George's Walk, Tony Newman
4 Comments
Owner ‘rises to the challenge’ as businesses quit Boxpark
“Stop sort of complaining about your lot and get on with rising to the challenge, that’s my message to people,” businessman Roger Wade said recently. “You can’t have the council going out trying to protect local businesses.” Wade is the … Continue reading
Posted in Boxpark, Business, East Croydon, Mark Watson, Tony Newman
Tagged Boozepark, Boxpark, Conservative, Croydon Council, East Croydon station, Labour, Roger Wade, Tony Newman, Tory
6 Comments
Labour councillor Watson opts to jump before de-selection
STEVEN DOWNES reports on the latest shift of power at the Town Hall Addiscombe councillor Mark Watson, an influential member of the council cabinet, last night stunned Labour Party members in his ward by announcing his withdrawal from the selection … Continue reading
Posted in 2018 council elections, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Andrew Rendle, Ashburton, Business, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Mark Watson, Patricia Hay-Justice, Paul Smith, Sean Fitzsimons, Stephen Mann, Surrey Street, Tony Newman
Tagged Addiscombe West, Addiscombe West, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Mark Watson, Patricia Hay-Justice, Sean Fitzsimons, Tony Newman
4 Comments
Residents associations in dispute over latest one-way scheme
Transport correspondent JEREMY CLACKSON reports on the latest diversion for traffic coming down the road in East Croydon Road users in Addiscombe can prepare themselves for a third change to the one-way system in the area in barely 18 months, … Continue reading
Night clubbers’ cars stop Surrey Street traders from working
It is only now, three months after the re-opening of Surrey Street Market, beginning to emerge why it was necessary to spend £1.2million on resurfacing a stretch of the road as part of Councillor Mark Watson’s attempt to drive stall-holders … Continue reading
Posted in Mark Watson, Surrey Street
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson, Surrey Street, Surrey Street Market
1 Comment
Calls mount for councillor to resign from community groups
Paul Scott, the Labour councillor who describes himself as a “community leader”, has been challenged to step down from at least one of his many roles and to consider the various conflicts of interest that he has, after being accused … Continue reading
Watson’s latest whim will see High Street closed to traffic
WALTER CRONXITE reports on a town centre-changing scheme which has been kept a secret from all but just 10 of the borough’s councillors And now, ladies and gentlemen, from the senior council figure who spent more than £1million on Surrey … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Croydon Council, Cycling, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Mark Watson, Planning, TfL, Transport
Tagged Addiscombe West, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon High Street, Fairfield, Labour, Mark Watson, St George's Walk
10 Comments
‘Pound a croissant!’ Council continues to artwash Surrey Street
Croydon’s Labour-run council is not even trying to hide its gentrification agenda for Surrey Street any longer. Having ripped the guts out of the traditional street market through neglect of its traders and an enforced two-month closure, all done at … Continue reading
Latest Addiscombe road changes are heading only one way
Croydon Council officials’ ability to set neighbour against neighbour plumbed new depths this week at the Traffic Management Advisory Committee meeting held at the Town Hall. On the agenda was the council officers’ proposal to make Canning Road and Addiscombe … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe and Shirley Park RA, Addiscombe Residents Association, Addiscombe West, Community associations, ECCO, HOME, Mark Watson, Patricia Hay-Justice, Sean Fitzsimons, TACRA
Tagged Addiscombe and Shirley Park Residents' Association, Addiscombe West, Croydon Council, East Croydon station, ECCO, HOME, Lebanon Road, Mark Watson, TACRA
24 Comments
Now council’s housing developer snubs its Place Review Panel
BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, on how the borough’s Council Tax-payers are providing another nice little earner for the Town Hall CEO’s chums In the eight months since council chief executive Jo Negrini unveiled Croydon’s Place Review Panel, it has … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Angela Brady, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mark Watson, Place Review Panel, Planning
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Jo Negrini, London Borough of Croydon, Mark Watson, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
3 Comments
