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Category Archives: Sean Fitzsimons
Budget is approved but Labour council haunted by its past
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Back-to-back meetings yesterday pushed through the paperwork to balance the books and increase Council Tax. But Hamida Ali’s administration cannot shake off its part in the borough’s financial calamity. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor With the £120million … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Andrew Stranack, Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Ian Parker, Jason Cummings, Jeet Bains, Lynne Hale, Maddie Henson, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Vidhi Mohan
Tagged Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jason Cummings, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Rapid Review, S114, Section 114, Simon Hall, STUART KING, Tony Newman, Tory
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‘Not good enough’ chair of scrutiny could yet stay in post
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Despite his committee being accused of lacking an ‘understanding of the urgency of the financial position’, one key Labour councillor shows no intention of standing down. By political editor WALTER CRONXITE For many residents and front-line council … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Report in the Public Interest, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Rapid Review, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, S114, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114, Tony Newman
7 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
Binmageddon!: Council blunders again over garden waste
The serial incompetence of the propaganda department at Labour-run Croydon Council has managed to hand another (albeit minor) political victory to the Tory opposition, this time over the suspension of the borough’s garden waste service. As Inside Croydon was first … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Refuse collection, Sean Fitzsimons, Steve Iles, Veolia
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Garden Waste collections, Labour, Steve Iles, Tory, Veolia
4 Comments
Council applies emergency brake on New Year parking hike
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Transport correspondent JEREMY CLACKSON reports on how Fisher’s Folly officials have been forced into a sudden U-turn over their money-spinning ’emissions-based’ parking charges New car parking charges, due to come into force at council-run car parks and … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Joy Prince, Muhammad Ali, New Addington, Parking, Pubs, Purley, Restaurants, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Selsdon & Ballards, Shifa Mustafa, Shirley, Thornton Heath, Transport
Tagged Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Emmissions-based parking charges, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Joy Prince, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Muhammad Ali, New Addington, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Shifa Mustafa, South Norwood, Thornton Heath
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Row after Labour councillor calls for scrutiny chair to resign
Backbench councillors who have been marginalised for years under Tony Newman and his cronies are beginning to ask some awkward questions. KEN LEE reports Jamie Audsley, a councillor consigned to almost permanent backbench status under the rule of former leader … Continue reading
The late, late show: scrutiny sees anger and hears of bullying
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council is ‘on a journey’, according to the interim chief executive, who clung firmly to platitudes and clichés at her first scrutiny committee this week. But will it all be just ‘words, words, words’, as a … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Jo Negrini, Joy Prince, Katherine Kerswell, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman, Uncategorized
Tagged Alison Butler, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Jo Negrini, Joy Prince, Labour, Leila Ben-Hassel, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, S114, Sean Fitzsimons, Section 114, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
10 Comments
NHS boss gets covid numbers wrong: ‘a transcription error’
STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, reports on a crass piece of misinformation over coronavirus provided by the most senior NHS executive in Croydon Matthew Kershaw, the chief executive of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, last week provided the council’s scrutiny committee with … Continue reading
Binmageddon!: Oval Road residents despair at rubbish service
Demoralised residents in Addiscombe have appealed to the council to sort out the mess that they have created on Oval Road, where rubbish bags are left festering for days, even weeks on end, often with their contents spewing out across … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Refuse collection, Sarah Jones MP, Sean Fitzsimons, Veolia
Tagged Addiscombe, Addiscombe West, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, East Croydon station, London Borough of Croydon, Oval Road, Sarah Jones MP, Sean Fitzsimons, Veolia
5 Comments
Campaign group prepares to battle for Glamorgan’s future
Pub-lovers in Addiscombe and East Croydon are rolling up their sleeves for another battle over the future of The Glamorgan on Cherry Orchard Road, against developers who have a track record for allowing old pub buildings to fall derelict if … Continue reading
The Audit Report: Council ignored five warnings on reserves
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Complacency and ‘corporate blindness’ to the problems at the council contributed to the collapse of the borough’s finances. But Grant Thornton’s report also managed to have a dig at Jo Negrini. WALTER CRONXITE reports Grant Thornton’s Report … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Report in the Public Interest, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Selsdon and Addington Village, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged CIPFA, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Tory
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New leader Ali is set to confront ‘shocking’ council finances
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After winning a Labour group selection battle by 22 votes to 19 over Alisa Flemming, Hamida Ali tells her supporters ‘the hardest graft ever is about to start’. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Hamida Ali has no … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, Addiscombe West, Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Ian Parker, Knife crime, Mayor of London, Paul Scott, Sadiq Khan, Sarah Jones MP, Sean Fitzsimons, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Woodside
Tagged Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Callton Young, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Labour, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman, Tory
3 Comments
Croydon’s planners save historic Addiscombe house – twice
Addiscombe residents are preparing themselves for a renewed battle to save an historic, landmark house in their neighbourhood after the council’s planning department first refused planning permission to the building’s owners to convert the house into flats, and today refused … Continue reading
Newman gives ‘manifesto pledge’ to ignore referendum vote
Just days before he faces a no-confidence motion at the Town Hall, the council leader has committed Labour to ignore the outcome of a democratic borough-wide referendum. WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, reports Tony Newman, the part-time council leader who after … Continue reading
Croydon in crisis: Council makes 20% cuts to adult services
KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on the latest cuts at the council While Jo Negrini was having her lawyers haggle over the size of her six-figure pay-off for leaving her job as chief executive of the council, the scale … Continue reading
Newman’s claims over diversity miss the real ‘need for change’
Black Lives Matter. But in Orwellian Croydon, some matter more than others, as our political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports While many in England will be rushing off to the pub tomorrow, Tony Newman will be using a Croydon Labour councillors’ … Continue reading
Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Clive Fraser, David Wood, Jane Avis, Janet Campbell, Louisa Woodley, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Callton Young, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, David Wood, Jane Avis, Labour, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Sean Fitzsimons, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
7 Comments
Newman bans Labour councillors from ‘liking’ Inside Croydon
WALTER CRONXITE reports on the ludicrous lengths that the council leadership is going to in order to avoid scrutiny of their failing administration Tony Newman, the increasingly absurd leader of Croydon Council, has ordered his fellow Labour councillors not to … Continue reading
Covid-19 a ‘ticking time bomb’ in borough’s 140 care homes
Croydon is among the London boroughs worst hit by coronavirus according to the latest government figures this weekend. And yet the pandemic death toll in this part of south London could be far worse once the fatalities are counted up … Continue reading
Newman’s ‘virtually all there’ for his secret Town Hall meeting
The government finally moved late last week to make it legally possible for local authorities to stage “virtual” council meetings, and to continue with a semblance of Town Hall business during the covid-19 lockdown. Yet less than 48 hours before … Continue reading
Posted in Caragh Skipper, Croydon Council, CVA, Jo Negrini, Sean Fitzsimons, Tony Newman
Tagged Addiscombe West, Caragh Skipper, Conservative, coronavirus, Covid-19, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Sean Fitzsimons, Tony Newman, Tory
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‘Lack of trust’ sees arts venue selling just 26% of tickets
With the Fairfield Halls refurbishment costs now confirmed as £42.6m, and still rising, the venue is struggling to win back its audiences, as KEN LEE reports The costs of refurbishing the Fairfield Halls rose by another £1.6million in just five … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Jo Negrini, Neil Chandler, Sean Fitzsimons
Tagged BH Live, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Jo Negrini, Labour, Leila Ben-Hassel, London Borough of Croydon, Neil Chandler, Sean Fitzsimons
10 Comments
Dartnell Road open space public meeting, Addiscombe, Nov 20
Posted in Addiscombe West, Croydon parks, Sean Fitzsimons
Tagged Addiscombe, Dartnell Road
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Micro-flat developers have helped to fund Labour council
Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, on how a pair of developers investigated for making millions from housing benefits, paid as rents on under-sized flats, have also been generous donors or sponsors of council-run events or to Labour councillors, including Paul … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Humayun Kabir, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Paul Scott, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Sean Fitzsimons, Tony Newman
Tagged AA Homes, Alison Butler, Anwar Ansari, Caridon Property Group, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mario Carrozzo, Paul Scott, Sadiq Khan, Tony Newman, Tory
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Director with Qatari links resigns from Brick by Brick board
BARRATT HOLMES reports on more revelations about council home-builders’ business which failed to get a mention at last week’s Town Hall scrutiny committee One of the company directors of Brick by Brick has resigned from the board of Croydon Council’s … Continue reading
‘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
