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Category Archives: Croydon Council
Council puts hotel and College Green up for sale for just £40m
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Two prime sites, owned by the council, are the latest public assets to be off-loaded on the cheap. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The cash-strapped council’s fire-sale of public assets continues, with the Croydon Park Hotel and College … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, East Croydon, Housing, Jo Negrini, Property, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, College Green, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, East Croydon station, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Labour, Tony Newman
6 Comments
Director refuses to admit conflict of interest over South Drive
A council director has told residents that there is nothing wrong whatsoever in a member of her planning staff providing pre-application advice to a developer, and then leaving their job at the council to work for the architects hired by … Continue reading
Reed rails against Tory plans, as his mates flog off public park
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council pushes on with its plans to sell off part of Grangewood Park, a ‘quiet secluded oasis in the heart of a busy local area’, while Blairite MP does nothing to oppose. By STEVEN DOWNES As Steve … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, Friends of Grangewood Park, Planning, Steve Reed MP, Thornton Heath, Thornton Heath Community Action Team
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Grangewood Park, Steve Reed OBE, Thornton Heath
1 Comment
Fitzpatrick rallies Addiscombe residents to object to 5G mast
An Addiscombe councillor has stepped in to try to protect the local environment by demanding “Not In Our Back Yard” over proposals to build a massive 5G telecommunications mast on a patch of public green space. Jerry Fitzpatrick, the veteran … Continue reading
Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Planning
Tagged Addiscombe West, Cornerstone, Jerry Fitzpatrick
2 Comments
Flood warning: after six years, Riddlesdown works set to start
More than a month’s average rainfall was deposited on Croydon and parts of southern England yesterday, exposing once more the areas of the borough more prone to flooding, and in many cases also illustrating the failures of council contractors’ to … Continue reading
Government inspector’s concerns over BxB sweetheart deal
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jenrick’s improvement board raises serious questions over whether the quick sale of the council’s failed development company could end up costing tax-payers many millions of pounds, while its latest report criticises borough officials’ ‘lack of self-awareness’. By … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, Tony McArdle, Urban Splash
6 Comments
Covid pop-up centres to open for ‘final lap’ of vaccinations
Croydon’s NHS is encouraging everyone in the borough to come forward for their life-saving covid vaccinations and join more than 320,000 residents who have already had the jab. The concerted drive for mass vaccination will see walk-in clinics established to … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon CCG, Health, Rachel Flowers
Tagged coronavirus, Covid-19, Dr Agnelo Fernandes, Rachel Flowers
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#Macarnage: Planning officer’s ‘leaving present’ to Coulsdon
EXCLUSIVE: The revolving door between the council planning department and private developers and architects is exposed over a scheme for 39 flats in Coulsdon. By STEVEN DOWNES Before Jan Slominski was hired as a senior planning adviser for the architects … Continue reading
House sale prices in London suffer biggest fall for a decade
Hopes that some quick sales of Brick by Brick’s long-overdue and hugely overpriced homes might help to ease Croydon Council’s financial woes took a knock yesterday with publication of a report that showed that London’s “gravity-defying” house price rises had … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Housing, London-wide issues
Tagged Croydon, house prices, London
2 Comments
Ali’s latest gaffe attracts ridicule over landlord licensing
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council leader reacts with dismay at loss of £20m in licence fees, as Labour councillors question lack of support from their new chief executive. By STEVEN DOWNES Hamida Ali, the council leader, opened herself up again to … Continue reading
Jenrick rejects Croydon’s landlord licence scheme application
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The government has binned an application to extend the borough’s landlord licensing scheme, saying that the council failed to provide any housing strategy. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, has rejected … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Alison Knight, Business, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Landlord licensing, Paul Scott, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, Landlord licensing scheme, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Paul Scott, Robert Jenrick, Tony Newman
11 Comments
After 3-month delay, council calls in surveyors for Regina Road
Almost three months after the appalling conditions of flats in South Norwood were exposed, and the council has stuffed letters through the residents’ front doors to say that they are only now about to start doing something about it. Though … Continue reading
The axeman cometh: the latest (really) bad idea for Boxpark
Croydon is about to get its first axe-throwing bar at Boozepark. That’s right: a bar, selling booze, next to East Croydon Station, providing axes to its customers as a form of recreation. In central Croydon, a place already with a … Continue reading
Posted in Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council
Tagged Bad Axe, Boozepark, Boxpark, Croydon, Croydon Central, East Croydon station
10 Comments
Coulsdon concern as planning’s husband and wife act returns
Coulsdon residents are expressing grave concerns about serious potential conflicts of interest in the council’s planning department and proposals to build two massive blocks of flats in a quiet, tree-lined residential cul-de-sac. The developers at the centre of the latest … Continue reading
Posted in Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Housing, Planning
Tagged Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, HTA Design, Jan Slominski, Macar Developments, Natalie Gentry, Paul Scott, Purley, Ross Gentry
6 Comments
Delays at Croydon put Parkrun’s national return in jeopardy
Delays at Croydon Council could force the abandonment of the post-covid return of hundreds of popular Parkruns across England. Following the government’s “roadmap” out of lockdown, national organisers have been targeting June 26 as their English resumption date – but … Continue reading
Residents’ group pledges to keep up the fight for decent homes
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Three months after a TV news report shocked the nation, tenants in South Norwood council flats say they are still being let down by the council The residents’ group that was set up in South Norwood as … Continue reading
Commissioner says Croydon can recover – with another £30m
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A report from commissioners overseeing another local authority that went bankrupt offers troubling parallels closer to home. STEVEN DOWNES reports Croydon Council can get itself out of financial trouble – but only if Whitehall stumps up another … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Northamptonshire, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
6 Comments
Trading Standards delivers 17th court win against knife crime
A court case brought by Croydon Council Trading Standards against a firm selling dangerous weapons online to children has brought a prosecution and £25,000 in fines and costs against the company. The case, brought against Daventry-based Extreme GB Ltd, was … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Crime, Croydon Council, Knife crime, Trading Standards
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Trading Standards, Lord Toby Harris
2 Comments
Climate Commission report presents challenges for council
A council-commissioned report has been published on the borough’s response to the climate emergency. Say its authors, “The clock is ticking on climate change… we need to ensure that we are building an economy fit for the future.” The 59-page … Continue reading
£50m shortfall in Home Office payments for asylum children
The council says that the government has underpaid it by around £50million, money which it says is owed for taking care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who arrive in the UK in Croydon. The council claims that over the past decade … Continue reading
Tesco plan to use CCTV to remove free parking at Purley
Residents in Purley, Sanderstead, Kenley and beyond are asking for their neighbours to join with them in posting objections on the council’s online planning portal to Tesco’s application for permission to instal two ANPRs – automatic number plate recognition cameras … Continue reading
Kerswell was only interviewee for £192,000 council top job
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council announces chief exec appointment – after the only alternative candidate dropped out. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The council this afternoon announced that the £192,474 per year job of chief executive has been offered to Katherine Kerswell, … Continue reading
Disabled resident’s harrowing plea: ‘I don’t want to be in here’
After a decade of complaints and media exposés, living conditions endured in council temporary accommodation in Thornton Heath remain a scandal. By STEVEN DOWNES Gilroy Court, the budget hotel in Thornton Heath which Croydon and other councils use for temporary … Continue reading
