Category Archives: Jo Negrini

Investigation call over property deals for £220m flats scheme

Residents in Addiscombe are angry that the council has ignored hundreds of objections and granted planning permission for 36- and 33-storey towers – and demand a thorough police investigation into the tax-payers’ millions lost on successive Croydon Park Hotel property … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Botanical House, Brick by Brick, Business, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Housing, Jo Negrini, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Report in the Public Interest, Sean Fitzsimons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

After two years, Simmonds legal case approaches its end-game

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A council committee is to meet in secret later this week, potentially to discuss whether the authority should settle out-of-court over allegations of race discrimination and victimisation brought by a former senior employee Croydon Council’s Employment Tribunal … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Shifa Mustafa | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mayor Perry: we’ve reported no one for bankrupting borough

Tory Mayor now blames police for slow investigation – after having submitted complaint over former council leaders more than two years after the council received recommendations that it should do so. By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter In an extraordinary … Continue reading

Posted in Crime, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Policing, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Town Hall staff braced for £31m more cuts and job losses

CROYDON IN CRISIS: In an internal email to staff, the £192,000 per year chief executive has laid the groundwork for the next round of redundancies in departments including personnel and planning. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES While her council was congratulating … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Tory Mayor Perry admits to another broken election promise

No more ‘rewards for failure’ was the Tory promise before last year’s local elections. Now the council’s executive Mayor has conceded that he cannot act against Newman, Negrini or others accused of bankrupting the borough. By our Town Hall reporter, … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Squatters do a bunk as bailiffs smash Brick by Brick’s doors

Seven bailiffs, acting as “Representatives of the Owner”, wasted no time in descending on Brick by Brick’s former offices in George Street on Saturday afternoon to evict the squatters who had been occupying the building for almost two weeks. A … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Defiant squatters are ordered to leave Brick by Brick’s offices

While security guards peered from the windows of the empty Croydon Park Hotel on Altyre Road,  squatters and their supporters were erecting banners in the forecourt of Croydon County Court this morning. The group of squatters calling themselves Reclaim Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Housing, Stiles Harold Williams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Squatters take over Brick by Brick’s abandoned office building

Perhaps this is the start of a people’s fightback against the Croydon Establishment. A group of squatters calling themselves “Reclaim Croydon” has moved in to the abandoned offices of Brick by Brick in the town centre, to show the high … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Didn’t I do well?! Kerswell gives herself a pat on the back

CROYDON IN CRISIS: It is three years to the week since the emergency committee meeting, attended by Jason Perry, that decided in secret to give £437,000 to Jo Negrini to leave her job as council CEO. Today, Negreedy’s replacement, Katherine … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Perry’s council refuses to name its design review panellists

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor decided to re-boot Negrini’s Place Review Panel, but after almost a year’s delay, the identities of the ‘experts’ assembled remain closely guarded secrets. By WALTER CRONXITE “Just what are they trying to hide?” a Katharine Street … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Design Review Panel, Environment, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Place Review Panel, Planning, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cost of failure: report says Negrini’s lined up new pay-off

Might Jo Negrini – “Negreedy” as she was less-than-fondly known by colleagues when she was chief executive at Croydon Council – be heading for a second overly generous pay-off in just three years? Next month will see the anniversary of … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Perry to hand key Regina Road contract to Negrini’s employers

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Having said he would begin legal proceedings to recover some of the former CEO’s £437,000 ‘Golden Handshake’, the Tory Mayor is now hiring the company that has appointed the self-acclaimed regeneration expert as a director. EXCLUSIVE by … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Property, Regina Road redevelopment, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Brick by Brick’s unsold homes are costing Croydon a fortune

Despite there being a ‘housing crisis’, the council’s failed development company is struggling to sell dozens of its homes. As housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES reports, £440,000 for a two-bed shared-ownership flat is putting off buyers There’s good reason that loss-making … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Housing, Old Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Brick by Brick’s losses pile up even after selling £89m of homes

As the failed development company staggers towards its ultimate demise, it is maintaining its unwanted record of never making a single penny in profit, as our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, reports Brick by Brick, the council-owned housing company, sold £89million-worth … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Martyn Evans | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Council ordered to give £15,000 back-pay to ex-boss Simmonds

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council has incurred another costly legal defeat, after one of those execs axed in the ‘Kerswell kull’ two years ago wins her Employment Tribunal case Croydon Council and its chief executive, Katherine Kerswell, have been dealt … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Shifa Mustafa | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Homes report warns of ‘unsustainable’ shared ownership deals

Shared ownership risks becoming “financially unsustainable” for lower-income buyers, warns a report published this week. The report, Shared ownership: the consumer perspective, reveals how more than one-third of shared owners display indicators of financial vulnerability, with lower financial resilience and … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Planners’ unconditional love for developers is unchanged

One of the arguments put forward for a change to a directly elected mayor was that they would be able to end the questionable practices of the council planning department. But as STEVE WHITESIDE explains, strategic ignorance and intellectual dishonesty … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lynne Hale, Pete Smith, Planning, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Perry admits he can’t take action against council’s bankrupters

Croydon’s part-time Mayor has always known that the actions of councillors and senior council staff ‘can decimate an authority… without any fear of recrimination’. But he’s been very reluctant to admit his impotency to the borough’s residents. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Improvement Board, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Council yet to start legal action on Negrini’s £437,000 pay-off

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Perry is taking his time over his public claim to be pursuing the former council CEO for a refund of her golden handshake. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Almost two months after Jason Perry, Croydon’s elected Mayor, … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Simon Hall, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Brick by Brick’s George Street offices are put up for rent

A lasting reminder of one of the principal factors that crashed the council’s finances could be about to be erased from Croydon town centre. Brick by Brick’s vainglorious sales suite and offices on George Street have been vacated and put … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Key document withheld from planning scrutiny for 21 months

STEVE WHITESIDE with an update on how the council’s planners and planning enforcement teams continue to fail the borough’s residents, while turning a blind eye to developers ignoring conditions Last month, I wrote about the sad saga of 158 Purley … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Developer consults on 775-flat proposal next to Fairfield Halls

Proposals for another 775 flats, including a 38-storey tower, on a two-acre site next to the Fairfield Halls are being laid out for public consultation tomorrow. The scheme is being brought forward by asset managers Delta Properties, who acquired the … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon College, Fairfield Halls, Housing, Oliver Lewis, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Demolition shows how council’s planners have no ‘red lines’

STEVE WHITESIDE on the developing (geddit?) saga of a house-builder who manages to ignore planning conditions laid down by elected councillors, thanks to some considerable assistance being provided by council staff The sad saga of 158 Purley Downs Road, where … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Leila Ben-Hassel, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sanderstead, South Croydon, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Kerswell’s council keeps payments to top earners secret

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on how Croydon’s backlog of unsanctioned accounts is being used as an excuse to disguise the latest round of top-level recruitment The Tax Payers Alliance, one of those deliberately opaque, far-right lobby groups from … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Richard Simpson, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Kerrr-ching! Kerswell reckons £192,000 per year not enough

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The best-paid employee at the cash-strapped council is lobbying for a bumper pay rise – and is being supported in her claim by the part-time elected Mayor. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Barely a month after she helped … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments