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Category Archives: Colm Lacey
Brick by Brick’s delayed accounts show another £0.8m loss
Report states ‘material uncertainty in respect of going concern’ Fairfield Halls project costs soar to £76.4m New directors find many BxB properties over-valued Auditors ‘unable to determine whether adequate accounting records have been kept’ With just a few hours to … Continue reading
Council’s libraries consultation accused of being unlawful
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s penny-wise and pound-foolish proposals for library closures could end up costing it more money after a badly-organised consultation, according to a national campaign group. By STEVEN DOWNES The council’s latest consultation, over the proposed closure … Continue reading
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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Croydon In Crisis: Council handed biggest bail-out ever
EXCLUSIVE: Councillors were being briefed tonight that the government has agreed to a £120m loan arrangement for the bankrupt borough – but it will take at least 20 years for the council to pay down its mountain of debt. By … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Luke Hall, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, S114, Section 114, Tory
5 Comments
Lip-service webinars fail to consider libraries’ community future
CROYDON COMMENTARY: As the council pays lip-service to a legally required consultation process, there’s a sense of inevitability about proposed closures for up to five of the borough’s public libraries. After sitting in on one of the council’s virtual Q&A … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, Old Coulsdon, Oliver Lewis, Sarah Hayward, Section 114 notice
Tagged Bradmore Green Library, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Old Coulsdon, Shirley Library, South Norwood, South Norwood Library
4 Comments
Leader says she has no idea who approved BxB loans
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The £224m in loans and unpaid interest owed to the council by Brick by Brick may have broken EU and British state aid and competition laws. But after nearly six months in her job, Hamida Ali claims … Continue reading
Brick by Brick needs £10m loan to avoid going bankrupt
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Consultants’ salvage plan for failed house-builder is accepted, including the council paying a second time for 190 flats which will be used as social housing. But the full extent of potential losses is kept under wraps. By … Continue reading
Developer digs in to keep planning consent for £500m tower
After already suffering a decade of development blight in the town centre because of the on-off-on-off-again aborted Westfield scheme, now a key site off Wellesley Road is about to be turned into a hole in the ground for an indefinite … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, One Lansdowne Road, Planning, Property, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, David Hudson, Guildhouse Rosepride, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Jo Negrini, London Borough of Croydon, One Lansdowne, One Lansdowne Road, Sean Fitzsimons, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
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£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
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 Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, New Addington, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Tony Newman, Waddon
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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 Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon
10 Comments
£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 Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Margaret Lee, Phil Brookes, S114, Section 114, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
7 Comments
‘There is no alternative’: £25m council bail-out given green light
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council reports rewritten, lack of commercial experience in key positions and a ‘very controlling’ former leader and his inner circle. The rapid review of Croydon Council paints a picture that will be very familiar to readers of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Wood, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Rapid Review, Robert Jenrick, Tony Newman
4 Comments
‘Shame on Croydon Council’: Anyone got a mop and bucket?
Well, this is awkward… What does a bankrupt council, which at the end of December scrapped its dedicated anti-graffiti team, do about the spray-painted messages on the hoardings around a development by its loss-making house-builder Brick by Brick?
Ex-leader Newman wants to seek election again in 2022
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A former supporter of the discredited councillor has described it as ‘a disgrace’ that no one has ‘been held accountable for bringing the council to its knees’. WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on growing concerns among local Labour … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, New Addington North, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Woodside
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, David Evans, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, New Addington, Paul Scott, Tony Newman, Woodside
8 Comments
‘Joseph Heller could use Croydon as a sequel to Catch 22’
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The row between the Labour council and Tory government over the possible costs of staging a mayoral referendum has got loyal reader IAN KIERANS crunching some numbers Is it really £1million additional costs to stage a referendum over … Continue reading
Conflicts of interest, incomplete contracts, unlawful payments – how the Fairfield Halls refurbishment cost Croydon £50m-plus
EXCLUSIVE: Council was warned in 2017 of problems with the management of works at the borough’s flagship arts centre. By STEVEN DOWNES A report by the council’s internal auditors has raised very serious concerns over the mismanagement of the multi-million-pound … Continue reading
Council set to lend more money to failing Brick by Brick
CROYDON IN CRISIS: When in a hole, stop digging? Not Croydon’s bankrupt council, which is ‘damned if it does, damned if it doesn’t’ according to a senior Tory councillor over plans to throw more cash at its loss-making house-builder. KEN … Continue reading
Jenrick issues ‘strongly-worded’ warning over property deals
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Government minister targets bankrupt borough when he tells LGA conference ‘Councils shouldn’t make investments for which they are not well-equipped’. By WALTER CRONXITE It seems increasingly likely that Whitehall will insist on Croydon flogging off many of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colonnades, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Section 114 notice
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colonnades, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, S114, Section 114
3 Comments
Council paid £1m compensation for unfinished Fairfield Halls
EXCLUSIVE: A year-long investigation has uncovered multi-million-pound payments by the council on its arts centre, largely because of the bungled refurbishment managed by Brick by Brick. And it is now suggested some payments may have been unlawful. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Council scoops top award among most rotten boroughs
Croydon Council has been handed the ultimate accolade: the most rotten of boroughs in the 2020 Rotten Borough Awards, revealed today in the latest edition of Private Eye magazine. The awards are always hotly contested, with the greed, venality and … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Private Eye, Rotten Boroughs, Tony Newman
7 Comments
Hard labour: the Croydon Mayor, dodgy deals and bankruptcy
Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on a tale from Katharine Street’s history which resonates strongly today New Year may be a time for looking forward, but it can also be most useful for taking a backward glance, perhaps to learn … Continue reading
£30m Fairfield Halls project never went to competitive tender
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Brick by Brick’s management of the refurbishment of the Halls has been subject to disputes with at least two leading contractors £3m grant to build an art gallery was diverted to pay for other work – … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mott MacDonald, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Vinci Construction UK Ltd
22 Comments
£29m deal on flats buys Brick by Brick some breathing space
Yet more public money is being used to bail-out the council’s failed house-building company, as it flogs off 85 flats intended for shared ownership. Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, reports In the latest admission of the abject failure of Brick … Continue reading
