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Category Archives: Colm Lacey
Millions of questions for BHLive over Fairfield grant aid
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It’s like nothing has ever changed at the borough’s prestigious arts centre, where tribute acts still dominate its sparse programme, while the venue operators are staying schtum about how they’re spending public money. By our arts correspondent, … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Neil Chandler, The Wreck
Tagged Arts Council England, Ashcroft Theatre, BHLive, Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Labour, The Wreck
5 Comments
Former health director suing council for constructive dismissal
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Kerswell’s cull’ of the council’s executive directors appointed or promoted by her predecessor, Jo Negrini, is not going as smoothly as might have been hoped. And it appears that most will escape any disciplinary action. By STEVEN … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hamida Ali, Hazel Simmonds, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Shifa Mustafa, Tony Newman
3 Comments
Mystery of the ‘lost’ £600,000 expert report into Fairfield Halls
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Suspicions mount over the business of Brick by Brick and the scandal surrounding the Fairfield Halls refurbishment. But even members of the Town Hall’s scrutiny committee are being denied vital information by council directors. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in Asmat Hussain, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Robert Ward, Sarah Hayward, Sean Fitzsimons
Tagged Asmat Hussain, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Labour, Robert Ward, Sarah Hayward, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Sean Fitzsimons, Tony Newman, Tory
23 Comments
Fore! Golf course and hotel latest properties in council fire sale
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Four public-owned properties, not mentioned in the council’s original disposals list, are now being sold off as the Town Hall gets itself out of the hotels business. By PEARL LEE, our south of the borough correspondent The … Continue reading
Reports on Fairfield Halls and BxB missing from audit meeting
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tonight’s meeting of the council’s GPAC – General Purposes and Audit Committee – will mark the end of a error, as Labour councillors risk handing even more control to council executives. By STEVEN DOWNES Karen Jewitt, the … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman
Tagged Chris Buss, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, General Purposes and Audit Committee, GPAC, Hamida Ali, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Rapid Review, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, Tory
6 Comments
Government-appointed advisers pulled plug on BxB sale
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Improvement Panel’ ordered council to abandon its poor-value deal to sell Brick by Brick, and instead to pay Wates Construction £1.12m to oversee the loss-making builders’ work on 23 sites. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Hamida Ali, the … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Tony McArdle
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, MHCLG, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Phil Brookes, Tony McArdle
11 Comments
‘Apologetic Ali’ fails once again as BxB sends in the builders
Council leader tells community meeting she is powerless to act against the council-owned development company, as New Addington residents’ five-year campaign to save a communal space comes to a sad end. By STEVEN DOWNES Not for the first time, Croydon … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Scott Ainsworth-Payne
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Warbank Crescent
6 Comments
Council abandons its £100m discount sale of Brick by Brick
A deal to off-load the loss-making housing firm at a massive loss to tax-payers has been dropped. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council has been forced to abandon plans to flog-off loss-making builders Brick by Brick. The council’s interim head of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Hamida Ali, Planning
Tagged Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Tony McArdle
8 Comments
Ali apologises to New Addington residents after BxB ‘raid’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Earlier this month council figures offered to let residents have the publicly-owned community space at Warbank Crescent – provided they coughed up £180,000 to Brick by Brick. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Never let it be said that … Continue reading
Brick by Brick use police to remove New Addington residents
Only “frantic calls” to the local MP and councillors managed to get the police to stand down from “horrifying scenes” in New Addington this morning, as a council official colluded with staff from Brick by Brick to have residents removed … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Community associations, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Kola Agboola, New Addington, New Addington Residents' Association, Policing, Sarah Jones MP
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Metropolitan Police, New Addington, Sarah Jones MP, Warbank Crescent
16 Comments
Mystery of £200k council exec points towards BxB’s Lacey
CROYDON IN CRISIS: While the average salary of council employees is a modest £23,000, those at the top of the organisation, even when it was heading for financial collapse, still made sure they awarded themselves cushty pay hikes. By STEVEN … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nathan Elvery
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nathan Elvery
7 Comments
After eight-year wait, Taberner House flats near completion
A housing project which even Tony Newman and his numpties refused to entrust to Brick by Brick is finally nearing completion after an eight-year development saga. By our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES Eight years since the council moved out of … Continue reading
Homes England called in to check Brick by Brick sale value
CROYDON IN CRISIS: There’s mounting concern over possible poor value for tax-payers in the ‘sweetheart’ deal arranged with Manchester developers. By STEVEN DOWNES Growing suspicions surrounding the too-good-to-be-true deal over the sale of loss-making house-builders Brick by Brick has seen … Continue reading
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
9 Comments
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
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
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
Brick by Brick and the 18 documents officers want kept secret
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Not for the first time, elected councillors have been denied vital information about Town Hall deals. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Conservatives have “called in” for extra scrutiny three multi-million-pound deals intended to off-load the council’s loss-making … Continue reading
The time might be right for Croydon’s own Independents’ Day
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The council’s political duopoly has failed, so often and so miserably, that the time might have come for the borough’s long-suffering residents to try a different approach to running the Town Hall, says TIM RODGERS, pictured right It’s … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Brick by Brick, Community associations, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Jo Negrini
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Jo Negrini, Liberal Democrats, Mayor, Tim Rodgers, Tony Newman, Tory
3 Comments
Bricking it: Buss pushes for £30m deal to buy 104 flats
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Making Brick by Brick an attractive proposition to a corporate buyer is a Mission Impossible which would defeat Tom Cruise. Croydon’s solution? A package of deals that could cost another £110m. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Chris Buss, … Continue reading
Brick by Brick to get second £10m loan to avoid going bust
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council Tax-payers haven’t finished coughing up for the borough’s failed housing developers. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The cashflow crisis continues at Brick by Brick, as its sales of new-built homes has failed to cover its operating costs. … Continue reading
Council to pick up £69.2m costs of failed Fairfield Halls refurb
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE, on the latest council bail-out for Brick by Brick over the bungled and unfinished refurbishment of the borough’s major arts centre Croydon’s cash-strapped council is to step in and pick up another … Continue reading
Making a Splash: big bailouts behind Brick by Brick’s buyers
STEVEN DOWNES reports on the colourful character behind the business which is set to buy up Croydon’s loss-making house-building company The company tipped to take failed housing company Brick by Brick off Croydon Council’s hands has broken loan covenants and … Continue reading
Going to the lowest, only bidder: council finds buyer for BxB
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council could have to pay at least another £40million in order to sell off Brick by Brick, the Labour-controlled local authority’s failed housing developer which bankrupted the Town Hall. And the multi-million-pound spending on the … Continue reading
Scott in power cut as he is ‘purged’ from planning committee
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The best mate of discredited council leader Tony Newman spent seven years dominating and domineering the planning committee – and never once did he declare an interest over colleague architects or Brick by Brick. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Paul Scott, Planning, Toni Letts, Tony Newman
Tagged Alison Butler, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon South, DEMOC, Hamida Ali, Jason Perry, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Planning Committee, Toni Letts, Tony Newman, Tory
14 Comments
