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Category Archives: Colm Lacey
Council’s £68m write-off as Brick by Brick goes into liquidation
The housing company that borrowed £200m but never made a penny profit is finally to be closed down after a six-year winding-up process. By STEVEN DOWNES Brick by Brick, the council-owned housing company that bankrupted the borough, has gone into … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Tory
10 Comments
Shared ownership makes Mosaic Place hard to piece together
Even before the latest global economic shock hit the construction trade, house-building in London had slowed to a crawl. JOHNNY DOBBYN looks at one scheme of more than 100 flats in Purley that provides a possible case study to show … Continue reading
Councillors wave through 676 flats with just 20% affordable
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on the latest tall towers coming to the skyline of central Croydon Deep in the middle of a housing crisis, Croydon Council has broken its own rules by granting planning permission to a £200million housing scheme … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, Delta Properties Ltd, Fairfield, Housing, Planning, Property, Tapestry Croydon
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Michael Neal, Cllr Ria Patel, College Green, Croydon, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, East Croydon station, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, London Borough of Croydon, Tapestry Croydon, Tory, Wind tunnel
6 Comments
It was a bad deal for Croydon. Why did they allow it to happen?
CROYDON COMMENTARY: With Tory Mayor Jason Perry using £½million of public money as a hush fund, RICHARD HOWARD, pictured right, the LibDem mayoral candidate, lays out all the obvious flaws with the council’s Red Clover Gardens scheme Two years ago, … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Brick by Brick, Business, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Ian Parker, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Howard, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle
Tagged 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon mayoral election, Brick by Brick, Cllr Ian Parker, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Ian Parker, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Liberal Democrats, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Major Richard Howard, Peter Underwood, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Richard Howard, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tory
3 Comments
Mayor candidates call for investigation into Red Clover Gardens
LibDems and Greens say that only a thorough, deep dive into the council’s accounts and records conducted by an outside body – such as HM Revenue and Customs – can get to the bottom of the latest multi-million-pound financial scandal … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Rick Howard
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Liberal Democrats, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Major Richard Howard, Peter Underwood, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Richard Howard, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tory
4 Comments
Perry agrees to pay £½m to reclaim flats at Red Clover Gardens
Inside Croydon has obtained a top-secret, ‘Part B’ council report providing key financial details on the collapsed property deal for Red Clover Gardens – all because someone at Croydon’s cash-strapped and incompetent council posted it on their own website EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Stuart King, Conrad Hall, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tory
5 Comments
Tory council loses £20m over Coulsdon collapsed property deal
It is almost three years since this website warned that a ‘complicated, opaque lease-back arrangement’ conducted with a property firm with no real track record, for the disposal of blocks of flats at Red Clover Gardens, all looked just a … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Mears, Stuart King
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Stuart King, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Lion Green Road car park, London Borough of Croydon, Mears Group Plc, Red Clover Gardens, Regen Capital, Regen Coulsdon, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, STUART KING, Tory
4 Comments
Eight Brick by Brick-built flats issued with fire safety order
EXCLUSIVE: More problems for residents who have shared-ownership in homes built by the council’s omnishambles of a development company. By housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES Eight flats built by Brick by Brick, Croydon Council’s useless housing company that helped to bankrupt … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Grenfell Tower, Heathfield Gardens, LFB, London Borough of Croydon, London Fire Brigade, Mayor Jason Perry, Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, South Croydon
5 Comments
Only 20% ‘affordable’ in 676 flats proposed for College Green
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on the latest proposals for huge towers providing expensive flats and situated close to East Croydon Station The site next to the Fairfield Halls and Croydon College, once owned by Croydon Council through its failed house-building … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, Delta Properties Ltd, Fairfield, Housing, Planning, Property, Tapestry Croydon
Tagged Brick by Brick, College Green, Croydon, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, East Croydon station, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, London Borough of Croydon, Tapestry Croydon, Tory, Wind tunnel
2 Comments
Anti-crime CCTV cameras nicked from Brick by Brick block
EXCLUSIVE: The winding up of Brick by Brick won’t see an end to the misery being suffered by those who bought homes or live as leaseholders in properties built by the Croydon Council-owned housing company. By our housing correspondent, BARRATT … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry
Tagged Auckland Rise, Brick by Brick, Church Road, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Liberal Democrats, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
6 Comments
Crisis for Perry as Interim Adam resigns council planning job
KERSWELL’S CHAOTIC COUNCIL: A journeyman council director notorious for charging fees of £1,000 per day and taking massive pay-offs has quit as Croydon’s head of planning, following an investigation by this website. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Adam Wilkinson, the journeyman … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Adam Wilkinson, Brick by Brick, Business, Council Tax, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Adam Wilkinson, Adam Wilkinson Consultancy Ltd, Cllr Alasdair Stewart, Cllr Jason Cummings, Companies House, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Derby City Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Katherine Kerswell, Kent County Council, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
24 Comments
Interim Adam gets council job as HMRC winds up his company
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s most recently appointed planning director was given the role while a company where he was sole director was being wound up in the High Court, an iC investigation has found. EXCLUSIVE by KEN LEE, Town … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Adam Wilkinson, Alasdair Stewart, Brick by Brick, Business, Council Tax, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Adam Wilkinson, Adam Wilkinson Consultancy Ltd, Alasdair Stewart, Brick by Brick, Cllr Alasdair Stewart, Cllr Jason Cummings, Companies House, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Derby City Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Katherine Kerswell, Kent County Council, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
13 Comments
£1,000 per day ‘Interim Adam’ lands Croydon planning job
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council has made no announcement about who has taken over the borough’s top planning job, but this website has discovered that Heather Cheesbrough’s stand-in replacement is an ‘interim specialist’ who has pocketed more than £500,000 in … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Adam Wilkinson, Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Adam Wilkinson, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Derby City Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Kent County Council, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
23 Comments
Negrini enjoys her centre stage return pitching for Mayor Khan
Like Banquo’s ghost, Jo Negrini has returned to haunt Croydon after her latest jaunt to the south of France for the annual “booze and hooker fest” – or prestigious international property conference – that is MIPIM. When “Negreedy” was the … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Planning, Richard Plant, Sir Sadiq Khan, Stiles Harold Williams, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
10 Comments
Ex-planning chief’s rose-tinted view of Croydon developments
It appears that Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon Council’s former “director of planning and sustainable regeneration”, has been busy trying to rewrite history since leaving her £130,000-plus job earlier this month. An internal council memo gave the reason for Cheesbrough’s departure as … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
11 Comments
Labour Party ends suspension of ex-council leader Newman
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After more than four years, the two men who presided over what at the time was the biggest financial collapse in the history of local authorities in England have been allowed back into their political party. EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, David Evans, Fieldway, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Cllr Rowenna Davis, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, David Evans, Fieldway, Jo Negrini, Labour, Lord Evans of Penge, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Simon Hall, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman, Tory, Woodside
23 Comments
Council planning chief Cheesbrough set to take ‘career break’
EXCLUSIVE: After nearly a decade in charge of Croydon’s planning department, one of Jo Negrini’s closest colleagues is to leave Fisher’s Folly. By our Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon Council’s “director of planning and sustainable regeneration” (try … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, London, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
28 Comments
Opportunity knocks as Negrini does a MIPIM turn for London
Watch out London. The capital city’s Mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, has made his first visit to MIPIM, the global property developers conference staged each spring in Cannes, with a notorious reputation in the past as a “booze and hookers fest”. … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon BID, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Jo Negrini, Jules Pipe, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Tom Copley, Transport, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Booze and hooker fest, Brick by Brick, Cannes, Croydon, Homes for Lambeth, Jo Negrini, Labour, Lambeth, Mayor, MIPIM, Opportunity London
3 Comments
Site sold by council for £20m might now be worth £200m
Proposals to build 676 flats in tall towers overshadowing the Fairfield Halls are out for public consultation until the end of this week, from developers who nabbed a multi-million bargain in the cash-strapped council’s fire-sale Croydon’s long-suffering residents will be … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, Delta Properties Ltd, Fairfield, Housing, Planning, Property, Tapestry Croydon
Tagged Brick by Brick, College Green, Croydon, Croydon Council, Delta Properties, East Croydon station, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, London Borough of Croydon, Tapestry Croydon, Tory
8 Comments
We’ll all be paying for ‘Thatcher’s Hangover’ for years to come
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council does not have enough homes to house the homeless. But the Labour government created a ‘gold-rush’ torrent of applications for Right to Buy that may have forced the transfer into private ownership of every council … Continue reading
‘The improvement panel’s general position is to sell everything’
CROYDON COMMENTARY: This website’s editor, STEVEN DOWNES, on why a Mayor who keeps getting caught out in untruths really needs to start being more honest with the borough’s residents If ever there was an example of Mayor Jason Perry “being … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Mayor Jason Perry, Music, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Theatre
Tagged 20th Century Society, Alison Butler, BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tory
15 Comments
Accountancy watchdog moves in on officials from Woking
After almost five years, not a single person in Croydon has ever been held responsible for their parts in the council’s financial collapse, the scandal of Brick by Brick or the Fairfield Halls refurbishment fiasco. But in Surrey, two former … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Crime, Croydon Council, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Financial Reporting Council, Grant Thornton, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Kroll, Kroll Report, Labour, Lisa Taylor, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Penn Report, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI, RIPI2, Simon Hall, The Kroll Report, The Penn Report, Tory, Woking Borough Council, Woking Council
9 Comments
Government panel wants Croydon to flog off the Fairfield Halls
CROYDON IN CRISIS: With the council’s annual overspend reaching £100m, Whitehall-appointed commissioners could force the sale of the arts centre, which the C20 Society describes as an ‘underappreciated South Bank Centre of the suburbs’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon could … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Music, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Theatre
Tagged 20th Century Society, Alison Butler, BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tony Newman, Tory
33 Comments
