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Category Archives: Heather Cheesbrough
Planning director worried about her career? So she should be
CROYDON COMMENTARY: As someone who spent their career working on local authority planning matters, STEVE WHITESIDE has found council director Heather Cheesbrough’s attempt to gag one of the Mayoral election candidates just the latest example of shameless arrogance So Heather … Continue reading
Councillors slam Bellway’s ‘sham’ consultation over Lido site
Councillors in Waddon have written to a development company that wants to build a 10-storey residential tower block next to the Purley Way playing fields and accused them of running a “sham” public consultation and treating residents with “utter contempt”. … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Pelling, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Joy Prince, Parking, Planning, Property, Purley Way, Purley Way Lido, Robert Canning, Waddon
Tagged Andrew Pelling, Bellway Homes, Heather Cheesbrough, Joy Prince, Purley Way, Purley Way Lido, Robert Canning, Waddon, Waddon Way
1 Comment
Council’s planning chief attempts to gag Mayor candidate
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Heather Cheesbrough has lied about her qualifications and covered up for planning staff with too-close connections with private developers. Now she’s trying to block an election candidate calling for her to be sacked. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Val Shawcross, Waddon
Tagged Andrew Hunkin, Andrew Pelling, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Planning
23 Comments
Time to open up Croydon’s planners to independent scrutiny
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The close working relationship between senior council planners and profit-hungry developers building in the borough is under increasingly close scrutiny. Here, IAN KIERANS suggests some ways for residents to get the answers that they are seeking The MP, … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Planning
Tagged Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Jan Slominski, Purley, Tory
4 Comments
Suspicions over secrecy surrounding Slominski’s return
Council directors are withholding information from a local MP on the date that a planning official started a new job. By STEVEN DOWNES The attempts to cover-up the close connections between Croydon Council’s planning department and some commercial developers who … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Croydon Council, Croydon South, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Heather Cheesbrough, Nicola Townsend, Planning
Tagged #Macarnage, Chris Philp MP, Coulsdon, Croydon South, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, ECRA, Heather Cheesbrough, Jan Slominski, Macar Developments, Maureen Levy, NewPlace, Purley, Ross Gentry
12 Comments
Pelling set to run as independent for Mayor, and in Waddon
EXCLUSIVE: After 40 years in Croydon politics, councillor decides to run as the ‘non-party’ candidate, offering to axe council rent increases, sack a distrusted council planning director and start a forensic investigation to recover the millions lost on the Fairfield … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Community associations, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Heather Cheesbrough, Planning, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross, Waddon
Tagged Andrew Pelling, Conservative, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London, London Assembly, London Borough of Croydon, Tony Newman, Tory, Val Shawcross
8 Comments
London Mayor joins critics of ‘unlawful’ Local Plan review
‘Ludicrous’, ‘grotesque’ and ‘vandalism’ are some of the milder rebukes aimed at the council’s planning department’s latest piece of developer-friendly work. And now Sadiq Khan has joined the critics, while a Tory MP is threatening a Judicial Review. EXCLUSIVE By … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Val Shawcross, Waddon
Tagged 2022 Mayoral election, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Local Plan, Croydon Mayoral election 2022, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor, Tory, Val Shawcross, Waddon
3 Comments
MP Philp launches attack on council’s ‘grotesque’ Local Plan
Time is running out for submissions on the council’s Local Plan, which some say could ‘destroy’ the suburbs, ‘turning the whole borough into a highly dense urban area’. By STEVEN DOWNES Chris Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South, has … Continue reading
Coulsdon RAs reject council planners’ charter for developers
Two of the borough’s biggest residents’ associations have joined forces to reject council proposals which would allow profit-hungry developers to build even more blocks of “overpriced executive shoeboxes” in their leafy suburban part of Croydon. The East Coulsdon RA and … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Cane Hill Park Residents' Association, Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon West, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, Croydon Council, Croydon South, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, HADRA, Heather Cheesbrough, Old Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon Residents' Association, Planning
Tagged Cane Hill, Cane Hill Park Residents' Association, Coulsdon, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Local Plan, CWRA, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, ECRA, HADRA, Hartley and District Residents' Association, OCRA, Old Coulsdon Residents' Association
1 Comment
Countryside charity slams Local Plan threat to green spaces
One of England’s biggest conservation and countryside charities has accused Croydon Council’s revised Local Plan of “lacking ambition” and once again putting the borough’s green spaces under threat of development. What the council is calling a “review” of the Croydon … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Butler, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lloyd Park, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Planning, Shirley, Waddon
Tagged Alison Butler, Coombe Farm, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Local Plan, Heather Cheesbrough, Labour, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Purley, Shirley, Waddon
5 Comments
#Macarnage: Formal complaint over planners’ too-close links
EXCLUSIVE: The council has approved a scheme for another block of flats which is to be built by a firm with close links to a senior member of the planning staff, and where another planner appears to have helped draw … Continue reading
Posted in Coulsdon, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Heather Cheesbrough, Nicola Townsend, Old Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon Residents' Association, Planning
Tagged #Macarnage, Alex MacDonald, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, London Borough of Croydon, Macar Developments, Natalie Gentry, New Place Associates, Old Coulsdon, Planning, Ross Gentry
9 Comments
Whitgift Estate is at risk from ‘a short-termist act of vandalism’
VAL SHAWCROSS, Labour’s candidate for Mayor, has entered the row over the Local Plan review, opposing the proposed intensification and warning that something beautiful within the character of Croydon could be lost Following a recent visit to the Whitgift Estate … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Park Hill and Whitgift, Planning, Property, Val Shawcross
Tagged Croydon Local Plan, Park Hill and Whitgift, Park Hill and Whitgift Estate, Val Shawcross, Whitgift Estate
5 Comments
#Macarnage: Planner Slominski returns with a promotion
EXCLUSIVE: Distrust of the council’s planning department, and director Heather Cheesbrough, has reached new highs after it was discovered that they have re-employed a developer-friendly official with blatant conflicts of interest. By STEVEN DOWNES Representatives of residents’ associations at a … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Heather Cheesbrough, Kenley, Old Coulsdon, Planning
Tagged #Macarnage, Chris Philp MP, Coulsdon, Croydon, Croydon South, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Heather Cheesbrough, Jan Slominski, London Borough of Croydon, Macar Developments, Maureen Levy, Natalie Gentry, NewPlace, Old Coulsdon, Ross Gentry
6 Comments
#Macarnage: Higher Drive devastated as developers move in
Residents on a plush suburban street on a hillside in Purley have been thrown into a panic since the weekend after demolition workers showed up and started grubbing up trees and clearing the site of not one… not two… not … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Kenley, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Purley, Simon Brew
Tagged #Macarnage, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Foxley Residents Association, Jan Slominski, Kenley, Macar Developments, Purley, Simon Brew, Tory
15 Comments
Council’s misleading Open+ and shut case for public libraries
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The bankrupt council is spending £1.6m on an untried system that will allow it to reduce staffing hours at our libraries, a decision passed without debate at a Town Hall meeting. Our libraries correspondent, GENE BRODIE, investigates … Continue reading
Posted in Broad Green, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Education, Heather Cheesbrough, Libraries, Manju Shahul Hameed, New Addington, Norbury, Old Coulsdon, Planning, Purley, Sanderstead, Selsdon and Addington Village, Shirley, South Norwood, Thornton Heath
Tagged Bradmore Green Library, Broad Green Library, Central Library, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Library, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Public Libraries, Heather Cheesbrough, Manju Shahul Hameed, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Sanderstead Library, Selsdon Library, South Norwood, Thornton Heath
5 Comments
Planning department judged ‘at fault’ over boundary dispute
Emails from residents unanswered, six-month delays in dealing with a formal complaint, and a planning department that ignored a court order. Just another episode in the regular shambles at Fisher’s Folly Another day, another ruling from the Local Government Ombudsman … Continue reading
Buyers beware: High Court judge puts planners in the dock
A High Court judge has ruled against Croydon’s planning department, quashing the decision of a senior council official to grant permission for a block of flats in Sanderstead. Here, former council planner STEVE WHITESIDE explains how the court ruling could … Continue reading
Posted in Aventier, Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Selsdon & Ballards, Selsdon and Addington Village
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Planning Committee, Planning enforcement, Purley, Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Selsdon, Steve Whiteside
19 Comments
Landscape of deceit: director deletes qualification claim
By STEVEN DOWNES Five days ago, this website carried an article written by Steve Whiteside that exposed Heather Cheesbrough, “BA (Hons) PG Dip LA CMLI MRTPI”, Croydon Council’s “director of planning and strategic transport”, as claiming to be something that … Continue reading
Director of planning’s bogus claim over Institute membership
Planning officers routinely ignoring the requirements of local plans, little or no enforcement of conditions applied when permission has been granted and the courts throwing out decisions of the council. STEVE WHITESIDE on a litany of shortcomings, and worse, at … Continue reading
Planning chief wants to give permission to more blocks of flats
As Croydon Tories get their facts wrong (again) and heap praise on the borough’s planners, a council director warns that she wants to green-light more developments. By STEVEN DOWNES Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon’s planning chief, wants the council to grant even … Continue reading
Council chiefs accused by MP of being on side of developers
As concerns mount about the local authority’s failure to exercise any development controls or planning enforcement over rapacious private developers operating in the borough, a local MP has accused Croydon Council of not caring about residents and being “content to … Continue reading
Council planners’ 3-month delay over Sanderstead complaint
When senior officials in Croydon’s planning department refuse to acknowledge their own serious errors, can residents rely on the council’s complaints system? Not if the latest development fiasco in Riddlesdown is anything to go by, says STEVE WHITESIDE Deliberate delays … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Sanderstead
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Hyde Road, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Riddlesdown Residents Association, Sanderstead, Steve Whiteside
14 Comments
