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Category Archives: Heather Cheesbrough
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 Town, 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
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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 South, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Planning, Shirley North, 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
10 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
16 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 South, Norbury, Old Coulsdon, Planning, Purley, Sanderstead, Selsdon and Addington Village, Shirley North, 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
Job cuts see council’s business close to breaking point
CROYDON IN CRISIS: So many staff have been made redundant at Fisher’s Folly that they now don’t have time even to draft meeting minutes of the Town Hall’s £1.5bn pension fund. By STEVEN DOWNES When the council’s planning committee convened … Continue reading
#Macarnage: Not a single ‘affordable’ home from Coulsdon plot
Next in the firing line for Macar Developments is a beautiful Arts and Crafts house on Coulsdon Court Road, which the developers want to destroy and replace with six small terraced houses. The architecturally significant house was built as part … Continue reading
Director refuses to admit conflict of interest over South Drive
A council director has told residents that there is nothing wrong whatsoever in a member of her planning staff providing pre-application advice to a developer, and then leaving their job at the council to work for the architects hired by … Continue reading
#Macarnage: Planning officer’s ‘leaving present’ to Coulsdon
EXCLUSIVE: The revolving door between the council planning department and private developers and architects is exposed over a scheme for 39 flats in Coulsdon. By STEVEN DOWNES Before Jan Slominski was hired as a senior planning adviser for the architects … Continue reading
Kerswell set to depart after completing cull of Negrini execs
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Having overseen the removal of almost all of Jo Negrini’s ‘executive leadership team’, it seems that the interim chief exec wants to move on to better things. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council is to begin the … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Heather Cheesbrough, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Robert Henderson, Sarah Hayward, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Shifa Mustafa
14 Comments
CEO Kerswell gets ready to reorganise council’s senior officials
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A meeting last night showed that no one had bothered removing former leader Tony Newman from an important committee, while councillors lacked the power to sack the chief executive or other senior officials. WALTER CRONXITE reports That … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Elaine Jackson, Hamida Ali, Heather Cheesbrough, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paula Murray, Tony Newman
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Tony Newman, Tory
4 Comments
Directors Murray and Cheesbrough start exodus from council
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The director of planning and the borough’s culture chief are to leave Fisher’s Folly – the first top-level departures since the council issued its Section 114 notice. By STEVEN DOWNES Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon’s director of planning, and … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paula Murray, Planning, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, London Borough of Croydon, Paula Murray, Planning
18 Comments
Council still receiving ‘vast quantities’ of planning applications
What trade magazine Property Week described as “an unprecedented volume of planning applications” has been submitted to Croydon Council in the couple of weeks since the authority issued a Section 114 notice to declare itself broke. Between October 1 and … Continue reading
