Category Archives: Jo Negrini

House prices predicted to continue to rise by 7% in 2016

Home prices in London and south-east England are set to rise by up to 7 per cent in 2016, according to independent property research published today. The speculative property developers who have been homing in on Croydon must be rubbing … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Council is spending thousands to hire image consultants

Croydon’s Labour-run council, which is laying off around 600 workers in the latest round of cost-cutting, has nevertheless managed to scrape together around £70,000 – possibly more – to hire a firm of consultants to try to improve the place’s … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, John Burton, Planning, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council signs up new planning director despite jobs freeze

So much for the freeze on recruitment at Croydon Council. Fisher’s Folly issued a press release today to announce the appointment of another official at director level, the second since the council CEO Nathan Elvery last month invited all current … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Nathan Elvery, Planning, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council’s new architects’ department consists of one person

When is a borough architects’ department not an architects’ department? When it is in Croydon Council, of course. Claims made last month by one of Croydon’s most senior employees that the council was about to re-establish an in-house team of … Continue reading

Posted in Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Nathan Elvery, Planning | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council hires ex-Newham staffer as public health director

Despite the massive drive for staff redundancies and a recruitment freeze at Fisher’s Folly, news has arrived of another top-tier council appointment, and it is another former employee of Newham Council being recruited by Croydon on a near-six-figure salary. Joining … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Boxpark, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Health, Jo Negrini, Nathan Elvery, Rachel Flowers | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Shhh! Keep it quiet, Hammersfield have a policing plan

Who knew? The Croydon Partnership is staging a not-so-public public event tomorrow. You may not be aware of it. It is so hush-hush that the people behind the £1 billion redevelopment scheme haven’t even bothered to mention it on their … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Addiscombe West, Ashburton, Business, Centrale, Crime, Croydon 8/8, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Policing, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

BANNED: What has the Grey Label conference got to hide?

By Steven Downes, Editor, Inside Croydon Grey Label, the PR agency of choice of Croydon Council, has banned Inside Croydon from attending the property speculators love-in that they are “organising” at the Fairfield Halls today. This will be the sixth … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Mayor of London, Planning, Property, Stiles Harold Williams, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Empire-building architects’ department doesn’t add up

CROYDON COMMENTARY: A former member of the borough’s engineering department, DAVID WICKENS wonders why the council is to re-establish an in-house architects’ department I read with interest the council’s decision to resurrect an in-house architects’ department. As I recall the … Continue reading

Posted in Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can two-bedroom flats really be solution for Fairfield Halls?

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The scheme to redevelop Fairfield Halls and College Green could cost more than £70m, with Council Tax-payers taking much of the risk, says DAVID WICKENS Those that study regeneration and city centre proposals will have noticed that there … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Addiscombe West, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon College, Croydon Council, Education, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Planning, URV, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Croydon has built only 12 council homes in 18 months

WALTER CRONXITE reports on how the council is getting on with its “ambition” to provide the many new homes needed by its growing population 12 That’s how many new housing units that have been completed by Croydon Council since Labour … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Anthony Brooks, Bernard Weatherill House, Boxpark, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Town Hall to have own architects department once again

Croydon Council is to recreate its own, in-house architects’ department. According to a report in Architects’ Journal, the council architects will be used to design housing schemes across the borough. “The move bucks the trend of recent decades, which has … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Bernard Weatherill House, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Planning, RIF, Tony Newman, URV, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

£1bn Westfield scheme is running late with a 2020 vision

The £1 billion shopping supermall which multi-national developers and Croydon’s biggest land-owners have been promising to deliver on the site of the run-down Whitgift Centre now won’t be open for business for more than five years. The delay in development … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2018 council elections, Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, CVA, Environment, Fairfield, Gavin Barwell, Jo Negrini, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Planning department performs U-turn over Norbury pub

Croydon’s planning department, which has a well-deserved and growing reputation for arrogantly failing to listen to local residents – see The Ship Inn or the betting shops in Thornton Heath – has made a rapid U-turn on its decision to … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Norbury, Planning, Property, Pubs, Restaurants | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

100 jobs will be lost with two-year Fairfield Halls closure

The battle for Croydon’s cultural future took a twist at the Town Hall last night, with local Tories arguing against job cuts and wanting to spend more public money on the borough’s flagship arts facility, as STEVEN DOWNES reports Croydon’s … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2018 council elections, Alison Butler, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon College, Croydon Council, David Lean Cinema Campaign, Dudley Mead, Education, Environment, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Housing, Jo Negrini, London Mozart Players, Music, Nathan Elvery, Phil Thomas, Planning, Property, Riesco Collection, Stuart Collins, Theatre, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, URV, Warehouse Theatre, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council’s chasm of unaccountability grows wider each day

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our borough’s elected representatives are being increasingly marginalised by a system that places huge power in the hands of a handful of unaccountable officials, writes STEVEN DOWNES Make the most of it at the Town Hall tonight. For … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Bernard Weatherill House, Business, Cane Hill, Chris Philp MP, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Housing, Jo Negrini, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Maggie Mansell, Nathan Elvery, Norbury, Oasis Academy, Paul Scott, Planning, Pubs, Purley, South Norwood, Stuart Collins, Thornton Heath, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, URV, Whitgift Centre, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Get your hard hat on: central Croydon is about to be closed

Central Croydon looks like it is going to be a ghost town for a couple of years, as its two flagship attractions, the Whitgift Centre and Fairfield Halls, are both closed for redevelopment at the same time. The temporary closure … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Business, Croydon Central, Croydon College, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Planning, Timothy Godfrey, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council has no proper benefit analysis on £148,000 cycle race

Transport correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, crunches some numbers and finds that Croydon Council forked out £148,000 for one night’s cycle racing in the town centre and has absolutely no idea whether they got value for money Here’s a combination of words … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Athletics, Boris Johnson, Boxpark, Business, Commuting, Croydon Council, Croydon Guardian, Croydon Harriers, Cycling, Cycling, Environment, Jo Negrini, Martyn Rooney, Mayor of London, Planning, Property, Sport, Tony Newman, Transport, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As Newman ‘celebrates’, Whitgift workers fret over future

The £1bn Hammersfield supermall may prove to be regenerative for Croydon’s economy. Once it is built. But as STEVEN DOWNES reports, uncertainty over development timescales is blighting existing businesses The start of building work on the redevelopment of Croydon town … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2018 council elections, Allders, Boris Johnson, Boxpark, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Gavin Barwell, Housing, Jo Negrini, John Burton, Mayor of London, Mike Fisher, Parking, Planning, Property, Richard Chatterjee, Shirley North, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Two months late, Minister rubber-stamps Westfield CPO

The government inspector has finally delivered his report on the Compulsory Purchase Order for a vast swathe of central Croydon, giving the go-ahead for the £1 billion Hammersfield shopping mall to be built. The Department for Communities and Local Government … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Jo Negrini, John Burton, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Metro Bank pulls out of move to £50m Ruskin Square offices

A multi-million-pound deal for Metro Bank to bring their global head offices and hundreds of staff to Croydon has collapsed. It was only a few weeks ago that developers Stanhope and their financial backers Schroders, who own Ruskin Square alongside … Continue reading

Posted in Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council, East Croydon, Gavin Barwell, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning, Property, Ruskin Square, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Boxpark announced food plan after getting £3m council loan

Croydon Council’s £3 million loan of public cash to persuade Boxpark to set up a pop-up shopping mall alongside East Croydon Station was made in the expectation that the retail outlet would be a mixed development of trend-setting fashion stores … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Julie Belvir, Menta Tower, Property, Pubs, Restaurants, Ruskin Square | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

High Court judge rejects legal challenge to landlord licensing

The legal challenge against Croydon Council’s landlord licensing scheme, a flagship manifesto policy which helped get Labour elected last year, has been rejected by a High Court judge, a decision greeted by one senior council figure as, “A great day … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Dudley Mead, Environment, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning, Property, Stiles Harold Williams, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Landlord scheme court case may turn on Plant’s spot

Whatever the outcome of the court case over Croydon’s proposed landlord licensing scheme, which had an application for a Judicial Review heard by Mr Justice Silber at the High Court this week, the role played by Richard Plant could prove … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Planning, Stiles Harold Williams, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Legal case against landlord scheme comes from Bury, Lancs

The leadership of Croydon Council will be up before a High Court judge next Tuesday, August 4, at the start of a Judicial Review of its landlords licensing scheme which is being brought by a company registered in … Bury, … Continue reading

Posted in 2014 council elections, Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Julie Belvir, Planning, Property, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Boxpark’s food court plan poses threats to existing firms

Fans of Boxpark, the retailing centre to be built from discarded shipping containers next to East Croydon Station, yesterday evening gathered for a glitzy launch (by Croydon standards, anyway; beer and pizza, staged in a tent by a bogus beach). … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Boxpark, Business, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments