Top Posts & Pages
-
Recent Comments
John Woodhouse on Council to be rocked by second… Chris Flynn on Kerswell culls 58 more jobs as… Christopher Myers on Kerswell culls 58 more jobs as… Sebastian Tillinger on Council to be rocked by second… Lewis White on LibDem leader accused of… Ian Kierans on Councillor tells officials:…
Category Archives: Planning
Bus passengers face a wet winter of discontent with no shelters
Six months since Inside Croydon first revealed the secret removal of the borough’s bus shelters, and a dodgy-looking £6.8million deal with a small company that had only been established a few months earlier, the council has admitted that not a … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Opama Khan, Planning, Transport
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, JC Decaux, Valo Smart City
13 Comments
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
Building in suburban back gardens is not the only answer
CROYDON COMMENTARY: As residents in Old Coulsdon organise themselves to oppose more ‘back-garden’ developments in their village, LEWIS WHITE (right), offers some alternatives to unnecessary intensification It is not unknown for local residents’ associations to be heavily influenced by people … Continue reading
Norwood residents ask MP Reed to act over estate demolition
After a year-long, rear-guard action from residents of a council-built estate on the Croydon-Lambeth borough boundary, Truslove House and the mature trees in the grounds around it have in the past week been bulldozed completely. Lambeth Council has been accused … Continue reading
Brick by Brick ‘sweetheart’ sale could have cost another £45m
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The latest report from government-appointed inspectors assigned to check on the council finances reveals that a sweetheart deal to sell failed house-builders Brick by Brick to a Manchester developer could have cost the bankrupt borough another £45m. … Continue reading
Multi-million-pound loss on hotel ‘not ideal’ says panel
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Whitehall-appointed inspectors raise serious doubts over the council’s property sales. By STEVEN DOWNES The council’s sale of the Croydon Park Hotel at a loss of as much as £10million has been condemned by government-appointed officials. Such a … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Callton Young, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony McArdle
Tagged Callton Young, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Improvement Panel, Labour, Peter Bingle, S114, Section 114, STUART KING, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman
13 Comments
Addington residents respond en bloc to save Green Belt
Members of the Addington Residents’ Association took matters into their own hands last week, getting massive concrete blocks, looking like giant Lego bricks, installed at the top end of a once grassy lane to halt further unauthorised road works in … Continue reading
Old Coulsdon village to fight against planning ‘intensification’
A residents’ association in the south of the borough is organising to defend what it calls its “leafy suburban character” against unbridled overdevelopment allowed by Croydon Council. “About eight out of 10 emails in my inbox relate to planning,” says … Continue reading
Roadworks on Green Belt cause worries for Addington villagers
There’s agitation among Addington villagers, after a local landowner erected gates to block public access to a large field and has started to build an access road through Green Belt land, all apparently without any planning permission or agreement with … Continue reading
Posted in Addington, Addington Residents' Association, Community associations, Croydon Central, Environment, Planning, Property, Robert Ward, Sarah Jones MP, Selsdon and Addington Village
Tagged Addington, Addington Village, Croydon, Croydon Central, Falconwood, Robert Ward, Sarah Jones MP, Selsdon and Addington Village
2 Comments
Council flogs off hotel for less than £29.8m it cost to buy
CROYDON IN CRISIS: While one Labour MP dines out with a notorious property lobbyist whose employees include the council’s deputy leader, one of the firm’s clients has snapped up the Croydon Park Hotel at a bargain basement price. EXCLUSIVE By … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Callton Young, College Green, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Housing, Improvement Board, London-wide issues, Planning, Property, Steve Reed MP, Stuart King
Tagged Brick by Brick, Callton Young, College Green, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon Park Hotel, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Peter Bingle, Steve Reed OBE, STUART KING, Terrapin Group
11 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
Hong Kong finance crisis could hit £500m Nestlé Tower scheme
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Work on an ‘iconic’ town centre tower block seems to have been halted, as reports from China suggest the company behind the project may be struggling. By STEVEN DOWNES There are growing fears that another multi-million-pound town … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Housing, Nestle Tower, Property, Segas House, St George's Walk
Tagged Nestle Tower, Queen's Square, R&F Properties, St George's Walk
3 Comments
Kenley developer seeking an up-lift, but not in accessibility
EXCLUSIVE: Our Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE, has discovered a not-for-profit developer whose only aim, it appears from documents submitted to the planning department, is to benefit society – thought to be the first such case in Croydon since records … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Housing, Kenley, Nicola Townsend, Planning
Tagged Croydon Council, Kenley, Nicola Townsend
5 Comments
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
CEO Lacey quits Brick by Brick; deputy to leave company, too
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The incompetent chief executive and self-proclaimed ‘founder’ of the council-owned building company which bankrupted the borough has announced his departure – but councillors have been kept in the dark. By STEVEN DOWNES Colm Lacey is to leave … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Planning
Tagged Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon
9 Comments
Residents’ meeting agrees to start legal battle with developer
In Upper Norwood, residents are working together to take a profit-hungry property developer to court over what they see as a broken covenant over the land in a road of 1920s-built bungalows and cottages. Neighbours on Downsview Road, off Beulah … Continue reading
Purley local hits out: ‘It’s always developers before residents’
CROYDON COMMENTARY: This week BRIAN WATSON, a leading member of the Foxley Residents’ Association, vented his frustrations at the inappropriate building works and overdevelopment being allowed in his corner of the borough by writing a letter to the council leader, … Continue reading
After eight-year wait, Croydon delivers homes on Taberner site
Eight years since the old council offices, Taberner House, that stood on the site, was vacated, and many months later than the council’s chosen developers had planned for the build to be complete, the ribbon was cut this week on … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Malcolm Wicks MP, Mayor of London, Planning, Property, Taberner House, Tom Copley
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hub Residential, Labour, London, London Borough of Croydon, Malcolm Wicks House, Malcolm Wicks MP, Mayor, Patricia Hay-Justice, Taberner House
5 Comments
After billions in regeneration deals, might Bingle eye Croydon?
STEVEN DOWNES on the man behind one of London’s biggest lobbying firms, a former senior figure at ‘the PR firm for despots and rogues’ In Southwark, activists who have been campaigning against a massive transfer of public property over to … Continue reading
Addiscombe residents express fears over hostel environment
Residents around East Croydon Station are trying to organise concerted opposition to a planning application to convert a family home on Addiscombe Road into a 13-bedroom … yes, 13 … HMO, or home of multiple occupation. Two of the rooms … Continue reading
Urgent security review under way after ‘assault’ at Town Hall
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Senior council officials are conducting an urgent review of security measures at Croydon Town Hall after members of the planning committee were sprayed with fluid from the public gallery at their meeting on Thursday night. No … Continue reading
Posted in Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Joy Prince, Planning
Tagged Clive Fraser, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Town Hall, Joy Prince, Planning Committee
5 Comments
