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Category Archives: Nicola Townsend
Key document withheld from planning scrutiny for 21 months
STEVE WHITESIDE with an update on how the council’s planners and planning enforcement teams continue to fail the borough’s residents, while turning a blind eye to developers ignoring conditions Last month, I wrote about the sad saga of 158 Purley … Continue reading
Demolition shows how council’s planners have no ‘red lines’
STEVE WHITESIDE on the developing (geddit?) saga of a house-builder who manages to ignore planning conditions laid down by elected councillors, thanks to some considerable assistance being provided by council staff The sad saga of 158 Purley Downs Road, where … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Leila Ben-Hassel, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sanderstead, South Croydon, Yvette Hopley
Tagged 158 Purley Downs Road, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Demetri Prevatt, Heather Cheesbrough, Labour, Leila Ben-Hassel, London Borough of Croydon, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Richard Freeman, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Residents' Association, South Croydon, Steve Whiteside, Tory, Yvette Hopley
17 Comments
Council’s planners lose multiple cases at appeal and in court
Independent inspectors and judges at the High Court continue to rule against decisions made by Croydon’s planning department. Yet those making these dubious, developer-friendly decisions remain in place Research for Inside Croydon has found at least another 11 planning cases … Continue reading
Posted in Aventier, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lynne Hale, Maria Gatland, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Sanderstead, Yvette Hopley
Tagged Aventier, Church Hill Holdings, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, David Sullivan, Heather Cheesbrough, Labour, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, New Place Associates, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Planning Committee, Planning Inspectorate, Sanderstead, Steve Whiteside, Tory, West Ham United
29 Comments
Home owner’s victory after four-year battle with planners
The planning department at Croydon’s dysfunctional council has been caught out yet again after the collapse of a developer’s appeal – but only after incurring huge and avoidable costs. Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, unravels a saga of deceits and … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Chris Clark, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Jade Appleton, Katherine Kerswell, Nicola Townsend, Park Hill and Whitgift, Parking, Paul Scott, Planning, Property
Tagged Brownlow Road, Chris Clark, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jade Appleton, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Planning Committee, Ross Gentry, Silverleaf Developments Ltd, Steve Whiteside
17 Comments
Old Coulsdon residents angry at developer badgering wildlife
Croydon’s planners are accused of working together with developers to allow the destruction of an ancient badger sett in Old Coulsdon. Residents have been collating evidence for two years of deliberate vandalism to the sett, despite the protected species status … Continue reading
Council planners ignore court order over flats in Sanderstead
Those who hoped new Mayor Jason Perry would sweep away the bad practices of the council’s planning department are in for a bit of a disappointment. STEVE WHITESIDE with the latest in a long-running saga Even the decision of a … Continue reading
Council rejects private school’s planning scheme for Heathfield
A planning application from a private education business to make extensive alterations to Heathfield House, a listed building owned by Croydon Council, has been refused. As Inside Croydon reported in June, Cressey College has been renting the building from the … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Education, Gardening, Heathfield House, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sarah Jones MP, Schools, Selsdon and Addington Village
Tagged Cressey College, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, London Borough of Croydon, Sarah Jones MP
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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
13 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
#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
The enforcers: residents making plans for council court action
Is something shifting in the Town Hall planning department? Amid news of the exit of a senior manager, and of director Heather Cheesbrough correcting her false claims on her online CV, and now a High Court ruling against the council’s … 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
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
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
6 Comments
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
Institute member Townsend promoted as new chief planner
Nicola Townsend is the council’s new chief planner. Except she’s not. She’s been appointed as something which is described in council papers as Croydon’s “director of homes and social investment”. The council opted for an internal promotion to replace the … Continue reading
