Category Archives: Refuse collection

Infant death rates were up by 233% after incinerator fired up

Official figures from the ONS for the year after Viridor began its operations at Beddington showed a sharp increase in infant deaths in Selhurst, Broad Green and Waddon wards. STEVEN DOWNES reports Infant mortality rates in one part of Croydon, … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Kingston, London-wide issues, Merton, Planning, Refuse collection, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A decade too late, even Sutton’s LibDems now turn on Viridor

No one wants the polluting Beddington incinerator to be allowed to increase its capacity for burning rubbish. So why is the Environment Agency ‘minded’ to approve the application? STEVEN DOWNES reports Tomorrow is the final day for submissions in a … Continue reading

Posted in Barry Lewis, Business, Croydon Council, Elliot Colburn, Environment, Kingston, London-wide issues, Merton, Planning, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Council offers £750 per day for a rubbish temporary director

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on the sky-high wages on offer from the cash-strapped local authority for someone to step in and keep the bins contract ticking over and ANPR cameras working As Croydon residents prepare to … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Refuse collection, Steve Iles, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Incinerator operators Viridor cash-in on pollution tax loophole

Allowing climate-damaging emissions from incinerators to go untaxed is ‘shameful’ according to environmental campaigner Companies running waste incinerators, including Viridor, the operators of the polluting Beddington Lane incinerator, dodged more than £500million of pollution charges for burning plastic last year … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Merton, Refuse collection, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Viridor’s charge sheet: incinerator operator’s eco-vandalism

This is the damning litany of charges now facing Valencia, the shell company established by Viridor to take the rap for more than a decade of failures to deliver on the relatively modest terms agreed in return for their original … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Refuse collection, Waste incinerator, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council’s rubbish director is set to take early retirement

KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, on an announcement which has been greeted warmly by many of the council’s frontline staff Steve Iles, one of the most controversial senior figures working for Croydon Council, is taking early retirement and leaving … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Refuse collection, Steve Iles, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments

‘Red alert’ over increased costs with outsourced rubbish deal

‘Things are going to get worse’ said Mayor Jason Perry earlier this year. And looking at the outsourced deal he’s lining up to replace rubbish contractors Veolia, in that respect he is as good as his word, reports KEN LEE … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

How Mayor Perry was shamed to take action by a video nasty

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Parts of the town centre on private land are being turned into rat-infested rubbish dumps, and the council had done nothing about it until a couple of residents shamed the Town Hall leadership. By STEVEN DOWNES The … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Ria Patel, Sarah Jones MP, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Where you bin? Croydon wheelie turns up in west Africa

This image may have popped up on your interweb timeline at some point over the last few months. Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is not some AI image invention. This really is a Croydon Council issue wheelie bin, … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Refuse collection | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

‘Anarchy in Croydon’ fears as Mayor axes 22 safety officer jobs

Neighbourhood Safety Officers work to reduce fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour, and one worker facing redundancy warns that erasing his department is ‘a complete invitation to stabbings’. By STEVEN DOWNES A council workers’ union is claiming that cash-strapped Croydon’s decision to … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Crime, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Katherine Kerswell, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

‘Restructuring’ has housing workers facing £3,000 pay cut

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest shocking cost-cutting measures being imposed on council staff Croydon Council could be heading for a series of strikes later this year, after senior managers at Fisher’s Folly moved to cut some … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Susmita Sen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Getting a rubbish service from the council? Call for the Cubs!

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest crass error of judgement from the propaganda bunker at Fisher’s Folly As if to underline the assessment that Croydon’s council is dysfunctional, the first press release issued from the propaganda bunker … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Community associations, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Mario Creatura, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Scouts and Guides, Steve Iles, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Public asked how to improve the council’s rubbish service

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on a council consultation that appears to be an exercise in stating the bleedin’ obvious  The council’s £81,000 per year Tory Mayor wants residents to “shape” its outsourced rubbish services. Mayor Jason Perry says … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Steve Iles, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

At last! Mayor Perry finds something useful to do with his time

#BINMAGEDDON!: Unable to rely on the cash-strapped council’s very well-remunerated press officers to get the message out, someone in the Town Hall has been busy cutting and pasting on social media. Special report from our having-to-work-over-Christmas-break staff, STAN der STEAD … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Council’s rubbish collection calendars only available online

The annual bin collection calendar has been released, but this year the cash-strapped council is only making the charts available on its website, rather than delivering the helpful at-a-glance guide to every household. This is nothing to do with a … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Client councils are failing to hold polluting Viridor in check

Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, on the feeble opposition from south London boroughs to the Beddington incinerator creating even more toxic pollution The South London Waste Partnership, the arm’s-length, unelected and unaccountable quango formed by Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton … Continue reading

Posted in Barry Lewis, Business, Croydon Council, Elliot Colburn, Environment, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sheldon Vestey, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Funding outlook for all London’s boroughs is ‘beyond bleak’

Croydon is not the only cash-strapped council in the capital, as the body which represents all 32 boroughs and the City of London has predicted that there could be a £1.1billion black hole in Town Hall budgets over the next … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, CVA, Georgia Gould, Libraries, London Councils, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Bailey holds urgent talks seeking Viridor bail-out for SDEN

Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, on the backroom deals that have been going on to try to salvage Sutton Council’s struggling heat network business Helen Bailey, the chief exec at Liberal Democrat-controlled Sutton, has been holding emergency talks with incinerator … Continue reading

Posted in Bobby Dean, Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Helen Bailey, Kingston, London-wide issues, Merton, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Shasha Khan, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Squaring the rubbish circle on Oval Road was never easy

CROYDON COMMENTARY: In answer to a public question at last night’s Town Hall meeting about the terrible state of Oval Road since rubbish contractors Veolia started a bin bags trial in 2020, Cllr Scott Roche said ‘a review of the … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, ECCO, Fly tipping, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Patricia Hay-Justice, Refuse collection, Tom Lawrence, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Oval Road’s three years of misery over a failed bin bag trial

When councillor Stuart Collins and Veolia imposed Binmageddon on Croydon, they did so with little proper consideration for the practicalities of plonking multiple large wheely-bins outside the borough’s often small, terraced housing. Whole streets have been taken over by Veolia’s … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Environment, Fly tipping, Patricia Hay-Justice, Refuse collection, Sean Fitzsimons, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Careful what you wish for as we bin rubbish contractor Veolia

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The news that Veolia won’t have their four-borough deal extended once it expires in 2025 has prompted loyal reader LEWIS WHITE, pictured right, to question our councils’ roles in the service decline From the comments made in response … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Fly tipping, Kingston, Merton, Refuse collection, Sutton Council, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Croydon and three other boroughs to bin Veolia rubbish deal

Veolia, who have swept Croydon’s streets and emptied its residents’ bins sporadically since 2003, are to be dropped as the council’s rubbish contractor. The decision has been reached following “significant and ongoing concerns” with Veolia’s performance, which saw three of … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Kingston, Merton, Refuse collection, Sutton Council, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Bin workers face sack if they don’t work on Queen’s Funeral

While most council services have shut down for the bank holiday weekend ahead of Monday’s solemn royal ceremonials, Veolia staff have been told that if they don’t show up for work, they could be fired. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s … Continue reading

Posted in Bromley Council, Business, Croydon Council, Kingston, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Merton, Refuse collection, Southwark Council, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Croydon blocks reports logged via popular smartphone app

EXCLUSIVE: If you go to all the time and trouble to try to help the council clean up the borough of fly-tips, graffiti or dumped cars, the chances are that officials will simply ignore your report. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Simon Fox, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Council sticks much-criticised My Account system in the bin

Croydon Council has admitted that it has been running a sub-standard public contact service for years. The council has announced that it is abandoning the requirement for residents to sign-up for its deeply flawed My Account system, which until this … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments