Category Archives: Environment

Shirley care home celebrates the garden legacy of Rev Wilks

A special ceremony has been held at the MHA Hall Grange care home in Shirley to make the centenary of the death of the leading horticulturalist, and the person who created The Wilderness garden, Rev William Wilks. Rev Wilks arrived … Continue reading

Posted in Care Homes, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, Environment, Gardening, Health, History, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

You can help save the bees, just like Jeremy Clarkson…

When even Jeremy Clarkson, the king of Britain’s petrolheads, says that we’re heading for an “insect annihilation”, then you know there must be something wrong. Clarkson, on his Amazon TV show Clarkson’s Farm, vowed to do something about the loss … Continue reading

Posted in Activities, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Environment, Gardening, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Woodland Trust is offering free trees to fight climate crisis

Schools and community groups across Croydon are being urged to join the fight against climate change and nature loss by taking advantage of the Woodland Trust’s latest tree-pack giveaway. Applications for the charity’s free tree-packs scheme are open now and … Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Croydon parks, Education, Environment, Schools, Wildlife | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Get orf moy laaand! Posh hotel declares parkland a no-go zone

Michelin-starred chef to use foraged ingredients in Birch Selsdon’s two restaurants, as fences go up to keep local residents from walking their pooches across the former golf course The new owners of the luxury hotel that used to be known … Continue reading

Posted in Birch (Selsdon), Business, Croydon parks, Environment, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Take a Peep at this: public garden planned for Zodiac Court

Zodiac Court, fabled as the home of Jez and Mark in Channel 4’s cult comedy Peep Show, is to get a complete makeover, including the addition of a community garden and café in a space which for half a century … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Broad Green Common, Business, Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Housing, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Council’s once-prized listed building Heathfield House left to rot

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough’s built heritage is crumbling into a worrying state of disrepair, with no one at the council seemingly aware of the seriousness of the situation. By PEARL LEE, our south of the borough correspondent Any Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in Addington, Art, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Environment, Gardening, Heathfield House, History, Property, Riesco Collection, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

XR protesters highlight Thames Water’s crappy performance

Extinction Rebellion Croydon is demanding that Thames Water stop illegally pouring untreated sewage into streams and rivers, and that they cease the payment of all bonuses, dividends and excessive executive wages until they have fixed the growing environmental disasters caused … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Environment, Extinction Rebellion | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Community campaigning raises £12,000 to green Portland Road

In our bankrupt borough, money doesn’t grow on trees… but it can certainly help buy some, as a community initiative by residents in Woodside has amply demonstrated, culminating with a celebratory planting day this month “What are you doing to … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Environment, People for Portland Road, South Norwood, Wildlife, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Call for Tory Mayor to resign after Government’s takeover

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Reaction to yesterday’s Government announcement that the Whitehall-appointed improvement panel will effectively take over the running of the cash-strapped council has met with near-universal criticism There have been calls for Jason Perry to resign as Mayor after … Continue reading

Posted in Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Local Birds illustrated talk, Honeywood Museum, Mar 23

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Honeywood Museum, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

You can depend on Croydon Labour: they always let you down

By STEVEN DOWNES, Editor, Inside Croydon In the end, it was all so sadly predictable. Yet even old cynics didn’t believe it was really going to happen in such a swift and shabby manner until they actually saw it all … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Callton Young, Chris Clark, Claire Bonham, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Jane West, Janet Campbell, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Patricia Hay-Justice, Ria Patel, Stuart King, Tamar Nwafor | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Only three councillors were as good as their word and stood up for the people against Tory Mayor Perry’s 15% Council Tax hike

In the end, after hours of bluster and posturing, just three of the borough’s 70 councillors stood up for the residents that they represent and were as good as their word, voting against the Conservative Mayor’s budget and his 15per … Continue reading

Posted in Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Esther Sutton, Ria Patel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Green councillors tell Gove: Don’t make our residents pay for ‘a decade of bad decisions, dodgy deals and secret contracts’

Croydon’s Green Party councillors have issued an 11th-hour plea to Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove for him to withdraw permission for Croydon’s Tory Mayor, Jason Perry, to impose a punitive 15per cent Council Tax hike on the ordinary people of … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Mayor Jason Perry, Ria Patel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Hutchinson’s Bank nature reserve: 2023 expert guided walks

Posted in Activities, Croydon parks, Environment, Hutchinson's Bank, Walks, Wildlife | Tagged , | Leave a comment

10-year campaign by locals wins reprieve for Central Hill Estate

Plans by a labour-controlled south London council to bulldoze a residential estate have been binned, after a decade-long campaign by locals. Lambeth Council has paused the redevelopment of Central Hill and two other estates after a critical report recommended a … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Community associations, Croydon North, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, Housing, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Matthew Bennett, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ranulph Fiennes: Get your MP to vote for trophy hunting Bill

In a first for Inside Croydon, Sir RANULPH FIENNES, Britain’s best-known explorer, has written to this website to call on our readers to lobby all Croydon’s MPs to support a private Member’s Bill due to go before Parliament this month … Continue reading

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Environment, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Bromley’s £1.2m design tender to overhaul Crystal Palace Park

After years of delay and dither, local authority moves to start a nine-year improvement project to realise park’s ‘potential to be a national asset for the benefit of the local community’ Bromley Council is looking to spend at least £1.2million … Continue reading

Posted in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Environment | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Not everything’s going to plan after High Street roadworks

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, finds the council facing another possible U-turn on one of its street schemes There’s a degree of chaos and confusion in the streets around the Town Hall, even more so than usual, after more … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

£540m debt write-off shows Perry has failed on finances

CROYDON IN CRISIS: His political opponents say the elected Mayor ‘has sold Croydon down the river for his own political reasons’, and his 15% tax hike is ‘punishment’ for residents. By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s council has been so “spectacularly useless” … Continue reading

Posted in Callton Young, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ikea’s £2,000 prize for schools with best zero carbon projects

Ikea has launched a national competition giving Croydon school children the chance to win £2,000 towards projects which will help reduce their school’s carbon footprint. The retailer is working in partnership with the Let’s Go Zero campaign, coordinated by climate … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Education, Environment, Ikea, Schools | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

£81,000 pa Mayor: Croydon is too skint to oppose ULEZ

Jason Perry, Croydon’s Tory Mayor, says that his cash-strapped borough doesn’t have enough money to join the Judicial Review legal action being brought by other outer London boroughs against the expansion later this year of ULEZ – the Ultra Low … Continue reading

Posted in Bexley, Bromley Council, Croydon Council, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Outside Croydon, Sadiq Khan, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

New school streets are only ‘temporary’ according to council

Works start this week on 10 “Healthy School Streets” – the council says they are on a trial basis – which will come into effect on March 13. School streets restrict access to motor vehicles on designated roads where there … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

It cannot be fair to hike Council Tax and not deliver services

CROYDON COMMENTARY: They say that the true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis. But in imposing a 15% Council Tax hike, Mayor Jason Perry could have made the cost-of-living crisis much worse for thousands of … Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Public’s furious reaction to Perry’s Premium Council Tax hike

CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Go climb in a skip. No one’s paying that’. Residents’ outrage at Council Tax hike sees demos and petitions planned In the 24 hours since Inside Croydon broke the news of Croydon Mayor Jason Perry’s request to … Continue reading

Posted in Claire Bonham, Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Help precious pollinators by getting your own Bee Saver Kit

There are unprecedented challenges facing the world, but our fragile food system would be put under even more strain if we lose our bees. Bees pollinate 75per cent of our main food crops worldwide, but right now they are dying … Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Community associations, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Environment, Gardening, Wildlife | Tagged , , | 2 Comments