Category Archives: Ruth Dombey

Council’s stalled housing development could cost £50m-plus

A borough council awards a multi-million-pound home-building contract to a firm that has only existed for a couple of years and has no track record of large-scale developments. What could possibly go wrong? CARL SHILTON reports on a repeat of … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Housing, London-wide issues, Planning, Property, Richard Simpson, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Police launch murder hunt after teen killed at Sutton Station

Sutton railway station and Sutton High Street remain closed this morning as the Metropolitan Police conducts “an urgent investigation” following the murder of a 17-year-old boy last night. The victim has not yet been named and no arrests have been … Continue reading

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Policing, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sutton stabbing ‘adds to people’s anxiety’ says council leader

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that it is treating the death on Monday night of a man on Typhoon Way, on the Roundshaw estate, as murder. According to a Met spokesperson, “A woman was arrested on suspicion of making threats … Continue reading

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Policing, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Investigators apologise after sending reports to wrong person

CARL SHILTON, our Sutton investigations editor, on the latest self-inflicted crisis to hit LibDem council leader Ruth Dombey and her increasingly rattled sidekick Jayne McCoy A director at a company specialising in investigating complaints over the conduct of local authority … Continue reading

Posted in Barry Lewis, Environment, Jayne McCoy, Marian James, Nick Mattey, Planning, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pro-pollution Dombey re-states Sutton opposition to ULEZ

Environment correspondent PAUL LUSHION on the cynical games being played with people’s lives by some of the capital’s third-rate politicians Ruth Dombey, the leader of LibDem-controlled Sutton, today declared war on ULEZ, warning Mayor of London Sadiq Khan that she … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Health, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Ruth Dombey, Sadiq Khan, Surrey, Sutton Council, ULEZ expansion, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sutton’s 40-page emissions report fails to mention incinerator

Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, on the most ridiculous claims made yet by the Liberal Democrat-controlled council There is a meeting tonight in Sutton of the council’s environment and sustainable transport committee. And, along with Ruth Dombey, the LibDem-controlled council … Continue reading

Posted in Barry Lewis, Elliot Colburn, Environment, Helen Bailey, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 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

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

LibDems refuse council debate on £44m Beech Tree money pit

Ruth Dombey’s LibDems in Sutton are refusing to discuss a council development project which has already gone £14million over budget before a single brick has been laid. Sutton wants to bulldoze 25 council homes on Beech Tree Place in the … Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Richard Simpson, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Covid outbreak forces LibDems to postpone council meeting

CARL SHILTON on the latest accusations of stunts and mistrust on Sutton Council, where the ruling group fears losing key votes Sutton’s Liberal Democrats last night postponed a scheduled meeting of the full council, in a move suspected to have … Continue reading

Posted in Bobby Dean, Health, Helen Bailey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Drummond | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dombey’s dodgy LibDems’ handbrake turn over dirty diesel

Viridor and Ruth Dombey’s dodgy Liberal Democrats are so worried about the latest attempts to increase the volume of rubbish burned at the Beddington Lane incinerator, and the use of vast amounts of dirty diesel to do so, that they … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Environment, Helen Bailey, Nick Mattey, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dodgy Dombey’s ‘squalid and disgraceful’ committees stitch-up

On Sutton Council, the opposition groups are fighting for fair representation as the Liberal Democrats, after winning just 53% of council seats, want to instal themselves in more than 60% of committee places. Ahead of tonight’s first meeting of the … Continue reading

Posted in Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Drummond, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dombey survives but Sutton results leave LibDems scarred

CARL SHILTON at the election count reports on how senior Liberal Democrats lost their council positions while their party clung on to power, as Labour won their first seats for 20 years The election fight in Sutton turned feral as … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Catherine Gray, Jayne McCoy, Jenny Batt, Luke Taylor, Marian James, Neil Garratt, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Drummond, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Boris Johnson wrecks Sutton Tory hopes with hospital pass

Our Sutton reporter, BERTIE WORCESTER-PARK, sifts through the election offering on the other side of the borough boundary Thursday is election day on the other side of the borough’s boundaries, in Lambeth and Southwark, in Merton and Bromley, and in … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Environment, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Drummond, Veolia, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

John Fisher governors get Ofsted backing in gay author row

Teachers are on strike at John Fisher School today, with the backing of the majority of parents, as well as former governors and even Ofsted, as the row with the school’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese rumbles into a third month. Governors … Continue reading

Posted in Church and religions, Education, John Fisher School, Purley, Ruth Dombey, Schools, Sutton Council, Wayne Lawlor | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Half of Sutton LibDem councillors quitting at May’s elections

Defending the indefensible, whether it is the dodgy deals over the council’s SDEN heat network, the appalling treatment of families with SEND children, or some of the ruling group’s more under-hand conduct, has taken its toll, writes our Civic Offices … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Catherine Gray, Charlie Mansell, Elliot Colburn, Jayne McCoy, Jenny Batt, Neil Garratt, Nick Mattey, Outside Croydon, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Drummond | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sutton’s LibDems in meltdown as ‘betrayed’ deputy quits

A councillor called ‘Moral’ has taken a principled stance against her erstwhile party colleagues. EXCLUSIVE by CARL SHILTON, investigations editor Ruth Dombey’s deputy mayor on Sutton’s Liberal Democrat-controlled council is quitting at the local elections next month because she has … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Elliot Colburn, Environment, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Crisis-hit Dombey facing Hackbridge election challenge

Already a source of frequent ridicule in a national satirical magazine, now Sutton’s LibDem council leader is facing a new threat to her power as challengers emerge from Labour, as CARL SHILTON reports What’s been a bad few weeks for … Continue reading

Posted in Ben Andrew, Paul Burstow MP, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘People will die’: Dombey accused of Viridor ‘Faustian pact’

Beddington North councillor NICK MATTEY, in a stinging open letter to the council leader, accuses the Liberal Democrats who control Sutton of putting the health of the public at serious risk Councillor Dombey, I find it totally sickening that this … Continue reading

Posted in Environment, Health, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Dombey in crisis as two more LibDem councillors quit

CARL SHILTON on troubling times for Sutton’s beleaguered leader To lose one senior councillor in the weeks before crucial local elections might be seen to be unfortunate. But to lose three of her closest supporters, including her deputy leader, in less … Continue reading

Posted in Ben Andrew, Environment, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sutton’s Simpson show can’t account for £2m SDEN subsidy

‘I can’t give you a guarantee there is no fraud’ – the words of an independent accountancy official at a meeting this week caused further dismay to Sutton’s ruling LibDems amid the growing controversy of their loss-making heat network. CARL … Continue reading

Posted in Barry Lewis, Elliot Colburn, Environment, Helen Bailey, Jayne McCoy, Neil Garratt, Nick Mattey, Richard Simpson, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Drummond, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Opposition renews call for full-scale fraud probe into SDEN

Independent review finds that the loss-making, council-owned district heating network has less of a business case, and is more of a basket case, reports CARL SHILTON Richard Simpson, the senior council official who helped unleash the £200million disaster that is … Continue reading

Posted in Helen Bailey, Jayne McCoy, Nick Mattey, Richard Simpson, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Drummond, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sutton chiefs block opposition from seeing fraud report

Our Sutton investigations editor, CARL SHILTON, on the latest strokes being pulled by the LibDem-controlled council Tonight, there is a meeting of the Sutton Shareholdings Board, the committee that exercises the corporate shareholder and governance responsibilities of Sutton Council’s privately-held … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Helen Bailey, Jayne McCoy, Neil Garratt, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Drummond, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

MP Colburn in ‘angry’ row with Sutton over faulty heat network

The hot water supplied to Hackbridge’s New Mill Quarter might be lukewarm, but the political row over the council’s faulty heating network is close to boiling point, as our Sutton correspondent, CARL SHILTON, reports The MP who represents thousands of … Continue reading

Posted in Ben Andrew, Elliot Colburn, Helen Bailey, Jayne McCoy, London Fire Brigade, Property, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments