Category Archives: Shirley South

Face-less and word-less: fringe candidates who want your vote

Just who are these people wanting you to entrust them with your precious vote on May 7? As KEN TOWL discovered, some appear very reluctant to let you know who they are, or what they really stand for  There’s this … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, Adam Kellett, Donald Speakman, Jose Joseph, London-wide issues, New Addington, New Addington North, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The ex-Tories standing for Reform all set for New Addington

After the mass resignation a fortnight ago of around a dozen members, including some candidates, Reform is trying to re-stage its New Addington walkabout tomorrow morning, with a promised ‘star guest’. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports  Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Reform, … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Adam Kellett, Ben Flook, Dan Milner-Tebbutt, Donald Speakman, Jose Joseph, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, New Addington North, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Perry’s libraries legacy of unsigned leases and works not done

Pay more, get less. Under Jason Perry, the council has become increasingly reliant on volunteers to deliver services paid for by our Council Tax – from litter-picking in Croydon parks, to voluntary groups running the four public libraries closed by … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Stranack, Asian Resource Centre of Croydon, Broad Green, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Kristian Aspinall, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Old Coulsdon, Property, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Residents Association, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

It’s no Flook: dozen Reform members resign over candidate

ELECTION EXCLUSIVE: Reform in Croydon is in meltdown, with members resigning over top-down decisions from Farage HQ. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports on the Fairfield Halls exercise in onanism, where the real fireworks were going off backstage  Grifter-in-chief Nigel Farage … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Ben Flook, Dan Milner-Tebbutt, Jose Joseph, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, New Addington North, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Shirley North, Shirley South, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

43 days to go and desperation is appearing in election leaflets

After all the calamities inflicted on Croydon by Tory Mayor Jason Perry, from his 33% Council Tax hikes to his unlawful LTN fines, has Labour fallen into their old trap of over-promising before under-delivering? WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, sifts through … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Chris Clark, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, Croydon West, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Jeet Bains, London-wide issues, New Addington, New Addington North, Old Coulsdon, Paul Scott, Ria Patel, Richard Howard, Shirley North, Shirley South, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

‘Red v Blue’ at Town Hall elections could suffer a Green-wash

Polling day in Croydon’s local elections, including its second mayoral vote, is on May 7. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, sifts through recent opinion polls and by-election results, but has a warning from history of how ‘challenger parties’ can be swept … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Chris Clark, Chris Philp MP, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, Croydon West, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Jeet Bains, London-wide issues, New Addington, New Addington North, Old Coulsdon, Paul Scott, Peter Underwood, Ria Patel, Sarah Jones MP, Shirley North, Shirley South, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

It was a bad deal for Croydon. Why did they allow it to happen?

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With Tory Mayor Jason Perry using £½million of public money as a hush fund, RICHARD HOWARD, pictured right, the LibDem mayoral candidate, lays out all the obvious flaws with the council’s Red Clover Gardens scheme Two years ago, … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Brick by Brick, Business, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Ian Parker, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Howard, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mayor candidates call for investigation into Red Clover Gardens

LibDems and Greens say that only a thorough, deep dive into the council’s accounts and records conducted by an outside body – such as HM Revenue and Customs – can get to the bottom of the latest multi-million-pound financial scandal … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Rick Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Perry agrees to pay £½m to reclaim flats at Red Clover Gardens

Inside Croydon has obtained a top-secret, ‘Part B’ council report providing key financial details on the collapsed property deal for Red Clover Gardens  – all because someone at Croydon’s cash-strapped and incompetent council posted it on their own website EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Tory council loses £20m over Coulsdon collapsed property deal

It is almost three years since this website warned that a ‘complicated, opaque lease-back arrangement’ conducted with a property firm with no real track record, for the disposal of blocks of flats at Red Clover Gardens, all looked just a … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Housing, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Mears, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Labour refuse to respond to Cummings’s budget challenge

WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, on a sham challenge issued to rival political parties by a borrowing-dependent Conservative administration that is trying to con the public that they have ‘fixed the finances’ As Tory Mayor Jason Perry prepares to deliver what … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Claire Bonham, Commissioners, Conrad Hall, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Deputy mayor approves of Shirley Park’s free school meal deal

Joanne McCartney, the deputy mayor for children and families, visited Shirley Park Primary School this week to see how the Mayor of London’s universal free school meals programme for the capital’s state primary schools is benefiting children and their families. … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon East, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Natasha Irons, Schools, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wassailing in The Wilderness, Shirley, this Saturday, Jan 10

Posted in Activities, Care Homes, Croydon parks, Dance, Gardening, Music, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kevin Costner Christmas show is Shirley teen’s screen debut

EXCLUSIVE: ABC in the United States is airing a biblical epic tonight, with a starring role played by an 18-year-old actor from Croydon A Croydon teenager tonight makes his screen debut in an American television show fronted by Hollywood superstar … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Cinema, CYTO, Mitre Players, Music, Shirley North, Shirley South, Theatre, Trinity School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Harris academies in Croydon get plugged in to solar power

Two Croydon schools have been announced among 250 that are to benefit from having solar panels fitted to their roofs under a scheme run by Great British Energy. The funding from Great British Energy and the government should enable millions … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon East, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Education, Harris Academy Crystal Palace, Natasha Irons, Schools, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

#BINMAGEDDON: Veolia performance is worse under new deal

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The rubbish contractor handed a £40m eight-year contract by Mayor Jason Perry, just two years after he sacked them for underperforming, is now taking longer to clear fly-tips than under their old deal. NORA BERRY reports  Figures … Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Norbury, Norbury Park, Refuse collection, Scott Roche, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Shirley teen to release Christmas single to support charities

A teenaged actor and musician from Shirley has revived a family song to raise funds to support young people and seriously ill children this festive season. At the end of this month, 18-year-old Ethan Thorne is releasing two versions of … Continue reading

Posted in CYTO, Music, Shirley North, Shirley South, Theatre, Trinity School | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK’s best at trade awards

Literally rising from the ashes of a malicious arson attack two years ago, the Spaghetti Tree, with branches in Warlingham and Shirley, has been rated the country’s best independent Italian restaurant A family-run chain of restaurants based in and around … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Volunteers’ coffee morning at Hall Grange home raises £500

A Croydon care home raised almost £500 from a coffee morning staged there by volunteers. The coffee morning at MHA Hall Grange, in Shirley, included a variety of stalls and fundraising activities, such as a raffle and tombola. The cake … Continue reading

Posted in Care Homes, Community associations, Health, Shirley North, Shirley South | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Storm rages at Town Hall over unspent £4m climate funding

Jamaica has been declared a disaster zone, after Hurricane Melissa ripped through the Caribbean island overnight. But according to Mayor Jason Perry’s most senior colleague at Croydon Town Hall, the climate emergency “is not a priority”. Today, the supercharged Hurricane … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Climate Crisis Commission, Croydon Community Energy, Croydon Council, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Environment, Jason Cummings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Climate crisis? It’s not a priority for Croydon, says Cummings

Last week, the cabinet member for finance, Conservative councillor Jason Cummings, pictured left, stood up in the Town Hall Chamber and explained that the council had failed to spend £3.9m of carbon offset grants in nine years because… well… they … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Crisis Commission, Croydon Community Energy, Croydon Council, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Environment, Jason Cummings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Council lied about risk assessments for axed lollipop patrols

CROYDON IN CRISIS: First, they failed to hold a public consultation over the ending of school street patrols. Then, they failed to inform the affected schools. Now, following an investigation by this website, it is confirmed that the council deliberately … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Oasis Academy, Ryelands Primary and Nursery, Schools, Scott Roche, Selsdon, Shirley North, Shirley South, Transport, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Here’s the safety reports your council did not want you to see

EXCLUSIVE: Here are the six road safety assessment reports that Croydon Council lied about, and then tried to withhold from the public After breaking the news that Croydon Council was to axe six primary school road safety patrols – “lollipop … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Oasis Academy, Ryelands Primary and Nursery, Schools, Scott Roche, Selsdon, Shirley North, Shirley South, Transport, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

New managers for public library need crowdfunding to operate

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a year’s delay, only now are ‘plans’ slowly emerging for the future of four public libraries, with no leases yet agreed on at least two sites. GENE BRODIE, education correspondent, reports  It’s been a whole year … Continue reading

Posted in Broad Green, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Libraries, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, Old Coulsdon, Property, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Residents Association, Shirley North, Shirley South, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Councillor has been breaking law on disclosures since 2022

Tamar Barrett, a company director who has been a Labour councillor for almost four years, has never submitted an accurate declaration of interest. Tonight, the councillor is seeking reselection in Thornton Heath. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES A councillor who is … Continue reading

Posted in 2026 council elections, Croydon Council, Rowenna Davis, Scott Roche, Shirley South, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, Tamar Barrett (was Nwafor), Thornton Heath, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments