Star gazing has been taken to a different dimension for pupils at Croydon High School lately, where one physics teacher has used her interest in astronomy to inspire her classes and run projects that have taken them to the edge of space.
And next up for Arabi Karteepan and her pupils is Mission Pegasus, a two-year project that aims to launch a satellite with help from a Formula 1 team expert.
The Tories have picked Anthony Boutall, an assistant head at an Orpington grammar school, as their General Election candidate in the re-jigged constituency of Streatham and Croydon North.
Election fodder: teacher Anthony Boutall is the Tories’ choice to try to unseat Steve Reed
In his 20s, Boutall served as a councillor but in Bedford, not in south London. A self-professed reader of Inside Croydon, he has lived in Croydon and Crystal Palace for the past five years.
Selected at a poorly-attended meeting of Tory members on Friday night, the local Conservative Federation released no information about its process, although one source suggests that several people did apply for the pretty hopeless-looking task.
Photos from the selection meeting on Friday night show just 17 attendees (including the successful candidate and the selfie-taker). One of those in the post-selection picture is recognisable as William Perry, the toothsome son of the elected Mayor of Croydon, anti-ULEZ vigilante and chair of London South Conservatives. Might Perry’s little Willy have been among the unsuccessful applicants? Continue reading
A public opinion survey conducted at the end of 2023 found that only 34% of Croydon residents think that the council offers value for money. The cash-strapped council spent £33,000 on the survey.
By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter
Tucked away in the recesses of a report to the council cabinet meeting this Wednesday comes a snippet that will have opposition councillors sniggering.
Unsatisfactory: less than half of those questioned in a council-run survey think that the council is doing a good job
Last year, our bankrupt council saw fit to spend £33,500 on a residents’ survey.
Carried out towards the end of 2023 by a Cheshire-based company, DJS Research, it involved them interviewing 1,694 local people about their satisfaction with the area where they live, their feelings of safety and community, and the extent of satisfaction with the council.
The questions are said to have been developed with guidance from the council’s industry body, the Local Government Association, to allow Croydon to compare itself with other local authorities. Continue reading
A three-storey block of flats in Penge had to be evacuated due to a fire in the early hours of this morning.
Wake up call: 70 firefighters attended the flat fire in Orchard Grove
Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters tackled a fire on Orchard Grove in Penge.
A second-floor flat in a three-storey block was destroyed and half of a first-floor flat was damaged by fire. Just over half of the building’s roof was also damaged.
One woman was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews. Sixteen other people left the building before firefighters arrived and a further three people evacuated following advice from the Brigade’s 999 Control Officers.
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: An ancient document suggests that a Dutch businessman was doing very well in Croydon more than 500 years ago, writes DAVID MORGAN
Magician of the mash: in medieval England, brewing ale or beer was often the work of monks
Dusting off a 520-year-old last will and testament has helped reveal aspects of life in Croydon at the turn of the 16th century.
The will was written by Bronn van Riswyks, who died during the reign of King Henry VII in October 1502.
With a surname like that, we can assume he was from Dutch heritage. “Van” means “coming from” and Rijswijk is a town in South Holland. We do not know how long Bronn van Riswyks lived in Croydon, but his will provides two important clues about his background and life.
First, he wrote that he wished to be buried “by the north door of St John the Baptist church, next to where his wife Anne had already been buried”. He must have been very wealthy indeed to consider such a request: the north door was the main entrance to Croydon’s parish church at that time. A grave there would have cost more than just a general burial. And if his wife Anne had already been buried there, he must have paid for and reserved a double grave.
Second, his occupation was described in his will as “a beer brewer”.
The fact that the word “beer” was written separately placed van Riswyks into a particular group of people. Continue reading
A couple from south London who tricked victims into sending hundreds of thousands of pounds in a romance fraud have been sentenced.
Fraudster: Ibrahim Moro, sentenced five and a half years
Ibrahim Moro, 33, from Bromley, and Rebecca Patrick, 32, from Croydon, targeted older and vulnerable victims on online dating sites before gaining their trust and asking for thousands of pounds. Some of the scams were traced back almost a decade.
Investigators from the National Crime Agency found one victim, an elderly man from Australia, had believed he was in a relationship with Patrick.
The couple gained the trust of their victim, first asking for small amounts stating it would be used to buy Patrick warmer clothes for winter. The victim was then told Patrick was entitled to 78kg of gold in Ghana and had to pay for it to be released, but that when it was she would move to Australia and live with him.
The victim went on to transfer Aus$250,000 – close to £140,000 – to the fraudsters. He also sent Patrick a new phone and multiple other smaller amounts of money over a year-long period. Continue reading
Mayor Jason Perry admits thousands of motorists were affected by the latest error from his dysfunctional council, but residents remain angry, some saying they had their Christmas ruined by the worry over the £195 fines
Oi! Oi!: Del Boy Mayor Perry is going to have to refund more than £500,000 collected from dodgy fines
Croydon’s cash-strapped council will have to make refunds totaling more than £500,000 to thousands of aggrieved motorists, after the residents were served with demands for fines without first receiving an initial Penalty Charge Notice.
The council last night admitted it was in the wrong when issuing more than 3,000 of the £195 penalties for driving offences that took place from October to December, butthey failed to offer the residents an opportunity to deal with the matter by paying a £65 fine.
Croydon’s part-time Mayor, Jason Perry, is blaming the dodgy fines on a computer software error and has issued a grudging apology.
The Town Hall’s Labour opposition has described the situation as a “PCN fiasco”. Continue reading
Warmonger Alastair Campbell was forced to scuttle upstairs as his speaking engagement in Croydon last night descended into disorganised farce.
Low farce: after paying 30 quid for their tickets, attendees were expected to move furniture and to buy Campbell’s book
The event was a campaign fund-raiser organised by Labour MP Sarah Jones, although in reality it was just as much about Campbell flogging a few copies of his latest self-regarding book.
Despite Jones and Campbell trying to keep the location of their £30-a-ticket love-in a secret, a large crowd of pro-peace demonstrators gathered outside The Venue (what used to be Beano’s) on Middle Street, just off Surrey Street.
There, with placards and Palestinian flags, they voiced their anger at Labour’s craven position over the genocide in Gaza.
Reasonable estimates, backed up by video evidence, suggest more protestors were on the street than there were Blairites inside the poorly attended event. Continue reading
CROYDON COMMENTARY: While the narrative from the Government-appointed improvement panel, the council and the levelling up department is upbeat about an ‘increased pace’ of change at the bankrupt borough, a more realistic picture, as NICHOLAS PANES points out, is of a council still failing to perform fundamental, legal duties – like publishing their accounts, which would allow the claims made to be properly scrutinised
Having carried on under the previous administration by making key decisions in secret, behind closed doors, and under criticism of its governance, Croydon Council has failed in its statutory obligation to produce accounts.
The council’s annual report for 2020-2021 is on the website but still in draft (unaudited) form.
The accounts for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 are nowhere to be seen. Continue reading
The council is providing new disabled toilets and has upgraded the playground in Park Hill Recreation Ground – with the result that one happy local mum has described it as “my daughter’s new paradise”.
Fun times: one young user is delighted with the new equipment in Park Hill
The playground was designed in collaboration with local families and the Friends of Park Hill Park.
It is more accessible for wheelchair users, featuring fully accessible entrances, new wheelchair-friendly equipment and 25 play structures that, according to the council, “have been approved by children”.
There is a separate area for toddlers, twice the number of swings, and now a wider range of play options for children aged up to 12. Continue reading
Croydon Council staff who inhabit the lofty realms of the seventh floor of Fisher’s Folly were horrified when they heard the news that Elaine Jackson, the assistant chief executive (a post that was created especially for her) had broken her leg, possibly in five places.
Out of action: Kerswell’s assistant, Elaine Jackson
With Jackson indisposed for an indefinite period, “Who will make tea for CEO Katherine Kerswell?” was the question everyone wanted to ask (but no one dared say out loud).
The crisis may soon be averted, however, as Kerswell moves to recruit yet another six-figure salaried exec at the cash-strapped council.
A meeting to be held next Monday morning in Fisher’s Folly’s Orwellianly titled Room 101, at which the appointment of a “director of customer experience and technology” is to be discussed. Continue reading
EXCLUSIVE: Council looks like backing down over potentially hundreds of driving penalties that it issued without sending drivers the required, initial Penalty Charge Notice – and all thanks to readers of Inside Croydon
Fujitsu moment: Tory Mayor Jason Perry
“Has our wonderful Tory Mayor Perry employed Fujitsu to oversee PCNs?” one frustrated Croydon resident wrote this week, referring to the rogue computer firm enmeshed in the Post Office scandal, after receiving a demand for nearly £200 for a driving offence – without having first received the required warning letter and option to pay a £65 fine.
Inside Croydon’s email inbox was fit to busting at the weekend with notes from angry residents who had been hit with these huge fines without having first had the opportunity to pay the discounted penalty.
Michael Gove’s £600m hand-out to local authorities in England, announced yesterday, won’t go very far, especially if you consider that the Government’s own expert panel reckons Croydon alone needs £540m to wipe out a chunk of its toxic debt.
By ANDREW FISHER
Councils in England are today receiving £15billion less in core government funding than they were in 2010.
That is the context which needs to be set against every warning about council bankruptcy, every Section 114 notice issued and every time you hear about local services being cut or Council Tax going up.
Yesterday’s announcement from Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, of an extra £600million this year for the 300-or-so councils in England needs to be placed alongside another report issued by his department on the same day, from the improvement panel in Croydon, where the experts appointed by Government agree that this one cash-strapped council alone needs £540million to write off a portion of its debt to secure its recovery.
In recent weeks the Government has been under extraordinary pressure on the issue of councils’ failing finances – with more than 40 Conservative MPs writing to the Prime Minister begging for extra resources for their authorities, and MP Ben Bradley, who has a second job as the leader of Tory-run Nottinghamshire Council, also taking to the airwaves to plea for more funding. Continue reading
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Up to seven of the borough’s libraries will close or be down-graded under Tory-run council’s plans – a decade after they last made similar proposals to flog off public assets.
By STEVEN DOWNES
Under threat again: Sanderstead Library, one of four public libraries the council wants to sell
Croydon’s Tory Mayor, Jason Perry, wants to close four of the borough’s 13 public libraries and down-grade three others.
The council has today announced a “public consultation”, and we all know what kind of lip-service exercise that will be, in which they propose to close and flog off public property at the libraries in Bradmore Green (Coulsdon), Broad Green, Sanderstead and Shirley.
It is little more than a decade since a previous Conservative-run administration, in which Perry was a cabinet member, put forward similarly destructive proposals.
This time round, Perry claims to be “listening to residents”. Continue reading
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In its latest report to Michael Gove, the Government’s improvement panel reveals a £38m hole in cash-strapped council budgets for the next four years – and repeats plea for unprecedented half-a-billion pounds loan write-off
Cash-strapped: even the government’s appointees reckon it will need a Northern Rock-style debt write-off to fix Croydon’s problems
Croydon’s cash-strapped council was still lending tens of millions of pounds to Brick by Brick, its failed house-building company, as recently as the last financial year, an official report to the Government has confirmed.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has today released the latest report from Croydon’s improvement and assurance panel, the local authority experts the Tory Government appointed in 2021 after the council’s financial collapse.
Back in 2020, with soaring debts and a £63million hole in its budget, Croydon issued the first of three Section 114 notices – effective admission that it was unable to meet its legal duty to deliver a balanced budget.
But according to the report from improvement panel chair Tony McArdle, Croydon will be unable to balance its budgets in 2024-2025 and for the three following years without Government bail-outs of at least £38million each year through until 2028.
McArdle’s report was submitted to Secretary of State Michael Gove last October, but there is no mention of the four years of further capitalisation directions contained in the budget reports recently submitted by Executive Mayor Jason Perry to the council’s scrutiny committee. Continue reading
Big Brother is watching: who knew that Marks and Sparks on North End was where the local crims do their weekly shop? The Met’s LFR camera deployed in Croydon this week
The Metropolitan Police appear to have abandoned their regular Thursday afternoon appointment with local crims on North End, and after a month of trialling Live Facial Recognition on Croydon’s main shopping street, the force has mixed things up a bit.
Their special CCTV camera with added algorithms was rolled out near West Croydon on Friday and then again yesterday. A total of 13 suspects or absconders had their collars felt after being spotted by the Met’s latest hi-tech camera. Continue reading
Today marks 100 days until the London elections on May 2, when Londoners are supposed to go to the polls to elect the Mayor of London and 25 London Assembly Members.
Standard issue: it is an election year in London
So expect a lot more gurning selfies from wannabe politicians appearing on your social media feeds in the coming weeks.
And even more unwanted and never-read leaflets to be poked through your letterbox.
It also means just another 99 days of being entertained by the inanities and imbecility of Susan Hall, the Tories’ candidate for London Mayor who doesn’t know the cost of a single bus fare, doesn’t know who is in charge of Hammersmith Bridge, nor what the starting salary is for a constable in the Met.
Mind you, only about one-third of Tory voters in London know who Trump-supporting Susan Hall is… Continue reading
From tomorrow, Purley Way Marks and Spencer will be joining the successful “Refilled” scheme on its own-brand cleaning and laundry products.
Top-up time: M&S Purley Way will be doing a bit more for recycling rates from tomorrow
In partnership with Reposit, the is part of M&S’s commitment to reduce and remove plastic packaging and offer customers more sustainable choices.
Following a successful trial in six stores last year, Purley Way is among a further 19 M&S stores across the country where the scheme is being rolled out.
M&S has committed to remove 1billion units of plastic packaging by 2027; in December, the retailer met their 2023-2024 target to remove 75million units, four months earlier than planned. Continue reading
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