Woodside councillor Bonello’s resignation causes by-election

Posted on January 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Early departure: Cllr Mike Bonello

Labour councillor Mike Bonello has resigned from Croydon Council.

Bonello is a councillor for Woodside ward, but also works as a social worker, and it is understood that he has taken the decision to stand down because of the pressure of work in his “day job”. Bonello had already stood down from a Town Hall shadow cabinet role (and extra allowances) in May last year for a similar reason.

Local sources confirm that Bonello’s resignation is only as a councillor; he is not leaving the Labour Party. Continue reading →

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Labour MP Jones ‘too busy’ for refugees’ latest public meeting

Posted on January 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

Constituents are beginning to ask awkward questions of the Croydon Central MP, as she can find time to appear with Alastair Campbell and David Lammy, but has blanked a community group.
By our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE

Blanked: Labour’s Sarah Jones can’t find time to speak to constituents tomorrow night

Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, has been able to find time in her busy diary to spend an hour on stage on Thursday night in a secretive 30-quid-a-ticket Labour gig with war-monger Alastair Campbell, or have an evening set aside next week for a “launch” event with David Lammy, Labour’s front bench apologist for the Israeli Defence Force.

But MP Jones, likely to be a government minister after the General Election later this year, can’t be bothered to turn up for meetings with concerned constituents, whether organised by the local mosque or by a group representing the many asylum seekers living in Croydon.

Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Croydon North, has continued to ignore all invitations to attend mosque meetings called to discuss the humanitarian crisis inflicted on Gaza which followed the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7. Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 General Election, Croydon Central, Croydon West, Marley King, Sarah Jones MP, Simon Fox, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sign up today for our Croydon Insider news review podcast

Posted on January 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

The first episode of 2024 of popular monthly news podcast, The Croydon Insider, is now available for paid-up subscribers to Inside Croydon.

This month’s panel is local business owner Oumesh Sauba, iC subscriber Annabel Smith and Croydon-based charity boss Ross White.

And they take an in-depth look behind the headlines, including discussing the legal and moral responsibilities for schools, after the troubled Whitgift Foundation hired a PR firm for “crisis management” following a police investigation into sexual abuse complaints.

As well as the continuing decline of Croydon town centre, our panel also discusses how Croydon Council has been hit with FOUR adverse rulings from the Housing Ombudsman for the way its has treated its tenants, and they celebrate the physics teacher who is taking Croydon High pupils higher and higher with inspiring lessons.

The Croydon Insider is premium content, exclusively available to loyal subscribers to Inside Croydon via Patreon or on Spotify. Continue reading →

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Kerrr-ching! Unsuspecting drivers hit with no-notice £190 fines

Posted on January 22, 2024 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council has been accused of “corruption”, as dozens, perhaps hundreds, of residents have been issued with demands for £190 for driving offences after failing to pay the original £65 Penalty Charge Notice – which they never received.

‘Technical glitch’: Penalty Charge Notices have not been going out from Fisher’s Folly, the latest balls-up from the ‘digital-first’ council

Some suspect that continuing issues with postal deliveries by Royal Mail may be a partial explanation, though one Tory councillor has suggested that the failure to issue PCNs is more likely down to a “technical glitch” at the council.

Complaints from seriously out-of-pocket locals have been dropping into the email inbox at Inside Croydon Towers over the weekend.

Many readers have admitted that they may have been spotted via CCTV having crossed a line in terms of traffic restrictions when driving around the borough, but also bitterly resenting not having had the 14-day grace period to pay the basic penalty of £65.

“Has anyone else been issued a ‘charge notice’ £190 from Croydon Council for failing to pay a PCN – £65 if paid within 14 days?” one asked.

“I have, but I did not received the PCN! Continue reading →

Posted in Alasdair Stewart, Croydon Council, Parking, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Lammy lined up as star attraction at Croydon West ‘launch’

Posted on January 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

David Lammy is to be the star turn at a “launch” event for Labour’s new Croydon West constituency party – a move that could attract more demonstrations and protests over the party’s failure to condemn Israel’s prolonged attacks on civilians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Apologist for Israel: Labour shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, coming to Croydon soon

New constituency boundaries, to be used for the first time at the next General Election, whenever that might be, have seen Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon Central since 2017, automatically taking up the Labour candidate role for the new Croydon West seat, without any kind of selection process.

The party is having a few problems with its selection of a parliamentary candidate for the new Croydon East seat, where the process came to a grinding halt two months ago, after vote-rigging and other serious allegations of misconduct came to light. Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 General Election, Croydon Central, Croydon East, Croydon West, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Holocaust Memorial service in Town Hall Chamber on Jan 26

Posted on January 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s Holocaust Memorial Ceremony will be held in the Town Hall Chamber on Friday, January 26, at noon.

Marilyn Arbisman, of Croydon Synagogue, will deliver a speech before a keynote address from Timothy Locke from Generation2Generation, an organisation that enlists second- and third-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors to tell their family stories and experiences.

The winners of Croydon’s annual school competition will also be announced at the event.

Run by the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, the competition tasked pupils at Croydon schools to create an artwork, a short story, poem, essay, or short film on the theme of “Fragility of Freedom”. Continue reading →

Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Council, Tony Pearson | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Minster choir’s heavenly voices transcend even BBC Radio 3

Posted on January 21, 2024 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Whatever you might be doing at 3pm today, turn on BBC Radio 3. But don’t be late, says STEVEN DOWNES

Heavenly voices: the choir of Croydon Minster is on BBC Radio 3 this afternoon

So this must be what a choir of angels sounds like when you arrive in heaven.

As I am never going to arrive in any heaven, I will just have to make do with the heavenly sound from the choir at Croydon Minster, when the BBC was broadcasting choral evensong live on Wednesday evening.

The service, and its glorious musical performances, are available on BBC Sounds, and will be broadcast again on BBC Radio 3 from 3pm today. Set your cassette tape recorder, or whatever does the job these days, and have a listen.

In these grim and murderous times, there remains some things in Croydon which are very well done, and the Minster and its musical offerings are close to top of that (albeit short-ish) list. Mozart’s Requiem, performed with the London Mozart Players and raising thousands of pounds for the Lives Not Knives charity just before Christmas, was a special treat.

But the choral evensong, something which is performed a couple of times each week as a “routine” part of the Minster’s worship, was very special, too. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Police investigated child abuse claims at Whitgift last year

Posted on January 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

The Met has confirmed that they followed up complaints about sexual abuse at the £47,000 per year boys’ private school, after pictures and messages were shared on social media, which may have contributed to the suicide of a former teacher. By STEVEN DOWNES

School for scandal: £47,000 per year Whitgift is reeling from a series of abuse allegations

A public relations firm was hired last year to provide “crisis management” as the Metropolitan Police  investigated allegations of sexual abuse of boys attending the £47,000 per year Whitgift School.

At least two Whitgift teachers left their jobs abruptly and under suspicious circumstances, one of whom – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was accused of having hacked into the school’s computer system in order to access contact details for former pupils.

Others, without any direct involvement in the alleged misconduct, were dragged in to the growing scandal, with one former teacher committing suicide as a consequence.

The police investigation was being carried out last year just as another former Whitgift teacher, Paul Dodd, was being sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of sexual abuse charges dating back to the 1980s, some that had involved boys as young as 10 years old. Continue reading →

Posted in Christopher Ramsey, Crime, Schools, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Strong interest’ expected as Selsdon hotel goes on the market

Posted on January 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

Nice back garden: the Selsdon hotel, after a £15m modernisation, is on the market

The former Selsdon Park Hotel and its 198-acre estate has been put up for sale through estate agents Savills less than two months since it went out of business as boutique hipster resort Birch Selsdon.

The sale, on behalf of administrators, should end rumours among residents’ groups in South Croydon that the 181-room hotel was to be taken over by the Home Office to provide accommodation for refugees whose immigration applications they have delayed processing. Continue reading →

Posted in Birch (Selsdon), Business, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Park Hotel | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Raggio di Sole, handmade pizzas made to order, South Croydon

Posted on January 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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WSC Charity Race Night, Woodmansterne, Mar 22

Posted on January 20, 2024 by insidecroydon

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Kerswell keeps councillors waiting for her tribunal feedback

Posted on January 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: How will the borough’s £192,474 per year chief executive explain the suggestion that she lied under oath when defending herself against allegations of racism? By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter

Time to report back: Katherine Kerswell, the council CEO

Almost a month has passed since the end of the controversial Employment Tribunal hearing that cost Croydon’s long-suffering Council Tax-payers an estimated £150,000, at least, mostly in order to defend the reputation of the council’s chief executive.

And yet the borough’s elected representatives still have not been given a date for when the CEO, Katherine Kerswell, will report back to them on how she was vindicated on all counts.

Any reluctance on Kerswell’s part to face public scrutiny from Mayor Jason Perry and councillors just might be caused by the lingering accusation that she lied under oath to the Tribunal judge and panel.

Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Hazel Simmonds, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Richard Simpson, The Penn Report, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

International man-hunt for suspect in murder of teen Habibi

Posted on January 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

An international man-hunt is under way after a prime suspect in the murder of Croydon College student Ilyas Habibi fled the country.

Croydon College student: Ilyas Habibi was 17 when murdered in December

Habibi, 17, was stabbed in the neck and killed near Sutton Station in the evening of December 5. He was among 105 homicides in London in 2023.

Yesterday, the inquest into his death opened at the South London Coroners Court.

At the hearing, Met Police detectives admitted that their chief suspect had flown out of Gatwick Airport.

The police have arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion of assisting an offender, who was later released on bail. Continue reading →

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Mayor Khan delivers another TfL fares freeze through to 2025

Posted on January 19, 2024 by insidecroydon

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is freezing all fares on Transport for London services until 2025, City Hall announced this morning.

All aboard: London Mayor Sadiq Khan will pay for the TfL fares freeze out of business rates

Mayor Khan’s office says people could save up to £90 a year under the plans, part of a £123million investment in the capital’s transport services which also includes extra money used to resolve the long-running industrial dispute with Tube train drivers and their union ASLEF.

The London mayoral elections are on May 2.

It is the fifth time since Labour’s Khan has been London Mayor that he has frozen the capital’s fares, while tickets on national rail services under Government control continue to soar. TfL fares would be 14% higher had the freezes not been implemented. Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 London elections, Boris Johnson, Caroline Pidgeon, Commuting, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Neil Garratt, Sadiq Khan, Susan Hall, TfL, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Foundation brings forward Old Palace prep closure by a year

Posted on January 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Early closure of the fee-paying primary school will speed up sale of the site in South Croydon – probably to a profit-hungry housing developer. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Moving on: girls at Old Palace as young as four will need to find a new school sooner than planned

The financially troubled Whitgift Foundation is seeking to accelerate the selling off of one of its school sites by bringing forward the closure of its Old Palace girls’ prep on Melville Avenue in South Croydon by 12 months, to July this year.

Just five months ago, the Foundation, Croydon’s biggest landowners,  announced that they would be closing all of the Old Palace of John Whitgift independent school in July 2025, stating that there was “no viable alternative” to keep the £20,000 per year school running.

But yesterday parents of girls at the prep school received a letter from the Old Palace head saying that they were being “consulted” on plans to end the slow torture of closure a year early. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Chris Philp MP, Housing, Jane Burton, Old Palace, Property, Sarah Jones MP, Schools, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Croydon is smashing it for hit-and-runs by dangerous drivers

Posted on January 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

Croydon is among the worst boroughs for dangerous drivers and reckless hit-and-run incidents, according to a report published by a London Assembly Member.

Car crash: new data shows that casualties from hit-and-runs are on the increase in Croydon, too

In 2021 (the last year for which official figures are available) there were 316 casualties of hit-and-runs recorded in Croydon – almost one for every day of the year.

Only five other boroughs – all inner London boroughs – had more hit-and-runs in that year.

Neighbouring boroughs Bromley (134) and Merton (142) had less than half the incidences of hit-and-runs as Croydon. Sutton, with 104, had less than one-third.

Inside Croydon reported in 2022 how Croydon had more road collisions than any other outer London borough. This latest data confirms that unwanted status, and if anything, suggests that Croydon’s roads have just become ever more dangerous. Continue reading →

Posted in Caroline Russell, Crime, Environment, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

More pain for Purley as Downlands Precinct remains closed

Posted on January 18, 2024 by insidecroydon

Businesses in Purley, backed by their business improvement district, are calling for immediate action from the owners of the Downlands Precinct, as the precinct’s ongoing closure is an “unsustainable situation” that they claim is causing “significant distress in the community”.

Closed off: businesses in Purley complain that the continuing closure of the Downlands Precinct is damaging trade

A collapsed ceiling in September last year has forced the closure of the Downlands Precinct, a walkthrough between Brighton Road and Purley High Street.

The failure of the management company, Parkfords Management Ltd, despite promises, to get repairs done to reopen the precinct is becoming the latest glaring example of Croydon Mayor Jason Perry’s impotency when it comes to getting the council to act effectively. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Property, Purley, Purley BID, Samir Dwesar | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Head Ramsey’s exit a ‘shame for school’ admits Foundation

Posted on January 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Borough’s biggest landowners begin search for new head for £24,000 per year private school. By STEVEN DOWNES

On his way out: Chris Ramsey

The shock announcement of the departure of Chris Ramsey as Whitgift’s headmaster is “a great shame for the school”, according to the charity foundation which runs the £24,000 per year private boys’ school in South Croydon.

The Whitgift Foundation this afternoon confirmed Inside Croydon’s exclusive story that Ramsey is to leave the school in July.

Ramsey is the second head teacher at a Whitgift Foundation school to decide to leave their jobs this year, following the announcement last autumn of the retirement of Jane Burton as head at Old Palace girls’ school.

In a statement issued by the Foundation, they also confirmed that Ramsey is to take up a new role as “head at an international school”. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Halls, Christopher Ramsey, Education, Schools, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Vandals are out on Marlpit Avenue as ULEZ takes effect

Posted on January 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

Criminal damage to public property continues in Coulsdon, as data suggests a sharp reduction in the most polluting vehicles using the capital’s roads

Expansion: ULEZ has helped to improve air quality in central London. The Tories oppose it

Just as it did in inner London when introduced (by the then-Mayor, Boris Johnson, in case you needed reminding), all the early signs are that ULEZ is already working in outer London.

According to figures made available at the start of this month, outer London has seen a rapid increase in vehicle compliance – meaning many fewer of the more polluting vehicles are still using our roads.

Around 95% of vehicles across both inner and outer London now adhere to the clean air standards – a huge turnaround from the 39% in 2017 when Mayor Sadiq Khan introduced the Toxicity Charge. Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another Whitgift shock as second head teacher decides to quit

Posted on January 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

Head-less: Whitgift School in South Croydon, which uses the house and grounds of an Elizabethan admiral, is looking for a new headteacher

CROYDON IN CRISIS: To lose one head teacher in a single academic year is unfortunate. For Croydon’s biggest landowners to lose two from their private schools is beginning to appear worrying.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

International challenge: Christopher Ramsey is leaving Whitgift after seven years as headmaster

Christopher Ramsey, the headmaster of the £24,000 per year Whitgift boys private secondary school, is to leave his job in July.

Ramsey, who has been head of the 1,400-pupil school since 2017, is understood to be taking up a post at “an international school”.

Ramsey is the second head at one of the large fee-paying schools run by the Whitgift Foundation to decide to leave this year.

He follows Jane Burton, the head at the Old Palace girls’ school, who announced her decision to retire at the end of the school year just before term began in September. The news of Burton’s departure came around the same time that the Foundation decided that there was “no viable alternative” to closing Old Palace by July 2025. It is reckoned that at least half of that school’s pupils have already sought to continue their education elsewhere. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Christopher Ramsey, Education, Jane Burton, Old Palace, Schools, South Croydon, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Call for Purley choir members who sang with Benjamin Britten

Posted on January 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

Britten’s disc: the 1966 recording of the composer and Downside School choir

Back in 1966, Benjamin Britten, the great 20th century composer, made several visits to Croydon and, in particular, Downside School in Purley.

The school no longer exists but back then Britten must have thought very highly of their music department, as he conducted the choir singing his A New Year Carol and later in the same year the school choir sang on his recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Retired teacher Paul Wilson has been looking into Britten’s links with Downside School. Continue reading →

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Thornton Heath Sustainable Living Hub, High Street, Jan 20

Posted on January 17, 2024 by insidecroydon

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Residents ‘deeply concerned’ over developers’ parking claims

Posted on January 16, 2024 by insidecroydon

A £100m scheme to build nearly 250 retirement homes could strip hundreds of car parking spaces from Purley town centre – with no alternatives available as claimed by developers. By STEVEN DOWNES

Customers only: Tesco has no knowledge of any agrement to allow non-customers to use their Purley store’s car park

Purley residents are “deeply concerned” over plans for a £100million development of retirement homes which will demolish a council-owned multi-storey car park  to replace it with 245 money-spinning retirement homes.

The residents have double-checked the claims made by shady off-shore developer Polaska and discovered that any suggestion that the 424 lost parking spaces in the town centre will be mitigated by the use of a supermarket car park nearby are false.

Tesco, the owners of the large supermarket by Purley Cross, with its 572 car parking spaces, have confirmed to the residents’ groups that they “are not aware of any agreement to allow non-customers to park at the store”.

The Polaska survey also cited that presence of another nearby car park, at Purley Station. But Network Rail plans to built 236 homes on that car park, too. The loss of both the multi-storey and station car parks would remove more than 600 spaces from the town centre. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Parking, Planning, Polaska, Polaska Assets Ltd, Property, Purley, Purley Pool, Simon Brew | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Creatura left out of sorts after Epsom Tories pick Fraser

Posted on January 16, 2024 by insidecroydon

The Coulsdon Town councillor is fast running out of parliamentary options, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor

Epsom choice: Mhairi Fraser, the Tories’ choice for parliamentary candidate

It looks like the Conservative councillor elected to the Town Hall three times by the residents of Coulsdon has again been reckoned to be not good enough by Tory members in a Surrey constituency.

Mario Creatura’s quest to be selected as a Conservative parliamentary candidate was thwarted once again last night, as he finished second (of three) in a meeting held by Epsom and Ewell’s Conservative Association.

There’s nuffink yet on the official website of the Epsom and Ewell Conservative Association, where the most recent “news” is from November and a “Lunch with Jacob Rees-Mogg”. Perhaps they all got long-term food poisoning? Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Epsom and Ewell, Mario Creatura, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Award-winner Karteepan reaches for the stars at Croydon High

Posted on January 16, 2024 by insidecroydon

After touching the edge of space with weather balloons, teacher’s astronomy club is now planning to launch a satellite – earning the plaudit: ‘her impact resonates far beyond the confines of her classroom’

A Croydon secondary school teacher has been named the winner of the 2024 Royal Astronomical Society Secondary and Further Education Award.

School star: prize-winner Arabi Karteepan

Arabi Karteepan, the head of physics at Croydon High School, was recognised for “her outstanding contributions to promoting Astronomy and Space Science within the educational community”.

The Royal Astronomical Society was formed in 1820 to encourage and promote the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and related branches of science. Its 4,000 members include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.

Arabi Karteepan has been teaching at Croydon High for three years. Her passion for astronomy has “resulted in groundbreaking initiatives that have captured the imagination of her pupils and the wider public”, according to the school. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon High, Education, Schools | Tagged , , | 1 Comment