Lambeth’s housing under scrutiny over ‘maladministration’

Posted on July 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

Labour-controlled Lambeth Council has become the first local authority to be subjected to close scrutiny by the Housing Ombudsman over what the watchdog describes as “maladministration” and mistreatment of council tenants.

The move follows an investigation into the council’s complaint-handling practices.

The Ombudsman inspection will test Lambeth’s handling of complaints, including compliance with recent orders, recommendations, and previous decisions regarding service improvements.

In a statement issued this morning, the Housing Ombudsman said that it “has raised concerns with Lambeth Council after residents from a previously resolved case had the problems return”.

They added, “The landlord once again did not deal with the issues satisfactorily and the Ombudsman found maladministration. Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Brigade goes the hole way to try to control summer wildfires

Posted on July 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

Tinder box: two firefighters spent a couple of hours bringing a wildfire at Roundshaw Downs under control last August. The blaze did not encroach on nearby homes

Major incident review found 39 appliances were unavailable because of staff shortages on Brigade’s busiest day for callouts last year

One year on from what is seen as the London Fire Brigade’s busiest day for emergency call-outs since the darkest days (and nights) of the Blitz during the Second World War, and firefighters have revealed a new piece of kit to help them handle wildfires in our parks and open spaces: hoses with holes in…

Last summer’s record-breaking extreme weather saw grass fires and wildfires have a devastating effect on open spaces, including several callouts in and around the Croydon area – in the Addington Hills, Norbury and at Croham Hurst. Continue reading →

Posted in Fiona Twycross, London Fire Brigade, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

School pupils bring their growing skills to Surrey Street Market

Posted on July 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

Anyone who shops down Surrey Street knows that the stall holders there all know their onions.

Market traders: the school Know Your Onions stall will be open for business from noon on Thursday

But wander down the street market this Thursday, and you’re likely to encounter one special stall where the rather youthful-looking stall-holders will be keener than ever to demonstrate how they have grown their own fruit and veg and understand the importance of good, fresh produce to a healthy lifestyle.

Pupils from The Link Secondary School in Beddington will be selling rhubarb, potatoes, spring onions, lettuce, herbs and more, with all proceeds being reinvested into their schools.

Part of a programme called Know Your Onions, the scheme is run by the charity School Food Matters, and gives pupils an opportunity to experience cooking and growing at school, with the help of expert gardeners and food teachers, to stimulate an interest in food and a love of the natural world. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Environment, Gardening, Schools, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Summer music concert at Woodcote High School, Jul 13

Posted on July 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Backpackers Holiday Club, Addiscombe, Jul 24 to Jul 26

Posted on July 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Byron Oasis Academy Summer Fair, Coulsdon, Jul 15

Posted on July 11, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Brick by Brick’s unsold homes are costing Croydon a fortune

Posted on July 10, 2023 by insidecroydon

Despite there being a ‘housing crisis’, the council’s failed development company is struggling to sell dozens of its homes. As housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES reports, £440,000 for a two-bed shared-ownership flat is putting off buyers

Unsold, or unsellable?: almost three years after work on site was completed, six flats at Heathfield Gardens remain on the market

There’s good reason that loss-making Brick by Brick continues to make massive losses.

It’s because the council-owned development firm has taken far too long to develop and then sell its properties.

And those flats it was meant to be providing as “affordable homes” have mostly been put on the private market as hugely expensive shared ownership properties. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Housing, Old Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

SES Water offers 20-mile diversion for Godstone Road closure

Posted on July 10, 2023 by insidecroydon

A road closure in Purley while the local water board installs new pipes could be sending some motorists on a diversion of around 20 miles, for journeys that would usually be less than a mile.

Cut off: this section of the Godstone Road will be closed to traffic for at least six weeks

SES Water will be closing a 300-metre section of the A22 Godstone Road from the Purley Cross roundabout up to Dale Road from July 22 until September 3 to undertake mains replacement works that have been in the planning for more than three years.

The former Sutton and East Surrey water board has a 322 sq mile supply area extending from Morden and South Croydon in the north to Gatwick Airport in the south and from Cobham, Leatherhead and Dorking in the west to Edenbridge in the east. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Kenley, Purley, Surrey, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Free, guided Butterfly Walk, Farthing Downs, Jul 16

Posted on July 10, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Activities, City Commons, Community associations, Coulsdon, Environment, Friends of Farthing Downs, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Smitham Primary Around the World Summer Fair, Jul 15

Posted on July 10, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Hard lives for the Puritan pioneers of new state New Hampshire

Posted on July 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: The name ‘Croydon’ has travelled the world and here DAVID MORGAN tracks the 18th Century founding of a frontiers town in New Hampshire

New Hampshire view: there’s been a church at the centre of life in Croydon, NH, since it was founded in the 1760s

The practice of migrants from these islands naming their new settlements after the home town in England that they had left is shown at Croydon outside Philadelphia and Croydon, Utah.

And there is also a Croydon in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, one of the original 13 states which broke away from Britain and formed the United States of America.

In Elmer Munson Hunt’s book New Hampshire Town Names and Whence They Came he writes: “Croydon, unlike so many towns in this state which were named for historic personages, got its name from Croydon, a well-known suburb of London, England. Founded in the 9th century, the English Croydon is famous for its palace under which several archbishops of Canterbury are buried.”

It’s not quite accurate – the Archbishop burials were in the Minster church – but it’s good that the Archbishop’s Palace gets a mention.

Back in the 17th and 18th centuries when people were pouring into America from many European countries, there was no “immigration debate” as we are having in Britain today. There was only one group of people who objected to mass immigration, and that was the indigenous tribes, but they had no voice. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Apply now for London Wildlife Trust’s paid trainee scheme

Posted on July 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

Land in trust: Hutchinson’s Bank, near New Addington, and two smaller adjacent reserves – Chapel Bank and Threeecornr Grove – are managed by the London Wildlife Trust

Do you love nature and working outdoors?

Are you practically minded and want to learn new skills?

Have you thought about a career in nature conservation?

As part of the London Wildlife Trust’s Keeping it Wild programme, they are offering five paid traineeships for people aged 16-25. The deadline for applications is this week.

Keeping it Wild trainees will have the opportunity to work across multiple London Wildlife Trust nature reserves across the capital. Continue reading →

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Films on film at the David Lean Cinema, Aug 1 to 12

Posted on July 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Book traces role of Addiscombe college that built an empire

Posted on July 8, 2023 by insidecroydon

READER OFFER: Inside Croydon subscribers can save £££s on the price of an important and definitive new book about the history of the Addiscombe Military College, its staff and cadets

A copy of an important new history of the Addiscombe Military College was presented to the Croydon Museum yesterday to add to its collection.

Addiscombe Military College and the Cadets who Forged an Empire is historian Kate Birbeck’s third book, and one in which she had much help from the archivist at the Museum of Croydon.

Birbeck’s hefty book – it runs to more than 600 pages – is the first to provide an in-depth record of the layout and estate at Addiscombe, as well as accounts from the staff and cadets who worked and trained there.

The Addiscombe institution trained officers for the East India Company’s private army, and so played a significant part not only in Croydon’s history, but in the history of Britain and its empire. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, History, Museum of Croydon | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hospital ancillary staff to continue strikes after ‘partial victory’

Posted on July 8, 2023 by insidecroydon

The GMB union, which represents cleaners, caterers and ancillary staff at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, says it is about to “escalate” its industrial action after what it describes as a “partial victory” on pay.

Partial victory: cleaning and catering staff at the Bethlem Royal Hospital are to continue their dispute

The dispute will continue until the Danish-owned outsourcing company ISS, who employs the workers, “meets the pay claim submitted in 2022”, the union says.

SLaM specialises in mental health, and the Trust includes four psychiatric hospitals – Bethlem Royal Hospital at Beckenham, Lambeth Hospital and the Maudsley Hospital, as well as the Ladywell Unit based at Lewisham, and more than 100 community sites.

Following a week of strike action last month and a march on Downing Street, the workers are now to receive pay rises in their next pay round which the union says was previously owed to them.

The industrial dispute involves staff across all SLaM sites, and has involved 13 days of strike action since April. Union members will be taking a further eight days of strike action, starting from the end of this month. Continue reading →

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Ready. Get set: Croydon’s reading challenge gets underway

Posted on July 8, 2023 by insidecroydon

Children aged from four to 11 could win fabulous prizes for taking part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge, being run throughout Croydon’s libraries, starting today.

The Reading Agency has partnered with the Youth Sport Trust for this year’s theme – Ready, Set, Read! – encouraging children to experience the thrill of sports and the power of teamwork through reading.

Taking part in the challenge and registration are simple – children can visit their local library (on the limited occasions when most of them are open: check your local library details by clicking here) and start their adventure by reading six books throughout the summer.

“Each participant will receive a fold-out poster and can collect stickers along the way to track their progress,” the council says. You can visit the registration page online by clicking here. Continue reading →

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Brick by Brick’s losses pile up even after selling £89m of homes

Posted on July 7, 2023 by insidecroydon

As the failed development company staggers towards its ultimate demise, it is maintaining its unwanted record of never making a single penny in profit, as our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, reports

Flyover Towers: it took BxB four years to build Kindred House. More than six months since completion, the 128 flats have been sold but appear largely empty

Brick by Brick, the council-owned housing company, sold £89million-worth of property last year, yet still made a loss of £20million.

That’s according to the latest set of accounts, for 2021-2022, just released through Companies House.

Brick by Brick was formed in 2015 to build housing on council-owned sites, yet by late 2020, despite having received more than £200million in loans from the council, the company – run by former council executive Colm Lacey – had failed to make a penny in profit and was struggling to repay its loans and interest.

The failure of Brick by Brick was a major factor in Croydon Council’s financial collapse. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Martyn Evans | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Arriva bus drivers balloted for strike action in pay dispute

Posted on July 7, 2023 by insidecroydon

Bus passengers in south London face further turmoil this summer if drivers employed by Arriva take strike action in a dispute over pay.

Off the buses: Arriva routes across south London could be hit by strikes next month

More than 1,000 drivers, who are members of Unite, have rejected a pay offer worth around 7.3per cent, maintaining that this would amount to a real terms pay cut with inflation at 11.3per cent.

Depots affected include Norwood, South Croydon, Thornton Heath and Brixton.

The union began balloting this week, the voting set to close on August 2, with strikes possible from the beginning of next month. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, South Croydon, TfL, Thornton Heath, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Summer holiday schemes suffer from council’s missing links

Posted on July 7, 2023 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s holiday activity and food clubs are open for booking – though with just days before the schools break up for the long summer holiday when the schemes are supposed to get underway, there’s a dearth of detail available on the council’s woeful website.

Jumping through hoops: parents are offered little information or assistance by the council’s website

From July 24 to August 25, the council tells us that there are 67 activity clubs and groups across the borough offering “a huge range of exciting activities and a healthy meal”.

In a press release issued from the propaganda bunker at Fisher’s Folly, they say, “These clubs are there to support families in need, while offering young people new opportunities and experiences.”

Funded by the Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food programme – HAF – families in receipt of free school meals are eligible for free places and should receive a unique code from their child’s school that grants them access to the booking system. “This will allow them to secure their spots at their sessions of choice,” according to Croydon Council.

Continue reading →

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£700 ‘chew-chew’ journey that’s stopping off at East Croydon

Posted on July 7, 2023 by insidecroydon

Full steam ahead: the 7000 Britannia loco will be chugging into Croydon in September

A steam engine day trip to Bath will be stopping off at East Croydon in September, where for £700 for a pair of tickets, passengers can step back in time and enjoy a luxury Pullman carriage dining experience.

The Steam Dreams Rail Co is offering the trip. It will set off from Victoria early on Wednesday, September 27, making the stop at East Croydon at 8.30am before heading for Redhill and Guildford on its way through the Surrey Hills and on to the Roman spa city of Bath.

The operators hope to use the 7000 Britannia locomotive for the journey, a 75-year steam engine that was among the first built to order for British Rail.

“Guests will be transported to a bygone era aboard meticulously restored vintage carriages with period details whilst enjoying the passing scenery of the breathtaking Surrey Hills and Kennet Valley. Continue reading →

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Brit School fashions its ‘defining moment’ with Burberry

Posted on July 6, 2023 by insidecroydon

The Brit School has gone into partnership with a world-famous clothing brand to create the Burberry Stepping Stones Bursary Prize for the pupils of “global majority backgrounds” on the school’s sixth-form fashion, styling and textile course.

Rag trade: Brit School sixth formers on the new fashion and textiles course

The performing and creative arts school is about more than chart-topping musicians and Hollywood superhero actors, having developed its pioneering post-16 fashion and styling course in 2021.

Accredited by the University of the Arts London, this extended diploma course teaches a variety of technical skills with a focus on textiles, pattern cutting, print, photography, styling, fashion illustration, editorial and graphic design, enabling its pupils to embark on a career in the fashion industry. Continue reading →

Posted in BRIT School, Education, Schools | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Deceit over ticket office closures is taking all of us for a ride

Posted on July 6, 2023 by insidecroydon

Any claim that the closure of ticket offices on our railways will somehow improve passenger service is intended to mislead, says ANDREW FISHER

Ticket to ride: East Croydon is among at least 18 stations in and around Croydon set to lose its ticket office

Yesterday’s announcement by the privatised rail industry of the plans to close almost 1,000 ticket offices across England exploits a loophole opened only recently by the Conservative Government.

Until last year, there was a threshold in place where ticket offices that averaged more than 12 transactions an hour would not normally be permitted to close.

But then the Government removed this threshold, which means that any ticket office can now be closed, regardless of its usage. Hence yesterday’s announcement.

The impact of the closures will be particularly harsh for disabled and elderly passengers and those requiring additional support. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Commuting, East Croydon, Norwood Junction, TfL, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Croydon Symphonic Band free concert, Wandle Park, Jul 9

Posted on July 6, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Gove finally admits it: Localism got councils all in a Pickles

Posted on July 5, 2023 by insidecroydon

Is the Levelling Up minister in denial about the extent of financial problems in local government? It certainly seems that way after his speech to the Local Government Association conference yesterday. By STEVEN DOWNES

Minimising: ‘Seriously, the problem is only this big’… Michael Gove did not say at yesterday’s LGA speech

Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for local government who has council chief execs in a queue to his office seeking billions in bail-outs, yesterday as good as admitted that a decade of “Localism”, as introduced by his predecessor, “Big” Eric Pickles, had been a complete failure and had contributed to the financial collapse of multiple authorities including Thurrock, Slough, Woking… and Croydon.

Gove was the keynote speaker at the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Bournemouth, and used the occasion to launch “Oflog”, the Office for Local Government, a new tier of government and regulation. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Tories move to shut ticket offices at 1,000 railway stations

Posted on July 5, 2023 by insidecroydon

The Tory government, in the final throes of its catastrophic administration, has decided to end its days in a headlong battle with the rail unions, after imposing the closure of almost all of England’s station ticket offices.

Staff cuts: even some of the busiest stations will have their ticket offices closed under the Tory government plans

The move has been opposed by passenger and disability groups, as well as the rail unions, and has been broadly criticised by transport experts and railway executives.

Around 1,000 railways stations in England will be affected, with the first ticket office closures expected by this Christmas in a three-year programme.

The plans from the Department for Transport were first exposed by the Association of British Commuters a fortnight ago. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, East Croydon, Norwood Junction, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments