Scully gets serious in race to be London Mayor candidate

Posted on May 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

Sutton and Cheam’s Conservative MP Paul Scully is to “pause” his Government role as minister for the capital while he campaigns to win selection to be his party’s candidate in next year’s London Mayor elections.

Placed on pause: MP Paul Scully

Scully, 55, is the founder of a public relations consultancy, Nudge Factory, which has its offices in Croydon’s Centrale.

He is probably the highest-profile Tory politician so far to have declared their hand in seeking to challenge Labour’s Sadiq Khan for the role of Mayor of London.

However, there remains a possibility that “Judge” Rob Rinder, Karren Brady or another Tory sleb might yet formally declare their candidature.

The London elections are due to take place in May 2024, when Mayor Khan will be seeking to become the first London Mayor to be elected for a third term. Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 London elections, Andrew Boff, Boris Johnson, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Paul Scully MP, Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, ULEZ expansion, Zac Goldsmith MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Charity offers youngsters chance to be Junior River Rangers

Posted on May 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

An environmental charity is giving primary school-aged children the chance to become Junior River Rangers in Carshalton and along the Wandle during London Rivers Week.

What’s bugging you: the sessions give children the chance to get close to nature in our local rivers

The South East Rivers Trust is staging nature scavenger hunts, craft activities and river dipping demonstrations, all packed with family fun, that are being put on by the waterways charity during the week, which is to run from May 29 to June 4.

The sessions will give children the chance to explore and understand the natural world around them and learn about what thrives along popular spots in south London. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Charity, Education, Environment, London-wide issues, Sutton Council, Wandsworth Council, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Exploding batteries see Brigade renew its scooter warning

Posted on May 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

The London Fire Brigade has this morning released shocking video footage of an explosion from a charging e-scooter. The resulting fire put the scooter owner in hospital. “I cheated death,” they said.

Boom time: the moment that the e-scooter’s battery catches light just before the explosion in the kitchen

(Be patient: the explosive stuff starts with a puff of smoke shortly after 30 seconds into the video).

The video release is part of the LFB’s #ChargeSafe campaign to try to reduce instances of fires starting in the home from dodgy batteries – the Brigade has responded to 60 such fires in the capital already this year.

The incident in the video occurred at the weekend in north London, and is one of an increasing number of call-outs the Brigade is getting for fires starting from e-scooter and e-bike batteries. Continue reading →

Posted in London Fire Brigade | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Directors take a 96-mile tandem challenge to help choirs sing

Posted on May 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

Two accomplished church musicians, leading figures at the Royal School of Church Music, will be setting off from Addington Palace next month on a sponsored tandem ride to raise funds for their organisation’s forthcoming centenary.

Ready to pedal: RSCM tandem riders Hugh Morris (left) and his colleague Paul Hedley

Addington Palace, another of the former homes of the Archbishops of Canterbury within Croydon, was for more than 40 years the home of the Royal School of Church Music.

The organisation was founded in 1927 by Sir Sydney Nicholson as the School of English Church Music. Today, the RSCM is the largest church music organisation in Britain.

It became the RSCM in 1945, when it moved to Canterbury Cathedral. It was in 1954 that the RSCM moved to Addington Palace, which would be its home until 1996. Since 2006, it has been based at Sarum College, close to Salisbury Cathedral.

And it is the 96 miles between Croydon and Salisbury that inspired the RSCM’s director Hugh Morris and assistant director Paul Hedley to take on the fund-raising bike ride in the School’s 96th year.

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Addington Palace, Charity, Church and religions, Education, History, Music | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Only few precious places remain on guided tours of Old Palace

Posted on May 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

Time is running out for you to secure a precious place on one of the 2023 tours of Croydon Old Palace, for the chance to take a trip back in time hundreds of years, to the age of the first Queen Elizabeth, and walk in the footsteps of numerous Archbishops.

Step back in time: the old chapel in Old Palace

Old Palace, in term time now a girls’ private school, is a former official residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury — and it’s open to the public on just a few days of each year.

The palace was built for the Archbishops at a time when Croydon was a suitable stopping off point for journeys between Lambeth and Canterbury. Built around the 1440s, the great hall and side rooms for the palace still exist, with the huge wooden ceiling in the hall being most impressive. Continue reading →

Posted in Church and religions, Community associations, Croydon Minster, History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Perry admits he has failed to secure £540m debt write-off deal

Posted on May 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a year in office, the Tory Mayor told a Purley audience last night that he has failed to ‘fix the finances’ and he won’t be opening the local swimming pool without lumbering the area with another massive development scheme. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor

Under pressure: even the audience in Purley was not entirely sympathetic to Tory Mayor Jason Perry

Jason Perry, the part-time Mayor of Croydon, last night as much as admitted that he’d sold the borough down the river by agreeing to the 15per cent Council Tax hike without first securing a vital agreement from Government to write off the borough’s crippling debt.

Perry was speaking at a Mayor’s Question Time event staged in the Tory heartlands of Purley. Although having what should have been a supportive audience did not guarantee him an entirely easy ride.

The pre-event censorship and careful selection of what questions could be asked, and by whom, did that for Perry, as key points about the borough’s finances were not allowed.

Attempts were also made to remove a “No to 15% Hike… Fund Croydon Fairly” banner, placed outside the meeting hall. On this occasion, senior Tory councillors and the Public Order Act were thwarted because the school where the banner was placed had given its permission. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Plight of Norwood’s White House attracting widespread support

Posted on May 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

Under threat: the Grade II-listed White House, in Norwood Grove, pictured here when properly maintained five years ago, has since been badly neglected by its owners, cash-strapped Croydon Council

A magazine architecture column that was first edited by Sir John Betjeman has added its considerable clout to the campaign to save and preserve the White House, the grand, Victorian-built mansion at the top of sloping parkland at Norwood Grove.

Inside Croydon reported last month how locals fear for the future of the neglected building, which is owned by cash-strapped Croydon Council. Sources predicted that the poorly secured out-buildings, which have already been already subject to vandalism and damage, might yet come to more harm. And there has, indeed, been a small fire in the out-buildings since our first report. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, History, Mayor Jason Perry, Norbury, Norwood Grove, Norwood Society | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lottery grant helps Norwood JunKAction get arty with rubbish

Posted on May 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

London’s first Mayor’s Community Weekend takes place next month, and South Norwood group JunKAction has secured £1,500 of National Lottery funding to host a three-day eco-community project, turning litter into art.

JunkAction’s project is one of almost 200 events taking place across London, with more than £250,000 of Lottery funding awarded.

The capital’s very first Mayor’s Community Weekend takes place from June 23-25, thanks to a partnership between the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the country. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spread Eagle to re-open after a £300,000 Whelans refurb

Posted on May 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

A welcome awaits: the Spread Eagle re-opens tonight after a £300,000 refurbishment

The Spread Eagle on Katharine Street re-opens tonight, after a £300,000 refurbishment that seals the handover of the Fuller’s-owned pub to Whelans.

Whelans is an Irish-themed pub chain that already operate several busy pubs in and around Croydon, including the Bedford Tavern on Sydenham Road and the eponynous Whelans in South Croydon.

Whelans, with a new manager, will be running the town centre Spread Eagle as tenants, with bold plans for live music every weekend (starting this Saturday), re-opening the room upstairs for events and possibly performances, and offering what the business owner calls “something for everybody”. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Music, Pubs | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

BAFTA-winner Scanlan to become David Lean Cinema’s Patron

Posted on May 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

BAFTA-award winning actress and screenwriter – and Inside Croydon reader – Joanna Scanlan is to become the Patron of the David Lean Cinema.

Croydon supporter: Joanna Scanlan

The South Croydon resident will accept the official invitation to become the art-house cinema’s Patron at a special volunteers’ event to be held on June 7.

The David Lean Cinema is a 68-seat independent cinema at the Croydon Clocktower, which takes its name from the Croydon-born Oscar-winning director of films including Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge On The River Kwai and Brief Encounter.

The cinema is now run by volunteers for a not-for-profit, community interest company which presents up to six film screenings every week. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cinema, David Lean Cinema Campaign | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council Tax campaign appeals to Stormzy: Save Croydon!

Posted on May 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

A people’s protest is planned outside Croydon Town Hall tonight, with the organisers appealing to Brit award-winning rapper Stormzy to join them in their fight against unfair Council Tax hikes and tens of millions of pounds of additional cuts to public services.

Council taxed: Stormzy has been offered the Freedom of the Borough

The protest on Katharine Street from 5.45pm is ahead of the council’s annual meeting, where the ceremonial mayor will receive their chains of office, there will be drinks in the Mayor’s Parlour and a bunch of ex-councillors will be presented with certificates saying that they are now aldermen, alderwomen or alderpersons. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, David White, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Tories club together to agree special service award for Ali

Posted on May 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

The Mayor of Croydon was elected a year ago on a promise to bring to account those responsible for bankrupting the borough. Tomorrow night he will attend a Town Hall ceremony where one of Newman’s Numpties will be handed an award for ‘exceptional’ service. By WALTER CRONXITE

‘Exceptional service’: Hamida Ali was only on the council for eight years, most of which were in Tony Newman’s cabinet

It was only a few months ago when Croydon Conservatives were leafleting residents telling the story of financial “mistakes” in the last two years of the Labour-run council – the years after the departure of the discredited Tony Newman, when he had been replaced as leader by Hamida Ali.

Tomorrow night in the Town Hall Chamber, those very same Conservatives, including Mayor Jason Perry, will confer on Hamida Ali a special civic award for her “service”.

Ali will be made an honorary alderwoman/person (delete to taste). This will be granted to Ali under exceptional circumstances, because she only served as a councillor for eight years, from 2014 until she stood down in May 2022. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Scott, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Five Hills of Croydon: 20 ramblers, 4 miles, countless memories

Posted on May 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

And off we go…: our merry band setting off through the grounds of Heathfield House and towards Bramley Bank, the woods of Selsdon and beyond…

PHOTOSTORY: Thanks to all the Inside Croydon readers who joined us on Sunday for our guided walk over five of the ‘seven’ hills of Croydon, following a route suggested in the book Hillwalking London: Ten High-Level Walks to the Heights of the Capital

Pictures here have been contributed by various walkers, including CHARLIE SPURLING, CHERYL FERGUS-FERRELL and KEN TOWL

Heathfield House, as seen from the walled garden. It’s a heritage building well-worth saving. KT

This marked a return to the “good old days”.

The days before covid when iC looked to bring together random groups of readers to follow the trails blazed for us by Towl.

More than 20 applied to take part in this little free-of-charge springtime adventure, setting off on Sunday morning from Coombe Lane tram stop, thus missing out the climb through Lloyd Park and the Croydon town centre car park that author Caroline Buckland had mischievously included in her Croydon ramble – from a recommended new book, which is still available on discount from the publishers for iC readers (details below). Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon parks, Environment, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Walks, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Palace fans prepare to bid farewell to all-time great Zaha

Posted on May 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

Hamstrung: Wilfried Zaha in pain early in the second half on Saturday. Was that his final Palace appearance?

How a £200,000 per week contract offer, the Premier League’s oldest manager and a hamstring injury could all be inter-woven into the future plans of one of the greatest players ever to strut his stuff on the Selhurst Park turf

Was the sight of Wlfried Zaha limping off the pitch less than an hour into Saturday’s game against Bournemouth on Saturday the last that Crystal Palace fans will see their GOAT – greatest of all time – in their team’s shirt?

That was certainly the view of the Palace fanzines and newspaper correspondents as the Eagles, safe and secure in the Premier League for another season, despatched Bournemouth 2-0 in the south London May-time sun. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Eberechi Eze, Football, Patrick Vieira, Roy Hodgson, Steve Parish, Wilfried Zaha | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Where you bin? Croydon wheelie turns up in west Africa

Posted on May 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

This image may have popped up on your interweb timeline at some point over the last few months. Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is not some AI image invention.

Bin and gone: a Croydon Council wheelie, thought to be in Ghana

This really is a Croydon Council issue wheelie bin, though not one put out for collection anywhere in this borough.

According to a member of the Twitterati, this bin was sighted in Ghana, approximately 4,600 miles outside the regular Veolia bin collection routes. Try logging that on the council’s Crap App.

Previous iterations of the image have claimed it to be a sighting elsewhere in west Africa, such as Nigeria. The definite location is impossible to verify.

All that can be said is that it is definitely not Croydon High Street…

Questions arose about how the wheelie bin came to arrive in Africa, with one suggestion being that it served as a kind of cargo packaging, used to load product – washing detergent, for example – for shipping to tropical areas where the product is less readily available. Which seems plausible enough.

Though with a typical 240litre capacity bin costing more than £30 for a replacement, someone must have been looking at some hefty shipping charges.

If you have other ideas, do let us know in the comments below. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Refuse collection | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Planners’ unconditional love for developers is unchanged

Posted on May 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

Controls freaked: council planning officials have 22 conditions linked to the development at Arkwright Road, without any guarantee of any of them being fulfilled

One of the arguments put forward for a change to a directly elected mayor was that they would be able to end the questionable practices of the council planning department. But as STEVE WHITESIDE explains, strategic ignorance and intellectual dishonesty continues under Mayor Jason Perry

In June 2020, Chris Philp, the Conservative MP for Croydon South, wrote to me saying: “The current planning situation in Croydon is enormously frustrating: it feels undemocratic and unfair and I strongly disapprove of this Labour administration’s approach.

“Conservative councillors and residents as well as myself all regularly lodge material policy-based objections as well as raising issues with defective or inaccurate officer reports. However, they are all ignored by Labour who control the planning process and the planning committees.”

“A Directly Elected Executive Mayor will have control of the planning department, so could stop the poor report issue… This is why I am pushing a DEM, to fully address the issues you are raising.”

In another letter, Philp has said, “Residents feel strongly that the whole planning system is biased against them with officers [by which he means council staff] delivering the reports which are expected of them by their council employers”.

In May 2022, Philp got his wish, an elected mayor in the form of Jason Perry, a fellow Conservative. One year since the election of Croydon’s first democratically elected mayor, are all “material policy-based objections” now fully and properly considered? And has that “poor report issue” been addressed? Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lynne Hale, Pete Smith, Planning, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Union claims success as school governors drop academy plan

Posted on May 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

United: the GMB Southern Region’s two days of strike action have forced Red Gates School governors to abandon academy plans

Staff at a Croydon special school are claiming a victory after the board of governors dropped its plans for academisation.

Red Gates School in South Croydon, which specialises in educating children with severe learning disabilities, received a Good/Outstanding Ofsted rating as recently as March this year.

But the governors wanted to hand over control from the local authority to the Pegasus Academy Trust, which has no background in running schools for children with SEND – Special Educational Needs and Disability. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Red Gates School, Schools | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Rail bridge repairs will close Old Lodge Lane over six weeks

Posted on May 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

More major disruption on the roads in and around Coulsdon and Purley, as Network Rail prepares for “essential” repair works to the bridge over Old Lodge Lane, starting from May 22 and continuing through at least until July 7.

Old Lodge Lane will be closed to all traffic for four weekends during the works.

In a letter distributed to residents, Network Rail says that the works to the bridge, located near Reedham Station, will give the structure “a maintenance-free life of 15 to 20 years and greatly improve the appearance of the bridge”.

Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Kenley, Old Coulsdon, Purley, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

New Addington and Shrublands share £80,000 youth crime fund

Posted on May 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

A grant of £80,000 from the Mayor of London’s violence reduction unit is to be divided up among three groups in Croydon working with the borough’s youth to provide “targeted support to guide them away from crime”, the council announced this morning.

The council invited organisations to bid for funding grants from the violence reduction unit, initially in two areas – New Addington and the town centre. Extra funding has also made available to help tackle the issue on the Shrublands estate.

The support grants, none of which amount to more than £30,000, are intended to provide one-to-one mentoring, group work, sports activities and help into education, training and jobs. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, New Addington, Shirley North | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Measure the effectiveness of councillors, not just the casework

Posted on May 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our report on councillors’ casework and the volume of residents’ enquiries they handle is only a very limited way of measuring their effectiveness, according to ROBERT CANNING (pictured left). He’s even done an equation to prove it…

Your report about the volume of councillors’ casework was an interesting read, but your methodology is flawed.

Workload: is your local councillor pulling their weight?

Councillors do casework as ward councillors. Anything from reporting fly-tipping and potholes to difficult housing casework. That’s why they all get the basic councillor allowance of £11,692.

Special Responsibility Allowances – SRAs – are paid for additional work, such as chairing a committee or being in the cabinet or shadow cabinet. The SRA is specific to that role.

Consequently, the number of bits of casework handled needs to be costed using only the basic councillor allowance, and nothing more, for an accurate assessment of value for money. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Robert Canning | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Kelly’s heroics and the tale of a soldier’s hard life and death

Posted on May 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

Epaulet episode: Captain Kelly’s famed exploits against the French at the Battle of Waterloo saw him the subject of prints and lithographs

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: One of the feted heroes in Wellington’s army made a home in Croydon but, as DAVID MORGAN explains, his duties took him far from his wife and family

“Daddy! Daddy! Tell us again the story of what you did in the war.”

Captain Edward Kelly, of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards back in the days of the Waterloo campaign, certainly had a great number of tales to tell. His exploits at the Battle of Waterloo itself were dashing enough for him to be given the nickname “Waterloo Kelly”. And he was Croydon’s Waterloo hero.

Exactly when he moved into his Croydon house isn’t known, but Boswell Court on South End (known as Boswell House these days) became the family residence sometime after 1815. The Battle of Waterloo, in which the Duke of Wellington’s forces delivered a final defeat to the French Emperor Napoleon, culminating on June 18, 1815.

Kelly’s wife Maria, a Mitcham girl, lived at the address until she died in 1860. Continue reading →

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

Thornton Heath Pop-up Sustainable Living Hub, May 20

Posted on May 14, 2023 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Business, Community associations, Environment, Thornton Heath | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Time to end the drip-drip feed of private profits for water firms

Posted on May 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Thames Water paid our council almost £1m in fines in five years. But the leaks and road works have still continued. Fairfield ward councillor ESTHER SUTTON, pictured right, wants to plug the flow of our cash to the failing utilities

Thames Water has been fined by Croydon Council nearly 900 times in the last five years for roadworks around our borough taking too long. Thames Water aren’t fixing the leaks, and the fines aren’t fixing the problem.

Leaking for profit: Thames Water’s road closures have caused traffic jams across Croydon

We’ve all heard about the privatised water companies dumping sewage in our rivers and seas. But even in land-locked Croydon, they are still making our lives miserable.

It seems like whenever your travel by road around Croydon you spend part of your journey sat in a traffic jam. Persuading more people to leave their cars at home and use public transport would help reduce that, but so would reducing the amount of road works. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Fairfield | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Police sets up special squad to tackle damage to ULEZ cameras

Posted on May 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

The Metropolitan Police is investigating nearly 100 cases of criminal damage and vandalism to CCTV cameras installed for ULEZ, London’s ultra-low emission zone, which is to be extended to outer London, including Croydon and Sutton, in August this year.

Cameras are coming: ULEZ cameras being installed in Coulsdon, at the bottom of Woodcote Grove Road

The extent of the vandalism by anti-ULEZzers was revealed last night after criminal charges were brought against a 42-year-old man from Sidcup for damaging traffic monitoring cameras.

The Evening Standard reported that Joseph Nicolls, of Foots Cray High Street, has been charged with criminal damage, malicious communications and handling stolen goods, as well as aiding or abetting the destruction of, or damage to, property valued over £5,000.

Nicolls appeared at Bromley Magistrates Court on Thursday. The Metropolitan Police has not disclosed how many allegations of damage to ULEZ cameras Nicolls faces.

Around 300 new ULEZ cameras are being installed across outer London, in preparation for the zone being extended beyond the South and North Circulars as far as the boundaries of Greater London. TfL expects to spend £60million to £75million on cameras and road signs, and for the total cost of the expansion to be between £130million and £140million. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Environment, London-wide issues, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Perry’s new PSPO zone is ‘just window-dressing’ say critics

Posted on May 13, 2023 by insidecroydon

Surrey Street traders to establish group to represent their interests after council ignored their pleas for help over thefts and violence on Croydon’s historic street market

Action: traders working on Surrey Street Market are banding together after their pleas were ignored by the council and the police

Mayor Jason Perry is axing more than 20 Neighbourhood Safety Officers, but he has re-introduced a PSPO – a Public Spaces Protection Order – which he says will give the police extra powers in the town centre and surrounding area to act on antisocial behaviour.

Those accused of anti-social behaviour in the PSPO could face a fixed penalty notice of £100 or prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court potentially leading to a criminal conviction and a fine of up to £1,000.

The council says, “The PSPO will help to tackle a range of antisocial behaviour in the town centre.” But given the events of last weekend and the Metropolitan Police’s arbitrary arrest of dozens of people using the new Public Order Act, many suggest that Croydon’s PSPO is unnecessary, excessive and a potential for creating flashpoints. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community associations, Crime, Croydon BID, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Mayor Jason Perry, Policing, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments