Trinity 6th-form playwrights explore the nuclear option in Oxted

Posted on February 21, 2023 by insidecroydon

Three sixth-formers from Trinity School in Shirley will perform at the Southern Counties Drama Festival tomorrow night with an original play, which has been written by two of them.

Pressing the button: Barney Sayburn (right) and Rob Wilding (left) have written Letters of Last Resort, which they perform with Amare McDonald

Letters of Last Resort, written by Barney Sayburn and Rob Wilding, was devised as part of their A Level Drama course.

The play was inspired after the boys discovered that aboard every Royal Navy nuclear submarine is a letter from the Prime Minister with instructions on what to do in the event the Government is destroyed. The play focuses on the tension between three submarine officers who open that letter and must decide what to do.

The play will premiere at The Barn Theatre in Oxted as part of this year’s Southern Counties Drama Festival, with Letters of Last Resort opening the show at 7pm on Wednesday February 22. Continue reading →

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Ikea’s £2,000 prize for schools with best zero carbon projects

Posted on February 21, 2023 by insidecroydon

Zero-ing in: the competition is open now for schools with the best climate change initiatives to win a £2,000 classroom makeover from Ikea

Ikea has launched a national competition giving Croydon school children the chance to win £2,000 towards projects which will help reduce their school’s carbon footprint.

The retailer is working in partnership with the Let’s Go Zero campaign, coordinated by climate solutions charity, Ashden, which calls on all schools to become carbon zero by 2030. Continue reading →

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Friends of Upper Norwood Rec litter pick, Feb 26 and Mar 19

Posted on February 21, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Laura B and Her Band, Blues at The Oval Tavern, Feb 26

Posted on February 21, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Print. Display. Share: Join the Say No To 15% protest on Mar 1

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Community associations, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon TUC, Inside Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Say No To 15%: join the campaign protest rally on Mar 1

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Fire Brigade extinguish another Croydon fire caused by candles

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

The London Fire Brigade has re-issued its warning about careless use of candles in the home, after a second Croydon call-out inside a week for another blaze that was entirely avoidable.

Candle flames: more than 20 people’s lives were put at risk when a fire broke out on Park Lane yesterday. Four needed treatment at the scene

The Brigade attended the latest fire at a hotel on Park Lane last night.

A small part of a first-floor room in a three-storey hotel was destroyed by the fire.

Around 20 people evacuated the hotel before the Brigade arrived.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus rescued four people from the second floor via an internal staircase using smoke hoods. They were treated on the scene by London Ambulance Service crews.

“The fire is believed to have been accidental and caused by candles,” a Brigade spokesperson told Inside Croydon. Continue reading →

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10,000 signatures! Now government has to answer our petition

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Government must now respond to the petition raised by Inside Croydon that opposes the imposition of a 15per cent Council Tax increase without first holding a cross-borough referendum on the matter.

The 10,000 signature threshold for getting an official Government response to the petition was reached yesterday lunchtime, and just five days after the petition was published by House of Commons officials.

Earlier this month, Michael Gove’s Department for Levelling Up announced that Croydon Council was to be allowed to increase Council Tax by 15per cent without the need of a referendum, after receiving a request from the borough’s Tory Mayor, Jason Perry. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

‘Spectacularly useless’ Croydon is ridiculed on Question Time

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

The parlous state of Croydon Council’s finances, and the chronic incompetence of the people in charge of them, made it on to national television last week.

Thursday night’s Question Time on BBC1 broke away from its obsessions with Brexit and asylum-seekers to address the question of Council Tax, and the dreadful imposition of 5per cent increases during the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Free legal advice, South East Cancer Help Centre, Mar 1

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Erato Orchestra Mozart and Haydn concert, Woodcote, Mar 18

Posted on February 20, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Pitlake’s poetic priest and his Edwardian Coronation Ode

Posted on February 19, 2023 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Croydon Minster’s archive also serves as a library for its parochial reports dating back into the 19th Century, which help to reveal much about the area’s history, says DAVID MORGAN, pictured right

The yearly Parochial Reports from the 1890s, stored in the archives of Croydon Minster, are a rich source of information. For the local historian, they provide a wealth of names, places and dates; for the family historian they can unlock the search for an ancestor; and for the social historian they reveal much about life towards the end of the Victorian era.

Rich source of history: the Croydon Parish Church’s Parochial Report

The name of one of the assistant curates listed in the 1893 report was Rev Stephen Hughes-Games.

The vicar of Croydon, Rev Geoffrey Fisher, welcomed Hughes-Games to be part of the ministerial team of four assistant curates to work across the parish. The rapidly expanding population of Croydon saw new churches open in the second half of the 18th century.

Pitlake Mission was one of them.

Pitlake had been without a priest for a while after the resignation of Rev Walter Taylor. Hughes-Games’s arrival was a relief and a blessing to those who had borne the responsibility of keeping the Mission going in the meantime.

I don’t think the parishioners of Pitlake Mission, though, quite realised the calibre of the man who had come to minister to them. Continue reading →

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Turkey-Syria Earthquake charity appeal: collections til Feb 25

Posted on February 19, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Indoor Boot Sale, St Paul’s Croham Park Ave, Mar 11

Posted on February 19, 2023 by insidecroydon

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£81,000 pa Mayor: Croydon is too skint to oppose ULEZ

Posted on February 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

Jason Perry, Croydon’s Tory Mayor, says that his cash-strapped borough doesn’t have enough money to join the Judicial Review legal action being brought by other outer London boroughs against the expansion later this year of ULEZ – the Ultra Low Emission Zone.

Air quality control: ULEZ reduces traffic, and pollution. Croydon’s Mayor Perry opposes that

A pro-pollution, Perry-backed motion to oppose ULEZ was recently defeated at a meeting of Croydon’s full council.

Four London boroughs – Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon councils, all Conservative-controlled, as well as Surrey County Council – announced this week that they are seeking a Judicial Review against the ULEZ scheme.

In November, Mayor Perry issued Croydon’s third Section 114 notice in two years – effectively admitting that he would not be able to balance the borough’s budget.

Perry’s reluctance to join the Tory councils’ anti-ULEZ action appears to signal a sharp U-turn by the Mayor over costly legal fees. Continue reading →

Posted in Bexley, Bromley Council, Croydon Council, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Outside Croydon, Sadiq Khan, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

New school streets are only ‘temporary’ according to council

Posted on February 18, 2023 by insidecroydon

Works start this week on 10 “Healthy School Streets” – the council says they are on a trial basis – which will come into effect on March 13.

Signs of things to come: more school streets signs are going up next week

School streets restrict access to motor vehicles on designated roads where there are schools during term time at drop-off and pick-up times, intended to reduce air pollution caused by exhausts and encourage more pupils to walk, cycle and scoot.

This latest batch of school streets was approved in December, when it was decided not to trial a school street in South Croydon which has three schools on it, because it would be far too inconvenient for residents on neighbouring roads, where by sheer coincidence, Mayor Jason Perry has a £1million home.

From Monday (February 20), residents living within the schemes’ areas will be eligible to apply for an exemption permit so that they continue to have access at all times. Eligible residents are supposed to receive a letter from the council this week. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Taxing times for Perry as he deploys Negrini as his ‘dead cat’

Posted on February 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

Try not to get your hopes up too much ahead of next week’s Penn Report meeting, suggests STEVEN DOWNES. The Mayor might be over-promising before under-delivering again

‘Jeez! Did someone say “dead cat”?’: Jo Negrini appearing as a regeneration expert (seriously) on behalf of Arup last month

Is Jo Negrini being used as a “dead cat” by Croydon Mayor Jason Perry?

It is Aussie political spin doctor Lynton Crosby who is attributed with coming up with the ploy. The man behind the classy Tory slogan “It’s Not Racist to Impose Limits on Immigration” and who steered the Tories to their General Election win in 2015, Crosby was for many years Boris Johnson’s favourite campaign guru, helping him win two elections for London Mayor (and in one instance pocketing £140,000 for four months’ work…).

It was Johnson who offered up this explanation of Crosby’s deadcattery: “There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table – and I don’t mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant.

“The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout, ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’

“In other words, they will be talking about the dead cat – the thing you want them to talk about – and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.”

For Jason Perry, a 15per cent Council Tax hike, to be imposed on the borough at his own request, is causing him a great deal of grief. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Government to write off £540m of council’s debts, as Croydon becomes the Northern Rock of England’s local authorities

Posted on February 17, 2023 by insidecroydon
  • Tory minister Michael Gove asked to agree deal that wipes half a billion pounds from council’s mountain of debt
  • After spending months complaining about council’s ‘unsustainable’ debt, Mayor Jason Perry is seeking to borrow another £224m
  • Perry’s 15% Council Tax hike is revealed to be ‘a political beating’ from the Tories on the people of Croydon, as the Mayor plans for a 0% increase in the year before he seeks re-election
    By STEVEN DOWNES

Jason Perry, Croydon’s Tory Mayor, has leaked details of the bail-out deal he has been negotiating with government for the past six months, under which Tory Levelling Up minister Michael Gove and the Treasury are being asked to write off £540million-worth of the council’s £1.3billion debts.

If confirmed, the deal will make Croydon the first bankrupt borough ever to be allowed to welch on its debts in this manner. “It makes us the Northern Rock of the country’s local authorities,” one astonished Katharine Street source said this morning, referring to the bank which collapsed under the weight of its borrowings during the global financial crisis of 2007.

Even after all the scandals and shocks surrounding Croydon’s dysfunctional council over the past four years, the sheer scale of the debt write-off is likely to have massive repercussions not only for the borough, but for the way councils across the country are funded.

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Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Katherine Kerswell, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Younger Generation open auditions, Purley, Feb 26, Mar 26

Posted on February 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

Let’s dance: keen singers, performers and dancers are all welcome at YG

Younger Generation, the charity theatre group for nine- to 18-year-olds who enjoy performing have two open audition dates coming up.

The auditions could lead to the youngsters becoming part of the cast for a show to be performed at the Ashcroft Theatre at the Fairfield Halls later this year.

The auditions will be held at St Marks Church Hall in Purley on Sunday February 26 and Sunday March 26, both at 1.40pm. Continue reading →

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Quiz Night fundraiser, St Paul’s Croham Park Ave, Mar 4

Posted on February 17, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Council’s planners lose multiple cases at appeal and in court

Posted on February 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

Independent inspectors and judges at the High Court continue to rule against decisions made by Croydon’s planning department. Yet those making these dubious, developer-friendly decisions remain in place

Unimpressed: the Planning Inspectorate has over-ruled Croydon’s planners repeatedly

Research for Inside Croydon has found at least another 11 planning cases over the last 18 months in which the independent Planning Inspectorate has effectively ruled against the council’s supposedly “professional” planners.

Under senior council director Heather Cheesbrough, planning in Croydon’s dysfunctional council “is all but broken”, according to Jeet Bains, the cabinet member responsible.

And that view appears to be backed up by planning inspectors, who have sat in judgement on appeals brought by developers. Continue reading →

Posted in Aventier, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lynne Hale, Maria Gatland, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Sanderstead, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

The solution to Perry’s finance problem: Fund Croydon Fairly

Posted on February 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

When a neighbouring London borough, with a smaller population and less deprivation than Croydon, gets £60m more central government funding than Croydon, something is very wrong. ANDREW FISHER on what the borough’s Mayor should really be doing instead of heaping a 15% Council Tax hike on long-suffering residents

Missing a trick: Jason Perry has failed to deliver fair funding for Croydon

Whether it’s the banking crash, the energy crisis or, more parochially, Croydon Council’s financial collapse, the same story always plays out: it’s ordinary people who are left carrying the can when those in power make a mess of things.

Today in Croydon, residents experiencing the worst fall in their living standards on record face being hit with an eye-watering 15per cent increase in Council Tax from April.

I’ve previously written about why Croydon finds itself in the state we’re in – a combination of successive incompetent administrations that peddled pipedreams and piled up debt, plus huge cuts in funding from central government and the long-term structural underfunding of the borough.

Our directly elected Mayor, Jason Perry, came to power nine months ago promising to “fix the finances” of Croydon Council. He only won May’s mayoral election narrowly – does anyone seriously believe he would have done so if he had said then that he would hike Council Tax by 15per cent? Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Surrey council fined £7,400 over failures for boy with SEND

Posted on February 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

Croydon is not the only local authority in trouble. Tory-run Surrey County Council has been criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman after a second investigation into its failures to properly support a young boy with special educational needs.

The Ombudsman had previously investigated the council’s failures to provide proper education to the same child five years ago, in 2018.

Surrey has agreed to review how it arranges and monitors special educational needs support for children and young people following the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation.

In the latest instance, the Ombudsman investigated after Surrey failed to provide the boy with his full entitlement of education and therapy for 18 months.

The Ombudsman also criticised the way the council handled the family’s complaint. Continue reading →

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Croydon Bach Choir performs Handel’s Samson, Mar 25

Posted on February 16, 2023 by insidecroydon

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Kerswell finally prepares to publish long withheld #PennReport

Posted on February 15, 2023 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council’s £193,000 per year CEO has descended into the realms of Alice In Blunderland with her latest excuses for ignoring elected councillors and the public. By STEVEN DOWNES

Katherine Kerswell, Croydon’s chief executive, claims that it is “factually incorrect” to say that the Penn Report into possible wrong-doing that led to the financial collapse of the council, which she has withheld for more than two years, has been “buried or withheld”.

Kerswell spends nine pages of an 18-page council report indulging in lengthy justifications for her inaction over the Penn Report. But according to the latest council papers, released today ahead of a council appointments and disciplinary committee due to be held on February 23, the Penn Report – or a version of it – will finally be made public on February 24. Continue reading →

Posted in Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Hazel Simmonds, Inside Croydon, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, Shifa Mustafa, Simon Hall, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments