NHS urges fans to take a shot for England at the World Cup

Posted on November 15, 2022 by insidecroydon

Super spreader event: London health chief is urging the public to ensure that they are up to date with their flu and covid vaccinations before embarking on any World Cup group gatherings

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Groups gathering together in pubs and bars to watch matches in the football World Cup could increase the risk of spreading flu and covid warns Dr CHRIS STREATHER, the medical director for the NHS in London, pictured right

We know the World Cup will bring Londoners together with thousands gathering in pubs and front rooms to cheer on Gareth Southgate and the England team.

But we also know that crowds are what viruses like best, whether that is the common cold, flu or even covid.

So the best possible defence will be vital – not just in Qatar but also here at home. Continue reading →

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Waddon pet store’s face-lift will have its customers purring

Posted on November 15, 2022 by insidecroydon

Pets at Home has opened the doors to its new-look pet care centre in Waddon Retail Park, off the Purley Way.

Pet Village: the refurb at Pets at Home has created a new area for super furry animals

The store has been refurbished, including a “Pet Village”, for small animals to have plenty of room for them to play, hide, eat and sleep, as well as an aquatic centre, with a range of fish and accessories.

The Croydon store has a team of specialist pet care advisors on hand to support pet owners with free advice, including flea and worm subscriptions, weight checks and nutritional consultations, as well as a coat and harness fitting services for dogs.

Continue reading →

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Norbury restaurant Via offers atmospheric stopping off point

Posted on November 15, 2022 by insidecroydon

Too many people might think that Norbury is just somewhere on the A23 that they pass on their way to Brixton or, in the opposite direction, to Croydon. Norbury is somewhere you go “via”.

Opening time: proud owner Elsa Viveiros and her team cut the ribbon on Via

Thus, Norbury’s newest restaurant is called Via, and owner Elsa Viveiros and her team say that they want to put Norbury on the map as more than a place you pass through.

Taking inspiration from Continental back streets, away from the main drag, where all the best restaurants are found, there’s a feeling in Via that the outside has been brought inside.

The star-lit night sky painted has been painted on the ceiling to stunning effect, creating a cosy atmosphere. A wall mural of angelic wings and an illuminated sign that says “to the moon” lifts the heart.

The menu is concise, a range of small plates, including crispy prawns, with sriracha mayonnaise and orange and figs, with crumbled feta, walnuts and drizzled with honey. Continue reading →

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Environment campaigners take protest to ‘toxic’ Barclays

Posted on November 14, 2022 by insidecroydon

Toxic Barclays: Croydon Extinction Rebellion protesters outside the branch on the High Street this morning. Barclays is Europe’s biggest investor in fossil fuels, and made £2bn pre-tax profit in their latest quarter

Extinction Rebellion activists were busy outside Barclays on Croydon High Street this morning, raising a “Toxic Barclays” banner and leafleting passers-by about the bank’s role in fuelling the unfolding climate catastrophe.

Barclays is Europe’s largest financier of fossil fuels, the use of which is a principal cause of the climate catastrophe.

Although the International Energy Agency says “there is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply”, last year Barclays invested nearly £20billion in fossil fuels. Since the Paris Climate Agreement, their total investment in fossil fuels is almost £150billion. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Environment, Extinction Rebellion | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

BBC returns to Minster to hear Croydon’s Choral Evensong

Posted on November 14, 2022 by insidecroydon

The Beeb are back: Croydon Minster has become a frequent location for BBC religious broadcasts

In its centenary year, the BBC is returning to Croydon Minster next month to record a service of Choral Evensong.

The recording will take place on Tuesday December 20 at 4pm.

Anyone wishing to attend must be seated in Croydon Minster by 3.45pm. The service will then be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on Wednesday December 28 at 4pm in their Choral Evensong slot, the longest-running radio series in the BBC’s 100-year history.

This will be a first broadcast from the Minster for Justin Miller, the new director of music. The last visit to the Minster by the BBC was on October 18, 2020, when a service was broadcast live on Radio 4, as well as another Choral Evensong recording which went on air a few days later. Continue reading →

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The Whitgift Centre is on a roll in the build-up to Christmas

Posted on November 14, 2022 by insidecroydon

Centrale and Whitgift shopping centres have announced that they will be opening a free roller rink in Whitgift Square on Saturday November 25, to be a feature of festive activities in the town centre right through until Christmas Eve. It is the only indoor roller rink in south London this Christmas.

Suitable for children from five to 75, the roller rink will host skating sessions on the hour every day from 12pm to 6pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 12pm to 5pm on Sundays.

The event, sponsored by Croydon BID, forms part of the Croydon Partnership’s focus on delivering a programme of events for the Croydon community while a new masterplan is redesigned. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Activities, Business, Centrale, Croydon BID, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas Market, St Peter’s Hall, South Croydon, Nov 26

Posted on November 13, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

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Mayor condemned for ‘cruel’ treatment of street homeless

Posted on November 12, 2022 by insidecroydon

When other local authorities are looking to provide ‘warm banks’ for the poor and winter shelters for the homeless, Croydon’s cash-strapped council is seizing vulnerable people’s possessions in their effort to tidy up their swanky offices. By STEVEN DOWNES

No Access Croydon: the council has seized a homeless person’s few possessions to try to deny them somewhere dry to bed down at nights

Tory Jason Perry’s council has this week shown the full force of what “compassionate Conservatism” looks like.

Officials working for the Perry-led council have seized a homeless person’s few belongings, including bedding and clothing, in their effort to “clean-up” the reception area of the local authority’s offices.

There was a time when Tories, such as Boris Johnson when he was Mayor of London, accompanied on a tour of Croydon by gobby councillor Mario Creatura, regarded the sight of a homeless person as a matter for giggles and in-jokes. The best that can be said is that on that occasion, at least they left the poor soul unharmed.

But these days, the council is accused of going out of its way to criminalise the vulnerable while removing shelter from them during winter. Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Charity, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon Nightwatch, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Property, South Norwood Community Kitchen, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Bellway scales down plan for Lido site after locals’ complaints

Posted on November 12, 2022 by insidecroydon

Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES reports on a bit of a climb down from ‘The Platform’

Towering concerns: Bellway originally wanted to build up to 10 storeys tall around the listed diving platform. Now, they say, they have scaled back those plans

House-builder Bellway has scaled down its plans for the site of the former Wyevale garden centre near the Purley Way, reducing the height of its tallest residential tower by half.

Another round of consultation is about to start over the sensitive site alongside the vast green open spaces of Purley Way Playing Fields and including a listed structure, the art deco concrete diving tower of the old Purley Way Lido.

Leaflets for the consultation sessions have been distributed around the Waddon Estate. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Business, Joy Prince, Planning, Purley Way, Robert Canning, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Pengenista Drummers charity fund-raiser, Croydon FC, Dec 3

Posted on November 12, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Community associations, Croydon FC, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen | Tagged , | Leave a comment

‘You seem to be trying to put the genie back in the bottle’

Posted on November 11, 2022 by insidecroydon

A High Court judge yesterday refused Croydon Council’s attempt to ‘unpublish’ documents that it had itself put into the public domain.
STEVEN DOWNES, Editor of Inside Croydon, on a small victory for the freedom of the press

Divide and rule: people in the building on the left, Fisher’s Folly, don’t want the people’s representatives in the Town Hall, right, knowing what is going on at the council

Two years ago today, Croydon Council went bust.

Yet in all that time since, Croydon Council has conducted more legal action against this website and me, as Editor, than it has against any of the people who bankrupted the borough.

It was 3.39pm on Wednesday when the email dropped into the inbox here at Inside Croydon Towers from Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, Croydon Council’s most senior legal official.

It seemed that Lawrence-Orumwense really was going to compound the authority’s incompetence with an act of crass misjudgement – some might use a stronger word – and all at considerable expense to the long-suffering Council Tax-payers of Croydon.

The email said that Croydon Council was taking out a High Court injunction against this website’s Editor to stop us from publishing materials that had been on the council’s own website for six weeks (our italics, because we cannot stress enough the mind-blowing stupidity of the council in taking this step, and all the while using public money to do so). Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Inside Croydon, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Take a walk on the wild side with fungal foray in the woods

Posted on November 11, 2022 by insidecroydon

NATURE NOTES: Loyal reader ANTHONY MILLS takes a walk on the wild side – or what he calls a ‘fungal foray’ – with the City Commons Rangers through Croydon’s autumn woodland

Woodland wonder: some of the fungal delights to be found on deadwood. Pic: Anthony Mills

A fungal foray at Riddlesdown, part of the City of London Commons, led by Dr Jane McLauchlin and ranger Thomas Oliver produced an amazing 50 or so species when the same place and time last year resulted in only 20 or so.

In the wettest and warmest early November for decades, it emphasises just how much fruiting body production is driven by available moisture.

We saw an astonishing array of Blushing Bracket (Deadaleopsis confragosa) running the whole length of a fallen beech tree.

At first sight I thought “Gano”, as I’ve never seen, in person or in photos, so many or such large brackets of this species. Continue reading →

Posted in City Commons, Coulsdon, Croydon parks, Environment, Nature Notes, Wildlife | 2 Comments

Waitrose’s closure is another nail in town centre’s coffin

Posted on November 11, 2022 by insidecroydon

Another nail in the coffin of Croydon as a retail centre will be hammered in place tomorrow, with the closure of the Waitrose supermarket on George Street.

Sad and desolate: Waitrose, George Street, where shelves have not been re-stocked ahead of closure tomorrow

The closure was announced by the groceries arm of the John Lewis Partnership in August. Around 70 staff are affected by the closure, who the company said would be offered redeployment at other stores – Waitrose at Sanderstead remains in business, for instance – retraining or redundancy.

Following on the various closures in the town centre by those businesses that did not survive the covid lockdowns, the closing of this store will leave a large vacant plot just along from East Croydon Station, on one of the borough’s busiest of thoroughfares. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Cash-strapped council hiring in expensive lawyers for planning

Posted on November 10, 2022 by insidecroydon

The residents’ fight-back against over-development continues, despite efforts by an external legal adviser to get councillors on the planning committee to alter their rulings. By STEVE WHITESIDE

Dire warnings: Richard Barlow, of Browne Jacobson, is a new face at planning meetings

A year ago, I suggested on these pages that there might be “glimmers of hope” that the council’s planning committee might finally have had enough of the misleading nonsense regularly served up to them by council planning staff when defending their recommendations to approve some of the more egregious schemes put forward by profit-hungry developers.

There have been more straws in the wind since, especially after the planning committee’s composition changed in May and Michael Neal (in the Blue corner) was given the chair’s casting vote.

But there was an incident before that which was perhaps of equal significance with regard to the proper conduct of these meetings, at which the “management” of approved applications is regularly delegated back to the officials via the long list of “conditions” attached to permissions. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Property, Purley, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Croydon artist’s works included in major Mall exhibition

Posted on November 10, 2022 by insidecroydon

Croydon artist Matt Bannister has had three of his works chosen for an exhibition at the prestigious Mall Galleries, which opens tomorrow.

Bird’s eye view: one of Matt Bannister’s paintings that goes into the Mall Galleries exhibition tomorrow

Bannister’s works – “Mini Croydon” 2, 3 and 4 – were all painted, acrylic on canvas, this year. They are among the 527 chosen from 7,300 entries.

The ING Discerning Eye annual exhibition is a show of small, domestic-scale, works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world.

The selectors choose both from the publically submitted works and works by personally invited artists. Each selector’s choice is theirs own alone and is hung in separate sections to give each its own distinctive identity.

“The exhibition provides a rare opportunity for works by lesser-known artists to be hung alongside contributions from internationally recognised names,” the gallery says. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, East Croydon | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Free energy advice, CVA Resource Centre, Nov 19

Posted on November 10, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Crisis Commission, Community associations, CVA, Environment | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

#PennReport: No referrals sent to staff’s professional bodies

Posted on November 9, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Recommendations for action made by auditors, a Local Government Association report and two sets of legal experts have not been acted on by the current CEO.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Confidential legal advice provided to Croydon Council this year found that senior employees working on the fiasco of the Fairfield Halls refurbishment had shown “serious” failings “over a prolonged period” that had “exposed the council to significant financial and legal risk”.

Yet although the report’s authors, legal firm Browne Jacobson, joined auditors Grant Thornton and Local Government Association investigator Richard Penn in recommending that those responsible should be referred to their professional regulatory bodies, the council’s current CEO, Katherine Kerswell, has so far failed to do so.

The Fairfield Halls refurbishment project, placed in the hands of failed house-builders Brick by Brick, over-ran by more than a year and cost Croydon tax-payers at least £67.5million – £37million over-budget.

Two years on from the council being forced to admit it was effectively bankrupt, there’s still a stench that still lingers around the glass palace of civic hubris that is Fisher’s Folly.

There have been multiple reports into what went wrong at Croydon’s “dysfunctional” council, some that have been published and others – like the Penn Report – yet to be released to the public by Kerswell, who was at yet another meeting today providing more reasons why she wants to delay, prevaricate and not release the report. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, Stuart King, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

For COP27 not to be a cop-out, we need action by our leaders

Posted on November 9, 2022 by insidecroydon

No Planet B: World leaders are failing the people by not grasping the climate crisis is with us now

PETER UNDERWOOD says that Croydon has its own Nero figure, fiddling while the planet burns

They say that Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

In July 64AD, a great fire ravaged Rome, destroying three-quarters of the city, killing many and leaving half its population homeless. According to folklore Nero, Rome’s Emperor, was more interested in playing music and enjoying himself than doing anything about the disaster.

Welcome to the modern equivalent – COP27.

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – known as COP27 – is a meeting of world leaders taking place at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt this week.

The COP meetings are intended to deliver action on issues critical to tackling the climate emergency – from urgently reducing emissions of greenhouse gas, to adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, to delivering on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries. Continue reading →

Posted in Climate Crisis Commission, Croydon Council, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Environment, Esther Sutton, Mayor Jason Perry, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council opts to demolish blocks at centre of squalor scandal

Posted on November 9, 2022 by insidecroydon

The South Norwood flats which were so badly maintained that they caused a national scandal ‘are no longer fit for purpose’ according to a report from the cash-strapped council. By STEVEN DOWNES

Set to be demolished: one of the three blocks in South Norwood

Croydon Council wants to demolish the three tower blocks on Regina Road that were at the centre of a national scandal last year because of the appalling living conditions caused by mould, leaks and damp in the homes.

A report has been published this morning ahead of next week’s council cabinet meeting in which Susmita Sen, the council’s relatively new director for housing, on considering the state of the 1960s-built tower blocks, says that, “An appropriate conclusion might be that the tower blocks are no longer fit for purpose and that the most effective remedy may be to demolish.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood, Susmita Sen | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Yamaha Music School hits the right notes at Fairfield Halls

Posted on November 9, 2022 by insidecroydon

The Yamaha Music School based at the Fairfield Halls is to expand next spring, moving into a second space at Croydon’s major arts centre to cope with growing demand.

All together now: Yamaha’s music lessons at the Fairfield Halls have proved very popular

Suitably, from April 2023 the Yamaha lessons will also be taking place in the Arthur Davidson Suite, which takes its name from the local musician and conductor who for decades ran the very popular Saturday morning children’s concerts in the Fairfield’s Concert Hall, instilling a love for music in generations of Croydon youngsters.

The Yamaha Music Foundation was established in Tokyo in 1954. They were introduced to the Fairfield by the venue’s then arts director, Neil Chandler, as part of the revised community offering following its three-year refurbishment and they have been providing music education courses for children in their current studio, the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Suite, since November 2019. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Education, Fairfield Halls, Music | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Union calls on Mayor Khan to intervene in TfL pension dispute

Posted on November 9, 2022 by insidecroydon

Strikes will hit London’s transport network tomorrow as Unite members at Transport for London, London Underground and Croydon Trams take action to defend their pensions, pay and jobs.

Time to act: Unite wants London Mayor Sadiq Khan to intervene in their dispute with TfL

Due to shift patterns, services could also be hit on Friday, November 11, the Unite union said this morning.

More than 1,000 Unite members will walk out in protest at plans to slash the value of their pensions and close the existing final salary scheme – measures being imposed on TfL by the Tory government as part of the Department for Transport’s bail-out for London’s transport system following covid. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Arts and Crafts with Aga, Socco Cheta Hub every Thursday

Posted on November 9, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Community associations, Socco Cheta Community Hub, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Giles in ‘fairytale’ return for second spell as Croydon boss

Posted on November 8, 2022 by insidecroydon

Seven months after he stood down as manager at Croydon FC, it was announced tonight that Liam Giles is to return to the Arena as the club’s new boss.

Back home: Liam Giles at Croydon Arena tonight to start his second spell in charge

A vacancy had occurred after Tyler Chambers and his assistant manager, Joe Brown, resigned via Twitter on Saturday night, with the Southern Counties East Football League Division One just one place above the relegation zone after 11 games.

Giles left after his 99th game in charge of the Trams, which had included two covid-wrecked, gruelling and frustrating seasons.

Since leaving Croydon, Giles has been managing Epsom and Ewell, a Tier 10 club that plays in the first division of the Southern Combination Football League. Giles leaves them at the top of their table, four points clear of their rivals.

Tonight, Giles told Inside Croydon, “I’m delighted to be home. Can’t wait to get back to work and get this Tram back on track.” Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon FC, Football, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Commissioners set Reed and Jones a boundaries conundrum

Posted on November 8, 2022 by insidecroydon

Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on the layer-cake solution to the future of Croydon, and Lambeth’s, parliamentary constituencies

Layer cake: Croydon’s political boundaries have been redrawn. But who will get the biggest slice at the General Election?

It has been a standing joke on this website for a decade or so that former Lambeth council leader Steve Reed OBE is in fact the MP for Lambeth South. Today, the Boundary Commission made that gag a real possibility, as they published the latest version of their parliamentary constituency maps.

Croydon is to get four MPs, up from the three that it has had since 1974 – Croydon Central, Croydon South and Croydion North. The proposals as published this morning look to be good news for the Labour Party, with two seemingly safe seats and one winnable marginal, while Chris Philp’s Tory stronghold in Croydon South is probably made safer than it already was.

Now we can just grab the popcorn and sit back to watch the internal party squabbling over selections that are certain to follow, as sitting MPs decide which seat to take in a parliamentary version of musical chairs. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Lambeth Council, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Long-planned Coulsdon medical centre in ‘critical condition’

Posted on November 8, 2022 by insidecroydon

The long-planned development of the Coulsdon Medical Centre on the site of the CALAT building has been placed on hold.

Doomed: the crashed economy has prompted the developers to pull out of the Coulsdon Medical Centre project

The front page of the latest edition of the newsletter from the Coulsdon West Residents’ Association puts it bluntly: “Critical condition”.

The medical centre, on the site of what was once Smitham School, adjacent to Woodcote Grove Road, was one of the quid-pro-quo projects in a complicated arrangement that included the building of 78 flats on the Lion Green Lane car park by Brick by Brick, the council’s failed development company. Suffice to say, five years after being granted planning permission, the flats are not yet occupied, while the medical centre seems no closer to fruition.

Now, with the national economy plunged into recession, the prospects of starting work on the medical centre look doomed. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Medical Centre, Coulsdon Town, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, Croydon Council, Croydon NHS Trust, Croydon South, Health, Matthew Kershaw | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment