Musician Griffiths’ reign in Spain that came at a real cost

Posted on December 8, 2022 by insidecroydon

RICHARD PACITTI reviews an anecdotal autobiography about life in Punk and New Wave-era Croydon and an artist’s mental health crisis

Rock ‘n roll lifestyle: Griff Griffiths has put it all down in a book

It’s been a bit of a busy year for Griff Griffiths.

In September, there was the launch of Are They Hostile?, the documentary about Croydon’s Punk, New Wave and indie scene that was his and Mark Williams’ brainchild (not to mention the CD and vinyl record that accompanied the film).

Griffiths has followed this up with I Was The King of Spain, a book about his life.

Not an autobiography in the conventional sense, but a series of anecdotes – some longish, some short – about his rock ‘n roll life.

Griffiths has been a market trader, tyre fitter, musician, artist, entrepreneur, furniture dealer, gilder, comedian, model, sports therapist, songwriter, producer, freemason and father. But his book has anecdotes about his childhood and growing up in Croydon, too. Some are funny, some quirky. “I was banned from my youth club for eating a tadpole”; and “I saw a UFO over Wandsworth gas works.” Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Music | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Negrini pay-off arranged after ‘breakdown’ with leader Newman

Posted on December 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The notorious £437,000 payment made to former council chief exec was agreed at an ‘unlawful’ meeting and should never have been paid. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Hush fund: Tony Newman should have had ‘absolutely no role’ in arranging the settlement for Negrini

The near-half-a-million pounds paid to Jo Negrini in August 2020 to speed her exit from Croydon Council and ensure her silence was arranged because of a “breakdown in trust” in the chief executive’s working relationship with Tony Newman, the then leader of the council.

That’s according to an official council response to its external auditors, which also states that the decision to make the payment was taken at an unlawful meeting, with incomplete or inadequate advice provided by council officials to the councillors on the committee. Further, the response says that Newman should never have been allowed to chair the meeting, and that the £437,973 handed to “Negreedy” should never have been paid. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

New threat of sale at auction for ‘former’ House of Reeves site

Posted on December 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Three property lots, including the building from which the 150-year-old furniture business continues to trade, are included in another auction catalogue – now at knockdown prices. By STEVEN DOWNES

Knock-down price: the ‘former “House of Reeves” site’, as it appears for sale in the Barnard Marcus catalogue

The historic House of Reeves furniture store, which escaped sale at auction when the property was withdrawn last week, is included in a catalogue for another sale later this month – and this time at the knockdown guide price of £1.75million.

The Reeves furniture business has been trading in Croydon’s Old Town for 150 years, and brothers Trevor and Graham Reeves, the fifth generation of the family to manage the firm, maintain that it is “business as usual” for them in the run-up to the hectic Christmas period. Last week, Trevor Reeves told Inside Croydon that he was recruiting extra staff.

Yet their fellow shareholders in the company appear persistent in their attempts to find a property developer wanting to buy up the land on three plots, including the site that has been derelict since the furniture showroom that had stood there was burned down by arsonists on the night of the Croydon riots in August 2011.

Continue reading →

Posted in Broad Green, Business, Planning | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Housing board’s report warns of ‘years of hard work’ ahead

Posted on December 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

Nearly two years since the Regina Road council homes scandal broke, an independent panel appointed to oversee the Town Hall’s housing efforts has noted the beginnings of improvement

Getting Croydon’s housing service to an acceptable standard “will take several years of focus and hard work”, according to a report going to the council cabinet meeting tonight.

Signs of improvement: the housing improvement board’s latest report suggests some signs of change

The comments are made by Martin Wheatley, the chair of the independent Housing Improvement Board, which was established in the aftermath of the Regina Road council flats scandal, when leaks, damp and black mould throughout several council homes were exposed in a series of television news reports.

Before addressing Mayor Jason Perry and the cabinet tonight, Wheatley has submitted a report – the improvement board’s second – in which he outlines considerable improvement in the management of the council’s housing and property maintenance services. The report links the generally more organised approach to the appointment of Susmita Sen as the council’s corporate director for housing. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood, Susmita Sen | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Environment Agency makes incinerator ‘site of high interest’

Posted on December 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

Poisoned air: the incinerator at Beddington has broken the terms of its permit 40 times in 42 months

The Environment Agency has agreed to a request from UKWIN – United Kingdom Without Incineration Network – to declare the Beddington incinerator as a “Site of High Public Interest”.

As a result, the EA has agreed to run a second six-week round of consultation if they plan to agree to the increase in waste to be burnt at the plant.

Viridor, who operate the incinerator, has applied for a permit variation to allow them to burn even more rubbish at the plant – as much as 382,286 tonnes per year.

The Environment Agency says, “If, following the first consultation process, we reach the decision to issue the permit variation, we will then enter into a second phase of consultation called ‘Minded to issue’ consultation.

“Should this be required, the consultation process will follow the same pattern and timescale as the initial consultation.” Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From gluhwein to jazz to flower arranging at Purley’s festive fair

Posted on December 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

Joys of Christmas: CALAT’s German language session this Saturday includes an introduction to festive markets…

CALAT – Croydon Adult Learning And Training – is working in partnership with Croydon Libraries to bring you a fantastic festive fair to celebrate Christmas 2022.

It all takes place at Purley Library this Saturday December 10 between 11am and 3pm. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, CALAT, Education, Music, Purley | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Labour makes itself a laughing stock with Croydon tweet

Posted on December 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on a massive gaffe by party staff in London, who seem to have forgotten the omnishambles caused by their colleagues when in charge in Croydon

Short memories: a senior official in the Labour Party must have approved this tweet

The Labour Party in London has made itself the subject of ridicule and derision yet again, with a tweet which featured a recognisably Croydon skyline over a message that promised, “The next Labour Government will hand power to our towns, cities and regions so we can reignite our economy and build a fairer country – together.”

As one of London Labour’s 23,000 Twitter followers was quick to point out soon after the tweet was posted, “Ah yes, Croydon, a wonderful example of Labour governance.”

Croydon, of course, is a local authority that is no longer under Labour control, largely because of how it was bankrupted by the previous Labour administration. The former council leader and his former cabinet member for finance remain suspended by the Labour Party for their part in the council’s financial collapse.

Losing control of the Town Hall earlier this year was also blamed by activists on the mishandling of the mayoral campaign and local elections by party officials from London Region – the very people who will have drafted and approved the issuing of the “Power and job opportunities in London” tweet yesterday. Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 General Election, Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Croydon Council, David Evans, Section 114 notice, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council’s rubbish collection calendars only available online

Posted on December 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Taking out the rubbish: there will be no collection calendars delivered this year

The annual bin collection calendar has been released, but this year the cash-strapped council is only making the charts available on its website, rather than delivering the helpful at-a-glance guide to every household.

This is nothing to do with a drive to reduce the amount of paper recycling going straight into the furnaces of the Beddington incinerator.

Times, in case you hadn’t gathered already, are tough. The 2022 rubbish calendar was the last hard-copy version that residents in Croydon will be receiving for a very long while.

And for those without access to a computer or printer at home, Mayor Jason Perry makes the less-than-helpful suggestion of visiting one of the borough’s libraries, most of which he has closed for five days each week in order to save a few bob. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Libraries, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Mayor accused of ‘cynical ploy’ over garden centre closure

Posted on December 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Nearly 800 people have already signed a petition calling on Croydon’s Tory Mayor to reverse a “hasty decision” to shut down a council-owned garden centre which has provided valuable livelihoods for local people with learning difficulties for more than 30 years.

Under threat: the council-run Cherry Orchard Garden Centre

The Cherry Orchard Garden Centre is nestled along St James’s Road, West Croydon. The council has announced it wants to close it next March, part of its cut-backs and closures caused by the borough’s bankruptcy.

Mayor Jason Perry’s council has also been accused of a “cynical ploy” by exaggerating by 10 times the cost of renovations required at the centre in its reasoning for the closure.

As a significant town centre site, the garden centre might prove an attractive to property developers, and could generate siginificant funds from a sale by the cash-strapped council. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Charity, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Education, Environment, Gardening, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Turf Projects combines art exhibition with Christmas market

Posted on December 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

During the covid lockdowns, front gardens became social hubs, places to host a socially distanced dinner with your friend or a cup of tea with a family member.

Front Garden: one of the works on display at Turf Projects next week

The front garden is a rainbow taped up in the window, a hanging basket, a blue front door, Christmas lights, and Halloween pumpkins. The transition between the private space of your home and the shared or public space of the streets, communal corridors, communal walkways, and allies.

The latest art exhibition at Turf Projects opens this Saturday, December 10 and (with a brief break for Christmas) runs through to January 7 at their gallery in Trinity Court at the Whitgift Centre. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Turf Projects | Tagged , | Leave a comment

£81,000 part-time Mayor takes on yet another directorship

Posted on December 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Almost three months since he was appointed to the board of the town centre’s Business Improvement District, creating ‘clear conflicts of interests’, Jason Perry’s declarations have yet to be updated by the council.
By KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter

Busy Mayor: Jason Perry has taken on another directorship since being elected

Jason Perry, Croydon’s £81,000 per year Mayor, has managed to take on another company directorship since he was elected in May to what was supposed to be a full-time role of running the crisis-hit council.

Part-time Perry was appointed the board of the Croydon Business Improvement District in September, although his declaration of interests, an important piece of public accountability required by law, has not been updated on the council website more than two months later.

Perry’s appointment to the board of Croydon BID, according to a leading figure with close working experience with the BID, “creates a clear conflict of interests” for the Mayor. Continue reading →

Posted in Allders, Business, CPO, Croydon BID, Mayor Jason Perry, Property, Stiles Harold Williams, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

NHS Trust names pharmacist Gibbons as its new chair

Posted on December 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Yemisi Gibbons has been named as the new chair of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, to take up the role from January 1.

New chair: Yemisi Gibbons

Gibbons, 45, succeeds Mike Bell, who has chaired the Trust for 10 years.

Announcing the initial three-year appointment, Matthew Kershaw, the Trust’s chief executive, said, “As a pharmacist, Yemisi brings with her over 20 years’ of NHS experience and a passion for working with prescribers to ensure clinical excellence to all patients.”

Gibbons has previously served as a non-executive director at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and North East London Foundation Trust where, according to Kershaw, “she helped create and embed a patient safety culture, championed and advocated diversity and compassionate leadership in each Trust and created opportunities for both organisations to share best practice and work in collaboration”. Continue reading →

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Coulsdon pub gets kitted out with its life-saving defibrillator

Posted on December 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Life-saver: the defibrillator outside The Smuggler’s Inn

A potentially life-saving defibrillator has been installed outside a Coulsdon pub – thanks to the fund-raising efforts of a local residents’ association.

The defibrillator was installed at the end of November outside The Smuggler’s Inn on Chipstead Valley Road, thanks to the Coulsdon West RA’s raising more than their target of £1,500.

Defibrillators are used to save the lives of those suffering cardiac arrest, providing a high-energy shock.

The new Coulsdon defibrillator has been registered with The Circuit – The National Defibrillator Network, which is run by the British Heart Foundation. Continue reading →

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Bookings open now for Christmas Kids’ Club, Dec 19-22

Posted on December 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Charity, Community associations, Education, Thornton Heath | Tagged | Leave a comment

Golden haloes pick out icons of the Windrush exhibition

Posted on December 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

Truly iconic: civil rights campaigners Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King portrayed at the Windrush Legacy Association’s exhibition at Croydon’s Whitgift Centre

KEN TOWL pays a return visit to the Windrush Legacy Association in the Whitgift Centre to view the works of south Londoner Zoe Sinclair

Despite her interest in where people really come from, Baroness Hussey of North Bradley, better known as Lady Susan Hussey, was nowhere to be seen at The Windrush Legacy Association’s latest in a series of rolling exhibitions.

Had she attended, she could have avoided making her “old-fashioned” sentiments overt by the simple expedient of reading the helpful biographical details under each of the striking portraits of iconic people of colour that make up the art work. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Community associations, History, Ken Towl, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Schools’ Christmas Carol Service, Croydon Minster, Dec 6

Posted on December 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

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Murderer given 28 years for ‘barbaric’ killing of Shirley teen

Posted on December 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

The “barbaric” killers of Croydon teenager Camron Smith were yesterday handed lengthy sentences by a judge at the Old Bailey.

Murderer: Romain LaPierre, sentenced to 28 years

Smith, 16, was unarmed and in his underwear when subjected to a “frenzied” attack, stabbed a total of eight times, including with a zombie knife, in front of his mother in their own home on Bracken Avenue on the Shrublands estate in Shirley on a night of a Croydon crime wave on June 30-July 1 in 2021.

Ring-leader Romain LaPierre, 20, received a life sentence, with a minimum term of 28 years, for the murder.

Jordan Tcheuko, 19, of Wembley, was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 15 years.

A third member of the same gang of drug-dealers who operated in Thornton Heath, Sako Amoniba-Burnley, 21, from Norbury, was found guilty of robbery and jailed for seven years. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Shirley North | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Stephen Davies organ concert, St Mary’s, Addington, Dec 10

Posted on December 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

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Posted in Addington, Church and religions, Music | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Council planning approvals being ‘sold’ for £1,500 per flat

Posted on December 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

STEVE WHITESIDE, a former council planner, has been carefully monitoring development applications around the borough over several years. In the course of that work, he has observed a systemic move by the council to attach money-spinning legal agreements to approved applications

In black and white (and purple): Croydon’s ‘guidance’ on S106 ‘contributions’

Early last year, I noticed that it had become the “norm” in Croydon for planning approvals for smaller developments (less than 10 dwellings) to be subject to legal agreements to secure financial contributions from developers towards “sustainable transport”.

None of the applications with which I had been involved during 2018 to 2019 had been linked to such a requirement, and I could find no policy change that would warrant the introduction of what appeared to have become a standard “planning obligation”.

Here were applications being granted approval, with legal requirements attached requiring contributions to the council often running into five figures.

It was almost as if Croydon’s planners were “selling” planning approvals. Yet, as we have reported previously, the council was sitting on more than £20million-worth of unspent community levies. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Kenley, Planning, Property, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Tory Bains is forced to confess: planning is ‘all but broken’

Posted on December 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on the latest confessions to emerge from the Conservative council’s cabinet

Not fit for purpose: Jeet Bains says that the dysfunctional council’s planning department is not working

The planning department at Croydon Council is “all but broken”, according to a Planning Advisory Service report.

The Planning Advisory Service is part of the Local Government Association’s independent support for councils.

Jeet Bains, the Tory councillor in Mayor Jason Perry’s cabinet who is responsible for regeneration in the borough, told a council meeting this week of a planning department with “a severe shortage of staff” that is unable to recruit “good people” because of the council’s “toxic reputation”.

There were “pockets of best practice”, Bains told Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, but Croydon’s planning was a “hollowed out department”. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Jeet Bains, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Scott Roche | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Margolyes declares Croydon hospital’s stroke unit open

Posted on December 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

Award-winning actor Miriam Margolyes cast magic and laughter at Croydon University Hospital this week as she opened a therapeutic garden and a transformed stroke unit.

‘Gladdens my heart’: Miriam Margolyes enchanted staff and patients as she formally opened Croydon University Hospital’s stroke unit

The star of Harry Potter spent time chatting to patients and staff before declaring the unit – which provides expert care and recovery from potentially life-threatening strokes – officially open.

“This is actually very personal for me because my mother had a stroke,” Margolyes said.

“I know it first-hand that a stroke is not what it sounds like. It sounds like a caress but it is actually being cut down, it is being felled, it is being practically destroyed – but what the team does here is put people back together again and give them a chance to be themselves once more.

“The tenderness that the staff in Croydon show towards their patients and the joy they have in restoring health to people gladdens my heart.

“This is why I was thrilled to open this wonderful new stroke facility at Croydon University Hospital and why I am so immensely proud of our NHS.” Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon NHS Trust, Health, Mayday Hospital | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Purley Library and CALAT Festive Fair, Purley, Dec 10

Posted on December 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

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Mystery over Reeves furniture store withdrawal from auction

Posted on December 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

Withdrawn: the House of Reeves building in Croydon Old Town, withdrawn from auction this morning

Three sites in Croydon Old Town that were to be offered for sale to developers, with combined guide prices totalling nearly £4million and including the long-established House of Reeves furniture store, were abruptly withdrawn from auction this morning.

Neither the auctioneers who had advertised the sale nor the people running the Reeves furniture store were able to offer any reason for the late change.

It was business as usual for Reeves brothers Graham and Trevor this morning, as they were taking phoned orders, supervising the delivery of thousands of pounds worth of beds, and organising staff recruitment advertisements. Continue reading →

Posted in Broad Green, Business, Croydon 8/8 | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Merton councillor gets the nod onto Croydon South shortlist

Posted on December 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

And then there were four… Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on Labour’s shortlist for the ‘must-win’ Croydon South constituency

Sense of place: Merton councillor Natasha Irons announcing her short-listing this morning with a photo of her showing the skyline of Croydon Central

Being parachuted in from the north of the borough with endorsements from Starmer shadow cabinet member Steve Reed OBE and Stuart King, the leader of the Labour group on Croydon Council, eventually counted for nothing when it came to Mike Smith’s selection prospects in Croydon South.

Smith, a former councillor under Reed in Lambeth, is the only applicant who was on the long list to have been discarded after Labour’s London Region conducted its candidate interviews.

The National Executive Committee-approved shortlist comprises two men and two women, in the interests of gender balance.

On that shortlist ahead of a selection meeting to be held on December 14 are two members who managed to lose council seats when they stood in the local elections in May, Jess Hammersley-Rich and Ben Taylor, plus former Constituency Labour Party official Paul Waddell and serving Merton councillor Natasha Irons. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Coulsdon Town, Croydon North, Croydon South, Old Coulsdon, Paul Waddell, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, South Croydon, Steve Reed MP, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Safety experts call for action over drivers using mobile phones

Posted on December 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

Road safety experts say it’s time for a zero-tolerance approach to the use of mobile phones while driving, calling for the police to confiscate mobile phones from drivers on the spot if they are seen using them behind the wheel.

Pull over: tighter rules on mobile phone use by drivers should see many more fines issued as a deterrent

Mind you, it might make a refreshing change for the police to conduct some kind of routine enforcement of a number of road traffic offences, starting with speeding…

Safety experts at RoadAngel say that following the law change earlier this year, it is now completely illegal to hold and use any mobile phone, sat nav, tablets and other devices which can send and receive data, while driving. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Policing, Transport | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments