Oversupply of flats in borough is due to ‘profit over need’

Posted on August 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Official government data shows that the council’s build-at-all-cost approach that has blighted parts of the borough has created a glut of over-priced ‘executive apartments’.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Builders’ subsidy: an industry insider has suggested ‘market manipulation’ has occurred in areas where housing delivery has exceeded targets

The proliferation of block after block of expensive flats across Croydon’s suburbs – under the policies imposed by former Labour planning chief Paul Scott and the council’s current director of planning, Heather Cheesbrough and her old boss Jo “Negreedy” Negrini – are the result of “market manipulation”, where housing delivery has been “decided by profitability over need” which has left parts of the borough “oversaturated by new homes”.

That’s according to the chief exec of a property business comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, which has conducted research that shows the nation’s housing delivery is out of kilter when it comes to the level of homes required in any given area. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Epsom and Ewell, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Paul Scott, Planning, Surrey, Tandridge District Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Two arrested in Croydon on suspicion of murder of nurse

Posted on August 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

The Metropolitan Police says that they have arrested two men in Croydon on suspicion of murder in connection with the disappearance of a student nurse who vanished nearly a month ago.

Missing in Croydon: Owami Davies

Owami Davies, 24, left her family home in Grays, Essex, on July 4 and was last seen on Derby Road, West Croydon, just at 00.03am on Thursday July 7.

The Met said the two men, aged 23 and 27, were detained in the Croydon area and remained in custody.

Detectives from the Specialist Crime Command are now leading inquiries. The force added that the case remains a missing person’s investigation.

The police would like to hear from anyone who may have seen Owami Davies on the night on Wednesday, July 6, or the early hours of the next day. Continue reading →

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Bonner replaces Reed’s ‘Bodger’ as Labour right keep tight grip

Posted on August 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on the rearranging of the deckchairs after the party’s ship in Croydon has already sunk

Happy days: Carole Bonner when she was a Labour councillor, with Simon Hall, now suspended from the Labour Party

Carole Bonner, the former councillor and long-time loyalist of the discredited Tony Newman, is the new chair of the Croydon Labour Party’s Local Campaign Forum, the committee which did so much to lose the borough’s first Mayoral election and with it control of the council.

The less-than-dynamic LCF held its annual meeting last week – the first time that it had managed to convene a meeting of any kind since the Town Hall elections were held nearly three months ago.

Joel “Bodger” Bodmer, the acolyte of Croydon North MP Steve Reed OBE, has stood down from the LCF altogether, after his brief spell as chair had overseen the ill-judged and disastrous campaign against having an elected Mayor and a series of incompetent selections for councillor elections.

Continue reading →

Posted in Carole Bonner, Croydon North, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, David Evans, Fairfield, London-wide issues, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

M&S recruiting 130 staff ahead of opening Purley Way store

Posted on August 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: The company CEO’s life-long association with the Croydon store may have helped to give the beleaguered Whitgift Centre a reprieve. By STEVEN DOWNES

Marks and Spencer is recruiting more than 130 staff in advance of its opening a new store on the Purley Way in the spring or summer of 2023.

And despite wide-scale closures of its stores across the country, often moving its operation to cheaper out-of-town locations, with better parking options for new click-and-collect business, the company says it currently has no plans to close its flagship food and clothing store that has been a fixture in the Whitgift Centre for 50 years.

That news will come as some relief to developers and the local council planners, who have spent more than a decade dithering over a promised multi-billion-pound redevelopment of Croydon town centre.

Marks and Sparks were an integral part of the £1.4billion plans announced six years ago by “Hammersfield” – mall operators Westfield and Hammerson. That was the last time that the developers spruced up their designs for the town centre, when they wanted to build twice as many “luxury executive apartments” in a regeneration of the town centre that had been promised since 2012. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Boris Johnson, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Planning, Purley Way, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Monthly book club, Chestnut Gardens, Purley, from Aug 9

Posted on August 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

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An evening stroll to track down one of our rarest butterflies

Posted on August 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

Scorched earth: help us to study what impact the long, hot and dry summer has had on the Roundshaw Downs nature reserve

For our third group visit to local nature reserve Roundshaw Downs, we follow how the changing seasons and long hot summer are affecting the environment and wildlife in our midst.

On a butterfly hunt: we’ll be on the look out for the red list endangered species the small blue

This is your chance to catch-up with Inside Croydon’s unique year-long urban nature project.

After our previous walks that focused on the birds and the trees of the area around the nature reserve, this time we’ll be out in the early evening on Wednesday, August 17 to check on the plant and insect life – particularly searching for rare small blue butterflies. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Croydon parks, Environment, Inside Croydon, Nature Notes, Walks, Wildlife | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Government ‘magic money tree’ has £85,000 for Croydon parks

Posted on August 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

Who said there’s no such thing as a “magic money tree”?

Park life: a government fund will help pay towards some new trees and open space

Croydon is to receive £85,000 from a government fund towards improving its parks with tree planting, after the borough was determined to be among those which “rate highly on the Index of Multiple Deprivation and have limited access to green space”.

The Department for Levelling Up announced this morning, “We are making £9million available in equal grants for the creation or significant refurbishment of green spaces in urban areas that need it most across the UK.

“In England, this will go to local authorities in areas with the least access to green space which rate highly on the Index of Multiple Deprivation.” Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Environment, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Council asks tenants: what do you want from repairs service?

Posted on August 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

Council tenants and leaseholders, together with members of the housing improvement board, have cautiously welcomed the latest Town Hall engagement exercise, intended to improve the pace and standards of the repairs service provided for the borough’s properties.

Service improvements: Croydon Council has decided to hear what its tenants have to say

The housing improvement board was established last year as part of the response to the scandal surrounding the appalling conditions of some council homes in blocks on Regina Road, South Norwood, as exposed in a series of television news reports.

It was with this in mind that some tenants were sceptical when Fisher’s Folly issued a statement last week in which they claimed, “The council continues to work closely with its current provider, Axis, to make sure residents receive a high standard of responsive repairs… Both parties are committed to continuing to raise standards and put residents at the heart of the housing repairs service.” Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, South Norwood, Susmita Sen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Earnings struggling to keep up with property price growth

Posted on August 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

House prices have continued to soar, and even outstripped people’s wage packets in some parts of the country, making it ever more difficult for first-time buyers

People’s homes in one-third of Britain have “earned” more per hour in the past year than their owners – but not in Croydon.

Booming: house prices soared again in most of London in the past year

Research conducted by comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, looked at the annual change in house price growth across Britain and what this equates to as an average hourly rate for full-time employment. They then looked at how this compares to the actual average hourly rate for full-time employment in each respective area.

The research shows that across Britain, the average property has increased by £32,893 over the last year. This equates to an average hourly rate of £17.28.

At the same time, the average person working full-time has earned £18.84 per hour, out earning their home by just £1.56 per hour. Continue reading →

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

Rish! Sunak brings the Tory leadership contest to Purley

Posted on July 31, 2022 by insidecroydon

Leadership pitch: Rishi Sunak addressing Croydon Tories. It’s unclear whether bouncers Perry and Creatura were on the door to stop people getting in, or to prevent people getting out

Our mole in the Croydon Conservatives was quite impressed by the flying visit of the former Chancellor. And with his shoes

Liz is down in Surrey but we’re told she’ll come to visit us, too.

But with a good two days’ notice, on Friday we had Rish! down here at a church hall in Purley, talking to and, better, meeting and chatting with party members. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon South, Education, Gavin Barwell, Mario Creatura, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley, Richard Ottaway MP, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Actors achieving greatness in a Coulsdon wooded glade

Posted on July 30, 2022 by insidecroydon

Woodland wonders: (from left) Simeon Dawes (as Fabian), Mike Brown (Toby Belch) and Richard Lloyd (Andrew Aguecheek) enjoying pricking pomposity in TWC’s Twelfth Night

DRAMA IN THE PARKS: Somewhere under the trees in Old Coulsdon is an Elizabethan rom-com romp. BELLA BARTOCK had it, and herself, covered

Set up: Bruce Montgomery as Malvolio

As I gazed across the fairway at one of Coulsdon Court’s “twilighters” ferreting around in the undergrowth for his latest lost ball, I pondered what Shakespeare himself might have made of the game of golf.

There is no shortage of medieval sporty references in his works, from falconry and archery, there’s backgammon and even football. Bear baiting, rightly now regarded as an abhorance, gets a mention in Twelfth Night, which the Theatre Workshop Coulsdon is currently performing in a wooded glade between the 9th and 10th holes at Coulsdon Manor Hotel.

But there’s no mention of golf in any of Shakespeare’s works, not even in the Scottish Play, which suggests that his Bardness never encountered anyone wielding a mashie nibblick on the links at Stratford. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Coulsdon, Old Coulsdon, Theatre, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council sticks much-criticised My Account system in the bin

Posted on July 30, 2022 by insidecroydon

Bin and gone: after wasting millions on avoiding contact with the public, the council is finally adjusting its reporting system

Croydon Council has admitted that it has been running a sub-standard public contact service for years.

The council has announced that it is abandoning the requirement for residents to sign-up for its deeply flawed My Account system, which until this month it insisted that members of the public must use to report any missed bin collections by Veolia.

What the council itself describes as a “simple task” will now be possible in one area of the council’s clunky website. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Jane Austen’s favourite given a night out on the Wandle

Posted on July 29, 2022 by insidecroydon

DRAMA IN THE PARKS: It’s been a busy week for our veteran arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, as she’s been out and about with the return of local AmDrams’ summer productions, starting with CODA’s Pride and Prejudice

Park life: Megan Claridge, as Elizabeth, watched over by Chris Ranaldi as Mr Darcy in CODA’s Pride and Prejudice at the Wandle Park bandstand. Pics by Paul Grace

Anticipating that getting her critic’s chaise longue from the Wandle Park tram stop to the bandstand was going to be a little too much for one person, especially one wearing her best Swarovski crystal encrusted sling-backs, I called up my old college pal, Pandora Wright-Onn, to do some of the heavy lifting on the way to Pride and Prejudice.

“I’m so excited,” Pandora began, somewhat breathlessly as we lugged the furniture towards the bandstand.

“I can’t wait to see how they’ve approached this project. I mean, really, the timing just couldn’t be better, what with the 50th anniversary, but in the open-air, and at bandstand, too.

“It’s just the right side of camp, with rich post-modern ironic overtones.” It seemed that Pandora had been reading the Ken Tynan collections again. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, CODA, Croydon parks, Theatre, Wandle Park | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Part-time Perry is fiddling over ULEZ while Croydon burns

Posted on July 29, 2022 by insidecroydon

In the middle of the hottest and driest summer on record, Jason Perry, Chris Philp and south London Tories are opposing measures to address the climate crisis. By our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION

Pollution central: the Croydon Mayor is opposing measures to reduce vehicle use in London

Jason Perry, Croydon’s part-time Mayor, has made his position very clear: even in the middle of a summer of record temperatures where parts of his borough have burned, he is putting his petty political party interests first ahead of the global climate crisis.

Tories across London have decided to oppose the proposed extension of the Ultra-Low Emissions Zone – the ULEZ – not because of the dangers posed by global warming and the need to drastically cut emissions from road traffic, but simply because the proposal has been made by Sadiq Khan, London’s Labour Mayor.

In doing so, some of London’s Tory politicians, including Perry, Croydon MP Chris Philp and Assembly Member Neil “Father Jack” Garratt, have jumped on the populist bandwagon to oppose the tough measures presented by ULEZ expansion – and have positioned themselves against the policy position of their own Conservative ministers. Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, Business, Chris Philp MP, Climate Crisis Commission, Commuting, Croydon Council, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Neil Garratt, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Carnival returns to London Road with free festival of music

Posted on July 29, 2022 by insidecroydon

Headline act: Ivy Chanel

In its 11th year, Carnival returns  on London Road this Sunday, celebrating local communities and culture in what someone at the council has described as “Croydon’s summer of fun”.

London Road will host the party from noon to 5pm on Sunday, with live performances, samba dancers, steel bands, street food, market stalls, arts and crafts, and children’s activities.

Ivy Chanel will headline at the free event, which is organised by London Road Business and sponsored by local organisations, including the council. Continue reading →

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ACAS talks see Bexley bin workers’ strike action suspended

Posted on July 28, 2022 by insidecroydon

Bexley’s bin workers, who went on strike for better pay and conditions two weeks ago, have suspended their industrial action.

Refuse work: Bexley residents haven’t had their rubbish collected for two weeks

The workers are employed by Countrystyle Recycling, which is responsible for the refuse collection contract in Bexley.

The strikes will be suspended until Friday August 19. The strike action began on July 12.

The agreement to suspend the strike action was brokered by the conciliation service ACAS following talks with the workers’ trade union, Unite, and Countrystyle. Continue reading →

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Croydon has most traffic collisions of outer London boroughs

Posted on July 28, 2022 by insidecroydon

Croydon has the most dangerous roads in outer London according to the latest traffic incident figures, with almost twice as many deaths or serious injuries caused in collisions than other boroughs around the fringes of the capital.

Collision central: this crash on Wellesley Road last November was one of 162 recorded in Croydon in 2021

Westminster and Lambeth are the boroughs with London’s highest number of collisions, each recording 221 deaths or serious injuries in 2021.

In Wandsworth, the figure was 174, and in Southwark it was 167. All four are regarded as inner London boroughs.

Croydon’s collisions in 2021 reached 162, nearly 100 incidents more than neighbouring outer London boroughs Merton (75) or Sutton, which with 65 incidents is among the least dangerous boroughs.

Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon Council, London-wide issues, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Law centres in call for better protections for trafficking victims

Posted on July 28, 2022 by insidecroydon

South West London Law Centres is calling for better protection for victims of human trafficking, instead of the Home Office’s threat of deportation to Rwanda.

Trafficked: Mo Farah has said that he was brought to England as a child, separated from his family

SWLLC says that the UN World Day Against Trafficking in Persons this Saturday will shine a spotlight on the prevalence of human trafficking and shows that more must be done to protect victims.

The immigration team at South West London Law Centres regularly represents young people with experiences of human trafficking similar to that recently reported by Mo Farah.

“Many have been disbelieved and let down by the state,” the SWLLC says. Continue reading →

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Charity appeal for old bikes to help refugees from Ukraine war

Posted on July 28, 2022 by insidecroydon

The Bike Project, the charity providing refurbished second-hand bikes to refugees and asylum seekers, has launched an appeal for London’s used or abandoned bikes to boost the number of bicycles the charity is able to renovate and share.

Wheels appeal: do you have an old bike that you no longer need that could help an asylum seeker?

With nearly 10,000 9,526 Ukrainian refugees living across London under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, The Bike Project has never been in more demand and has launched its latest appeal in response to its long waiting list.

Members of the public keen to donate a bike can do so at one of the numerous bike drop-off points available in and around the capital (the nearest ones to Croydon are at Byne Road, Sydenham, and St Leonard’s Church, Streatham). The public can also host their own pop-up drop-off points in their workplace, garden (if the space allows) or within their community.

Jem Stein, The Bike Project’s founder, said: “The evolving situation in Ukraine is heart-breaking for all of us at The Bike Project. We know that millions of people are being displaced, and many will seek refuge and asylum in the UK. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Cycling, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Part-time Perry and Labour in playground squabble over park

Posted on July 27, 2022 by insidecroydon

A decade’s toil: the Hub towers that overshadow the Town Hall – and the gardens – and the Telly Tubbies-style playground in what remains of Queen’s Gardens

After a decade of Town Hall squabbles, the legacy of Newman and Butler’s years in charge of the council is a playground for the children of tower block half-millionaires. WALTER CRONXITE on another late, costly and incomplete town centre project

A little spat has broken out between the Town Hall’s third-rate politicians over who takes the credit for the Telly Tubbies-style playground that has been constructed in the remnants of Queen’s Gardens.

Between them, the Tories’ Jason Perry, the part-time Mayor, and Labour councillors including “Thirsty” Chris Clark, have been squabbling over who takes the credit for a project that is at least a year late in delivery, has still not yet been finished and inevitably, given that it is Croydon, has cost more than will have been budgeted.

Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Chris Clark, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, Paul Scott, Planning, Property, Queens Gardens, Taberner House, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Surrey course all set for some transatlantic golfing rivalry

Posted on July 27, 2022 by insidecroydon

Up for the cup: the PGA Cup returns to Surrey in September

Foxhills, the golf club and spa resort in Chertsey, is to stage the PGA Cup in September, a Ryder Cup-style team event pitching club professionals from Great Britain and Ireland against their rivals from the United States for the Llandudno International Trophy.

Taking place from September 16 to 18, it will be the second time that the PGA Cup has been played on Foxhills’ Longcross course, where it was staged in 2017. Continue reading →

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Martin How: organist who devoted his life to church music

Posted on July 27, 2022 by insidecroydon

DAVID MORGAN pays tribute to the emeritus organist at Croydon Minster, who has died, aged 91

A lifetime in music: Martin How, 1931-2022

Martin How, who died on Monday, aged 91, spent a lifetime working in music, much of it with the Royal School of Church Music when based at Addington Palace. He was awarded the MBE in 1993.

In a conversation we had a few years ago, he told me how very different his life would have been if it wasn’t for two particular, influential teachers: Miss Keene and Miss Lax. Both could be described as being “ahead of their time”. Continue reading →

Posted in Addington, Addington Palace, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Education, Music | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Kate Moss is a model of good behaviour on Desert Island Discs

Posted on July 26, 2022 by insidecroydon

Fashion icon: Kate Moss

Kate Moss, among the most famous people ever to emerge from Croydon, has sparked a fashion industry row this week with a revealing interview on Desert Island Discs in which she said she was targeted by a sex pest photographer when she was starting out as a teenaged model 30 years ago.

Moss is now 48, but she was talent-spotted in Croydon when just 14 launching her into a global fashion career.

It was during one of her first shoots that she found herself with a man who wanted to photograph her for a bra catalogue.

Moss told the BBC Radio 4 programme that she “could tell a wrong ‘un a mile away”. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Music, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

London Mozart Players return with ‘revamp’ of the Messiah

Posted on July 26, 2022 by insidecroydon

The London Mozart Players, the “resident orchestra” of the Fairfield Halls that has been notable by their rare concert appearances at the council-owned venue in the last three years, has now published its performance dates into 2023, including what they call “the flagship opening event of the Borough of Culture”.

Travelling band: the London Mozart Players, once again not at the Fairfield Halls…

LMP’s Fairfield season begins on October 9 with “The World of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor”.

Joined by the Royal Choral Society and the Croydon Philharmonic Choir, LMP say that they “reimagine for a modern audience” the Croydon-born composer’s “Hiawatha”, and say that they are “exploring Coleridge-Taylor’s Croydon connections and his experience of being a black composer in Edwardian London”. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Music | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Magnificent seven: City Commons celebrate Green Flag awards

Posted on July 26, 2022 by insidecroydon

Coulsdon Common, Kenley Common, Farthing Downs and Riddlesdown are among seven open space areas in and around Croydon that are managed by the City of London Corporation and which have won Green Flag status again this year.

Oasis: Kenley Common, one the areas managed by the City Corporation which has been given a Green Flag award

The City Commons also include Spring Park, West Wickham Common and Ashstead Common, and which together comprise nearly 2,000 acres of outstanding natural environments which attract 2.5million visits annually.

The prestigious Green Flag scheme recognises parks and other green spaces as some of the very best managed sites in the world. The international award, run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is now into its third decade. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, City Commons, Coulsdon, Croydon parks, Environment, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments