Shock at Dog and Bull after death of landlord Mark Knight

Posted on May 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

Popular landlord: the Dog and Bull’s Mark Knight, who died on Thursday

It’s likely to have a subdued atmosphere at the Dog and Bull on Surrey Street today, after the death of the pub landlord, Mark Knight, on Thursday.

Knight, 51, had been running the pub, the oldest in Croydon, for nine years.

No details about the circumstances of Knight’s death were given, but yesterday a statement was issued on the Young’s pub’s Facebook page.

They said, “It is with immense sadness that we have to let you know that our landlord, Mark Knight, tragically passed away very suddenly on Thursday. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Pubs, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Tory Perry wins historic Mayor election by less than 600 votes

Posted on May 7, 2022 by insidecroydon

To the victor the spoils: Croydon’s elected Mayor, Jason Perry, makes his acceptance speech at Trinity School this morning. Runner-up Val Shawcross is on the right of the stage

Democracy was kept waiting while council officials struggled with their abacuses. By our sleep-deprived political editor, WALTER CRONXITE

Jason Perry has been declared the first elected Mayor of Croydon, after a borough-wide vote sent a message to the local Labour Party, which had bankrupted the council, that plausible deniability as a campaign strategy was not enough to win back public trust and keep control of the Town Hall.

But the result was a very long time coming, with a recount ordered by the Returning Officer and the final declaration not being announced until just before 5am on Saturday – 31 hours after the polls had closed on Thursday night.

Conservative Perry was declared as having 38,612 votes, while Labour’s Val Shawcross had 38,023.

It was a close-run thing, with 2,000 votes separating Perry and Shawcross after the first-preference votes had been slowly tallied and verified.

Once second preference votes were added to the two leading candidates’ votes, that gap had closed to 550. With Shawcross on the verge of conceding defeat, the recount was called.

It was 3.30am when Returning Officer Katherine Kerswell, rather than either of the contesting parties, ordered the recount. “This is such an important vote for Croydon and the margins are very slim for me to be asking this, so I need to be absolutely sure they are correct,” Kerswell told the school sports hall where the count was being held. Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Croydon Greens, Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Trinity School, Val Shawcross, Winston McKenzie | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

TfL confirms 37 bus routes likely affected by drivers’ strikes

Posted on May 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Transport for London has today warned passengers to expect as many as 37 bus routes, operating out of four Arriva garages, to be out of action during next week’s strike action.

Non-request stop: Unions are planning on three strike days in the next fortnight

“Transport for London is advising customers to check before they travel and leave more time for their journeys,” a spokesperson told Inside Croydon, highlighting that bus services in and around Croydon, Thornton Heath, Streatham and Brixton, as well as parts of Surrey, will be hit by the Unite union strikes called for Wednesday May 11 and all day Monday May 16 up to the early hours of Wednesday May 18.

Around 1,000 bus drivers operating from South Croydon, Brixton (Telford Avenue), Norwood and Thornton Heath garages are expected to take part in the action.

Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Bikes, Commuting, South Croydon, TfL, Thornton Heath, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Dombey survives but Sutton results leave LibDems scarred

Posted on May 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Numbers game: the Sutton count in the Westcroft Centre getting underway last night

CARL SHILTON at the election count reports on how senior Liberal Democrats lost their council positions while their party clung on to power, as Labour won their first seats for 20 years

The election fight in Sutton turned feral as the Liberal Democrats worked the national politics angle to enable them to hold on to a wafer-thin majority of just three councillors.

Despite this, the Sutton’s “Local” Conservatives gained two council seats while the LibDems lost four, and a reinvigorated Labour Party finally got councillors elected in Sutton for the first time since 2002.

Sutton’s 55 council seats are now distributed thus: LibDems 29, Tories 20, independents 3, Labour 3.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, Catherine Gray, Jayne McCoy, Jenny Batt, Luke Taylor MP, Marian James, Neil Garratt, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Drummond, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Serious questions raised on King’s rule over asset disposals

Posted on May 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council’s erstwhile deputy leader has been named among 75 councillors across the capital who are working for the property and development industry. By STEVEN DOWNES

Lobbyist fodder: Labour councillor Stuart King

Stuart King, who until Wednesday, at least, was the deputy leader of Croydon’s Labour-controlled council, has been named among dozens of “London’s most powerful councillors” who are also in the pay of the property and development business.

Campaigning website OpenDemocracy yesterday reported the troubling potential for multi-million-pound conflicts of interest among at least 75 senior elected councillors in the capital, and highlighted King and his part in the council’s loss-making sale of the Croydon Park Hotel.

All but 11 of those 75 councillors, OpenDemocracy reports, were standing for re-election yesterday. That includes Stuart King. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Planning, Property, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tories blame Boris as Westminster and Wandsworth fall

Posted on May 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on a ‘dangerous political moment’ for the Conservative Prime Minister

When Boris Johnson got up this morning, he was living in a Labour-controlled local council.

Labour won Westminster City Council yesterday, the first time since 1964 that the Conservatives had lost control of the London borough which is the home to the national government, Buckingham Palace… and Downing Street.

Long wait: London Mayor Sadiq Khan hails the Labour victory in his home borough

On a night of Conservative carnage in local elections in London, the “local” Tories also lost Wandsworth, the “beacon” of Thatcherism since 1978.

North London borough Barnet was lost to Labour, too.

In Sutton, the Liberal Democrats clung on to control, just, winning 29 of the 55 available seats, as Labour won its first council seats in the borough for 20 years.

The Conservatives in Sutton, who 12 months ago had high hopes of wresting control from the Liberal Democrats for the first time since 1986, belly-flopped, winning 20, only two more than they held from 2018.

The reason for the shattering of Tory strongholds in London was, according to Ravi Govindia, the now-former leader of Wandsworth council: Boris Johnson. Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Boris Johnson, Croydon Council, Fairfield, London-wide issues, Mark Allison, Merton, New Addington, New Addington North, Outside Croydon, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, Wandsworth Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Residents’ fund-raising Quiz Night, Old Coulsdon, May 14

Posted on May 6, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Friends of Farthing Downs, Old Coulsdon | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Springwatch: Join us for our latest guided nature walk, May 21

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Casting a clout before May is out: our next guided walk is on May 21

Make the most of the wonderful natural habitats on your doorstep and join us on Saturday, May 21, for the latest Inside Croydon guided walk.

It will be a return visit to local nature reserve Roundshaw Downs, and once again we are delighted that Dave Warburton, Sutton’s senior biodiversity officer, will be our expert guide. Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Inside Croydon, Nature Notes, Walks, Wildlife | 1 Comment

Croydon’s planners out-strip other boroughs in permissions

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Research based on government figures confirms that Croydon’s planning department has been out-stripping other south London boroughs in giving permission to property developers – at times by a rate of more than 5 to 1. By STEVEN DOWNES

Research based on government data shows that Croydon Council granted more than five times as many planning permissions in 2020 as neighbouring borough Bromley.

The same work also showed that in 2020, the latest full-year figures available, Croydon’s planners rubber-stamped planning permission to more than four times as many applications as another neighbouring borough, Labour-controlled inner-city Lambeth.

And over the course of the last four years, from 2018 to September 2021, Croydon granted planning permission to a total of 1,279 applications, while in next-door Sutton, just 422 schemes were given a planning green light by their council.

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Croydon Voluntary Action names new area vice-chairs

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Co-chair: Celestina Oniye-Thomas

Croydon Voluntary Action has this morning announced co-chairs for its Local Community Partnership in Croydon Central East, which covers Woodside, Shirley North, Shirley South, Park Hill and Whitgift and Addiscombe East wards.

CVA – the council-funded umbrella organisation for charities and volunteer groups across the borough – says that with Lynda Graham and Celestina Oniye-Thomas “the Central East Local Community Partnership will be set to be a shining light for community-led and focused action”. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, CVA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Striking Coulsdon College staff set for action into September

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Striking staff at Coulsdon Sixth Form College have stepped up their industrial action, as teachers have taken to the picket lines on Placehouse Lane for a second week.

Union members are in dispute over pay disparity between Coulsdon and the salaries paid to staff undertaking similar work at Croydon College, which operates under the same management.

Staff were out on strike yesterday and this morning, following last week’s initial one-day stoppage.

Teachers believe that their salaries at the college “fail to recognise the extent of the skill and dedication involved in delivering high-quality education”, according to a spokesperson for the local branch of the National Education Union. Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Croydon College, Education, Old Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jazz at The Front Room, Thursday lunchtimes, May-June

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Music, The Front Room | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Erato Orchestra, Beethoven concert, Purley, May 21

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Erato Orchestra, Music, Purley | Tagged , | Leave a comment

St Matthew’s Flower Festival, Park Hill, June 11-12

Posted on May 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Church and religions, Gardening | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Boris Johnson wrecks Sutton Tory hopes with hospital pass

Posted on May 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

Our Sutton reporter, BERTIE WORCESTER-PARK, sifts through the election offering on the other side of the borough boundary

Thursday is election day on the other side of the borough’s boundaries, in Lambeth and Southwark, in Merton and Bromley, and in Sutton, too.

But it is only in Sutton where there is even a remote possibility of a shift in the balance of power, with some suggesting that the borough might just end up as “NOC” – no overall control – with the Liberal Democrats removed from power in the borough for the first time for 36 years. Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, Environment, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Drummond, Veolia, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Energetic Bishop’s first move is to guide the community

Posted on May 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

DAVID MORGAN on the appointment as Bishop of Croydon of a woman already very familiar with the borough’s many social challenges, and a professed loyal reader of Inside Croydon…

Early kick-off: the new bishop, Rosemarie Mallett, made Selhurst Park her first visit yesterday. Pic: Diocese of Southwark

A neighbour passed me as I went in my front gate yesterday.

“Been anywhere good?”

“As a matter of fact, I have,” I replied. “I’ve just been to the press conference at Southwark Cathedral to announce the new Bishop of Croydon.”

“Well, I don’t suppose that’ll do anything to bring down the cost of living,” he grumbled.

“It won’t,” I agreed.

“But I think the new Bishop will do so much for our community.”

He didn’t want to chat further and trundled off down the road, not really wanting to hear the merits of the Bishop Designate the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett. Continue reading →

Posted in Bishop of Croydon, Canon Andrew Bishop, Charity, Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, Rosemarie Mallett | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Kerswell’s election count will get off to a very slow start

Posted on May 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on a sad end to another Croydon tradition

Another decision by cash-strapped Croydon Council is responsible for the end of yet another tradition: Inside Croydon’s unrivalled and extensive dusk-to-dawn election night coverage of the count.

Poll sign: voting in the 2022 local elections begins from 7am tomorrow

That’s because Katherine Kerswell, the council chief exec and the returning officer for tomorrow’s borough-wide elections, has decided not to begin counting the votes until 5.30pm… on Friday.

No official reason has been offered by Kerswell for this decision, although Fisher’s Folly insiders suggest it is because the venue for the count, Trinity School, the £20,000 per pupil per year private school in Shirley, needs to use its sports halls that have been assigned for the election count during the school day on Friday. Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Trinity School | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

‘Local’ Conservatives voted for Johnson as leader, remember?

Posted on May 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: MP Chris Philp, a minister in Boris Johnson’s Tory government, emailed his Croydon South constituents with a message about the council elections, asking them to vote for ‘local’ Conservatives. This is how GRAHAM TOTTLE replied…

Dear Mr Philp,

Member of Johnson’s Conservative government: Chris Philp MP

Your party holds the country in contempt.

More people are being forced into poverty due to your inept policies including, but not limited to, Brexit, which is far from “done”.

Businesses are closing because of the additional costs associated with exporting to the EU, or simply relocating to the continent, costing jobs and revenue to the Exchequer. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon South | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Renew Café, St Matthew’s Chichester Road, every Saturday

Posted on May 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Church and religions | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Cassandra Centre 10th anniversary, Norbury, May 20

Posted on May 4, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Cassandra Centre, Charity, Community associations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Voters’ stark choice: scandal-hit Labour or scandal-hit Tories

Posted on May 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

In his latest column for Inside Croydon, ANDREW FISHER, looks ahead to the most intriguing contest in London’s local elections this year

Labour mayoral candidate Val Shawcross has made no attempt to hide her frustration, at times bordering on contempt, for the Labour administration in Katharine Street of the past four years.

Hustings promises: Val Shawcross has made a series of pledges at public meetings to reverse measures implemented by her Labour council colleagues

At a recent hustings, Shawcross said she was “embarrassed” by it and promised, “I’m here to reset it”, emphasising her determination to restore several services cut by the Labour council, including the graffiti removal team.

In light of the scandalous treatment of council tenants in flats at Regina Road in South Norwood, Shawcross has also committed that, “Croydon should compensate tenants when repairs are not carried out in time or to a good standard.” Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Andrew Pelling, Jason Perry, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Church appoints Mallett as first woman Bishop of Croydon

Posted on May 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

The Bishop of Croydon is, for the first time, to be a woman, after it was announced this morning that the Queen has approved the appointment of the Venerable Dr Rosemarie Mallett, who becomes the Church of England’s second black woman bishop.

Deacon beacon: Dr Rosemarie Mallett, the new Bishop of Croydon

Dr Mallett has been an Archdeacon in Croydon for the past two years.

She succeeds the Rt Revd Jonathan Clark, who left the Diocese in March.

While she may be the first woman, Dr Mallett is only the second Barbadian to be Bishop of Croydon – the first being the Rt Revd Wilfred Wood who served as Bishop from 1985 to 2003. He was the first black bishop in the Church of England.

Dr Mallett will be consecrated at Southwark Cathedral on Friday June 24. Continue reading →

Posted in Bishop of Croydon, Church and religions, Rosemarie Mallett | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Dear New Mayor: time to come clean with council’s secrets

Posted on May 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY:  Whoever is elected on Thursday as the borough’s first Mayor will inherit an in-tray weighed down with a raft of controversial reports and investigations into missing millions, the details of which have been kept secret for far too long says ROBERT WARD

Dear New Mayor,

Sorry to trouble you again so soon, but I have an issue that requires your urgent attention. It is also an opportunity to show early on in your tenure that you are serious about changing the council’s culture of secrecy.

When I talk to Croydon’s residents, I keep being asked the same questions. Residents want to know what really happened to cause the collapse of Croydon Council, and when will someone be asked to justify themselves in a court of law.

I do not have an answer for them, which really isn’t right given the sums involved and that the whole debacle came to light nearly two years ago.

Croydon cannot move on until we have some answers. Information has been kept secret for far too long. Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Jason Perry, Robert Ward, Selsdon and Addington Village, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Freedom Exhibition, Croydon Arts Space, May 7-May 28

Posted on May 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Addiscombe West, Art | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Walk in the Roundshaw woods and revel in splashes of colour

Posted on May 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

Spring highlight: the bluebells are blooming all around Croydon – this spectacular carpet of flowers can be found in Littleheath Woods

NATURE NOTES/MAY 2022: Early spring flowers and woodland walks are not-to-be-missed treats. Plus news of the next Inside Croydon guided walk later this month

Blink and you’ll miss it: the blossom season around Roundshaw seemed very brief this year

Part of the sheer joy of Roundshaw Downs is its diversity.

As wide open and wonderful as the chalk downland is, and it is the reason the area has been designated as a local nature reserve, the downs are fringed with oak and beech woodlands that really are coming into their own at this blossoming, blooming time of year.

And the bluebells are out in the woods, too. Seemingly earlier than ever.

It’s been over the course of the last couple of weeks, since the week before Easter, that the trees have at last been pushing back at winter and have been coming into leaf.

First, as always, was the horse chestnut, the conker tree, whose spiky flowers are now in full bloom. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon parks, Environment, Nature Notes | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments