How Coulsdon’s downland oasis is helping to save the planet

Posted on December 11, 2021 by insidecroydon

High rise: Farthing Downs holds many historic secrets

NATURE NOTES: The City of London rangers who look after Farthing Downs, Coulsdon Common and other precious green spaces are as hard at work over the bleak midwinter months as the rest of the year, including important projects to unlock the area’s Iron Age history

There is little doubt that a warming climate will have a profound impact on people and planet.

One of the overriding themes to come out of the UN’s COP26 conference in Glasgow last month is the importance of not only reducing our carbon emissions but how to store carbon, namely through the chief protagonist: trees.

This was the theme at a recent talk in Old Coulsdon organised by the Friends of Farthing Downs and Happy Valley, including speakers from the Woodland Trust, Croydon Council’s street tree team and rangers from the City of London. Continue reading →

Posted in City Commons, Croydon parks, Education, Environment, Friends of Farthing Downs, Gardening, History, Nature Notes, South London Downs NNR, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Purley Way kitchen showroom has special offers this weekend

Posted on December 11, 2021 by insidecroydon

German kitchen retailer Kutchenhaus has opened its first store in Croydon this week.

New opening: the store is situated off the Purley Way

The store at 4-5 Purley Way Crescent is holding a launch event this weekend with special promotions to welcome customers.

The shop is owned by Ronnie Adjei, who has more than 12 years’ experience in kitchen and bathroom design, working as a designer and director in a variety of companies across Croydon and Wimbledon. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Purley Way | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Planning department judged ‘at fault’ over boundary dispute

Posted on December 10, 2021 by insidecroydon

Emails from residents unanswered, six-month delays in dealing with a formal complaint, and a planning department that ignored a court order. Just another episode in the regular shambles at Fisher’s Folly

Another day, another ruling from the Local Government Ombudsman against Croydon Council.

‘Professional’: Heather Cheesbrough

This time, through a relatively minor boundary dispute between neighbours, the Ombudsman has exposed massive levels of incompetence in the council’s planning department.

Croydon’s planners have recently lost a significant Judicial Review case in the High Court for their failure to enforce conditions on developments around the borough. But this latest ruling from the Local Government Ombudsman effectively declares the planners to be utter buffoons.

The ruling stems from a long-running boundary dispute between three neighbours, where one of them started to build a garage on land that they do not own. The council effectively encouraged this illicit building work to go ahead after it granted planning permission, because the planners never bothered checking on the Land Register or other certificates to confirm the property ownership. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Katherine Kerswell, Planning | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Nearly two-thirds of Croydon waste is going to the incinerator

Posted on December 10, 2021 by insidecroydon

#BINMAGEDDON: Official figures show that the council’s rubbish contractors Veolia and Viridor are creating more pollution. By our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION

Official figures published this week show that 63 per cent of Croydon’s rubbish is being sent straight to the Viridor incinerator at Beddington Lane.

Rubbish service: council claims that its #Binmaggedon system would improve collections and recycling have been proven to be false

The shocking figures come ahead of a meeting of the South London Waste Partnership scheduled for next week. They cover the three-month period to September this year.

Overall, across the four boroughs in the service-sharing SLWP – Kingston, Merton, Sutton and Croydon – a recycling rate of 40 per cent was achieved.

Croydon, though, is managing to recycle only 35 per cent of its waste – down from 48 per cent two years ago.

The breakdown of the figures show a worrying downward trend, and confirms the fears of many environmental campaigners that by commissioning the polluting incinerator, it would inevitably lead to ever greater amounts of waste being burned. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Fly tipping, Refuse collection, Stuart Collins, Veolia, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Bailey under fire for staging his own illegal Tory Party party

Posted on December 10, 2021 by insidecroydon

Questions are being asked about which Croydon and Sutton Conservatives attended their mayoral candidate’s lockdown-busting ‘raucous’ Christmas shin-dig. By WALTER CRONXITE

Conservative Party party: Shaun Bailey

There have been calls for Shaun Bailey to resign as chair of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee after it was disclosed that he had organised and attended a Christmas party at Conservative Party offices last year in breach of strict covid lockdown rules.

Bailey was the Tories’ losing candidate in the London Mayoral elections earlier this year.

The call for his resignation has come from the Assembly’s Labour group, in a hard-hitting letter from Leonie Cooper yesterday. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Neil Garratt, Policing, Shaun Bailey | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Housing director: We need a culture change at the council

Posted on December 10, 2021 by insidecroydon

“We are not very good at responding to complaints and queries.”

That’s the frank judgement of the council’s new director of housing after just a few weeks in his new job.

Quick learner: Croydon’s new housing director, David Padfield

As was exclusively revealed by Inside Croydon more than a month ago, Alison Knight, the director who was hired on £800 per day in May to fix the many problems over damp and mouldy flats in Regina Road, left her job without ever bothering to meet the badly let-down council tenants in South Norwood.

Knight’s replacement, David Padfield, has been much quicker to engage residents, and has voiced further concerns about the cash-strapped council’s approach to and handling of its tenants and housing stock.

The council’s housing improvement board, chaired by Martin Wheatley – again, as first reported by this website – met for the first time this week, at Stanley Halls in South Norwood, where Padmore made it clear he would be expecting a “culture change” in his department.

Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Ombudsman finds council caused ‘crisis’ for man with autism

Posted on December 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

The Local Government Ombudsman has found that Croydon Council failed to provide adequate support for a man with autism, causing a “crisis” for him and his family.

Causing a crisis: the Ombudsman has ruled against Croydon Council for failing in its duty of care

The man’s mother claimed that the council’s lack of proper action led to the breakdown in her relationship with her son.

She said the council did not properly support either of them when her son moved to supported accommodation, and it did not assess her needs as a carer – therefore overlooking her own communication difficulties.

In a statement issued by the Ombudsman’s office, they said, “The man had initially been living with his mother. He finds building relationships difficult and can become verbally aggressive when frustrated or anxious.

“As a result, the mother contacted the council to say she was feeling increasingly concerned about her son’s verbal threats and was finding it difficult to manage. At one point, because of the poor support, the man was sending up to 80 messages a day to his mother.” Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Police seeking witnesses to Selhurst stabbing in broad daylight

Posted on December 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

There was another stabbing in broad daylight on the streets of Croydon yesterday.

On this occasion, the victim was able to make it to hospital with the help of the police and London Ambulance Service and is expected to recover from their wounds.

The injured man was found just before 2pm on Windmill Road, near the police custody centre. The armed assault is believed to have taken place in the Whitehorse Road Recreation Ground, not far from the council-funded Legacy Youth Zone. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Policing, Selhurst | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Carol service, St Andrew’s, Southbridge Rd, Dec 11

Posted on December 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Church and religions | Tagged | 1 Comment

London Mozart Players’ Christmas at Fairfield, Dec 18

Posted on December 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Music | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘Some things have really changed for the better at our council’

Posted on December 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: It is important that our cash-strapped local authority does not make cuts for cuts’ sake, and avoids incurring unnecessary costs when there might be other ways to conduct its business.
By Councillor ANDREW PELLING

Something better change: protesters made their point on the steps of the Town Hall on Monday night

Some things have changed for the better at the council.

I know that Inside Croydon’s loyal reader will probably find that hard to believe.

But we now have what the general public might describe as a chief finance officer (the third in the space of the last 12 months). He’s new. He goes from one publicly accessible meeting to another to explain in great detail how he is seeking to repair and recover the council’s dire financial position. Such openness is important in delivering change.

Staff and councillors are given a sense of possession of some of the really dreadful cuts that are coming. Many of the cuts will hurt the most needy in our borough. But such engagement by a senior official is frankly a positive transformation to the way the council has been conducting its affairs. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tories try to make crime pay by misleading over figures

Posted on December 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s Conservatives have shifted up a gear in their campaign efforts ahead of next May’s local elections, but WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, has been fact-checking their latest video nasty

On the beat: any complaints about cutting police numbers in Croydon lay with the Tories and Boris Johnson

Inside Croydon’s loyal reader has probably already twigged that there are elections on the way: the local Tories have started pumping out nicely polished social media items, intended to mislead and dissemble.

The latest came at the start of this week when Andy Stranack, the Conservative opposition on the council’s shadow cabinet member for “community safety and resilience”, attacked what he said was Croydon Labour’s failures to keep its residents safe.

Citing statistics carefully cherry-picked to show a decline from when their party lost control of the Town Hall in May 2014, Croydon Tories tweeted that sexual offences, what the Metropolitan Police quaintly refer to as “Violence Against The Person” and vehicle offences were all up, “and that’s despite having more Met Police officers!” Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Stranack, Boris Johnson, Chris Philp MP, Crime, Croydon 8/8, Croydon South, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The truth will out: ‘Lord’ Barwell turns on old mate Johnson

Posted on December 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

“Lord” Gavin Barwell, the sometime Tory MP for Croydon Central and former Downing Street Chief of Staff, has this morning turned on his old mucker, Blundering Boris Johnson, and called for “total honesty” from No10 over the mounting Christmas party scandal in the Conservative Party. Good luck with that, Gav.

‘Total honesty’: Gavin Barwell

The Prime Minister and other leading figures in the Tory government have bunkered down this morning, after a video taken 12 months ago was released by ITV News, showing senior aides laughing and joking over the holding of a “cheese and wine” Christmas party within the PM’s official London residence.

Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, Gavin Barwell, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Coulsdon gets cozy glow as Christmas lights are switched on

Posted on December 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

Lights fantastic: the Culsdon Christmas lights along Brighton Road have been switched on – despite the local Tory councillor

They said it couldn’t be done. Although, as “they” were Tory councillor Mario Creatura, aka the Coulsdon Grinch, nothing should be taken at face value.

But thanks to the generosity and ingenuity of a grouping of local businesses and residents’ associations, Coulsdon has its Christmas lights.

Paid for, installed and plugged in, the lights are now up to brighten up the Brighton Road through into the New Year. And, at the weekend, they even had their special Christmas Shopping evening, with many local firms coming together to offer special Shop Local offers, plus mulled wine, mince pies, and more.

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘After so long away, this concert promises to be special’

Posted on December 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

Two of Croydon’s leading choirs are about to stage their first full public performances since the first covid lockdown began in March 2020.

In good voice: the Croydon Philharmonic Choir will be back on stage at the Fairfield Halls next week

The Croydon Philharmonic Choir is to sing in a Christmas concert at Fairfield Halls on Saturday December 18. The choir is part of an exciting line-up that also includes the world-renowned Trinity Boys Choir and the Croydon Citadel Band.

The “musical extravaganza” is led by the London Mozart Players. It brings a reunion between the LMP and the Croydon Phil, following their acclaimed performance of Verdi’s Requiem at the Fairfield Halls in October 2019. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Male Voice Choir, Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Music | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spencer saga starts a right royal month at David Lean Cinema

Posted on December 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

As the soap opera that is the House of Windsor heads into its latest – last? – chapters, with constant and unresolved controversies over Meghan Markle and Prince Andrew, so along comes the latest movie that seeks to feed the national, and American, obsessions with the royal family.

And in so many ways, the tragedy in public gaze that was Diana Spencer represents the fairy story that laid the groundwork for everything that has followed over the course of the last half-century, with Kristen Stewart in the title role in Spencer giving anything yet seen in Netflix’s The Crown a run for its money. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, David Lean Cinema Campaign | Tagged | 1 Comment

Permission given to convert listed Battle of Britain base to flats

Posted on December 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

Decay and destruction: the Grade II-listed Officers’Mess at Kenley has seen better, prouder days

A near 20-year saga of neglect and decay to the Grade II-listed Officers’ Mess at the former RAF Kenley could be close to a conclusion after Tandridge Council last week granted planning permission for the buildings to be restored and converted to provide 32 flats.

Eighty years ago, RAF Kenley was on the front line in the Battle of Britain, its Spitfires and Hurricanes providing fighter cover for London, alongside RAF Croydon and Biggin Hill. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Environment, History, Housing, Kenley, Planning, Property, Tandridge District Council | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

150 more councils close to financial brink, government admits

Posted on December 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

Other local authorities, including Tory-run councils, are also finding themselves  in a slough of despond

Croydon is just one of 150 local authorities that have been in urgent talks with Whitehall over their precarious financial situation following 18 months of covid lockdowns on top of a decade of Tory austerity.

Widespread problems: a parliamentary committee heard last week of the struggles of local government

That’s according to testimony to a committee of MPs at Westminster last week.

Croydon is one of 10 councils that have received bail-outs from the government in the past year.  These also include Nottingham, Tory-run south London neighbours Bexley, Conservative-controlled Peterborough City Council and airport-owning Luton.

Slough, which in July this year issued a Section 114 notice, admitting it had run out of money, last week had its council functions handed over to a pair of government-appointed inspectors, so bad had its financial and governance position become.

Slough has amassed debts of £750million, but with an annual budget of £134million the council found itself short by £111million. Slough is seeking an emergency bail-out of £200million – nearly double the record bail-out negotiated for Croydon earlier this year.

Continue reading →

Posted in Bexley, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Outside Croydon, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon Male Voice Choir Christmas Concert, Shirley, Dec 11

Posted on December 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Male Voice Choir, Music, Shirley North | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Christmas Carols on the Green, Croydon Minster, Dec 19

Posted on December 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Met Police’s Town Centre Team has started its new beat

Posted on December 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

Visible presence: the new officers for Croydon’s Town Centre Team started work today

Extra police officers were out on the streets of central Croydon today, as the Metropolitan Police launched the first set of “Town Centre Teams” to try to reduce levels of crime.

The Croydon team comprises of one inspector, two sergeants and 21 constables, part of a  total of an additional 650 police officers who, the Met has said, “will work solely in busy public places and other areas, including those where women and girls often feel unsafe”.

Croydon is one of the first areas of London to receive its dedicated Town Centre Team, which are being placed in areas considered by the public to need a greater, more visible police presence. The Met themselves have referred to “Beat Bobbies”, referencing the more visible style of community policing that was familiar last century.

The additional officers will patrol busy places at times when they will have the greatest impact on crime and public safety. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Dave Stringer, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Policing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Woman who conned her way into NHS job jailed for 12 months

Posted on December 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

A woman who lied and cheated her way to a top public service job in Croydon has been jailed for 12 months and has agreed to pay back the money she was paid.

Please don’t get too excited – this isn’t a case involving Jo Negrini, the self-proclaimed “regeneration practitioner” who somehow was allowed to work as council CEO for four years.

Nor does it involve Heather Cheesbrough, who remains as the council’s planning director despite publishing false qualifications on her digital CV.

For this is the case of Chanelle Poku, who pretended she had a Master’s degree in molecular biology and experience leading a charity in order to land a senior job with NHS Croydon’s Clinical Commissioning Group, and has been found guilty by a jury of fraud by false representation. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon CCG, Health | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Labour councillor’s 20-point plan to reduce service cuts

Posted on December 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Unions are tonight staging a protest outside the Town Hall against the council’s plan for another £38million-worth of cuts.
Here, Labour councillor ANDREW PELLING, pictured left, outlines the ways he believes that the council can avoid causing harm to the most vulnerable in the borough

In these days of strained circumstances at the council, I’ve been hearing a phrase that I have not heard since Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister: “There is no alternative”.

Under pressure: council officials have told councillors that cuts are the only way

It was a favourite of the Conservative Prime Minister that was jokingly abbreviated to “TINA”. TINA is today stalking the covid-emptied corridors and Members’ Room of Croydon Town Hall.

You can’t put to one side the proposed cuts, we are told, because there is no alternative.

But actually, there is. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Refuse collection, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Veolia, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Mind the gap: finance director warns of £13m cuts shortfall

Posted on December 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tonight’s council cabinet meeting is to be told that officials are struggling to meet their £38m budget cuts target. And the council’s future is now in the hands of Michael Gove.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Worried look: Richard Ennis has been expressing his concerns in Zoom meetings with councillors

There are growing concerns among senior officials at Fisher’s Folly that they will be unable to achieve all of the £38million cost-cutting required in order to satisfy the bean counters in Whitehall and opportunistic Tory politicians, and therefore lose out on a £25million government loan essential to being able to save the cash-strapped council.

The council cabinet meets tonight for its latest session of sackcloth and ashes, poring over the budget proposals for next year.

Richard Ennis, the council’s director of finance, spent more than six hours in a turgid meeting of the council’s pensions committee on Friday, just to make sure that the councillors and pensioners’ representatives would duly vote through a reduction in the authority’s contributions to the fund worth more than £6million over the next two financial years (2022-2023 and 2023-2024). Every penny, it is clear, counts.

The report placed before cabinet tonight suggests that even with the unexpected help from the pensions fund, the council could miss its cuts target by at least £13million.

Ennis had told an earlier meeting of councillors, “There’s a gap between savings identified and the savings that are needed.” Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Croydon Council, Croydon NHS Trust, Health, Katherine Kerswell, Landlord licensing, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice, Steve Iles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Council’s latest lame excuse: our phones don’t work properly

Posted on December 5, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Britain’s rottenest borough is now blaming faulty phone lines for needlessly prosecuting residents over Council Tax, when the householders can’t get through to Fisher’s Folly to make their payments.
By STEVEN DOWNES

‘All falling apart’: How Private Eye sees Croydon Council

Last month, on the first anniversary of Croydon issuing a Section 114 notice to admit that they had run out of money, Inside Croydon reported a range of troubling signals that the cash-strapped council was in a state of collapse, after cut after cut after cut had left it unable to perform even the most routine, statutory functions.

Now the council’s excuse for its poor service is that its phones don’t work.

The latest issue of Private Eye magazine picked up on our reporting, and quoted a Croydon councillor as saying, “There comes a point when the council is not fit for purpose. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Nathan Elvery, Section 114 notice | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment