#Macarnage: Not a single ‘affordable’ home from Coulsdon plot

Posted on July 3, 2021 by insidecroydon

Target: this piece of an architect-designed estate by the Coulsdon Court golf course could be demolished to make way for six terraced houses

Next in the firing line for Macar Developments is a beautiful Arts and Crafts house on Coulsdon Court Road, which the developers want to destroy and replace with six small terraced houses.

The architecturally significant house was built as part of the Coulsdon Court Estate, around the nearby golf course, in the 1920s and 1930s.

Macar Developments are the profit-hungry builders whose director, Natalie Gentry, is married to a senior member of the council’s planning department, Ross Gentry. And the company seems to have few difficulties in pushing their various schemes through the Croydon planning process.

Macar are already building five houses and a block of four flats in the garden of the house on Coulsdon Court Road. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Electrifying trip from the tip of England to the top of Scotland

Posted on July 3, 2021 by insidecroydon

JOHN JEFKINS wants to take you on a journey. Not one of those metaphorical businessspeak ones, but from Land’s End to John O’Groats in an electric car – without paying a penny for charging

Horsepower: John Jefkins reached the Kelpies at Loch Lomond from Croydon without spending a penny on fuel

Nine hundred miles in three days, stopping at Ironbridge and Selkirk en route, via Bristol to change co-drivers.

Could we drive VW’s ID3 electric-powered car from Croydon to Land’s End then on to John O’Groats with free charging all the way? That was the Jefkins family challenge to ourselves.

We are converts to an electric car. We bought it late last year but have done little more than lots of day trips since.

We’d still done 7,000 miles though, using a home charger to top-up its 260-mile range for a cost of about £3 a week – using 5p/kw hr for overnight tariffs like Octopus Go.

Free of lockdown, this was our first chance to get away and stay in hotels.
What better than driving from end to end of Britain? Continue reading →

Posted in Parking, Transport | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Government-appointed advisers pulled plug on BxB sale

Posted on July 2, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Improvement Panel’ ordered council to abandon its poor-value deal to sell Brick by Brick, and instead to pay Wates Construction £1.12m to oversee the loss-making builders’ work on 23 sites.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Dropped Bricks: government-appointed officials ordered the council to abandon its sweetheart sales deal

Hamida Ali, the leader of Croydon Council, and the rump of Newman’s numpties who still hang around the Town Hall for their monthly allowances payout, may be in power, but they are not in control.

That was made clearer than ever after the government-appointed commissioners pulled the plug on the sweetheart deal which Ali and the Labour councillors had approved for a quick, cut-price sale of loss-making builders Brick by Brick.

The council had only one preferential bidder for Brick by Brick, and council officials rejected bids from other developers for all or part of the council-owned development firm. The obvious flaw in this approach, minimising the potential value to be realised in Brick by Brick’s site assets, was flagged up to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in April.

Now, it has emerged that Tony McArdle, the chair of the improvement board, and his colleague Phil Brookes, a Crown commissioner, issued two reports last month that basically ordered the council to get a much better offer from Urban Splash, or cancel the sale. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Coulsdon man’s £390,000 compensation for asbestos exposure

Posted on July 2, 2021 by insidecroydon

A Coulsdon man has been awarded £390,000 in compensation after contracting mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure in the workplace.

In addition to the compensation, Garry Musgrove has received, any necessary private medical treatment that he needs in the future will be paid for by the insurers of his former employers.

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body’s organs. It’s usually linked to asbestos exposure.

Musgrove, 63, first suffered symptoms of mesothelioma in June 2019. He was forced to leave his Civil Service job due to the mesothelioma symptoms. Now, almost 50 years after he was first exposed to asbestos, Musgrove successfully claimed against three former employers.

Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Health | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Courtyard Theatre, Jul 13-17

Posted on July 2, 2021 by insidecroydon

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‘Apologetic Ali’ fails once again as BxB sends in the builders

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

Closed off: the communal area at Warbank Crescent, fenced off by contractors yesterday. Note how close the Brick by Brick development area comes to existing homes

Council leader tells community meeting she is powerless to act against the council-owned development company, as New Addington residents’ five-year campaign to save a communal space comes to a sad end.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Not for the first time, Croydon residents have been left feeling badly let down and abandoned by their local Labour council, after a meeting in New Addington on Tuesday night attended by leader Hamida Ali and MP Sarah Jones concluded that nothing could be done to save a community space on Warbank Crescent.

The frustration and mounting anger over the council’s builders, Brick by Brick, being allowed to take a public play space and turn it into three car park bays saw the New Addington Residents’ Association call for the resignation of Colm Lacey, the managing director of the loss-making builders.

They described Brick by Brick as being “out of control”, saying that Councillor Ali admitted at Tuesday’s meeting that she had little influence over them. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Scott Ainsworth-Payne | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Council abandons its £100m discount sale of Brick by Brick

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

A deal to off-load the loss-making housing firm at a massive loss to tax-payers has been dropped. By STEVEN DOWNES

Croydon Council has been forced to abandon plans to flog-off loss-making builders Brick by Brick.

The council’s interim head of finance, Chris Buss, has spent the past six months or more trying to negotiate a sweetheart deal with a single preferential bidder for Brick by Brick.

But suspicions that the deal was just too-good-to-be-true for Manchester-based developers Urban Splash, with Croydon tax-payers looking to shoulder a further £100million loss on the transaction, have proved to be well-founded.

Last month, a report from the government-appointed commissioner, Tony McArdle, submitted to Secretary of State Robert Jenrick, flagged up serious questions about whether the sale of Brick by Brick represented “best value”, since Buss and the council had rebuffed all other offers for some or part of the troubled housing developer.

Government agency Homes England were called  in to check over the numbers. They clearly didn’t add up.

Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Colm Lacey, Hamida Ali, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Massive 247-flat scheme proposed for Purley Station site

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

Developers with ties to the Croydon Establishment move in on suburban town centre with a proposal for five blocks of flats that would cover the pitch at Wembley Stadium three times over

Massive mansions: the proposed blocks backing on to Purley Station would dwarf most other nearby buildings

Purley town centre, already the site of dozens of developments of blocks of flats, is now facing a proposal to build 247 flats on the railway station car park, which would also require the demolition of 14 terraced houses along Whytecliffe Road.

A final decision on the massive development – involving five blocks of up to nine storeys, backing on to the railway lines – has been delayed because of the multiple cancellations of Croydon Council planning meetings. There is a planning meeting due to be held tonight, which will be the first to take place since April 22 – 10 weeks ago. The Whytecliffe Road scheme is not on tonight’s agenda.

The planning application has been made on behalf of three development companies, RAA Ventures Ltd, V Fund and Regent Land and Developments Ltd, a South Croydon-based business. Continue reading →

Posted in Paul Scott, Planning, Property, Purley | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Barratts buy back Citiscape’s 95 cladding-blighted flats

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

Bought up to be pulled down? Citiscape, on Frith Road

Citiscape, the Barratts-built residential tower block on Drummond Road and Frith Road in Old Town, has become the first in Britain to be bought back by its builders in order to resolve issues around the building’s dangerous Grenfell-like aluminium composite material cladding.

But despite leaseholder organisations saying that developers have “a moral duty” to consider buying back such properties and the Housing Ombudsman urging landlords to explore similar buybacks, Citiscape’s 95 flat-owners may end up being the only ones to escape the home-owning dream that has turned into a nightmare for thousands. For Barratts, at least, say they have no plans to buy back other blocks. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Fairfield, Housing, Property | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Teenager stabbed to death in Shirley as murder figures mount

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death at a house on Bracken Avenue, Shirley, in the early hours of this morning.

Crime scene: police have been called out to Shirley today for another violent death

It is being reported that the boy is the 20th teenage murder victim in London so far in 2021, most of the incidents involving fatal stabbings.

Police found the teenager with stab wounds at about 0.45am.

According to the BBC, “Despite treatment, the teenager was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin have been informed but formal identification has not taken place.” Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Shirley North | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Crimestoppers offer £10,000 reward to solve 23-year mystery

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

Crimestoppers is offering a £10,000 reward for information on the disappearance of Carmel Fenech, which happened 23 years ago when she was aged just 16.

Carmel Fenech, also known as Carmel Pendry, from Broadfield in Crawley, was reported as missing on June 27, 1998. It is now believed she was murdered. She would have turned 40 this Saturday, July 3.

She was last seen at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court in south London on May 21, 1998. She did not return home and she was reported as missing the following month.

Fenech grew up in south London on the North Peckham Estate. She had many friends in the area and also in nearby Brixton and Stockwell. She moved with her family to Crawley less than a year before she disappeared. Investigations are focused on south London. She did not know many people in Crawley.

Continue reading →

Posted in Crime | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Celebrate July 4 with a free rum punch at Big Mike’s Lime

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

Celebration: Big Mike’s Lime this Sunday has a special Independence Day theme

Celebrate American Independence Day at Big Mike’s Rooftop Lime this Sunday, July 4, with a free rum punch – and give yourself the chance of a holiday of a lifetime, too.

Big Mike’s Rooftop Lime hits the Boxpark Terrace, open from noon, and the £10 tickets are selling fast (the deposits are deducted from your food bill at the end of your visit).

All advance bookings – via this Eventbrite link – will qualify for a glass of rum punch on the house. Continue reading →

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Roots & Shoots gardening course, Thornton Heath, from Jul 8

Posted on July 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

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Big Bang judges give big hand to Trinity teenager’s bionic arm

Posted on June 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

Surya Vijayanand, a sixth-former at Trinity School in Shirley, has been named overall winner in this year’s Big Bang science and technology competition after he designed and developed a bionic arm and hand with only a limited budget and using recyclable materials.

Strong grasp of science: the award-winning bionic hand, built by a Trinity schoolboy

The 17-year-old will now represent Britain at the 62nd London International Youth Science Forum, which is being held from July 28 to August 11.

As a further part of his prize and recognition, Vijayanand also gets to enjoy a 15-day residential programme at Imperial College, when he will be able to attend lectures from top scientists and visits to leading science departments and institutions. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Schools, Trinity School | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

De Zoysa to face Old Bailey hearing over Sgt Ratana murder

Posted on June 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

Louis de Zoysa, the Norbury man charged with the murder of Police Sergeant Mat Ratana at the Croydon Custody Centre on Windmill Road last September, faces a hearing at the Old Bailey this Friday.

Charged: Louis de Zoysa

De Zoysa, 23, has been in hospital under police guard for the last nine months since the fatal incident, in which he himself suffered a gunshot wound to the throat.

He is said to have been in “a stable, non-life threatening condition” during that time, but as a result of his wounds, he was not formally arrested by the police until November.

Scotland Yard have now said that recent changes to his condition led the Crown Prosecution Service to feel comfortable in charging him with the murder of Sgt Ratana.

De Zoysa appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning from his hospital bed via a video link. He needed to use a whiteboard to confirm his identity.

He was remanded in custody ahead of the Old Bailey hearing. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Policing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Fire Brigade warns public to check their domestic appliances

Posted on June 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

A house fire on Sundridge Road, Addiscombe, last night has prompted the London Fire Brigade to issue a reminder to register your white goods – domestic appliances such as washing machines, driers, fridges and freezers.

The LFB warns the public to take care over the maintenance of household equipment

Part of the ground floor of the mid-terrace house on Sundridge Road was damaged by the fire. There were no reports of any injuries, according to the Brigade.

The cause of the fire is believed to have involved a tumble dryer.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson told Inside Croydon: “If your white goods start making a strange noise, don’t ignore it. If you think there’s a problem always unplug it and contact the manufacturer or a qualified repair technician. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, London Fire Brigade | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Selsdon golf club offers youngsters chance to kickstart careers

Posted on June 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

A group of leisure venues and golf clubs, including Farleigh in Selsdon, is running another recruitment drive as a new crop of ambitious young professionals are given their chance to shine.

Kickstarters: three of the young workers given job opportunities with roles in greenkeeping and golf services at Foxhills

The government’s Kickstart scheme is being used at the Foxhills Club and Resort, near Chertsey, and Farleigh to fund jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit at risk of long-term unemployment with a series of job opportunities across the business.

Applicants must be referred initially by their Job Centre work coach, but will then be given an opportunity with permanent apprenticeships on offer for those candidates who make a positive impression. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Golf, Selsdon and Addington Village | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Grow your business with Croydon-based accounting firm MyT

Posted on June 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Now live on Seedrs

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Ali apologises to New Addington residents after BxB ‘raid’

Posted on June 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Earlier this month council figures offered to let residents have the publicly-owned community space at Warbank Crescent – provided they coughed up £180,000 to Brick by Brick.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Late kick-off: council leader Hamida Ali

Never let it be said that council leader Hamida Ali doesn’t have the best interests of the people she serves at heart.

Take, for example, a meeting that she has scheduled for this afternoon with the much-stressed residents of Warbank Crescent in New Addington.

Due to begin at 5pm, expected to attend are Sarah Jones, the Labour MP for Croydon Central, plus council cabinet member for homes, Patricia Hay-Justice, and high-ranking council officials Sarah Hayward, Saheed Ullah and Sharon Murphy.

But yesterday, just before 7pm, Councillor Ali was writing to all involved suggesting that the meeting should be brought forward by an hour. “I’m conscious… that we agreed a 5pm start tomorrow – and then realised very late that residents might want to watch the England match tomorrow evening which also starts at 5pm.”

How thoughtful of the council leader!

Now all she has to fix for the meeting is to replace the seating that had been organised by residents in the community space for the purpose, and which council officers and builders, accompanied by the police, yesterday removed, damaged or destroyed ahead of starting development works on behalf of Brick by Brick. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Louisa Woodley, New Addington, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

France star Vieira now in the frame for Palace manager’s job

Posted on June 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

Pizza delivery riders in the Selhurst Park area had better get ready: Patrick Vieira could be coming to town.

Invincible: Patrick Vieira is seeking the opportunity to prove his managerial skills

Now, given the disappointments, twists and turns in previous news reports about the appointment of a manager to replace Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace, the hot-off-the-press news linking the World Cup-winning former Arsenal midfielder to Selhurst Park needs to be handled with asbestos gloves.

If confirmed, it would still represent a stunning coup for Palace, and chairman Steve Parish. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Patrick Vieira | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Whitgift old boy aiming to knock England out of Euro2020

Posted on June 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

Twelve months ago, there was a decent chance that a sporting prodigy that had enjoyed coaching and schooling at Whitgift in South Croydon might play a part in the Euro2020 tournament, as Callum Hudson-Odoi was making progress as an attacking midfielder for Chelsea and England.

From Whitgift to Wembley: Jamal Musiala says he owes his footballing rise to his childhood in England

This afternoon, with England facing Germany at Wembley in the last 16 of the championship, the possibility of an old boy of the private school playing a decisive part in one of the fiercest international football rivalries remains – but now with Jamal Musiala a part of German coach Joachim Löw’s squad.

Jamal Musiala was born in Germany, came to England when seven years old, went to a state primary in New Malden, was signed up by the Chelsea academy and, like Hudson-Odoi, got himself a sporting scholarship among the peacocks and Colin Pateses of South Croydon.

Until late last year, Musiala was still regarded as one of the generation of brilliant young players emerging in England’s youth teams, alongside Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham.

Like the latter two Dortmund players, Musiala, an 18-year-old attacking midfielder, has been starting his professional career in Germany, where he has broken into the Bayern Munich first team this season. Continue reading →

Posted in Football, Schools, South Croydon, Sport, Whitgift School | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Council does a play street U-turn after Inside Croydon report

Posted on June 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough’s senior Labour councillors continue to appear to be in power, but not in control. Just days after a report on this website about attempts to charge organisers of kids’ play schemes hundreds of pounds, a cabinet member has been forced to issue a hurried correction.
STEVEN DOWNES reports

Free play: Croydon’s youngsters can use their streets again, after the council caved in

Just days after Inside Croydon carried an impassioned account of how the cash-strapped council wanted to charge the borough’s volunteers and parents £195 (plus VAT, of course) for the simple privilege of allowing their children to play in the street, the council cabinet member has been forced to issue a public statement which promises to abandon the ill-considered move.

A residents’ petition has more than doubled its number of signatures since Thursday’s article by Emma Hope-Fitch, the organiser of the award-winning play street in Love Lane in South Norwood, which explained how after the lockdown hiatus, she and her fellow play street volunteers had received demands for money from Croydon Council if they were to resume their activities for their neighbourhood’s youngsters.

This morning, Muhammad Ali, the Labour council’s cabinet member responsible, issued a tweet to pledge that there would not be any charges for play streets after all. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Muhammad Ali, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

South Norwood Community Festival 2021, Jul 18

Posted on June 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

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Brighton mainline rail improvements to be axed in Tory cuts

Posted on June 28, 2021 by insidecroydon

Long-planned improvements to the London to Brighton mainline railway outside Croydon, including rebuilding East Croydon Station and unblocking a bottleneck near Selhurst, could be scrapped as part of government post-covid cut-backs.

Network Rail rates the lines around Croydon as the busiest and most congested part of Britain’s rail network, with 30 per cent more passengers and trains passing through it each day than Euston and King’s Cross stations combined.

The snappily titled Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme – or CARS – detailed Network Rail’s multi-million-pound plans to improve the Brighton mainline and transform East Croydon Station, and have been in the public domain for more than three years. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, East Croydon, Norwood Junction, Selhurst, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Brick by Brick use police to remove New Addington residents

Posted on June 28, 2021 by insidecroydon

Flashpoint: police and a council official gathered as they sought to remove residents from a communal space in Warbrick Crescent, New Addington, this morning

Only “frantic calls” to the local MP and councillors managed to get the police to stand down from “horrifying scenes” in New Addington this morning, as a council official colluded with staff from Brick by Brick to have residents removed from a public space in Warbank Crescent.

Brick by Brick is the council-owned, loss-making development firm that has borrowed £200million from the borough since 2015, and been a significant factor in the financial crisis at the council.

Brick by Brick wants to use the Warbank Crescent communal space for three car parking bays for electric vehicles.

Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Community associations, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Kola Agboola, New Addington, New Addington Residents' Association, Policing, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments