Voluntary service gets helping hand from housebuilder staff

Posted on June 22, 2021 by insidecroydon

Committed to investing in the local neighbourhoods surrounding their community in Purley, housebuilder Lifestory has joined with Royal Voluntary Service and signed up for individual members of its staff to deliver 4,000 volunteer hours this year.

Care in the community: Lifestoory staff are encouraged to help the RVS

The RVS provides volunteers for a range of activities, from tea stalls at major hospitals to finding steward volunteers for covid vaccination centres around the country.

Lifestory is a housebuilder encompassing three brands – Renaissance, Pegasus and Anthology,  which includes the Carriages retirement apartments off Christchurch Road in Purley.

Lifestory’s Steve Bangs said, “The pandemic made us all rethink how we live and reinforced the importance of giving back to our communities.  Continue reading →

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The fix is in: Labour leaders endorse status quo on 14% turnout

Posted on June 21, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After overseeing the failure of the borough’s children’s services, setting up the loss-making Brick by Brick, presiding over slum-like conditions in council flats and bankrupting the borough, some of Tony Newman’s closest colleagues are claiming ‘victory’ over a members’ ballot in which few bothered to vote. By STEVEN DOWNES

Someone’s  laughing: Tony Newman’s  influence over his numpties is still strong

The Croydon Labour Party’s headlong charge towards political oblivion continued over the weekend, as the remnants of Tony Newman’s discredited Town Hall regime claimed victory in a fixed internal party poll over the future governance of the borough.

Yet it was the most hollow of victories, claimed after barely 600 of the party’s  4,000 members and affiliates in the borough bothered to take part in the Labour group’s obviously stitched-up online poll.

A borough-wide referendum has been arranged for October 7 over whether the council should continue to be run with the “strong leader” model, under which a council leader is elected by just a couple of dozen councillors (who all then jump on the gravy train and collect their generously enhanced allowances), or whether there should be a switch to a mayor, elected by all electors within Croydon.

The referendum has been called after 21,000 people signed a petition demanding change from the system under which Newman bankrupted the borough. Directly elected mayors have already adopted by Labour boroughs such as Lewisham, Hackney and Newham. Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Alison Butler, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Sean Fitzsimons, Steve Reed MP, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Free online course to help unemployed start in business

Posted on June 21, 2021 by insidecroydon

Croydon residents can now book a free online course to help them get started in business.

On course: if you have a great business idea, this free online course could be for you

People who have a great idea for a business or always had ambitions to start an enterprise can now get all the help they need.

The course is aimed at people over 18 who are out of work and economically inactive and is led by experienced tutors and business advisors, providing advice on all the steps needed for starting a business.

The free online Start Your Own Enterprise course, run by social enterprise Tree Shepherd in partnership with Cute Dog Consulting, runs for six weeks from June 29, beginning with an induction in the Croydon area. Continue reading →

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Reed rails against Tory plans, as his mates flog off public park

Posted on June 21, 2021 by insidecroydon

For sale: Part of Grangewood Park is being put up for sale, but there’s been silence from Blairite MP Steve Reed

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council pushes on with its plans to sell off part of Grangewood Park, a ‘quiet secluded oasis in the heart of a busy local area’, while Blairite MP does nothing to oppose.
By STEVEN DOWNES

As Steve Reed OBE, the Progress MP for Croydon North, stood in a public open space yesterday morning for a television outside broadcast to rail against Tory government plans to help their developer mates make juicy profits by building on parks and green spaces, the Labour-controlled local council in his own constituency was starting moves to sell off a public park to developers.

Grangewood Park sits between Thornton Heath and Upper Norwood, in Reed’s constituency. Labour-run Croydon Council has twice before tried to flog off the Victorian park-keeper’s cottage, Heath Lodge, and twice before has been forced to back down, most recently in January 2020 when more than 3,000 residents signed a petition of protest.

Reed has been all but silent on the matter of the sale of Heath Lodge and a chunk of Grangewood Park, either when the council, under his mates Tony Newman and Alison Butler, was seeking to off-load the long-neglected heritage building and a parcel of park land, or more recently, when its sale has been hastened because of the bankruptcy of the borough caused by Newman, Butler and their clique. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, Friends of Grangewood Park, Planning, Steve Reed MP, Thornton Heath, Thornton Heath Community Action Team | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Two weeks free childcare offer at The Butterfly Patch

Posted on June 21, 2021 by insidecroydon

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Cornering the market in smocks, dockets and community care

Posted on June 20, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our local shops are an important part of the fabric of society, and have played an often vital role during lockdown. We should cherish them, writes RICHARD PACITTI

Community centre: plastered in ads for lemonade and cigarettes, corner shops like this offered tick, smocks and some even used chits

I have been reading Babita Sharma’s book The Corner Shop, in which she tells the story of her family and life living above the shop.

Her book got me thinking about my own upbringing, as I too was born above a corner shop.  The shop where I was born was on the corner of Princess Road and Grace Road in West Croydon. The shop belonged to my grandparents, but my dad and my mum worked there, too, as they saved to buy a place of their own. The shop is long gone now, compulsorily purchased and demolished in the late 1960s or early ’70s as part of the redevelopment of the area. But memories remain. Continue reading →

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Lockdown delays see Old Coulsdon Village Fair cancelled

Posted on June 20, 2021 by insidecroydon

The annual fair in Old Coulsdon’s Grange Park has had to be cancelled for a second year

Covid has hit one of the area’s most popular summer community events for a second year.

The Old Coulsdon Village Fair has been cancelled, the organisers announcing that they “simply cannot comply with the required regulations”, after the government delayed the covid lockdown restrictions easing date from June 21. Continue reading →

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Fitzpatrick rallies Addiscombe residents to object to 5G mast

Posted on June 19, 2021 by insidecroydon

Cornerstone wants to erect a 70ft comms mast on a patch of public open space

An Addiscombe councillor has stepped in to try to protect the local environment by demanding “Not In Our Back Yard” over proposals to build a massive 5G telecommunications mast on a patch of public green space.

Jerry Fitzpatrick, the veteran councillor for Addiscombe West, has flagged up the proposals from infrastructure company Cornerstone which threatens to destroy trees and build over the green space to make way for their mast.

One tree under threat was planted recently as a memorial to a much-admired local, “the Running Lady of Addiscombe”. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Planning | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Flood warning: after six years, Riddlesdown works set to start

Posted on June 19, 2021 by insidecroydon

Yesterday’s heavy rain – with a month’s rainfall in 24 hours – exposed again flooding issues around the borough

More than a month’s average rainfall was deposited on Croydon and parts of southern England yesterday, exposing once more the areas of the borough more prone to flooding, and in many cases also illustrating the failures of council contractors’ to carrying out routine unblocking of flood drains.

While much work on major roads falls under the responsibility of Transport for London, on routes which are the borough council’s responsibility, that comes under the control of Steve Iles, who was awarded an MBE for all the hard work of his staff and department during the extensive Croydon floods seven years ago. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Helen Redfern, Kenley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Steve Iles | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Britain’s biggest ever survey wants your views on covid crisis

Posted on June 19, 2021 by insidecroydon

The first and largest survey of its kind in Britain to document the impact of covid-19 and the lockdowns on the lives of 17,000 ethnic and religious minority people wants your input – but you need to participate soon, as the deadline for contributions is June 30.

The Evidence for Equality National Survey – or EVENS – sets out to influence government policy and local and national campaigns for racial justice by generating robust evidence on a comprehensive range of issues facing black and ethnic minority and religious minority groups during the pandemic.

Topics covered in the survey include employment, finance, education, economic wellbeing, health, housing, policing, community, identity and experiences of discrimination and racism.

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community associations, Health, London-wide issues | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Government inspector’s concerns over BxB sweetheart deal

Posted on June 18, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jenrick’s improvement board raises serious questions over whether the quick sale of the council’s failed development company could end up costing tax-payers many millions of pounds, while its latest report criticises borough officials’ ‘lack of self-awareness’.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Going cheap: the sale of Brick by Brick is  unlikely to end the council’s losses on the failed project

The government-appointed chair of the improvement panel that is overseeing Croydon’s battle with bankruptcy has suggested that the council’s choice of a single preferred bidder to buy loss-making development firm Brick by Brick could cost tax-payers millions.

Tony McArdle, who last weekend was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to local government, has been checking Croydon’s recovery plans for the past six months. At the end of April, he submitted his second progress report to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Last night, MHCLG published McArdle’s report, and Jenrick’s response to it, in which the Tory minister warned that it is “essential” that “the affairs surrounding key assets and investment vehicles… are unravelled”. Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Parents of fire-bomb attacker feared terror-style ‘mass killing’

Posted on June 18, 2021 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Owner of business at the centre of terrifying petrol bomb assault claims police failed to act despite repeated threats.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Terror attack: a business premises on Beddington Farm Road was turned into a crime scene on Wednesday morning

The man arrested by an armed police operation after a fire-bomb attack against business premises on Beddington Farmlands Road on Wednesday morning has been named as John Harris.

Sources present at the incident claim that the initial 999 call to emergency services was made that morning by the man’s own parents, out of fear that Harris was about to commit a terrorist-style “mass killing”.

Harris, 32, appeared at Croydon Magistrates Court yesterday. He has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life, and possession of an offensive weapon.

He was remanded in custody and will next appear at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday July 14.

Continue reading →

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Covid pop-up centres to open for ‘final lap’ of vaccinations

Posted on June 18, 2021 by insidecroydon

More than 320,000 vaccines have already been administered in Croydon

Croydon’s NHS is encouraging everyone in the borough to come forward for their life-saving covid vaccinations and join more than 320,000 residents who have already had the jab.

The concerted drive for mass vaccination will see walk-in clinics established to make it easier for people to get their vaccination, where no booking is required. Continue reading →

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Claim £10,000 green energy grant with Croydon Healthy Homes

Posted on June 18, 2021 by insidecroydon

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#Macarnage: Planning officer’s ‘leaving present’ to Coulsdon

Posted on June 17, 2021 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: The revolving door between the council planning department and private developers and architects is exposed over a scheme for 39 flats in Coulsdon. By STEVEN DOWNES

Macarnage: The huge block proposed for a quiet residential street was given pre-app approval by the council

Before Jan Slominski was hired as a senior planning adviser for the architects working on the latest proposal for a monstrous block of flats in Coulsdon, he had been Croydon Council’s case officer on the very same project, providing crucial official planning advice to the developers on their pre-application submission.

Inside Croydon has discovered correspondence from the council which admits that it was Slominski himself who had provided developers Macar with generally approving comments for their crass seven-storey megablock in a residential street in Coulsdon. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Croydon Council, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Heather Cheesbrough, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sanderstead mum’s Channel swim closes in on bionic target

Posted on June 17, 2021 by insidecroydon

An amputee from Sanderstead has added “Channel swimmer” to her list of accomplishments after a 15-hour relay effort at the weekend gave the latest cash boost to her fund-raising campaign to pay for a bionic hand.

Delighted: Nicola Wilding after completing her last effort towards her Channel swim this week

Nicola Wilding, 44, was part of a five-person team which set off from Folkestone on their 21-mile-plus journey in the pitch black at 1.10am on Monday as part of the #NickyNeedsAHand campaign.

Each member of the “Dover Darlings” team was scheduled to swim three one-hour spells from their boat, Masterpiece. – which cast off at such an unfriendly hour in order to make the best of the treacherous tides in the English Channel.

And 14hr 53min and 22sec later, they arrived safely in France.

“I’m not sure how many female one-armed swimmers have attempted the crossing, but I’ll say I’m the first from Sanderstead aged 44,” Wilding said. Continue reading →

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No casualties as 8 fire engines deal with Sydenham Road blaze

Posted on June 17, 2021 by insidecroydon

The cause of the fire in a Sydenham Road flat is now under investigation

An investigation is underway into the cause of a fire at a flat on Sydenham Road, Croydon, last night that needed eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters to deal with it.

No one has been reported hurt, but most of the first floor and the roof of a terraced house converted into flats was damaged by fire. One person left the building before the Brigade arrived. Continue reading →

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House sale prices in London suffer biggest fall for a decade

Posted on June 17, 2021 by insidecroydon

Hopes that some quick sales of Brick by Brick’s long-overdue and hugely overpriced homes might help to ease Croydon Council’s financial woes took a knock yesterday with publication of a report that showed that London’s “gravity-defying” house price rises had suffered a rare set-back.

Hard sell: falling London house prices could make Brick by Brick’s overpriced properties more difficult to shift

The London property market suffered its biggest monthly fall in a decade in April.

The housing market in London and the south-east had proved itself to be remarkably resilient, even to the worst impact of the global economic downturn in 2008 and even shrugging off Brexit fears. London estate agents and property developers – with the exception of council-owned loss-making Brick by Brick – had even been in the money in a mini-boom last year that followed the end of the first pandemic lockdown.

The average price of a London home in March 2021 even touched half a million pounds for the first time, but in April that estimate fell by 2.01 per cent, to £491,687, wiping around £10,000 off its value. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Housing, London-wide issues | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Wilfried Zaha Academy summer camp, Purley, Jul 26-Aug 27

Posted on June 17, 2021 by insidecroydon

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Men’s Mental Health Walk and Talk group, Beddington Park

Posted on June 17, 2021 by insidecroydon

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Whyteleafe league exit raises doubts over property investors

Posted on June 16, 2021 by insidecroydon

The Steven Gerrard Football Academy has tried to distance itself and the eponymous former Liverpool and England captain from any mention in the public outrage caused by two non-league football clubs being forced to quit their home grounds after they were bought by a property company based in Singapore.

Club man: Steven Gerrard steered Rangers to the Scottish title this year. Whyteleafe FC’s future, meanwhile, is far less certain

One of the now-homeless clubs is Whyteleafe FC, who on Monday night issued a strongly worded statement announcing their withdrawal from the Isthmian League because they could not negotiate a new lease on their Church Road ground with new owners, Irama Sport.

Irama Sport have done much in the past to publicise a close association with another giant of Liverpool FC, Ian Rush.

Irama Sport’s company logo says it is “powered by Ian Rush”.

But as they encountered fans’ anger over the threat to the existence of two non-league clubs, Irama were describing the former Wales international striker as “a real estate investor and partner with Irama in all our football grounds…”, adding that the former player should not be held responsible for any of Irama’s acts.

“Irama own these football grounds and have no affiliation to the clubs and teams using the grounds,” they said. Continue reading →

Posted in Football, Kenley, Outside Croydon, Property, Sport, Surrey, Tandridge District Council, Whyteleafe FC | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tories accused of ‘giving London a kicking’ over TfL funding

Posted on June 16, 2021 by insidecroydon

With the government exploiting difficulties arising over covid-19 to turn the financial screw on Transport for London, a Labour Assembly Member has accused the Tories of “giving London a kicking”.

London Assembly Members say that Londoners should have a say over their transport networks

Elly Baker AM’s report, TfL Funding Settlement – Another short-term sticking plaster, says Londoners must be given a say over major changes to their buses, Tube, trains and trams.

And Baker has called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to hold a full public consultation before bringing in any further changes affecting the capital’s transport network.

When the first covid-19 lockdown hit last March, virtually all TfL’s income from fares ceased for almost four months. Fares revenue has not fully recovered even now, while the organisation’s costs have continued at pre-pandemic levels.

The government stepped in, imposing commissioners on the TfL board and a series of demands including a fares hike, an increase in the congestion charge, an increase in Council Tax to maintain free travel for under-18s and over-60s, and a freeze on frontline workers’ pay. Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, Commuting, Elly Baker, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Trinity sixth-former lands role in Netflix’s latest teen series

Posted on June 16, 2021 by insidecroydon

Will Hardy, a sixth-former at Trinity School, has been cast in Heartstopper, an adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels which is to be screened by Netflix.

Hardy was selected after an open audition in which 10,000 young actors took part, according to a report on the Shirley private school’s website. Continue reading →

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Croydon business badly damaged in alleged fire-bomb attack

Posted on June 16, 2021 by insidecroydon

The London Fire Brigade and an estimated 60 police were quickly on the scene after this morning’s alleged fire-bombing on a business at Beddington Farm Road

NOON UPDATE: At least three fire engines and an estimated 60 police, including some armed response officers, were called out just after 8.30am today after an alleged fire-bombing attack on a business close to Ikea off the Purley Way.

A 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of threatening behaviour and causing criminal damage.

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Accelerate your accounting with Croydon-based firm MyT

Posted on June 16, 2021 by insidecroydon

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Now live on Seedrs

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