Newman and Negrini use covid-19 for Town Hall power grab

By applying ’emergency measures’ during the pandemic crisis, the council leader has taken on the role of an unelected mayor, as KEN LEE reports

From her office in Fisher’s Folly, Jo Negrini can reflect on her power grab from councillors in the Town Hall

Croydon’s elected councillors were told by email on Tuesday night that they will have little or no role to play in Town Hall decision-making for the duration of the coronavirus emergency.

Don’t expect any outcry over this apparent affront to democracy, though: just like Premier League footballers, the borough’s 70 councillors will remain on full pay even though they have even fewer meetings to turn up for than usual.

Instead of regular council, cabinet and committee meetings, Tony Newman, the council leader, and his trusted chief executive, Jo “We’re Not Stupid” Negrini, have invested themselves with a set of executive powers that will allow them to sign-off on all sorts of issues without any public forum or debate by councillors.

It will also see Negrini able to take sole charge of up-coming planning applications – potentially including a raft of applications from council-owned Brick by Brick. Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

South Norwood neighbours have started own meals on wheels

In the middle of all the chaos and uncertainty, community efforts to support the frail, elderly and vulnerable continue. In some cases, the community groups’ efforts have, literally, redoubled.

The South Norwood Community Kitchen was busy delivering hundreds of meals yesterday

The South Norwood Community Kitchen was presented with a dilemma when the coronavirus lockdown came. They would no longer be able to put together a delicious meal for the homeless and the working poor of their neighbourhood that they have been doing for the past couple of years every Saturday, using food that had been donated, was no longer being sellable by local supermarkets, or is grown on nearby allotments.

So instead, they decided to offer two meals each week, all expertly cooked in the kitchen of a local church and then bagged up and delivered to their regulars on Saturdays and, yesterday for the first time, on Tuesdays. Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Community associations, South Norwood Community Kitchen, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mystery surrounds council CEO after her ‘intermittent’ emails

There are growing concerns for the well-being of the council chief executive Jo Negrini.

Jo Negrini: the council’s £220,000 pa CEO

It is more than a week now since the borough’s £220,000 per year CEO took to sending auto-responses to her emails, even those from elected councillors. Negrini’s reply says that due to the covid-19 emergency, she would be “checking my emails intermittently”.

Phone calls to her office have gone unanswered, and the council’s propaganda department has refused to deny that Negrini may be in self-isolation or – like the Prime Minister or Prince of Wales – have even contracted the coronavirus herself.

When asked whether the chief executive was working from her office in Fisher’s Folly, staff in what she calls “my Executive Support team” sounded flustered and were unable to give a coherent answer. “I don’t know what to say to that,” the council staffer said.

And yesterday, just after 5pm, a lengthy email was despatched to the borough’s councillors under the heading “Decision making in the absence of formal meetings of the Council”.

This important email about the transfer of power from the elected councillors into the hands of just one or two people was sent not from Negrini, but from Jacqueline Harris-Baker. Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Guy van Dichele, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Beavers on the Wandle: Newman dives in for greener Croydon

There could be beavers lurking beneath the surface of Croydon’s rivers and ponds by the end of this year under the council’s Operation Flair Pool

EXCLUSIVE: Operation Flair Pool could see the introduction of a shy and industrious mammal to Wandle Park as soon as this autumn, in what the council leader has described as ‘an exciting high-water mark for Croydon’s  Green New Deal’.
Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, reports on what were, until now, the council’s secret plans

Senior Town Hall figures are close to completing a secret study which could see the introduction of beavers on a stretch of the River Wandle from as early as this autumn, confidential papers obtained by Inside Croydon suggest.

The top-secret council file, titled “Operation Flair Pool”, could see the introduction of the shy but industrious mammal in Wandle Park and possibly also Waddon Ponds, as part of what one council figure has described as “an ambitious re-wilding project that is entirely in keeping with Tony Newman’s vision for a greener Croydon… that, and the use of solar-powered passenger aircraft from Gatwick“.

Newman, the council leader who has allowed the borough to use the vast waste incinerator at Beddington and who signed off on a 3,000-space car park under the original plans for a Westfield in the town centre while allowing the concreting over of kids’ playgrounds and green spaces throughout the borough, has been keen to reclaim some green credentials after agreeing last year to declare a climate emergency in the borough.

“Tony’s very keen on the beavers,” said the source. They even claimed that Newman described the project as “an exciting high-water mark for Croydon’s new Green Deal”. Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Environment, Tony Newman, Wandle Park, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Ikea re-opens food store to help hospital workers and elderly

Croydon’s Ikea, on Valley Retail Park, is opening its food market from today to help feed vulnerable customers and key workers.

Ikea has re-configured its food area to provide another supply outlet exclusively for key workers, the old and vulnerable

The Swedish Food Market – typically selling Swedish favourites and found after the tills in every Ikea – is opening to NHS workers and police, the elderly, the most vulnerable and their carers and to Ikea co-workers.

In addition to its normal range including meatballs, salmon balls and vegetable balls, the store will stock more regular staple items including bread, milk, butter and canned tomatoes. Members of the public who do not fit the criteria laid down by the store will not be admitted. The rest of the store remains closed during the covid-19 lockdown on non-essential business. Continue reading

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Council promises to pay business virus grants in seven days

Stung into action following Inside Croydon’s report on its detail-lite, vacuous announcement intended to “help” the borough’s businesses, the council last night issued a new press statement about the business aid available in the coronavirus emergency.

The hoardings have gone up on many bars and shops, as they face an uncertain future

And this time they did manage to include details of grants potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds to the owners of Croydon’s hard-pressed small and medium-sized enterprises.

The grant announcements had been made during the previous week across different government departments, though the council’s propaganda department and the cabinet member for business, Manju Shahul-Hameed, didn’t bother to include any reference to them in their previous press release, issued last Friday. That stated only that a “taskforce” had been formed, and that “newsletters” would be issued.

Last night, more than 36 hours after the council’s business announcement had been castigated as “a high water-mark for platitudinous piffle”, a second press release appeared, this time including much more useful information. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon BID, Croydon FSB, Manju Shahul Hameed, Pubs, Purley BID, Restaurants | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Building societies decide to stop loans to first-time buyers

The mounting desperation sensed around Brick by Brick, the loss-making council-owned house-builder, could yet get even worse, after major mortgage lenders today announced that they would not be providing new loans for prospective house-buyers because of the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Nationwide is among several mortgage lenders who have effectively stopped lending

Brick by Brick has borrowed at least £260million of public money from Labour-run Croydon Council, but last month Colm Lacey, the former council employee who now styles himself as chief executive of the struggling house-builder, revealed that the company had sold only five, or six, homes.

Yesterday, despite the government, health chiefs and the Mayor of London calling for a complete lockdown of non-essential work during the covid-19 emergency, Brick by Brick announced that it is pressing on with construction work on “a handful of sites” because “it would be at a significant business risk to close them”.

Now, even as Brick by Brick puts the public’s health at risk by rushing to finish its construction work, mortgage lenders have effectively put the handbrake on any further sales by announcing a halt on new lending. Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Brick by Brick ignores covid-19 to continue work on four sites

Brick by Brick, the loss-making council-owned house-builder, has announced that it intends to continue work on at least four of its building sites – despite pleas from the government, the Mayor of London and NHS chiefs to halt all non-essential work for the duration of the coronavirus emergency to avoid spreading the deadly disease.

In a statement released last night, the company admitted that it has been working on at least 15 sites around Croydon for the past week, despite the government-ordered covid-19 lockdown. It claimed that it would continue working at “a handful of sites”, identifying four. It gave as its reason: “it would be at a significant business risk to close them”.

Most of the country was placed on lockdown more than a week ago, with only those providing essential services having permission to continue using public transport to travel to work, and provided that they comply with strict social distancing rules. Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cinema campaigners’ inspired guide for lockdown viewing

NTLive offers a chance to see James Corden ‘on stage’ from the comfort of your own lockdown home this Thursday

Two weeks after cancelling their programme of films for the duration of the coronavirus lockdown, the good people at the Save the David Lean Cinema Campaign have come up with an ingenious way to help their movie-watching friends get a daily dose of the best of the big screen, plus some top-class theatre and ballet, too.

Self-isolating, the campaigners say, “will very likely be inducing a feeling of cabin fever”.

And they add, “For those who wish to keep their film-viewing habit going, we have provided some ‘alternative viewing’ on the home page of our website which we hope will be of help. This is a collection of classic films, and theatre and opera screenings available over the next five weeks.” Continue reading

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Corbyn leads tributes to Ted Knight, a champion for the people

Ted Knight in his element – addressing a political meeting at Croydon’s Ruskin House

Tributes have poured in for ‘Red’ Ted Knight, the south London council leader who defied Thatcher and was the scourge of the tabloids but a tireless campaigner for the downtrodden and under-represented

Following the news yesterday that Ted Knight had died, John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, described his old friend as “one of the finest and most courageous socialists I have known”. Knight was 86.

Knight was the former leader of Lambeth Council who was surcharged and removed from office for defying the Thatcher government’s spending cuts.

Norwood resident Knight had been politically active from his childhood through to the end – having been the co-founder and chair of the Croydon Assembly organisation, which staged regular meetings and rallies at Ruskin House over the past decade. Continue reading

Posted in Croydon TUC | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Croydon in area with country’s highest coronavirus death rate

The vital need for Croydon residents to follow government advice to stay at home except for essential travel in order to save lives – including their own – has been underlined by data published by the Health Service Journal.

The HSJ says that the South West London Health and Care Partnership, the NHS area which includes Croydon, has the highest number of reported deaths in the country from covid-19 per 100,000 of population.

As of Saturday, there were nearly six deaths per 100,000 population in the region.

The death rate is up to 12 times higher than the great majority of other NHS sustainability and transformation partnership areas across England. Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon NHS Trust, CVA, Health, Mayday Hospital, St Helier Hospital | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon slips out news that parking charges are suspended

Motorists can park their vehicles on the street free of charge – not that they are supposed to be using them

Our motoring correspondent, JEREMY CLACKSON, on another unheralded move by the council for the covid-19 emergency period

The council, lagging some days behind neighbouring local authorities, has decided to make all on-street parking free of charge for the duration of the coronavirus emergency.

Not that the council’s propaganda department has made a big deal of this important development: the decision has been barely publicised and is only included as a note posted among other matters on the council’s coronavirus page. The decision was made on Friday; by lunchtime on Monday, the council had issued no press release on this latest emergency measure. Continue reading

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Alderman Adrian Dennis, who scolded ‘Lord Tea Bag’, has died

Adrian Dennis, the former Labour councillor, a Freeman of the Borough and Honorary Alderman, has died. He was 67.

Adrian Dennis

Dennis was one of three councillors to take the Thornton Heath ward in 1986 from the Ratepayers’ Alliance, a grouping with barely disguised links to the Conservatives, as he helped his party recover from the low of just five council seats in Croydon in 1982.

Dennis continued to serve the ward as its councillor until 2006, when he was de-selected by Labour in controversial circumstances.

But he maintained a close interest in the borough’s and his party’s affairs and continued to give of his time tirelessly, being a high-profile advocate for disability issues through the Disability Forum. He also played a significant role in CACFO, the Croydon African Caribbean Family Organisation in Thornton Heath.

He also had a talent for devising acerbic monikers for the rich and powerful, such as when he got into hot water for calling Sir Stuart Lipton “Lord Tea Bag” in internal Labour briefings which were leaked to the press, something which was not appreciated by his party colleagues. It may go some way to explain his on-going support for the reporting by Inside Croydon, for whom  he was a regular commenter and occasional contributor.

Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Matthew Kyeremeh, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Residents on high alert to keep check on planning applications

BARRATT HOLMES, our overdevelopment correspondent, on the 9-9-9 emergency for some roads in the south of the borough

The five-storey block of flats proposed for Hyde Road

Last week’s decision to delegate all planning decisions to council officials, removing even a vestige of cover offered by the planning committee of elected councillors, has seen residents’ associations across the borough place their own experts on high alert to see what hideous schemes from profit-hungry private developers might get pushed through during the coronavirus emergency with little public scrutiny.

A planning application has been submitted to build nine flats at 89 Hyde Road, Sanderstead. This is opposite 98 Hyde Road, which was one of the first houses to go, back in 2017, at the start of what one councillor on the planning committee has described as our “9-9-9 emergency”.

Developers know only too well that if they propose to develop a site with 10 or more homes, then they will be expected to include some less-profitable affordable housing within their development. A block of nine flats? No such requirements. Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Housing, Planning, Property, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Sanderstead | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Town Hall’s empty promises to business misses out vital grants

Not much fun: it’s nearly two weeks since pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants were ordered to close – with the shutters coming down on many town centre businesses, such as the Funhouse

There’s a lot more help available out there for businesses hit by the pandemic emergency than the council is letting on, reports KEN LEE

Businesses seeking support from Croydon Council during the covid-19 pandemic will find the Town Hall shelves as bare as many supermarket shelves.

The council’s response to the crisis for the small and medium-sized businesses in the borough was laid out in a press release on Friday from the Fisher’s Folly propaganda department.

Even by Croydon standards, this was a high water-mark for platitudinous piffle. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon BID, Croydon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Croydon Council, Croydon FSB, Manju Shahul Hameed, Purley BID | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Residents’ association issues apology for ‘Chinese virus’ tweet

Our south of the borough correspondent, PEARL LEE, reports on how a Tory-backed group in Coulsdon has cause to regret handing its social media account over to a far-right agitator

Peter Morgan: thought to have written racist tweet on behalf of his RA

The Coulsdon West Residents’ Association, only reformed recently with the help of their local Conservative councillors, was forced into issuing a hurried apology yesterday after tweets issued on their account used the Trumpian – and racist – phrase “the Chinese flu virus”.

According to the CWRA’s chair, the person responsible has been issued with a reprimand.

It is understood that CWRA had handed the passwords and some responsibility for handling their Twitter account to Peter Morgan, who is notorious as a far-right campaigner and sometime member of UKIP. Morgan’s views were so abhorrent, the Croydon branch of UKIP was forced to expel him. Morgan has now been embraced by the Conservative Party in Croydon. Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, Ian Parker, Luke Clancy, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Ten top tips to help do your bit during the covid-19 emergency

After more than a week of the coronavirus lockdown, we’ve probably all got more time on our (very well-washed) hands than we know what to do with. Here, Croydon teacher and volunteer ROWENNA DAVIS (pictured left) offers some suggestions about how to cope in the crisis

Many of you will already be helping deal with the coronavirus emergency in some way, whether it’s caring for an elderly relative, occupying your children with activities that stop them trashing the house, or by waving to your neighbours.

But, if you’re lucky enough to have a little more space, here are 10 ways you can help your community:

Our NHS is under massive strain at this time. Don’t add to it

1, Follow. The. Guidance. There’s no point playing the hero if you’re simultaneously infecting people and so overloading the NHS. The reason we’ve pressed pause on our entire economy is because isolation saves lives. So before you do anything beyond washing your hands at home alone, read about how to help safely at Mutual Aid UK, or Queer by clicking here.

2, Check on neighbours and old friends. You’re not being patronising. This crisis is unprecedented. So, go through your address book, your old Facebook contacts – is there anyone worth checking on? Someone isolated or disabled or cut off? Starting with people you know is the safest way to help because there’s a relationship of trust already there. Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Community associations, Croydon Nightwatch, CVA, Health, Rowenna Davis | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Council mobilises volunteers to deliver support to the needy

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on the latest special measures being taken by Mint Walk to deal with the covid-19 emergency

The Town Hall is taking on emergency responsibilities

Croydon Council took on a key emergency responsibility yesterday as the coronavirus emergency lockdown entered its second week.

After being ordered by the government to get all the homeless off the streets this weekend, the council has also opened local hubs in conjunction with public sector partners, Croydon Voluntary Action and the battalion of new volunteers to help to deliver food and medical supplies to older and vulnerable residents.

Those due to receive the support should have received a letter from the NHS in the last week. The local hubs, whose locations have not yet been publicised, will also give advice about where to tap in to covid-19 related medical services. Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, CVA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council ordered to use public buildings as emergency shelters

Parts of the Fairfield Halls, the borough’s leisure centres and even Fisher’s Folly could be transformed over the weekend into emergency shelters for rough sleepers, under the latest government edict in an effort to limit the spread of the deadly covid-19 virus.

Could the council turn the Fairfield Halls into an emergency shelter this weekend?

The news came on the day that Gatwick Airport announced it is to close its North Terminal from next week, and followed the worst day yet for deaths of patients with coronavirus at Croydon’s Mayday Hospital.

Councils across England and Wales, including Croydon, have received a notification telling them “communal night shelters and any street encampments” must be “closed down for the time being” as they are “high-risk” for spreading covid-19.

Dame Louise Casey, an adviser on homelessness to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said the aim is that “everybody can have an offer of accommodation by this weekend”. Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Croydon NHS Trust, Fairfield Halls, Health, Mayday Hospital | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brick by Brick CEO says company has sold 6 houses. Or is it 5?

Our overdevelopment correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, reports on the latest admission of incompetence from Croydon Council’s loss-making house-builders

Brick by Brick CEO Colm Lacey: not on top of his numbers

Five.

Or it might be six.

Colm Lacey, the former council employee who has been promoted way beyond his skills and abilities to be chief executive of a multi-million-pound development company, said he didn’t know how many houses his business had sold.

“I don’t know,” Lacey said.

“You’d be surprised how quickly this changes,” he said, almost as an excuse. Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Leila Ben-Hassel, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Season’s abrupt end leaves clubs uncertain over promotion

NON-LEAGUE NEWS: It was inevitable, but when the end of the season was announced, abruptly, on Tuesday, there was dismay and some shock among our local clubs, as ANDREW SINCLAIR, right, reports

The decision was announced on Tuesday, with all leagues below England’s “fifth division”, the National League, are ending their seasons with immediate effect amid the continuing suspension of domestic football because of the coronavirus.

The final games for most sides were played on March 7, with the National League divisions also running on March 14. With most leagues’ fixtures not completed, the FA Leagues Committee has to make a tough decision. They appear to have two options. The first is to render the 2019-2020 campaign “null and void”, with all divisions remaining the same as back in August 2019 when the next season starts – whenever that might be. Or they could determine final standings for 2019-2020, and all promotion and relegation issues, using what’s called “points per game”. Continue reading

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At 8pm show NHS your support with minute’s warm applause

JANE NICHOLL reports from South Norwood where covid-19 mutual aid groups have found a way for a daily break from the isolation, and to helpfully check on the neighbours

Joe, at the window, Lil, baby Vinny, and Ted the cat in yesterday’s noon Wave To The Neighbours

It’s a little bit like Network, the 1976 Peter Finch dystopian movie, but seems to have nothing but the best of intentions.

There’s a national call for us all, in the middle of the coronavirus lockdown, to go to our windows at 8pm tonight, open them up and for a minute or so give some warm applause to show our support for the NHS and other emergency services staff. In the weeks, or months, to come, it could become a “thing”.

In one corner of South Norwood, the community has already been finding ways of coming together, though without, of course, breaking the two-metre exclusion zone rules.

As we are now needing to find ways to alleviate our feelings of isolation during self-isolation, communities are becoming imaginative in their ways of dealing with this global crisis. Continue reading

Posted in Health, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Pay Your Staff: Disgusted locals send Spoons a message

Pay Your Staff: The Postal Order pub underwent some dramatic redecorating on Tuesday night

No one would be foolish enough to suggest that Wetherspoons’ climbdown yesterday over paying their workers was prompted by it, but some people in Crystal Palace made what they think of the odious Tim Martin plain on Tuesday night as they daubed his pub on the Triangle with a couple of direct messages.

Martin’s influence on this nation’s life over the past four years has been disproportionate to his place in society, and the public outcry this week was massive when the multi-millionaire pub chain owner declared that he would not be paying his staff for the duration of the coronavirus lockdown. Instead, he suggested helpfully, they should seek work as shelf-stackers with local supermarkets. Such a nice chap. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Pubs | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Powers to be delegated as council cancels planning meetings

Croydon Council has finally caught up with the advice from the government and public health organisations over the coronavirus pandemic and cancelled all Town Hall public meetings “until further notice”.

The council has belatedly decided to cancel all public meetings at the Town Hall

Even at the start of this week, Jo “We’re Not Stupid” Negrini, the council’s £220,000 per year chief executive, still had a planning committee and sub-committee meeting listed on the council website as going ahead tomorrow evening.

Not now.

But it means that Croydon residents may soon discover that there is one thing worse than the council’s planning committee, and that’s no planning committee. Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Planning | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The latest Croydon carbuncle: Riddlesdown’s own glasshouse

The latest Croydon carbuncle: this one is an architect’s take on a block of 18 flats proposed for Mitchley Avenue

Another day, another Croydon carbuncle.

This time it is a block of 18 flats in a gargantuan five-storey block plonked between the suburban detached houses of Mitchley Avenue, Riddlesdown, as proposed by Vita Homes. Continue reading

Posted in Housing, Planning, Sanderstead | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments