Pay Your Staff: Disgusted locals send Spoons a message

Posted on March 26, 2020 by insidecroydon

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

Posted on March 25, 2020 by insidecroydon

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

Posted on March 25, 2020 by insidecroydon

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

Culture deals with covid-19 without making a song and dance

Posted on March 24, 2020 by insidecroydon

The sense of doom and gloom caused by the covid-19 pandemic had well and truly taken hold of London by the middle of last week. There was a dark humour about the place reflected by the public address system at Victoria Tube station playing “Ghost Town” by The Specials to the significantly reduced number of commuters who were scuttling away to catch the next train home.

The Fairfield Halls: closed again, and like last time, no one knows for how long

Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday last week, there had been a steady cascade of announcements from community arts groups, orchestras, choirs and sports clubs about the postponement or cancellation of long-planned events.

It seemed that community groups had taken on board the necessity for avoiding having people gathered together to prevent the spread of coronavirus better than Croydon Council, or the management of the Fairfield Halls.

For while much of the West End was turning out the lights and cancelling productions for the foreseeable, south London’s second-biggest arts centre dithered and delayed, and was still taking bookings for some of its shows as late as last Wednesday night, a day after the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had called on theatres and concert venues to close. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Cinema, Croydon Bach Choir, Croydon Male Voice Choir, Croydon Philharmonic Choir, David Lean Cinema Campaign, Fairfield Halls, Music, Talawa Theatre Company, Theatre, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Delays, postponements and cancellations become a new art

Posted on March 24, 2020 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s turn to be London’s Borough of Culture in 2023 remains unchanged. For now.

Justine Simons at the launch event for Brent’s Borough of Culture – now put back a year

But if they can postpone the Olympic Games, as the Prime Minister of Japan requested today, then anything can fall victim to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Mayor of London announced today that Brent, the nominated Borough of Culture for 2020, is to “delay” its festivities until later in 2020, with the Kilburn High Street Party and Liberty Festival now to go ahead in the summer of 2021.

Much of Brent’s plans revolved around football’s European Championships, with key matches to be played at Wembley. UEFA, the European football body, took the decision earlier this month to postpone those fixtures until 2021.

Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Borough of Culture 2023 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council finally decides to cancel cabinet and Town Hall meeting

Posted on March 23, 2020 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council has cancelled tonight’s planned cabinet meeting at the Town Hall and has scrapped the full meeting of the borough’s 70 councillors that was due to be held in the chamber next Monday, as council execs slowly get round to recognising the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision to abandon these “public meetings” – to which the public would not be allowed entry – came belatedly, with the decision not to go ahead with tonight’s cabinet only circulated to councillors this morning.

In a curt email from chief executive Jo Negrini’s democratic services department, they told the borough’s elected representatives, “In light of the current situation the meeting of Cabinet scheduled for Monday, 23rd March, 2020, 6.30pm has been cancelled.”

Of course, anyone with access to the internet, television, radio or newspapers will have known that “the current situation” has been “current” for more than two weeks. Except in Croydon, it would seem.

The decision not to go ahead with next Monday’s full council meeting was noted as being a “cross-party decision”. Continue reading →

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Cycling, Jo Negrini, Planning, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Justice junior minister tests data law in call for volunteers

Posted on March 23, 2020 by insidecroydon

Chris Philp, the Tory MP for Croydon South, sent out a pandemic emergency email to his constituents last week which provided contradictory advice and bends data protection laws to breaking point, as PEARL LEE reports

MP Chris Philp: mixed message and some dodgy data practices

Chris Philp, the MP for Croydon South, on Friday evening became the latest of the borough’s three MPs to issue constituency-wide advice and attempt to help coordinate efforts during the covid-19 emergency.

But the email from Philp – a junior minister at the Ministry of Justice in the Conservative Government – includes links to a data-scraping form which may even be breaking the law.

Despite reminding residents that “we need to work together”, unlike Labour MPs Steve Reed and Sarah Jones, Philp’s public plea for volunteers appears to ignore Croydon Voluntary Action, the council-backed charities group which is trying to put together a borough-wide response.

Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, CVA, Mario Creatura, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Community housing trust awards pupils prizes for new logo

Posted on March 23, 2020 by insidecroydon

Back in the good old days – you may remember them when kids went to school, adults went down the pub, and you could buy an almost inexhaustible supply of bog roll in the shops – some people were making plans for their futures.

Competition entrants from All Saints School

So it was for the Crystal Palace Community Land Trust, the organisation which in 2019 won a competition run by the council for a 100 per cent affordable self-build housing project on a site on The Lawns. The scheme is to be project-managed by Brick by Brick… well, you can’t have everything.

As part of CPCLT’s outreach with the community, they staged a competition of their own, with the Year 6 pupils at All Saints Primary School to design a logo for its scheme. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Community associations, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, Housing, Schools, Stephen Mann | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘Business as usual’ at Town Hall as four councillors self-isolate

Posted on March 22, 2020 by insidecroydon

KEN LEE reports – from a safe distance – on the mixed messages put out by Newman and Negrini over the covid-19 pandemic

At least four of Croydon’s elected councillors have quarantined themselves after displaying symptoms or being in contact with someone else suspected of having the coronavirus.

Inside Croydon understands that one of the councillors who has been in self-isolation for the past fortnight or so after showing some symptoms of the illness is Paul Scott, the cabinet member for planning and the controversial de facto chair of the planning committee.

And yet Croydon Council appears determined to continue with staging public meetings at the Town Hall, with a cabinet meeting (oh the irony) to discuss measures being taken to contain and treat the coronavirus still due to go ahead tomorrow night. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Health, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Planning, Toni Letts, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Institute member Townsend promoted as new chief planner

Posted on March 21, 2020 by insidecroydon

Nicola Townsend is the council’s new chief planner.

Nicola Townsend: new job, juicy new salary

Except she’s not.

She’s been appointed as something which is described in council papers as Croydon’s “director of homes and social investment”.

The council opted for an internal promotion to replace the retiring, and not entirely lamented, Pete Smith.

Townsend has worked at Croydon Council since the last century (she did some planning for Tramlink), and has held a senior position in the North planning team – which means she will have had a major hand in discussions and negotiations over the now-aborted £1.4billion Westfield supermall scheme.

As a result of her promotion, Townsend will get a near-£30,000 pay hike, as she goes from being one of the borough’s two “planning team leaders”, to her new director role on £109,140 per year. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Nicola Townsend, Pete Smith, Planning, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council goes into covid-19 lockdown as it closes its offices

Posted on March 21, 2020 by insidecroydon

Council buildings across the borough were shut at close to no-notice yesterday, as Croydon went on a coronavirus lockdown.

All council buildings closed their doors yesterday – before the council announced it

The council propaganda department made the announcement hours after Inside Croydon had revealed plans to close the borough’s 12 public libraries.

The council decision came on the same day that the government ordered the closure of pubs, bars, restaurants and cafés, after its previous appeals for the public to practice social distancing to reduce the spread of the virus had not been entirely successful.

Now, the Museum of Croydon and the buildings that house the CALAT adult education centres have also closed for what the council describes as “the foreseeable future”. The government had ordered the closure of all schools and colleges earlier in the week.

The council has also shut down its Access Croydon enquiry centre in the council headquarters building, Fisher’s Folly, with emergency queries and credit union emergencies the only exceptions. The DWP’s JobCentre Plus operation is moving its staff from Access Croydon into its other office next door in Mint Walk. Continue reading →

Posted in CALAT, Croydon Council, Health, Libraries | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Sainsbury’s joins with charities to help Selsdon Food Hub

Posted on March 21, 2020 by insidecroydon

Charities, community groups and businesses in Selsdon and Monks Hill have teamed up during the coronavirus emergency to provide shopping to the most vulnerable residents living in the area.

The Selsdon Food Hub is open for donations and offers of volunteer help

The groups include Selsdon Contact, a registered charity which has been established in the area for almost half a century, plus the Selsdon Centre for the Retired, Vintage 62, the Monks Hill Food Stop, some local churches, GP surgeries and Sainsbury’s.

But the group’s hopes of opening a café to act as a community hub during the quarantine period have been put on hold, following the government directive last night to close all pubs, bars and restaurants. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Stranack, Business, Charity, Church and religions, Community associations, Selsdon & Ballards | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

TV expert slams ‘tricky art dealer’ and ‘gullible’ council leader

Posted on March 20, 2020 by insidecroydon

Our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on some withering criticism of the borough’s street art from a leading social commentator

Jonathan Meades: has made some scathing criticism of Croydon’s ‘crass’ street art

Jonathan Meades, the widely respected commentator, has called Croydon Council leader Tony Newman “laughably gullible” and described the street art which has been paid for by the local council as “crass”.

Meades made the remarks in a letter to Private Eye, the fortnightly satirical magazine, after it reported that the television film-maker had reason to pursue Croydon-based art dealer Kevin Zuchowski-Morrison for the return of some artworks he owns.

Zuchowski-Morrison is a former bankrupt who previously ran the Rise Gallery on St George’s Walk, from where he used tens of thousands of pounds from the council to commission various artists to paint murals on the sides of buildings around the town centre.

Council chief exec Jo “We’re Not Stupid” Negrini regularly wheeled out Zuchowski-Morrison at public events, in this country and abroad, in an effort to “artwash” the borough’s regeneration projects. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Business, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Rise Gallery, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council in appeal to private landlords to offer rent holidays

Posted on March 20, 2020 by insidecroydon

Days after other councils in London stepped in to demand that private landlords offer rent breaks and financial help to their tenants affected by the covid-19 pandemic, Croydon has stepped in to do the same.

Yesterday, the council issued a press release stating that it has written to the landlords of more than 35,000 privately rented properties in the borough, recommending they offer either rental holidays or short-term reductions for those tenants who are at risk of homelessness because of coronavirus affecting the economy.

Without government legislation, the request is simply that – a request – but given the severity of the emergency, the hope is that landlords may take a long view. The government has put in place the opportunity for property owners – including private landlords – to get a three-month mortgage holiday during the emergency, and Croydon and other councils are hopeful that enlightened landlords will pass on the benefits of this to their tenants through their rentbooks. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Health, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon to close public libraries during coronavirus outbreak

Posted on March 20, 2020 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: KEN LEE, our Town Hall correspondent, reports on a move which some of the borough’s librarians called for a fortnight ago

The 12 libraries run by Croydon Council will close their doors for a final time tonight, with no plans to re-open them again until the coronavirus pandemic has been declared over.

The council’s librarians have been anxious about the possible effects on their own health, and those who use the libraries since the emergency was declared more than two weeks ago.

The fear of passing on the virus either through contact in the public areas or even through returned books has been a constant concern. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Libraries | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Labour MPs step in to help co-ordinate emergency volunteering

Posted on March 20, 2020 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s Labour MPs are working with council agency Croydon Voluntary Action to help recruit volunteers, collect donations for food banks and offer support to those that need it during the coronavirus emergency.

Some people predicted an apocalypse

With the sudden emergence of a wide range of volunteer groups, set-up through Facebook pages, NextDoor or other social media platforms, CVA is providing some coordination so that the resources that these street-by-street groups can offer is directed at those where the need is greatest.

The website of Croydon North MP Steve Reed has set up a dedicated page for people to help the community during the outbreak, including an interactive map showing street and neighbourhood self-help groups who have logged in to the system.

“If you or anyone you know in Croydon North needs help or advice about coronavirus or are in difficulty because of the current situation, Croydon Voluntary Action has set up a helpline on 020 8253 7076,” the site says. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, CVA, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wot? No eggs? War-time rationing hits Addiscombe’s stores

Posted on March 19, 2020 by insidecroydon

“Armageddon! Ahm a getting outta here!” was once a gag in a Carry On film. But KEN TOWL, right, has opted to keep calm and carry on as he shopped around Addiscombe as the coronavirus shut-down begins to bite

The only eggs in the Addiscombe Co-op were Easter eggs.

I had seen the pictures of assertive shoppers queueing outside supermarkets and heard all the stories about stock-piling of toilet rolls, but I was not prepared for this.

There is fresh produce to be had if you know where to shop…

I could not find eggs or pretty much anything else I wanted. There was no bread, no pasta, hardly any meat and precious few fruit and vegetables. And of course no toilet paper, not for love nor money, as Oscar Wilde would no doubt have said.

There was a sign up on one of the shelves, the one where the toilet rolls used to be. The Co-op was being responsible, it told us. Customers were limited to not two but just one of a list of popular products. Very virtuous. The trouble was that there were none of any of these products anywhere in the store. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Business, Croydon North, Ken Towl, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nightwatch charity appeal for volunteers in covid-19 crisis

Posted on March 19, 2020 by insidecroydon

Croydon Nightwatch, the borough’s longest-established homelessness charity, has put out an emergency appeal for extra volunteers during the coronavirus crisis, to help maintain their nightly soup kitchen in Queen’s Gardens and other services for the homeless and working poor.

Nightwatch need volunteers to help at their nightly soup kitchen in the town centre

In a message to their supporters and donors this week, Nightwatch said, “Nightwatch is facing particular challenges over the covid-19 epidemic because many of our volunteers are over 70 or have underlying medical conditions and are being advised to self-isolate.

“This puts more pressure on the rest of us to provide our essential service for the homeless and other vulnerable people in Croydon we support.” Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Croydon Nightwatch, Jad Adams | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Carshalton Ponds Frost Fair, Honeywood Museum, Dec 5

Posted on March 19, 2020 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Honeywood Museum | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Estate agents’ report highlights the crisis in Croydon housing

Posted on March 18, 2020 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES, our overdevelopment correspondent, on  a report from housing experts which shows how the council has been ignoring its own planning policies, to the detriment of neighbourhoods around the borough

The large houses and gardens in Wyvern Road are the latest targets for profit-hungry developers

As the borough’s residents’ associations go to battle with the council planning department over what they see as an over-intensification of their neighbourhoods through the development of blocks of flats where once stood family houses, the stock response from Councillor Paul Scott, the domineering figure at planning meetings is always, “There’s a housing crisis.”

Yet a report submitted to the council’s planners on behalf of developers eager to make humungous profits from buying up a family house and turning it into nine homes nails the lie in Scott’s position.

Because according to West End estate agents Savills, in fact there’s a house crisis in Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Paul Scott, Planning, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Purley Way | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coulsdon history to be commemorated with Cane Hill sun dial

Posted on March 18, 2020 by insidecroydon

Artist Holly Graham, right, talks sundials with Peter Ransom as part of her Cane Hill project

Artist Holly Graham has been commissioned by housebuilders Barratts to create a piece of art to commemorate Cane Hill Hospital, the site on which their Cane Hill Park development has been built in Coulsdon.

Honouring the history of the clock tower that stood pride of place at Cane Hill Hospital, the art piece will take the form of a sundial which will be located in the centre of the 750-home development. Continue reading →

Posted in Cane Hill, Coulsdon, History, Property | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sunday Funday, Honeywood Museum, Carshalton, Jul 19

Posted on March 18, 2020 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Honeywood Museum | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Labour MP questions conflicts over Brick by Brick planning

Posted on March 17, 2020 by insidecroydon

Our overdevelopment correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on how the council’s loss-making home-builders are receiving criticism from an unlikely source

MP Steve Reed: questioning how Brick by Brick gets some schemes through the planning system

Steve Reed, the Labour MP for Croydon North, has joined the growing number of voices critical of the council-owned, loss-making developer Brick by Brick.

Reed has backed residents in Upper Norwood who have voiced their dismay that the council-backed firm has proposed to build a 13-storey block between two existing towers close to Westow Park.

And in doing so, Reed has openly questioned the blatant conflict of interest in the council’s planning system over Brick by Brick schemes.

Antagonism from existing communities who have had Brick by Brick schemes imposed upon them has seen the company’s sales office in George Street subject to a weekly picket, while hundreds of residents have joined forces in New Addington to object to schemes there. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Paul Scott, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Negrini orders staff to work at council offices despite pandemic

Posted on March 17, 2020 by insidecroydon

Questions are being asked among council staff about the authority’s preparedness to operate in the Covid-19 emergency after their chief executive ordered them to work in the office, as KEN LEE reports

Are those hands properly washed? Council CEO Jo Negrini

Jo Negrini, Croydon Council’s £220,000 per year chief executive, has ordered staff to carry on working normally in the council offices through the coronavirus emergency.

“Staff are advised to come into work as normal and continue to observe good office hygiene,” she wrote in an email distributed around Fisher’s Folly late yesterday.

This came after the government issued revised advice, leading to the closing of most theatres, restaurants, pubs and clubs and the wholesale abandonment of any larger public gatherings, such as sports events, in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus.

But for Negrini, council staff appear to have some immunity from infection and should report to Fisher’s Folly as usual, to hot-desk their way through the working day. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Neil Williams | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Neighbours rally round to help in coronavirus emergency

Posted on March 16, 2020 by insidecroydon

As supermarkets decide to ration some products in their stores after panic-buying over the weekend, and the first Croydon school announces a partial closure, meanwhile hundreds of good neighbours have been mobilising to help others through the pandemic crisis, as PEARL LEE reports

Residents from across Croydon spent time over the weekend organising neighbourhood help groups to try to tackle some of the impact of the coronavirus emergency, as increasing numbers opt to “self-isolate” to try to avoid the risk of infection or of spreading the virus.

Heeding, perhaps, the rallying call of MP Sarah Jones, who called on people “to prepare, not to panic”, Covid-19 mutual aid groups have been created, using Facebook and other social media platforms, in Norwood Junction, New Addington and across Addiscombe, as well as elsewhere. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Business, Community associations, Coombe Wood School, Fairfield Halls, Health, Mayday Hospital, Schools, St Helier Hospital | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment