Brick by Brick imposed on community housing projects

Posted on February 14, 2019 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, on another source of funding to build homes, which in Croydon risks being hijacked by the council’s failing house-builder

A chunk of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s community housing fund could end up with Brick by Brick

Croydon Council has made what one of the Labour-run council leadership has called “an ambitious pledge” for the grand total of up to five – Yes! Five! – community-led housing initiatives in the borough, as it tries to get its hands on some part of the £38million fund which the Mayor of London has made available for such schemes.

But in Croydon, any community which decides it wants to build a housing scheme will have to do so with the “expertise” and “support” of Brick by Brick, according to Alison Butler, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for building private housing.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced the London Community Housing Fund last month, when it was described by some in the housing sector as “the most significant investment in community led housing in a generation”. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Paul Scott, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

BINMAGEDDON!: Sutton is worst borough for bin complaints

Posted on February 14, 2019 by insidecroydon

Our Sutton reporter BELLE MONT on how the council has confirmed our report about the ailing LibDem councillor, and how the council leader’s efforts to mislead over its rubbish service have been exposed

Sutton’s Liberal Democrats have organised a council by-election for March 28 – the day before Britain exits the European Union.

The by-election date has been arranged in the hope that Brexit will somehow distract residents in Wallington North ward from the Council Tax hike in April of 5.8 per cent (including the Mayor of London’s precept), the growing row over charges for street parking, and the imminent full operation of the nearby Beddington incinerator.

Inside Sutton this week revealed exclusively the impending by-election, which has been brought about by the long-term indisposition of LibDem councillor Joyce Melican, who has been absent from all council meetings for more than six months, following a stroke. Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, London-wide issues, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Veolia, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Six-time loser Gunter is Tories’ choice for Norbury by-election

Posted on February 14, 2019 by insidecroydon

Tirena Gunter was selected last night by Croydon Conservatives as their candidate in the Norbury and Pollards Hill by-election being held on March 14.

Tirena Gunter: has volunteered to lose another election for the Tories

The by-election has been called following the death last month of long-standing Labour councillor Maggie Mansell.

Labour is staging its selection meeting tonight.

Gunter, who lives in Norbury, is the Tories’ go-to candidate for elections in the north of the borough. This will be her seventh time as a candidate, having lost on the previous six occasions.

Two of Gunter’s previous campaigns have been in Norbury, in 2006 and 2014. She stood in South Norwood in last year’s Town Hall elections, in Selhurst in its by-election in 2015, and before that she had been a candidate in Upper Norwood in 2002 and 2010.

The last time Gunter contested Norbury ward, five years ago, she polled 1,045 votes, 25 per cent of the vote, making her the leading Conservative candidate, but still with less than half of the number votes for the Labour candidates who were elected, including the late Maggie Mansell.

It has been suggested by sources close to Croydon Tories that Gunter may have been selected this time from a very short shortlist, of one.

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Downing Street orders checks on Barwell’s Croydon cronies

Posted on February 14, 2019 by insidecroydon

Our political editor WALTER CRONXITE on a report which suggest that the mates of the Prime Minister’s chief of staff are being put under pressure

Jason Cummings and Gavin Barwell, before one got the other one a job in Downing Street

Helen MacNamara, the head of ethics at the Cabinet Office, has written to every government Special Advisor working in Downing Street asking them to submit their Curriculum Vitae.

Steven Swinford, the deputy political editor of the Daily Torygraph, tweeted about this last night, taking a bit of a leap to suggest that it is the latest move by Theresa Mayhem’s government to get ready for a post-Brexit General Election.

“It’s being presented as an HR exercise to address issues around conditions and pay,” Swinford notes.

“But SPADs fear something else is going on.

“Is government gearing up for another election?” Swinford asked.

Our mole in Portcullis House suggests that there is another very good reason, however. Continue reading →

Posted in Gavin Barwell, Jason Cummings, Mario Creatura, Nero Ughwujabo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fears for mall increase as Hammerson takes a hammering

Posted on February 13, 2019 by insidecroydon

Our retailing correspondent, MT WALLETTE, on how the plunging share price for half of the so-called ‘Croydon Partnership’ could see the redevelopment of the town centre postponed … permanently

Hammerson operate the Bullring centre in Birmingham. Their shares are now in a bear market on the stock exchange

The stock market is becoming increasingly nervous about the valuation of one of the major players in the long-promised regeneration of Croydon town centre, to the extent that there is a growing fear that one half of the “Croydon Partnership” could be forced to pull the plug on the £1.4billion project.

Much of the focus on the redevelopment of the increasingly dilapidated Whitgift Centre has so far been on developer Westfield and their plans for the supermall, which was first revealed in 2012 but is now running at least six years late on its original 2017 completion date.

However, it is the falling share price of Hammerson, the mall operators who own Centrale and who are the other half of the Croydon Partnership, where the biggest worries for the future of the “Hammersfield” project now lie.

This ought to be of growing concern to Jo “We’re Not Stupid” Negrini, the council chief executive, and council leader Tony Newman, who between them have invested so much council time, and money, on the wet dream that is Hammersfield, but who now risk the Town Hall being left with nothing to show for the extravagant scheme. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Messiah, East Surrey Choral Society, Coulsdon, Apr 13

Posted on February 13, 2019 by insidecroydon

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Palace For Life Foundation football talent day, Apr 20

Posted on February 13, 2019 by insidecroydon

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Friends of Lloyd Park guided history walk, Feb 17

Posted on February 13, 2019 by insidecroydon

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South London Sinfonia Sweet Harmony, Addiscombe, Mar 9

Posted on February 13, 2019 by insidecroydon

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BINMAGEDDON!: The six-month saga to get one bin changed

Posted on February 12, 2019 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: We appear to have a new version of the ‘how many people does it take to change a light-bulb’ gag here in Croydon… Only this one, inevitably, involves the bins.
From the recent experience of KEN TOWL, pictured, it takes 15 people, including Town Hall cabinet members, councillors, council staff, contractors and housing association workers, between them taking more than six months and involving nearly 40 emails.
All to change one bin.
We promise, none of this has been made up…

On August 3 last year, sick of the ever-worsening summer stench of rotting rubbish, the growing rat population and the lack of opportunity to recycle at Pavement Square, in Addiscombe, I sent an email to Stuart Collins, the deputy leader of Croydon Council, as he had invited me to do a few days earlier.

Speaking at a Labour Party meeting, Collins had set out the council’s aspirations for an increase in recycling across the borough. He suggested that the council needed to educate residents to recycle more. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Croydon Council, Environment, Ken Towl, Maddie Henson, Refuse collection, Steve Iles, Stuart Collins, Tom Lawrence, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Councillor’s six-month absence triggers Wallington by-election

Posted on February 12, 2019 by insidecroydon

Our Sutton staff reporter, BERTIE WORCESTER-PARK, on the latest set-back for the council’s Liberal Democrats

Joyce Melican: unwell

Sutton Council seems set for another councillor by-election, this time in Wallington North.

Liberal Democrat councillor Joyce Melican has been absent from all council business since August, after she suffered a stroke while visiting family in Germany. Melican’s recovery has been slower than had been hoped, and it is understood that she has stayed in Hamburg for her recuperation.

Her council leader, Ruth Dombey, nominated Melican as chair of the Beddington and Wallington local committee, a position which is accompanied by an additional £10,000 per year in councillor allowances for running three meetings a year. Melican last attended the local committee in July last year.

Council rules demand that if a councillor is absent from their duties for six months, then their position is forfeit. This is the rule which was nearly invoked in the case of Callum Morton, the former aide to MP Tom Brake who went off to work for another Liberal Democrat MP in the West Country and ended up training to become a cage fighter… Continue reading →

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Teacher Stevens hits the right notes with Norbury Manor choir

Posted on February 12, 2019 by insidecroydon

Norbury Manor music teacher Emma Stevens was last week named Inspirational Teacher of the Year at the Jack Petchey Foundation Awards, staged by the Evening Standard.

Emma Stevens receives her trophy, accompanied by Norbury Manor’s head, Amanda Compton, with education secretary Damian Hinds and Gideon Osborne (right)

Stevens leads the school choirs at Norbury Manor, which in the recent past have performed at the Royal Albert Hall and toured in Barcelona.

Former members of the Norbury Manor school choir who have been taught by Stevens include Grammy nominee and Coldplay support act Lianne La Havas, as well as Roxanne Tataei – “Rox”.

Stevens was presented with the award, together with a cheque for £1,000, by the Education Secretary, Damien Hinds, and Gideon Osborne, the “editor” of the Standard. Continue reading →

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Wetherspoons pub forced to have ‘deep clean’ after staff illness

Posted on February 12, 2019 by insidecroydon

One of Croydon’s biggest pubs, the Skylark on South End, has been forced to close for 48 hours to undergo an urgent “deep clean” following an outbreak of illness among its staff.

The Skylark: undergoing a deep clean

The Wetherspoons pub was supposed to host a Brexit lecture from the company’s founder, Tim Martin, recently, though sources say that the idea of the florid-faced Martin visiting is not believed to have caused the delayed onset of puking that befell the pub’s staff. The shutters went up on Monday, with a Wetherspoons spokesman teling Inside Croydon today that they expect the pub to re-open tomorrow. Continue reading →

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Twycross is fourth Labour Assembly Member to stand down

Posted on February 12, 2019 by insidecroydon

Selections for next year’s London elections could have a Scandi-noir messy ending for some. WALTER CRONXITE on the latest to announce their departure from the capital’s political stage

Standing down: Fiona Twycross

Fiona Twycross, the London Assembly Member, last night announced that she would not be seeking selection by the Labour Party to stand for re-election to City Hall in 2020.

Twycross, who lives in Croydon, is the fourth Labour AM to announce their intention to stand down next year, with a fifth City Hall figure expected to announce a decision to decline re-selection, too, soon.

Twycross holds a PhD in Scandinavian literature. Such familiarity with Scandi-noir plot lines may have prepared her for the possibility that there could be a messy ending, as the London Labour Party gears itself up for its first selection process for City Hall elections since Jeremy Corbyn became party leader. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Dismore, Fiona Twycross, London Assembly, London Fire Brigade, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Build delays will keep Coombe Wood in cabins for another year

Posted on February 11, 2019 by insidecroydon

Our education correspondent, GENE BRODIE, on the slow progress at Croydon’s new selective school

Sign of the times: planning notices have gone up because Coombe Wood School needs more Portakabins

South Croydon residents were shocked last week when street notices appeared, followed by letters through their doors, announcing an unexpected new planning application not only to retain the present Portakabin school off Coombe Road, but to double its size to house another 180 pupils arriving in September.

Coombe Wood School is run by the Folio Trust, an academy chain based at Wallington County Grammar School for Boys. It opened to its first Year 7 intake in temporary accommodation six months ago on what was previously Green Belt playing fields, opposite Lloyd Park. Coombe Wood operates on a part-selective basis, with 10 per cent of its intake chosen based on their sporting aptitude.

Folio Trust is the happy recipient of a £30million building programme at Coombe Wood. But delays in building the first stage of the permanent school mean it will not be ready in September as planned. Continue reading →

Posted in Coombe Wood School, Croydon Council, Environment, Lloyd Park, Planning, Schools, South Croydon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mayor announces tag trial for knife crime offenders in Croydon

Posted on February 11, 2019 by insidecroydon

Knife crime and other violent offenders in Croydon are to have GPS tagging devices fitted to them on release from prison, under a pilot scheme announced today by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

GPS tags, similar to this, are to be used for knife crime offenders in Croydon

Offenders who have served a custodial sentence for knife-related crimes – such as knife possession, robbery, wounding, GBH and aggravated burglary – will be tagged with a tracking device as part of strict new licence conditions.

Croydon is one of four boroughs – the others being Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham – where the scheme will be trialled on up to 100 offenders, with the aim of reducing re-offending and improving crime detection.

The scheme, which is due to start next Monday, is being paid for by MOPAC, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, under a contract with a west London firm called Buddi, who, the Mayor’s office said today, will “both manage the tagging contract and its data”. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Whitgift School’s Olympic hero Okoye is arrested in Alabama

Posted on February 11, 2019 by insidecroydon

Busted: Lawrence Okoye photographed by Alabama police after his arrest last week

Lawrence Okoye, the former Whitgift School pupil and discus finalist at the  London Olympics who went to the United States to seek his fortune as an American football player, was arrested in Alabama last week on soliciting prostitution charges, placing his sporting career in jeopardy.

Okoye was one of more than a dozen men snared in a police sting operation staged in Birmingham by the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force.

He was released on bail last Thursday.

He has recently moved to Alabama to join the Birmingham Iron, a new franchise, part of the Alliance of American Football, which began its inaugural season yesterday. The Iron won their first game, but Okoye played no part in it. It was reported that he had a groin injury.

Continue reading →

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Croydon Harriers, Lawrence Okoye, Rugby Union, Sport, Whitgift School | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Tories give Croydon 50p per person to deal with Brexit

Posted on February 10, 2019 by insidecroydon

Theresa Mayhem’s government has allocated barely 50p per person to Croydon in a hand-out to the council to cope with the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

Tony Newman, the leader of Croydon Council, has described the £210,000 grant to the borough as “pitiful”.

At a recent meeting of London council leaders attended by Newman to discuss the capital’s resilience and readiness for Brexit, contingency planning for matters ranging from food and fuel rationing to civil unrest were discussed.

Britain is set to leave the European Union, with or without an agreement, and with or without proper preparations, in 47 days’ time, on March 29. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Step out to help raise funds for Mayday children’s cancer unit

Posted on February 10, 2019 by insidecroydon

Sunday May 5 is the date set for the first large-scale fundraiser for The Lily Pad Appeal, which is trying to raise £750,000 for a state-of-the-art children’s oncology unit as part of the new Integrated Paediatric Village at Mayday, Croydon University Hospital.

With outdated, restrictive layout and facilities, Croydon’s Acute Paediatric Services are now in urgent need of modernisation to ensure they can deliver high-quality, safe, effective care compliant with regional and national standards and meet the steeply increasing demand.

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Posted in Charity, Lily Pad Appeal, Lloyd Park, Mayday Hospital | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Jon Hart and Billy Watman, The Front Room, Apr 5

Posted on February 10, 2019 by insidecroydon

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Croydon BME Forum shopping bus service, starts Mar 11

Posted on February 10, 2019 by insidecroydon

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Banstead Rotary Club charity walk, Epsom Downs, May 5

Posted on February 10, 2019 by insidecroydon

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Bailey to bridge the gap left by Bolger’s departure from Sutton

Posted on February 9, 2019 by insidecroydon

BELLE MONT, our Sutton reporter, on the latest move by the council’s ruling Liberal Democrats

Helen Bailey: lined up for Sutton’s top job

Sutton Council is close to announcing that Helen Bailey is to be appointed as its chief executive.

Sutton has been without a CEO since Niall Bolger jumped ship last October, leaving his £150,000 per year post to take a similar role at Hounslow.

Bailey, 57, has not yet been formally announced to councillors, and the recruitment process is on-going – aided by a firm of private headhunters reputed to be paid a juicy £100,000 fee.

But Bailey is understood to have been interviewed by a panel made up of four LibDem and two Tory councillors, and although she did not achieve unanimous support of her interviewers, she is expected to be announced as the successful applicant in the coming days. Continue reading →

Posted in Niall Bolger, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Housing scheme involves charity which informed Home Office

Posted on February 9, 2019 by insidecroydon

The council has announced that it has managed to house six people under a scheme which should provide 10 homeless people with homes by the end of next month, and another 10 over the course of the following 12 months.

It is doing so working with a charity which was accused of breaking the trust of homeless people for its part in the Conservative government’s “hostile environment” policy against foreign nationals staying in this country.

There are twice as many people sleeping rough in Croydon today than there were in 2014

Croydon Council continues to work on the government-funded scheme with Thames Reach, a homelessness charity that has previously worked closely with the Home Office to repatriate foreign nationals who have come to them for assistance.

Thames Reach’s role in passing on the details of its clients to the immigration service saw civil liberties campaigners accuse the Tory government of having a “border on every street” policy. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Charity, Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Friends of South Norwood Country Park AGM and walk, Feb 16

Posted on February 9, 2019 by insidecroydon

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