Political Editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on how Alan Cook’s poll success on the other side of the borough boundary is sending shock waves into Croydon
‘We’re gonna need a bigger vote’: has London just got its first glimpse of the Reform shark?
They’re going to need a bigger vote…
You know how, early in the original Jaws movie, with John Williams’ sonorous score building the tension, the worried police chief and others are all looking out to sea?
They know the shark’s out there.
It just hasn’t broken the surface yet.
Last night, in a council by-election in Bromley, the shark came to the surface.
Alan Cook, an actuary and IT consultant and former member of the Conservative Party, is the first Reform UK candidate to win a council seat in Greater London. Continue reading
Ready to open: The Dark Horse has galloped towards tomorrow’s big day
Less than six months since Croydon lost one of its more cherished old boozers, when profitable brewery Shepherd Neame opted to close The Two Brewers on Gloucester Road, its only pub in the borough, the place is set to re-open tomorrow, with new owners, different beers and a new name.
The pub has been bought by the team that was previously behind the bar at the Royal Standard, and tomorrow The Dark Horse opens after undergoing three months of refit and decoration work.
Given how the pub – a short walk from Selhurst Park – had always been a favourite with Crystal Palace fans on match days, the new name could be very fitting.
When Shepherd Neame got out, with the pub being offered for sale at £400,000 at the start of the year, locals feared it would be bought by developers for flats. Continue reading
The NHS in London has urged patients to continue coming forward for care during the doctors’ strike, which began this morning.
Around 50,000 resident doctors were expected to walk out from 7am today until next Wednesday, July 30.
Resident doctors, who used to be referred to as junior doctors, make up about half of all doctors in the NHS. They can have up to eight years’ experience working as a hospital doctor, depending on their specialty, or up to three years in general practice.
The strike action is the latest in a long-running dispute between the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association, and the NHS over “pay restoration”. Continue reading
The man subjected to a brutal assault on North End on a Saturday morning earlier this month has died in hospital from his injuries.
The attack took place in broad daylight, at around 9.15am on July 12, with police responding to what they describe as “an altercation”.
“Police arrived and located a man with serious injuries to his head,” the Met said.
Peter Dache, 33, from Oakfield Road, West Croydon, was arrested after the incident and charged with grievous bodily harm. He appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court last week when he was remanded in custody to appear at Croydon Crown Court on Monday, August 11.
Rising expectations: Tapestry (the brown-ish blocks to the left in this developer CGI) is to be woven between the existing tall towers at East Croydon. But will these three towers overshadow the Fairfield Halls or add to the wind tunnel issues along George Street?
Housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES on the latest proposals for huge towers providing expensive flats and situated close to East Croydon Station
The site next to the Fairfield Halls and Croydon College, once owned by Croydon Council through its failed house-building venture, Brick by Brick, has now had a planning application submitted which could generate hundreds of millions of pounds for the developers.
Croydon’s cash-strapped council sold the site for just £20million four years ago.
What the developers are calling “Tapestry Croydon” was better known as the College Green site, which was sold as part of the council’s initial fire-sale of assets. The site previously had planning permission for 400 homes – with a potential “retail value” of more than £100million.
In this planning application, submitted by Delta Properties, the developers want to build 676 build-to-rent homes in three towers of 16, 29 and 42 storeys (slightly taller than was suggested in their most recent consultation earlier this year), but with just 20% “affordable” homes. Continue reading
ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, in his latest column for Inside Croydon, looks at the case for ending the ‘legalised larceny’ that is water privatisation, as the environment secretary sinks deeper into the mire
The review commissioned by Steve Reed, the environment secretary (and MP for a part of Croydon), into the future of the water industry was published this week.
It is worse than just a damp squib. It is a capitulation to the privatised water companies.
In the mire: politicians’ reputations rarely recover from a mauling by Private Eye
Reed had already blocked the review from considering a return of water utilities to public ownership – even though that is a position backed by 69% of the public, including a clear majority of Conservative voters.
Reed parrots the ludicrous assertion that it would cost £100billion to re-nationalise the water industry, and claims that would be money taken from the NHS and education.
This is nonsense, on both counts.
Reed has not explained his £100billion figure, although he has said that it came from civil servants in his department.
In fact, the £100billion figure has been floating around since 2018, when the Social Market Foundation produced a report that was paid for by Anglian Water, South West Water and United Utilities. It is based on the water companies’ “enterprise value”, estimated at the time at £80billion, plus a premium. The figure takes no account of the water companies’ ballooning debts.
The think-tank Common Wealth commissioned legal expert Ewan McGaughey (a professor of law at King’s College, London) to assess the true cost. His conclusion? “The true and fair value in law to bring water into public ownership is close to zero.” He has published his workings here https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/how-to-clean-up-our-water. Continue reading
ParkBox is coming to Croydon.
They are boxes, in parks (see what they did there?), bringing books, toys and sports equipment, funded by The Shackleton Foundation and operated by community interest company Croydon ParkBox.
The free-to-use mini-libraries have been installed in six parks across South Croydon, containing books, toys and sports equipment.
The scheme is due to be officially opened on Monday, July 28, just in time for the beginning of the school summer holidays.
The ParkBoxes, made and maintained locally in Croydon, are intended to address alarming statistics showing that almost 1million children in Britain don’t have a single book at home, while only 25% of children play outside regularly. In previous generations, 75% of children would get out to play.
“ParkBox was born out of the simple idea that children shouldn’t have to bring their own entertainment to the park,” said Robert Dickinson, founder of Croydon ParkBox. Continue reading
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The borough’s £82,000 per year executive Mayor gave up a morning of his valuable time to help a property PR firm boost the flagging credibility of Westfield’s town centre proposals. And there among the breakfast croissants and coffees was BARRATT HOLMES, housing correspondent
“Get your chequebooks out!”
Doing as he is told: it is clear who is the organ-grinder and who is the monkey
That was the best that Croydon Mayor Jason Perry had to offer in an hour-long, but aptly named, “Breakfast Waffle” event held in central London yesterday morning at the offices of property developer lobbyists LCA.
That’s the same LCA who are managing the public relations for the latest, vacuous public consultation for Westfield in Croydon’s long-neglected town centre.
Oddly, where matters of transparency and openness are concerned (which Mayor Perry is subject to under the Nolan Principles for conduct in public office) there was nothing in the publicity related to this Waffle event that mentioned that Unibail Rodamco Westfield (as the Paris-based development giant is now known) are clients of LCA.
But yesterday’s hour-long session showed all too starkly who is the monkey and who is the organ-grinder in the relationship between the megabillions multi-national URW and the failed Mayor of a south London borough.
It’s probably not a secret that Mayor Perry likes a doughnut. Yesterday morning, he was in among the croissants and coffee set for this Breakfast Waffle, where his task was to pimp out Croydon to an audience of around 40 people. Continue reading
The Coulsdon branch of the British Legion has formally closed, 104 years after its foundation.
Permanently laid up: the Coulsdon Royal British Legion branch’s standard given a permanent resting place
The decision was taken due to declining numbers of members. The occasion was marked with a final parade and the retirement of the branch’s standard – the organisation’s flag, which was handed over in a special service at Coulsdon’s St Andrew’s Church.
Coulsdon’s British Legion branch was formed after World War I, as the Legion was created from the amalgamation of four ex-service associations as a non-political association to represent the rights of ex-servicemen and women who had served or had been discharged from service during that “war to end all wars”.
What’s now known as the Coulsdon Club was for a century called the Comrades Club, and is where the Legion members met for teas and coffees, perhaps a frame of snooker and a chat, and a beer or three.
The club’s garden area remains dedicated to those who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts through to the present day. Continue reading
Bus station shut-down: with 25 bus routes, trams and London Overground trains, West Croydon is a signifcant transport hub
There were diversions and disruption to bus routes in and around West Croydon Bus Station and across the town centre yesterday evening, following a collision between two London buses.
There were no injuries reported, according to Transport for London. Continue reading
The police have arrested a man on suspicion of rape in South Norwood Rec on Sunday.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Metropolitan Police said: “A 57-year-old man remains in police custody after he was arrested on Tuesday, July 22, following an alleged rape in South Norwood Recreation Ground, Croydon, at 19.48hrs on Sunday, July 20.” Continue reading
No ease of access: Birkbeck tram stop will be more difficult to reach for people with mobility issues
There will be no step-free access ramp available at Birkbeck tram stop for three months, beginning next Tuesday, July 29, Transport for London has announced.
Trams will be running “as normal”, TfL says (presumably apart from all those “essential” engineering works they conduct periodically, such as is on-going right now over much of the network), but the access ramp at Birkbeck will be unavailable “due to planned maintenance works”.
The tram stop sits atop of a railway bridge over Elmers End Road, the tracks running parallel with the mainline railway.
The maintenance works will continue until to Friday October 24. Continue reading
Based on official Ombudsman figures, our council remains among the most complained about in England. But might there be a glimmer of improvement in the figures, or has our borough just been overtaken for rotteness by others?
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Here is the news: Croydon Council is not quite as bad as it was last year for complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman.
According to official figures released by the Ombudsman’s office, for 2024-2025, Croydon has dropped out of the 10 most-complained about local authorities in England.
This year, Croydon is just 11th! Continue reading
Eight transport services across the capital, including a Croydon tram, are being given a new look to celebrate Transport for London’s 25th anniversary as part of a year-long campaign.
This year also marks 25 years of service of the Croydon tram network, which came into service in 2000, having required an Act of Parliament and requiring a public-private partnership instigated by the then London Transport and Croydon Council.
The 2025 wrapped designs on buses, Tubes, trains and the east London Dangleway highlight improvements to London’s transport network over the last 25 years, including the launch of the Elizabeth line, zero-emission and accessible buses and the Oyster card, while the special 25th anniversary roundel represents the transport network’s contributions to economic growth, housing and employment in the capital.
The designs feature the words “Making every journey matter for 25 years”. Continue reading
25 years of achievements: the Croydon tram network is among the top improvements of the past quarter century for transport in London
2000 – Croydon tram system launched. Transport for London formally took ownership of the Croydon Tramlink system on June 30, 2008, after acquiring Tramtrack Croydon Limited for £98million. In 25 years, London’s only tram network has carried more than 590million passengers
2002 – TfL’s online Journey Planner launched, the first multi-modal system of its kind in the country, allowing customers to plan journeys across several transport modes – bus, Tube, rail, bicycles and tram
2003 – The Oyster smart card was introduced
2004 – TfL’s education programmes, now known as TfL Travel for Life, have supported more than 3million children to travel towards a brighter, safer and more sustainable future
2005 – TfL’s entire fleet of buses became fully wheelchair accessible
2005 – The introduction of free travel for children on TfL services Continue reading
With backing of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, Labour’s Leonie Cooper calls for water utilities ‘that put the needs of the public and the environment ahead of private profit’
Time for change: even senior figures in the Labour Party believe Thames Water must be taken back into public ownership
Senior figures in the Labour Party in London have joined calls for the urgent re-nationalisation of Thames Water, in the latest push-back against environment secretary Steve Reed’s soggy mess of a water reform review.
Reed, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North, not that Reed’s that bothered), was accused of lying over the potential costs of bringing serial polluters Thames Water and other privatised regional utility monopolies back into public ownership, while high-profile campaigner Feargal Sharkey called for his resignation on live TV – more than once.
Cunliffe’s review did not recommend re-nationalising the privatised regional monopolies, though. Reed deliberately excluded considering such an option when setting the terms for the review, using data commissioned from water companies to argue that re-nationalisation would be too costly. Continue reading
Burger King at Valley Retail and Leisure Park, off the Purley Way, is giving away 1,000 Whoppers or Chicken Royale burgers today, July 22, to mark the re-opening of the restyled and revamped restaurant.
Valley Park: the Burger King off the Purley Way has been remodelled and has longer opening hours
The remodelled Croydon restaurant “brings customer experience to a new level” Burger King claims, with table service and “a sensational menu that caters to all customers”, whether they’re looking to start their day with a delicious breakfast butty and coffee for just £3.49, enjoy a family feast on delivery, or indulge in a late-night snack. Continue reading
Shutting up shop: the gates to 37 Tamworth Road, locked to all its tenants on Friday morning
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Some of failed Mayor Perry’s biggest fans had a rude awakening on Friday morning when the council sent in bailiffs and locked them out of their civic-owned building. The tenants claim they have no idea why. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Bolt cutters: bailiffs left Praise House’s padlock as a souvenir of their visit
And so it begins.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement that Commissioners had been appointed to try to fix Croydon’s systemic problems, and Conservative supporters and apologists for failed Mayor Jason Perry were putting it around that various groups had been locked out of their council-owned premises because of… the Commissioners.
Damian Luke is the pastor of the Praise House evangelical church based in a large Victorian building at 37 Tamworth Road in West Croydon. His church has a lease on the council-owned premises, which he also sub-lets to other community groups.
What Pastor Luke failed to mention in his urgent distress signals to his various sub-tenants on Friday morning is that the locks had been changed on the entrance to the premises by bailiffs working under a High Court order. Continue reading
Environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey on live TV this morning called for the immediate resignation of the environment secretary, as the government’s Cunliffe Review is derided as a ‘joke’
Tons of it: sewage was being discharged into rivers and coastlines even as Croydon MP Reed was on TV yesterday
Today’s announcement from environment secretary Steve Reed promising the “biggest overhaul of water since privatisation”, following the Cunliffe review of the water industry, went down about as well as a turd in a blocked toilet with environmentalists, campaigners and customers judging by the reactions to his weekend media round.
It even saw one of the country’s highest profile activists, Feargal Sharkey, call for Reed’s resignation on live television.
“The thing has become an utter shambles,” Sharkey said on Good Morning Britain.
“The idea that on Friday it was announced that [there has been a] 65% increase in serious pollution incidents [in the past year].
“There is no pollution control anymore in this country, and I think Steve has got to reflect very carefully on the role he’s played in the last 12 months.
“I think he should go,” Sharkey said.
Frank Newton, the chairman of South Croydon-based charity The Garwood Foundation, has been conferred with the Order of Mercy in recognition of his service that stretches back over more than 40 years.
Legion of honour: Frank Newton (left) wearing his Order of Mercy medal, with Garwood CEO Ross White outside Rutherford School
At a ceremony held at Mansion House in the City of London, Lord Lingfield, the president of the League of Mercy, honoured Newton together with 21 others from across the country for their prolonged and effective commitment to the voluntary sector.
The League of Mercy was first founded in 1899 by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria, intended in those pre-Health Service days to establish a large body of voluntary workers who would assist with the maintenance of hospitals and “otherwise relieve sickness and suffering”. Continue reading
Powerful presence: Ivy Russell reigned undefeated as British women’s weightlifting champion through the 1930s – and performed feats of strength at cabaret shows
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: With a story of another of Croydon’s forgotten heroines, DAVID MORGAN profiles sporting pioneer Ivy Russell, a weightlifting champion and professional wrestler
Strong influence: Ivy Russell could deadlift 320Ib, with a broad smile, too
The excitement was building in the Greyhound Hotel. It was a Saturday night dance with a cabaret. The event, organised by Southern Railway, was to raise funds for the railworkers’ union’s orphanage fund. About 400 people were crowded inside, enjoying the music of the Memphis Rhythm Boys.
A grand raffle was held with prizes won by Mr W Walter of Abbey Road, Miss H Herricks of Thornton Heath Road and Mr Jackson of Sanderstead Road. The event was organised by Mr. JF Stone.
And the star turn of that Croydon cabaret night in 1937 was Ivy Russell.
Ivy Russell is another of Croydon’s forgotten heroines, a young woman who in the inter-war years blazed a trail in a sport which had until then only been open to men. Continue reading
A paedophile who raped and sexually assaulted a girl multiple times has been jailed for 19 years.
At Harrow Crown Court on Friday, Zafar Hussain, 43, of Bramble Close in Upper Norwood, was sentenced to 19 years in prison, with an additional year to be served on licence. He will also be on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely, and has been made subject to a 25-year sexual harm prevention order.
The trial was held in April. The jury found Hussain guilty on all charges: six counts of raping a child aged under 13, four counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one count of the attempted rape of a child under 13.
In a victim statement, the girl, who was aged 11 at the time of the assaults, told the court: “Sometimes at night I find it hard to sleep and I end up thinking about it, that can make me upset…
“I was really scared when I first told the police about what happened to me. Things have been hard between my mum and dad since this happened, its affected not only me but my family, too.”
Detective Inspector Tom Palmer said: “I would like to commend the victim for her bravery in reporting Hussain to us. Her evidence was critical in bringing Hussain to justice for his heinous crimes. Continue reading
In the first break with the omerta adopted by Mayor Jason Perry and council CEO Katherine Kerswell over the so-called ‘improvement panel’, a senior Tory councillor says that the appointees of the Conservative government ‘failed’.
By WALTER CONXITE, Political Editor
Robert Ward, one of the wiser and more erudite of Croydon’s 70 councillors, has today broken the Town Hall’s code of silence over what led, ultimately, to Commissioners being appointed this week to take over the running of the cash-strapped council.
The improvement and assurance panel, referred to in councilspeak as “the IAP”, was put in place in Croydon by a Conservative Secretary of State in 2021, in the first few months after the council’s financial collapse had been admitted.
Breaking code of silence: Cllr Robert Ward
The improvement panel’s tour of duty in Croydon was due to end next week, but its final report, submitted in April, together with another £136million of exceptional financial support was what prompted the current Labour government to step in and arrange further intervention in the form of Commissioners.
“The IAP clearly failed”, wrote Ward, the Conservative councillor for Selsdon and Addington Village.
“Croydon is paying the price.”
Local government minister Jim McMahon made another statement to the House of Commons on Thursday, confirming what everyone suspected he would do, and sent in four Commissioners for two years. How this might work out more effective than having a panel of six other local government “experts” in place for five years, no one in Whitehall has yet managed to explain. Continue reading
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