Council developer delivering just 8% homes for affordable rent

Posted on November 21, 2017 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES unveils startling figures from the council on the failure of its own house-builder to deliver on promises to deliver affordable homes

Alison Butler: only 8% of her Brick by Brick home-building scheme will be for affordable rent

There could be one very strong reason that Paul Scott, the controversial chair of Croydon’s planning committee, failed to insist that Westfield meets the council’s 30 per cent target for affordable homes within its latest planning application last week.

That’s because Scott knows that the council’s own house builder, Brick by Brick, is falling a long way short of the council’s early boasts that it would be delivering 500 affordable homes as it builds 1,000 properties on public land around the borough. In fact, fewer that 8 per cent of all Brick by Brick’s homes will be provided for affordable rent. The rest will be flogged off as private sales or for shared ownership. Continue reading →

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

CACFO Education Centre given ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report

Posted on November 21, 2017 by insidecroydon

Another week in Croydon, another inadequate report from Ofsted inspectors.

This time it is for the CACFO Education Centre in Thornton Heath, and follows an inspection in June.

The inspectors’ report rates the specialist centre overall as “inadequate”, with “Effectiveness of leadership and management” and “Personal development, behaviour and welfare” as both inadequate, while “Quality of teaching, learning and assessment” and “Outcomes for pupils” were both given “requires improvement”.

At the education centre’s previous Ofsted inspection, four years ago, it was rated as “good”. Continue reading →

Posted in CACFO, Callton Young, Charity, Children's Services, Community associations, Croydon Council, Education, Schools | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

South Norwood Christmas Fair and treasure hunt, Dec 10

Posted on November 21, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Big Together Freedom Together course, Jan-Mar 2018

Posted on November 21, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Now Carillion remove home library service from the disabled

Posted on November 20, 2017 by insidecroydon

GENE BRODIE, our libraries correspondent, on the latest shocker from a construction company which is running down our public libraries

Carillion, the building company which runs Croydon’s public libraries, has been accused of “blatant discrimination” against the disabled over plans to withdraw the home library service from January 1, something described as a “disgraceful and stupid decision”.

Carillion, under the absurd “Cultural Community Solutions” branding it has given to its failing library service, wrote to residents earlier this month to announce that it is to withdraw the home delivery service in 2018 except where the recipient is “housebound” and has no one available to collect and return books for them.

The decision, Inside Croydon understands, had not been discussed at any stage with the borough’s elected councillors or cabinet member responsible for the library service, Timothy Godfrey.

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Posted in Carillion, Libraries, Timothy Godfrey | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Sutton forced to remove Silent Soldiers after vandalism

Posted on November 20, 2017 by insidecroydon

Sutton Council has been forced to remove its “Silent Soldiers” silhouettes, which were put up around the borough’s parks and public spaces in the past month in conjunction with the British Legion, following a spate of vandalism.

How one of the Silent Soldier figures in Sutton was vandalised

Some of the figures have had their heads cut off.

The intention had been to leave the silhouettes up throughout 2018, which marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, both as a reminder and to help raise funds for today’s military veterans through the British Legion.

Councillor Tim Crowley, the leader of the Conservative opposition on Sutton Council, described the vandalism as “a disgrace”.

“This is such an insult to those who have fought to preserve our freedom,” Crowley said.

In a statement from Sutton Council this morning, they said, “With several of the Silent Soldier silhouettes vandalised or stolen, the decision has now been taken to remove them.

“Police are working closely with the council to examine CCTV footage in a bid to identify those responsible.” Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Crime, History, Sutton Council | Tagged | 1 Comment

Capra and Dickens’ visions of Christmas on show at film club

Posted on November 20, 2017 by insidecroydon

Who invented Christmas? Was it Charles Dickens, through his heart-rending tale of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol which reflects a Victorian Christmas, so much of which has become our tradition, or was it Frank Capra, who dolloped a hefty dose of American-style schmaltz into the mix a century later with his own seasonal classic, It’s A Wonderful Life? Continue reading →

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Jubilate Choir Celebratory Concert, St Matthew’s, Dec 9

Posted on November 19, 2017 by insidecroydon

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World AIDS Day charity fund-raiser, Braithwaite Hall, Dec 1

Posted on November 19, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Fe! Fi! Fo! Fun! Win a family ticket to the Croydon Panto

Posted on November 18, 2017 by insidecroydon

Fe! Fi! Fo! Fum! We smell the scent of another outstanding offer exclusive to Inside Croydon subscribers

Jonny Awsum and Paisley Billings are the stars of the Croydon Panto

This year’s Croydon Panto is Jack And The Beanstalk, starring Jonny “Britain’s Got Talent” Awsum and Paisley Billings, plus a cast of West End performers who will be making a song and a dance at the Waddon Theatre on the Purley Way, from December 7 to 31.

And thanks to the producers Q Productions, Inside Croydon is delighted to offer as a competition prize tickets for a family of four to see the great show.

The competition is open exclusively to Inside Croydon subscribers, and is the latest special offer available to the site’s rapidly growing band of supporters. To find out more about our patron scheme, and how to sign-up to it, just click here. Continue reading →

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Labour councillor Watson opts to jump before de-selection

Posted on November 18, 2017 by insidecroydon

STEVEN DOWNES reports on the latest shift of power at the Town Hall

He’s off: soon-to-be ex-councillor Mark Watson

Addiscombe councillor Mark Watson, an influential member of the council cabinet, last night stunned Labour Party members in his ward by announcing his withdrawal from the selection process for candidates for next year’s local elections just hours before a crucial short-listing meeting.

It means that Labour-lite council leader Tony Newman’s “Gang of Four”, which exercises complete control of the Labour group at the Town Hall, is set to become, at best, a Troika.

Watson announced his decision in an email sent to councillors and ward members, citing the pressures of work, as he has continued in his job as a director of an international tourism charity while drawing down more than £40,000 per year in council allowances.

But the reality – as ever – is somewhat different. And it was predicted correctly by Inside Croydon nearly a year ago. Continue reading →

Posted in 2018 council elections, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Andrew Rendle, Ashburton, Business, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Mark Watson, Patricia Hay-Justice, Paul Smith, Sean Fitzsimons, Stephen Mann, Surrey Street, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Westfield’s 20% affordable housing ‘unacceptable’ to GLA

Posted on November 17, 2017 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES on a serious problem with the £1.4billion development in the town centre which was given planning permission – for a second time – by the council this week

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan: he wants 35% affordable homes in new schemes. Westfield are only offering 20%

London Mayor Sadiq Khan is likely to demand almost twice as much affordable housing as has been proposed by Westfield and Hammerson in their £1.4billion supermall development.

Having waited for five years for the developers to get their shit together and re-draft their blueprint for the town centre around the sites of the current Whitgift Centre and Centrale, Croydon’s planning committee waved the scheme through earlier this week, now promising up to 967 homes. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, John Burton, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Car lobbyist Morgan now insists: don’t walk, it’s dangerous

Posted on November 17, 2017 by insidecroydon

Walking to school is dangerous.

That’s the considered advice of a … car campaigner from Coulsdon, as he tries to block a Croydon Council initiative to reduce polluting exhausts and to get some of the borough’s primary-aged children daily exercise on their journeys to school.

Peter Morgan cuts an increasingly ridiculous figure in his strident pro-vehicle rants, through social media and emails. He has been caught out using multiple digital identities to pervert the course of online consultations, been accused of illegally plastering campaign stickers over public property, while his bid to take over as chairman of the East Coulsdon Residents’ Association recently failed to muster much support, especially after he tried to block a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor from giving a talk to their meeting.

Having been kicked out of both the Croydon Conservatives and UKIP – where he was considered a constantly disruptive figure – this latest intervention really ought not surprise anyone. Nor be taken particularly seriously. Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Croydon Council, Environment, Parking, Schools, Stuart King, Transport, Walks | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Cash-strapped Carillion can’t pay their library paper bills

Posted on November 17, 2017 by insidecroydon

Carillion, the building company which somehow landed the contract to run Croydon’s public libraries, is so strapped for cash that they have unpaid bills from their suppliers for use of photo-copiers and paper.

Carillion is a construction company which was seeking juicy profits by grabbing outsourced libraries

The value of the company’s shares plunged a further 30 per cent this morning, as the troubled firm issued the latest in a series of profit warnings and trading updates.

Carillion announced to the London Stock Exchange that it is to try to recapitalise, it downgraded profit expectations, and revealed higher than anticipated debts and said it expected to be in breach of covenants – agreements to pay loans – by the end of the year.

Carillion’s problems relate mostly to its construction business, but it is having a knock-on effect to the subsidiary which is running Croydon’s and other local authority libraries.

The state of the business prompted one City analyst to say this morning, “The Carillion horror show continues.” Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Carillion, Croydon Council, John Laing Integrated Services, Libraries, Timothy Godfrey | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Ombudsman rules council neglected Down’s Syndrome woman

Posted on November 17, 2017 by insidecroydon

A Government Ombudsman ruling will see Croydon Council pay nearly £5,000 to a family after it was found to have failed in his duties to a young disabled woman.

Jo Negrini: another ruling against her council

This is the second finding of this kind against the council this year, amid a growing mass of evidence that the council’s social services is not delivering the service expected.

Eleanor Brazil, a Government-appointed commissioner, is currently in charge of the council’s children’s services department after Ofsted inspectors in September ruled that that element of the council’s operation, overseeing children in care, fostering and adoption, was “inadequate”.

Brazil is expected to deliver a report on the progress in bringing the department up to an acceptable standard next month, and the expectation is that she will recommend that Whitehall officials continue to supervise the council department. Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Barbara Peacock, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Labour’s new slate in Fairfield as Momentum makes a mark

Posted on November 16, 2017 by insidecroydon

Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, with the latest weekly round-up of the ins, and outs, in a tortuous selection process

Mary Croos out campaigning with Sadiq Khan and Steve Reed OBE, who is a big fan

Boundary changes, demographic changes and the Jeremy Corbyn-inspired swing towards Labour has made Fairfield ward in the town centre a key battleground in next May’s council elections.

And following a long selection meeting last night, with a voting process almost more complicated than the X Factor’s new format, Labour will seek to win the ward from the Tories with a team which includes a union official who worked in Corbyn’s office during the General Election, an activist who took much credit for the Momentum fringe activities at the party conference, and a single mum who is more closely aligned with former Progress vice-chair Steve Reed OBE. Continue reading →

Posted in 2018 council elections, Addiscombe West, Alisa Flemming, Carole Bonner, Chris Clark, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Fairfield, Fieldway, Jane Avis, John Wentworth, Mary Croos, New Addington North, Niro Sirisena, Pat Ryan, Patricia Hay-Justice, Patsy Cummings, Simon Hall, South Norwood, Sue Winborn, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Viridor getting twitchy as thousands sign twitchers’ petition

Posted on November 16, 2017 by insidecroydon

The Beddington Farmlands was meant to have been turned into a nature reserve with public access. Viridor are years behind with the work, and wildlife species are dying out

Our Sutton reporter, BELLE MONT, on a multi-billion corporation which has started meddling in local politics, again

Viridor, as they prime themselves to fire up next year their vast incinerator at Beddington Lane, appear to be getting more concerned over the political fall-out, rather than the environmental fall-out from their chimneys, as a petition to the leader of Sutton Council demanding that she does her job has already attracted nearly 3,000 signatures.

The petition calls on Ruth Dombey, the Liberal Democrat leader of the council, to ensure that Viridor fulfils its contractual agreements to maintain and enhance the environment at Beddington Farmlands nature reserve, around the site of the incinerator. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Environment, London-wide issues, Merton, Outside Croydon, Peter Alfrey, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Veolia, Waste incinerator, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Parents of autistic boy left angry as Peacock tries to shift blame

Posted on November 16, 2017 by insidecroydon

KEN LEE, our Town Hall correspondent, on the latest series of serious blunders by the council’s under-fire executive director

Barbara Peacock: litany of errors

Barbara Peacock, the under-pressure executive director of the council’s “People” division, yesterday responded to a resident’s complaint about her department’s failure to respond to repeated pleas for help over the education and welfare of his disabled adoptive son by sending an email to more than 90 recipients… but not responding to the resident himself.

The Coulsdon resident claims that Peacock’s widely circulated mail had a litany of errors about their case, the most serious of which was to allege that the badly stressed father had said he was self-harming to “provoke a reaction”.

Jamie Watson has been battling with the council for several months over the education choices for his nine-year-old son, Tim.

Tim has some complicated, long-term health issues, as well as autism; he had been attending a mainstream primary school in the borough but had begun to feel socially isolated and started expressing feelings of suicide.

The boy’s headteacher recommended to his parents, Jamie and Jason Watson, that Tim’s interests would be best served at a specialist school. But Croydon Council, initially at least, failed to agree or offer a place. Continue reading →

Posted in Barbara Peacock, Children's Services, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Christmas wreath-making, Wandle Park, Dec 3

Posted on November 16, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Christmas at Honeywood Museum, Carshalton, Dec 2

Posted on November 16, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Old Coulsdon Christmas lights switch-on, Nov 25

Posted on November 16, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Dispossession: film club stages debate over housing crisis

Posted on November 15, 2017 by insidecroydon

For some people, a housing crisis means not getting planning permission for a loft conversion. For others it means, quite simply, losing their home.

Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle is a feature documentary which is being shown by Stanley’s Film Club in South Norwood later this month, to be followed by a panel discussion on the housing crisis, with a collection from the evening going to Croydon Nightwatch, the local charity for the homeless.

Alison Butler, Labour’s deputy leader of the council and the cabinet member responsible for housing (Total Council Houses built in Croydon since 2014: 0) failed to reply to an invitation to take part in the panel discussion. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Cinema, Colm Lacey, Croydon Nightwatch, Housing, London-wide issues, Screen25, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Muslims excluded from Croydon’s Remembrance service

Posted on November 15, 2017 by insidecroydon

There is mounting anger from some senior figures at the Town Hall over the way in which Muslim community leaders were excluded from any formal role in Sunday’s Remembrance Service at Croydon Minster.

The absence was despite recent assurances given by the leader of the council, Tony Newman.

Jo Negrini (third in line of the procession) during Sunday’s wreath-laying at the Town Hall: the council CEO says there is no time at the Remembrance service for Muslims

There were representatives of the Muslim communities attending the service and at the wreath-laying at the War Memorial on Katharine Street on Sunday.

But while someone from the Church of England, the Roman Catholic church, the Hindu community and even the Croydon youth council were present at the Minster to say a few words or offer a prayer, Jews and Muslims were not included in that part of the annual service.

The Remembrance Sunday service is one of the biggest civic events of the year, and is organised through chief exec Jo Negrini’s office by Lea Goddard, the council’s head of democratic services. It is suggested that this exclusion has happened on Remembrance Sunday for at least the past two years. As explanation, Negrini has said previously that there is not enough time in hour-long the service to include representatives of all communities.

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Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Council, Croydon Minster, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Feeble council unquestioningly gives green light to Westfield

Posted on November 15, 2017 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES says ‘I told you so’

The decision of the council’s planning committee to give the go-ahead to the £1.4billion Hammersfield supermall last night was such a foregone conclusion that the Town Hall press team – never known for being quick off the mark with anything – managed to get a press release out within moments of the inevitable outcome.

The pre-written press release even had the “unanimous” vote included in its copy. It gave a whole near slant to the phrase “predictive text”.

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Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, John Burton, Paul Scott, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Christmas Stories at Coulsdon Common, Dec 22

Posted on November 15, 2017 by insidecroydon

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