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Community Fund Partners Event, Council offices, Jul 7
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council
Tagged Community Fund Partners
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Incinerating council wants to ban back garden bonfires
The Beddington incinerator under construction. Our council is committed to improving air quality, apparently
Croydon is a borough council which will shortly be spending £10million of public money per year to pay for a massive waste incinerator to operate on its borders, pumping out pollutants into the atmosphere for the next quarter-century.
And Croydon is a borough council which has fully subscribed to the £1.4billion Hammersfield supermall development in the town centre, which includes 3,100 car parking spaces which will encourage thousands of additional journeys by motor vehicles every day, in an area where the air quality has for years has been breaking EU legal limits.
And now, that very same borough council is running a little public consultation. On the borough’s air quality. Continue reading
The Men of the Wrythe WWI commemorations, Jul 15
Posted in Activities, Football, History, Outside Croydon, Sport
Tagged Carshalton, The Men of the Wrythe
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Riddlesdown quarry in bloom guided walk, Jul 29
Posted in Environment, Sanderstead, Walks, Wildlife
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Stream dipping at Ashtead Common, Jul 29
Posted in Environment, Outside Croydon, Wildlife
Tagged Ashtead Common, City Commons
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Commission draws the line under Newman’s bid for control
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on how an effort to shore-up Town Hall power through boundary changes has left Croydon’s Labour leadership even more dependent on Jeremy Corbyn, the party leader many of them tried to oust
Croydon Tories’ leader Tim Pollard: will he lead a challenge to the Boundary Commission report?
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England may yet face a challenge from Croydon Tories to open up the process to further public consultation – a third one – after radical changes from the Commission’s first draft recommendations in Addiscombe and Park Hill were revealed when they published their final report this morning.
The creation of a single member ward for Park Hill and the Whitgift estate has come entirely unexpectedly, prompting some more mischievous Town Hall observers to wonder out loud whether this has been drawn up specifically with one person in mind.
“You used to call him the MP for the Whitgift Foundation,” a source told Inside Croydon this morning. “Maybe if Gavin Barwell ever wants to make a comeback to the council, with this ward he could be ‘the councillor for the Whitgift’.”
Posted in 2018 council elections, Addiscombe West, Andrew Rendle, Ashburton, Croydon Council, David Wood, Fairfield, Gavin Barwell, Helen Pollard, Kenley, Maddie Henson, Maria Gatland, New Addington, Paul Scott, Selhurst, South Croydon, Stephen Mann, Steve O'Connell, Sue Winborn, Tim Pollard, Timothy Godfrey, Toni Letts, Tony Newman, Vidhi Mohan, Waddon
Tagged Addiscombe West, Conservative, Croydon Council, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, New Addington, South Croydon, Steve O'Connell, Tory, Waddon
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City Commons butterfly walk, Ashtead Common, Jul 15
Posted in Croydon parks, Outside Croydon, Walks, Wildlife
Tagged Ashtead Common, City Commons
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Tower block families left waiting for fire safety results
Balaam House: residents still unsure what kind of cladding surrounds their building
Residents of Balaam House, the 60-flat tower block in Sutton, have good cause to be confused and worried this morning as, three weeks since the dreadful events at Grenfell Tower in Kensington, they still await some degree of certainty from their landlords and the council over the kind of cladding that has been used around their homes.
The type of cladding used at Grenfell Tower is widely suspected of having caused that fire to burn more quickly and fiercely, resulting in the deaths of possibly more than 100 people dead as a consequence.
Cladding applied to other towers around the country, including another Sutton tower, Chaucer House, have failed government fire safety tests ordered following the Grenfell tragedy.
But there’s confusion over the status of the cladding used at Balaam House. Sutton Housing Partnership, the body which manages social housing in the borough for the council, says that Balaam is clad with Kingspan Optimo Architectural Wall Panels.
Yet according to a press release from Sutton Council which quotes senior councillor Jayne McCoy, Balaam House is in fact clad in “galvanised steel” (not a substance usually noted for its insulation qualities).
Posted in Housing, London-wide issues, Niall Bolger, Nick Mattey, Sutton Council
Tagged Balaam House, Grenfell Tower, Niall Bolger, Nick Mattey, Sutton Council
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Tories lose their local election wish list in council carve-up
WALTER CRONXITE reports on how the local boundary Commissioners have had a change of heart over ward changes ahead of next year’s Town Hall elections
The local boundary Commissioners took a different view of Croydon’s wards this time around
Next May’s local elections, with 70 Town Hall seats to be contested, will be determined across 28 electoral wards, up from the present 24, following a review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
Every borough ward has redrawn boundaries under the review, and will see an election for 15 three-councillor wards, 12 wards to be served by two councillors and a single one-councillor ward.
As the Commission released the distilled findings from a second round of public consultation, there was a degree of relief among senior members of the Labour group which controls the Town Hall.
Having invited the review, to seek a better balance between the numbers of residents represented by each Croydon councillor, the Tony Newman-led Labour group at Croydon Town Hall was horrified when the Commissioners’ first draft, published earlier this year, had appeared to reflect too closely a set of recommendations from the local Conservative Party – almost a boundary wish-list.
This latest version, which the Commission insists is the “final” draft of the boundaries, has removed several anomalies, particularly around the current Addiscombe and Ashburton wards.
Posted in 2018 council elections, Addiscombe West, Ashburton, Bensham Manor, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Paul Scott, Tony Newman
Tagged Addiscombe West, Conservative, Croydon Council, Labour, Local Government Boundary Commission, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Tony Newman, Tory
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Young laureate ‘brings the conversation’ to Croydon’s backyard
Caleb Femi, the Young People’s Laureate for London, will end his outer London tour by visiting Croydon Central Library this Wednesday, July 5.
Femi is on a mission to inspire young people to express their voices thorough poetry.
Part of a two-year tour of outer London boroughs in partnership with local libraries, led by London’s leading writers’ agency Spread the Word, Femi will facilitate a creative conversation about the young people’s lives, their relationship with the arts and how they can use poetry to reflect their experiences.
Ruskin House Folk and Blues Festival, Jul 8
Posted in Croydon Folk Club, Music
Tagged Ruskin House, Ruskin House Blues and Folk Club
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‘It was Jeremy Corbyn who won the election for me’ says Jones
Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reports on some significant shifts in position among some figures in the local Labour Party
Sarah Jones, Croydon Central’s new Labour MP, admits that she won the seat from the Tories at last month’s General Election because of the party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
New MP Sarah Jones: her campaign had a lot of Momentum
It is just 12 months since Jones, when chair of her CLP, Constituency Labour Party, welcomed to the town centre Owen Smith, the man put up by the Blairite right wingers of the Parliamentary Labour Party to try to oust Corbyn as leader.
But having won Croydon Central for Labour from Tory Gavin Barwell by more than 5,500 votes, Jones has told the BBC’s Daily Politics programme, “Jeremy Corbyn is our leader. He is tremendously popular now and has done tremendously well in terms of the election.
“I didn’t vote for Jeremy but he is responsible for my victory, I would say.
“The election campaign was one of the most extraordinary I have seen, having fought elections before and been in the party for many years, the shift was quite tangible in terms of the opinion of everybody we were talking to.
A haven of wild peace and tranquility just off the A23
Seen but not heard: the urban clutter of Croydon is silent in the distance from Roundshaw Downs
The WANDLE WANDERER detours from the riverside and finds a surprising oasis of calm and natural beauty within sight of the Purley Way
I probably shouldn’t be telling you this. It may undermine the calm and peace of this particular, precious spot, which would be a shame, although it has demonstrated the resilience of nature over the decades and, today, offers a real oasis within sight of one of the worst polluting horrors of the 21st century.
Yesterday was National Meadows Day. Who knew? And, according to the organisers, so is today. “We are keen to grow this event nationally so that National Meadows Day becomes an annual event taking place on the first Saturday of July every year (Sunday is fine too),” they say. It’s likely that they are seeking organic growth.
Posted in Coulsdon, Croydon parks, Environment, Walks, Wandle Wanderer, Wildlife
Tagged City Commons, Coulsdon, Roundshaw Downs
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Tory threat to Boundary Commissioners over council map
WALTER CRONXITE reports on a significant development which could influence the political control of the borough for decades to come
The Boundary Commissioners have brought forward the publication date for the latest revision to proposals for Croydon’s council electoral wards to Tuesday this week, strongly suggesting that their documents include significant changes from their initial consultation.
How will the map of Croydon look when the present 24 wards are overhauled?
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England was supposed to be publishing its proposals on July 11. By bringing the publication date forward by seven days suggests that the Commission is freeing up to time for a further, exceptional extra public consultation on its findings.
The Commissioners are up against the clock: following delays over the initial consultation, Croydon’s political map now needs to be redrawn in time for local elections in May 2018, with the parties still to select candidates for 70 councillor places at the Town Hall.
With the local elections just nine months away, the whole process of change in ward boundaries is already running very late. Any challenge to that process would be very controversial. Continue reading
Selhurst Park business workshop on safeguarding, Jul 5
Crystal Palace football club is putting its weight behind a drive to encourage local organisations to keep children and vulnerable adults in Croydon safe from harm or abuse.
Teaming up with Croydon’s multi-agency adults’ and children’s safeguarding boards and Croydon Council, the club is hosting a workshop next week for businesses to find out how they can contribute.
The Premier League club has always taken its safeguarding responsibilities very seriously, particularly with regard the work it does with young people. The newly launched “Triple C Partnership” (made up of CPFC, Croydon’s safeguarding boards, and Croydon Council) will take this a step further by combining the skills, expertise, networking and business links of all three organisations. Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Business, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace FC, Selhurst
Tagged Crystal Palace FC, Selhurst, Selhurst Park
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‘Serious questions’ for LibDems over £11m housing contract
The opposition leader on Sutton Council is seeking an urgent, independent inquiry into how a senior Liberal Democrat party official failed to declare an interest when on the board of the borough’s social housing partnership, as they awarded a multi-million-pound contract to a company which had made significant donations to Sutton LibDems.
Nothing to declare? John Drage
Inside Croydon reported yesterday how former LibDem councillor John Drage had failed to make the sort of declarations of interest demanded of people holidng public office. Drage was the chairman of Sutton LibDems when they received £7,500 in donations from Cheam business Smith & Byford, around the same time that the company was bidding for an £11million, 10-year contract with Sutton Housing Partnership. Drage was a board member of SHP at that same time.
Drage had also previously failed to declare an interest when a member of the South London Waste Partnership when it was handing out a £1billion contract for the Beddington Lane incinerator to Viridor, whose company chair just happened to be a lifelong friend of Drage and his family.
Tim Crowley, the leader of the Tory group on Sutton Council, has written to Niall Bolger, the council’s chief executive, and SHP with what he describes as “some serious questions”. Continue reading
Posted in Housing, Niall Bolger, Outside Croydon, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley
Tagged John Drage, Niall Bolger, Sutton, Sutton Council, Sutton Housing Partnership, Tim Crowley
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St Peter’s Primary Summer Fair, South Croydon, Jul 1
St Peter’s Primary School is staging its popular Summer Fair this Saturday, July 1, from noon to 3pm at Normanton Road, South Croydon.
Visit the school’s parents and staff association’s Facebook page to view the latest Silent Auction items, which include a signed rugby top from Harlequins, and a Surrey County Cricket Club bat signed by the team of 2015. Continue reading
Caribbean restaurant launches CD for International Reggae Day
Turtle Bay, the Caribbean bar and restaurant on Croydon High Street, has created its own reggae CD – Turtle Tracks – which will be released tomorrow, International Reggae Day.
Reggae is at the heart of what Turtle Bay is about
The album represents a diverse mix of modern and more established reggae, and showcases a number of emerging artists yet to be represented by major record labels. These up and coming artists are complemented with tracks by some of the most established voices of reggae to create a stellar celebration of the genre.
The album features 15 tracks by artists hailing from all over the UK, Europe and the Caribbean.
The CD has been produced independently by Turtle Bay, and will be available at Turtle Bay in Croydon and across the country, price £8. Turtle Bay’s Fran Laycock said: “Music is at the heart of the experience at Turtle Bay. We want to feed the souls of our guests and let them take a little bit of our experience home with them. Continue reading
LibDem official causes scandal over undeclared donations
Our Sutton reporter, BELLE MONT, finds that the former chair of Sutton’s ruling party, John Drage, forgot to declare an interest during a multi-million-pound public tendering process. And not for the first time
The Liberal Democrats on Sutton Council accepted political donations from a contractor who was working for the borough’s social housing managers during a procurement process – and while the chair of the LibDems’ local party was on the decision-making board of the housing body.
Sutton Housing Partnership (slogan: “Improving housing together”) is the council’s social housing organisation, and what is supposed to be an ALMO, or arm’s length management organisation.
This week, Steve Tucker, SHP’s interim CEO, found himself with huge problems on his hands as the £8.9million cladding on the recently refurbished Chaucer House failed a fire safety test. Tests on the cladding of its sister tower, Balaam House, are in progress.
Posted in Housing, London-wide issues, Niall Bolger, Outside Croydon, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator
Tagged Beddington Lane incinerator, Elaine Drage, John Drage, Liberal Democrats, London, Niall Bolger, SHP, Smith & Byford, South London Waste Partnership, Sutton, Sutton Council, Sutton Housing Partnership
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‘Residents will be thrilled’ after Fairfield Halls’ £30m refit
Councillors and the new operators, BH Live, have been meeting at the Fairfield Halls before the main contractors move in to give it a £30m refurbishment
A year since its closure, and there’s no perceptible signs outside the Fairfield Halls of much in the way of progress in its £30million redevelopment project.
But Timothy Godfrey, the council’s cabinet member for arts and culture, says that, with the interior carefully cleared, the pace of change to refit Croydon’s major arts centre is about to accelerate in the next few months. Continue reading
