Amy Johnson play ready to take off again at the Spread Eagle

Posted on April 14, 2017 by insidecroydon

A one-woman show about aviator Amy Johnson will get a second run at The Spread Eagle Theatre during the Croydon Heritage Festival in June.

Amy Johnson: forever associated with Croydon

Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out was performed by Jenny Lockyer at last month’s Croydonites theatre festival. With the previous shows selling out, Lockyer’s encore performances this summer at the intimate pub theatre venue are sure to be in high demand.

The one-woman show is based around the life of Johnson, one of the pioneers of aviation and who is forever associated with Croydon. Continue reading →

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Old Coulsdon park awarded poignant Centenary Field status

Posted on April 13, 2017 by insidecroydon

Grange Park in Old Coulsdon, which includes one of the borough’s war memorials, is to become the first Centenary Field in south London. The occasion will be marked on Saturday when Toni Letts, the deputy mayor, unveils a plaque in the park.

Grange Park in Old Coulsdon: now to be south London’s first Cententary Field

Centenary Fields is an organisation that works in partnership with the Royal British Legion to secure recreational spaces in perpetuity to honour the memory of the millions of people who lost their lives in the First World War.

As a Centenary Field, Grange Park will receive additional protection to ensure it remains as a public open space for future generations. The application to get this recognition was made jointly by the Friends of Grange Park and Croydon Council, and was supported through the use of the local councillors’ ward budget. Continue reading →

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Council to name new operator for Fairfield Halls next week

Posted on April 13, 2017 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council has awarded a contract worth as much as £180million for an operator to run the Fairfield Halls arts complex for up to 15 years, but cannot name the successful bidder until next Friday in case of any legal challenges.

The Fairfield Halls, before refurbishment works got underway

The decision is contained within a council report released this week, signed off by the Labour-run council’s leader, Tony Newman.

The identity of the successful bidder is contained within the confidential Part B of a “key decision” report, and will only be released on April 21 provided that the decision is not called in by the Labour-controlled scrutiny committee, or – more likely – by 14 Tory councillors, as they seek to score some cheap political points by delaying the appointment process. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield Halls, Property, Theatre, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Westfield set to snub CEO Negrini’s costly Place Review Panel

Posted on April 13, 2017 by insidecroydon

In an embarrassing snub for the council’s chief executive, the developers proposing the £1.4billion Westfield and Hammerson regeneration of Croydon town centre have no immediate intention to submit their plans for review by the borough’s much-touted Place Review Panel.

The Place Review Panel is the initiative of Jo Negrini, the council CEO, and honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. With groups of experts drawn from 22 hand-picked architects and designers, the Place Review Panel is supposed to meet once a month to cast its “independent” eye over various planning applications. It is estimated that the panel could cost the Council Tax-payers of Croydon around £100,000 per year.

The council launched the panel last November in what passes for a blaze of publicity in Croydon.

Alison Butler, part of the Gang of Four which controls the Labour group at the Town Hall, greeted the appointment of the experts by claiming that “their valuable knowledge will be instrumental in furthering Croydon’s commitment to achieve the highest quality architecture across the borough”. Butler clearly was not anticipating such a snub from Westfield. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Place Review Panel, Planning, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Celebrate Easter events, New Addington, Apr 14/16

Posted on April 13, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Council recruits staff for ‘private’ company Brick by Brick

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE uncovers Croydon’s latest big spend on its supposedly ‘private’ housing company

Croydon Council is recruiting four staff on publicly funded salaries of up to £50,000 a year each – to work on behalf of a private housing developer.

The council recruitment ad appeared in the past week for four “development manager” positions, one full-time permanent, one job share “to support an existing job shareholder – hours to be confirmed”, and two fixed-term positions for 12 months.

The advertisement describes the roles thus: “Reporting to the head of development, you will manage a wide range of regionally significant development projects delivered by the council and the council’s new development company Brick by Brick”.

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Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Now Idris Elba gets angry with Tories over rising homelessness

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, outlines the latest raft of Tory government cuts to benefits which will make yet more people homeless, and which have been supported by housing minister Gavin Barwell

The role of Tory-led governments, and their current housing minister, Gavin Barwell, over the past seven years in increasing levels of homelessness has been highlighted with figures just out which show the numbers of families with children stuck in B&B temporary accommodation up 40 per cent since the 2015 General Election.

Actor and Shelter supporter Idris Elba: angered by Tory housing benefit cuts targeted at young people

And now Barwell and his Tory chums have enthusiastically applied a whole range of additional cuts to benefits which will make an already bad situation worse. Much worse.

From the beginning of April, most single people aged between 18 and 21 have been stripped of any entitlement to housing benefit. The measure has been pushed through by the Tory government (it was first mooted under David Cameron when he was Prime Minister in 2012, included in the 2015 Conservative manifesto which Barwell endorsed and it was made law last month). The National Landlords’ Association admits this single measure alone will make it less likely that their members will rent properties to younger people, increasing their risk of homelessness. Estimates suggest 9,000 young people face homelessness as a consequence of this latest Conservative cut. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Crisis Skylight Centre, Croydon Central, Croydon Nightwatch, Gavin Barwell, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Lloyd Webber charity’s 25th anniversary grant to BRIT School

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

The BRIT School has just been handed more than 200,000 reasons extra to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Andrew Lloyd Webber: his charitable foundation has backed the BRIT School

September will mark 25 years since the arts, music, dance and drama specialist school opened its doors in Thornton Heath, and a grant of £211,723 this week from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation should help give the high-profile school reason to get the celebrations started a little early.

Awarded over three years, the Foundation has made the grant to support the school’s Bridge Theatre Company, a free year-long part-time course for post-sixth form BRIT School students.

Providing an opportunity to create a theatre company and produce a show under the guidance of industry specialists and professional creative team, the training culminates in a performance of new work in a London venue. Continue reading →

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Take your marks for Wandle Park beginners’ runs from Apr 27

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

Wandle Park is to get its own beginners’ running group, meeting outside the park cafe every Thursday evening at 7pm, beginning from April 27.

Led by experienced runners, this is a start-up group for people of all ages, abilities and sizes who want to use running as a method of getting fit but have either never run before nor have tried running but have not continued for various reasons. Continue reading →

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Join Croydon’s ACE team of conservation volunteers

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

Happy Valley, Coulsdon, one of the conservation volunteers’ work sites

Could you do something ACE for the environment locally?

The Conservation Volunteers’ Action for Croydon’s Environment team – or ACE – organises regular task days every Wednesday and Thursday in different parks and woodlands in and around Croydon, and they’re seeking eager additional helpers. Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mayor of Croydon’s St George’s Day Gala dinner, Apr 21

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Easter in the Square free event, Purley town centre, Apr 15

Posted on April 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

EASTER IN
THE SQUARE

Sat Apr 15

3 to 5pm

PURLEY TOWN SQUARE

Free open air event for families

Music, Drama, Crafts and much more, staged by Purley Baptist Church

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Barwell adopts United Airlines approach to his housing ‘debate’

Posted on April 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE uncovers a Tory astroturfing exercise which has hand-picked the audience for a bogus housing ‘debate’ with the local MP

Loyal Croydon Tory supporters of the government minister, Gavin Barwell, have adopted the ticketing practices of United Airlines ahead of what is supposed to be a “debate” on housing policy this week.

Gavin Barwell: is the housing minister frit?

Either that, or the housing minister is scared of actually being questioned about government policy by anyone who is not recognised as a card-carrying member of the “We Luv Gav” fan club.

Barwell, the housing minister and MP for Croydon Central, is supposed to be speaking at the Croydon Conference Centre on Thursday evening at an event entitled “How do we solve Croydon’s housing crisis?”

The event is organised by Robert Ward, the busy Tory activist, under the guise of something that calls itself the Croydon Debate Club.

But much like United Airlines when it overbooks a flight, Ward has started to sling out ticket-holders for the Barwell event. Rather than allocate tickets on a first-come, first-served basis, Ward has announced that he has decided to allocate seats at the 100-plus capacity venue on Surrey Street “to our supporters”. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Housing, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

South Norwood Community Kitchen, opening lunch, Apr 22

Posted on April 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Friends of Foxley 25th anniversary, Purley, May 1

Posted on April 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Carshalton-on-Sea at the Honeywood Museum, Jul 8-9

Posted on April 11, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Colonnades new centre will have you flying through the air

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

The air is better up here: the dodgeball court at the new Oxygen trampolining park proved especially popular at the opening

Croydon’s new trampoline park opens today. MATTHEW GLINSKI put it to the test

I spent my weekend flying through the air.

I was at the Oxygen Freejumping trampoline park at The Colonnades off the Purley Way, where I found myself jumping and laughing at the same time while using the vast range of gravity-defying equipment.

The sight when I walked in was one that could make any child excited, as there were plenty of activities to go and try. From the freejumping section to the dodgeball arena, it all brought out the competitive sides in my brother and me while we were in the air. Continue reading →

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Mystery of the vanishing objections to council’s Local Plan

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE reports on the disappearance of ward councillors’ contribution to a key consultation on Croydon’s strategic planning document

Councillors (from left) Andrew Pelling, Robert Canning and Joy Prince: Local Plans objections have mysteriously disappeared

It might not be quite up there with the unexplained disappearance of Lord Lucan, but comments submitted by Waddon Labour councillors to Croydon Council on the Local Plan seem to have vanished in equally mysterious circumstances.

The Croydon Local Plan is supposed to set out how the council aims to achieve growth and development across the borough over the next 20 years. It includes providing new homes for a growing population, the controversial plans to provide an additional traveller and gypsy site (for now, at least, to be at Purley Oaks), as well as all the school places which our growing borough might require.

The Local Plan, therefore, is the masterpiece/shambles [delete to taste] which since 2014 has been overseen by Alison Butler, Labour’s deputy leader and the cabinet member for regeneration, and her husband Paul Scott, who conveniently just happens to be the chair of the council’s planning committee. Together, they make up one half of the Gang of Four that rules the Town Hall’s Labour group. Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Duppas Hill Park, Education, Environment, Harris Primary Purley Way, Jo Negrini, Joy Prince, Krishna Avanti Primary, Paul Scott, Planning, Robert Canning, Schools, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Big Project at Project B, Middle Street, Apr 28

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

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ARCC friends’ coffee morning, CVA London Road, Apr 19

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

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These are the people who make me proud to be from Croydon

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: On Saturday, hundreds of people turned out in Croydon town centre for the unity against racism march.

PETER UNDERWOOD, pictured right, was among them and here outlines why he believes it is important for us all to stand united

On the night that Reker Ahmed was attacked in Shirley, I was away from my home in Croydon attending a conference. I spent that weekend with hundreds of people who had gathered in Liverpool from all over the world for the Global Green Congress, discussing the issues we were dealing with in our respective countries and the shared challenges we all face. The congress was an opportunity to share ideas, learn from each other’s experiences, and show that we were all part of a family of fellow activists working to save our planet and care for the people who live on it.

In the middle of that atmosphere of togetherness and support, it felt even more shocking to see reports that Ahmed and his two friends had been viciously attacked in my home town, and almost killed, just for being asylum seekers.

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Kiwanis International volunteers come to Croydon, Apr 13

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

A global volunteer organisation new to Croydon is staging an information event this Thursday for people to find out how they can work together to help others.

“Through the successful structure of Kiwanis International we are seeking to create an arm of the organisation that is dedicated to serving the children of the world from right here in the heart of Croydon,” the organisers say.

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Easter Explorers at Honeywood Museum, Carshalton, Apr 12

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Dogs Trust community event, Norbury Park, Apr 11

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

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Broad Green community spring clean, Apr 17

Posted on April 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

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