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Council sells Taberner site in secretive multi-million pound deal
Croydon Council has agreed to sell the Taberner House site.
Jo Negrini: council chief executive has agreed a multi-million-pound property deal within her first month in her new job
The deal has been done within the first month of Jo Negrini being installed as the council’s chief executive, but neither she nor Tony Newman, the leader of the Labour-run council, have made any public announcement of this multi-million pound sale of the publicly owned prime site, located between the Croydon Flyover and the Town Hall.
But some details of the deal have been reported by commercial property website CoStar, which revealed that Bridges, a property investment fund, had acquired the site, “subject to planning permission”. It will be Croydon Council which has to grant that permission.
According to 18-month-old estimates from the Department for Communities and Local Government, a half a hectare brownfield site in Croydon for residential development could be valued as worth at least £10million. The town centre Taberner House site, alongside public gardens, is regarded as a prime location, and property values have trended upwards since the DCLG published its paper.
Posted in 2018 council elections, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Planning, Property, RIF, Simon Hall, Taberner House, Tony Newman, URV
Tagged Alison Butler, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Paul Scott, Taberner House, Tony Newman, Tory
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Uncertainty for Croydon’s Post Offices under franchise scheme
The future status of Croydon’s two Crown Post Offices and one in Sutton remain in doubt according to union officials, as plans to close or franchise offices continue to be pushed through.
Similar Post Offices in nearby Sydenham and Beckenham have recently been added to a list of 80 previously publicly owned offices which face closure or, as one trade unionist put it, “being pushed into a WH Smith or Spar”.
The Post Office is “on the path to extinction”, according to the Communications Workers’ Union this week. “The situation’s changing almost daily,” a CWU spokesman told Inside Croydon. “New offices are being added to the list for franchising or closure all the time. We don’t know where will be next.”
Croydon residents have already seen their postal services seriously down-graded since the closing of the Royal Mail collections office next to East Croydon Station, with the building being sold off. Instead of having the collections office in the centre of Croydon, conveniently placed for public transport, anyone needing to collect an undelivered item now has to visit a depot at Factory Lane.
Off-air radio station still without new studio or broadcast date
Croydon Radio say that they “have made the decision to seek new premises with room for development, rather than continue to invest in our current modest space”, as they prepare to leave Matthew’s Yard, off Surrey Street, the home for their studios for the past four years.
Croydon Radio has been off-air before. No one is saying how long it might be before they resume live programmes
Tracey Rabbetts, the station’s co-founder, has put her name to a lengthy statement posted on the channel’s website, in which she said, “The plan is for the new premises to house us for the next four years and beyond – and give us room to grow and expand into other broadcast and media areas.”
The statement by Rabbetts failed to name where the new premises might be, nor when Croydon Radio’s live programming is expected to resume.
Posted in Croydon Radio, Local media, Music, Surrey Street
Tagged Croydon Radio, Surrey Street
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Lorry-load of rubbish cleared from South Norwood park
The Conservation Volunteers have been busy clearing up a valuable green space in South Norwood
The Conservation Volunteers have been hard at work this week, clearing up Brickfields Meadow in South Norwood.
Brickfields Meadow is one of Croydon’s green oases. It is very popular with fishermen around the lake and young families using the playground.
Unfortunately the site has also been popular with fly-tippers and others leaving piles of rubbish. Continue reading
Warlingham to host Saracens’ summer rugby camp, Aug 30-31
RUGBY ROUND-UP: Warlingham is hosting its final kids’ rugby summer camp of the holidays at Hamsey Green next week, Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30-31.
England World Cup-winner Kay Wilson learned her rugby at Warlingham
For boys and girls aged from five to 13, the organisers already have around 40 youngsters booked to take part, but still have vacancies for those who want to make sure that they are rugby fit for the new season.
So whether your son or daughter were inspired by seeing Rugby 7s at the Olympics, or perhaps are about to move to a school where rugby is the main autumn term sport, next week’s camp could be the ideal introduction.
Run by the coaching and youth development team of Saracens, the online cost of the two-day camp is £54. Continue reading
‘Zaha is going nowhere’ says Palace chairman Parish
Wilfried Zaha’s agent may have just earnt the Palace player the sort of pay rise he was seeking.
Wilfried Zaha: chairman has blocked any transfer move
Steve Parish, the Crystal Palace chairman, last night dismissed the Tottenham transfer offer for the player as “ridiculous”.
“We’ve told Spurs that there is really no point bidding for him because he is going nowhere – 100 per cent guaranteed,” Parish said.
Speaking on a late-night TalkSport radio programme, Parish said that the offer for Zaha, who had submitted a formal transfer request on Thursday morning, was for £12 million, not the £15 million first reported.
“We had a bid from Spurs but £12 million – it’s ridiculous. I can’t imagine that they’re serious,” Parish said.
“There’s no chance whatsoever of Wilfried Zaha leaving the club in this transfer window. I can absolutely reassure every Palace fan he is an integral part of our plans. Continue reading
Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Sport, Wilfried Zaha
Tagged Alan Pardew, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace FC, Steve Parish, Wilfried Zaha
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Open House weekend: see where your money’s spent
Croydon’s somewhat curmudgeonly attitude towards Open House London, the annual opportunity to sneak a peek behind normally firmly closed doors, appears to have been shaken off, finally.
But not as far as the not-so-dynamic team in the council’s press office is concerned.
Nice view from the council’s £140m head offices, Fisher’s Folly
For they have only just got round to issuing publicity today about the borough’s involvement in the capital-wide scheme, more than a week after it was launched everywhere else in London.
The formal launch also saw the start of the ballot for slots on tours at high-demand venues, including No10 Downing Street and The Shard – so anyone waiting for Croydon to publicise the scheme will have potentially been placed at a disadvantage against other Londoners when applying for those hot tickets.
There are 14 Croydon buildings not usually open to public examination throwing open their doors on the weekend of September 17 and 18 in the annual Open House London festival of architecture and design.
And this includes the country’s most expensive local authority head offices, Fisher’s Folly. Continue reading
Grange Park play area, official opening, Sep 10
Posted in Charity, Community associations, Coulsdon, Friends of Grange Park
Tagged Coulsdon, Friends of Grange Park, Grange Park
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Want-away Wilf triggers £15m transfer bid from Tottenham
Wilfried Zaha, the home-grown England international and long-time darling of the Selhurst Park faithful, walked into the Crystal Palace manager’s office at the club’s Beckenham training ground this morning to request a transfer.
Are Eagles fans about to see the back of Wilfried Zaha?
The 23-year-old winger’s formal request – which was confirmed by the player’s agent – opened the way for an immedate £15million bid from Tottenham Hotspur. After a couple of phone calls to New York, where the club’s co-chairman, Steve Parish, is on a business trip, the offer was rejected.
But with Spurs urgently needing to bolster their squad ahead of a season when they will be expected to challenge in the Premier League while also taking on a tough group in the Champions League, the pace and potential of Zaha seems likely to bring them back with further bids ahead of the transfer window closing next week.
The news will have stunned many of the Holmesdale faithful. But other supporters were unsurprised.
So why does Zaha want away? Continue reading
Posted in Christian Benteke, Crystal Palace FC, Football, Sport, Wilfried Zaha
Tagged Alan Pardew, Crystal Palace, Selhurst Park, Steve Parish, Wilfried Zaha
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Ruskin House calls for work team volunteers this weekend
Volunteers required to help out at Ruskin House this Sunday and bank holiday Monday from 10am.
Tasks include gardening, cleaning, painting, general DIY and rubbish clearance.
There is still have a large quantity of books which need to be recycled: so if you have a car and can help with this we would be most grateful. Continue reading
Hot dogs and microchips could be back on menu for Croydon
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home say that if there is sufficient demand, they will repeat the highly successful pets free advice day which they staged with the PDSA and Cats Protection on a sunny day in Croydon last week.
Pet experts could return to Croydon for an advice session if they receive enough requests
“Promoting responsible pet ownership through our community events is one way Battersea Dogs and Cats Home can help reduce the numbers of stray dogs and puppies we may get handed – or ‘gifted’ – into the home,” said Gubs Hayer, the community engagement officer from Battersea who helped to staff the event which was held in the car park of John Lewis on the Purley Way.
“We can advise people on why neutering is important, what the current legal responsibilities of being a pet owner are and how they can ensure their pet is happy and healthy.
“Alongside offering free dog microchipping and engraving free collar ID tags, we now also offer free pet health checks through the Battersea vet nurse that comes along to these events or through our charity partners who also attend.” Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Charity, Purley Way, Waddon
Tagged Battersea Dogs' and Cats' Home, Purley Way
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Three-year residency rule on council homes could cost millions
Tony “Soprano” Newman’s cunning plan for winning the 2018 local elections is to out-UKIP UKIP, with a housing policy that will restrict those qualifying for council homes to those who have lived in Croydon for at least three years.
“Are you local?”: Only those who have lived in Croydon for three years will be eligible for council housing under new plans from Labour
Newman, the Labour leader of the council, wants to introduce a “Are you local” test straight from The League of Gentlemen for anyone applying for social housing in the borough.
In future, those seeking a council home will be required to have lived in Croydon for at least three years.
Politically, it is a populist stunt which may play well with some of the electorate. Even the new Tory Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, might like it. But housing professionals believe that the measure is clumsy, ill-considered and liable to cause massive social problems in the borough if introduced. They also warn that the policy has undertones of discrimination about it.
Croydon, especially under the previous Tory administration, already had an appalling record for housing some of the borough’s most vulnerable in sub-standard and unsafe temporary accommodation, often for unlawfully lengthy periods of time.
Many families have had to endure temporary accommodation in Croydon for more than three years. There are even examples of some being in a council-paid B&B for a decade. The housing professionals Inside Croydon has spoken to – senior figures in London housing associations – reckon that those disqualified from council housing lists under the proposed new residency rules will instead be forced into temporary accommodation – which is more expensive and paid for by the council.
Posted in 2018 council elections, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Housing, Planning, Tony Newman
Tagged Council housing, Croydon Council, Housing, Labour, Tony Newman
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Raise your voices with the Croydon Philharmonic Choir
Croydon Philharmonic Choir is holding three open rehearsals next month and is inviting anyone interested in joining the choir to take part in one or more rehearsals, giving them the opportunity to find out more about the choir and its style and repertoire.
The choir is the largest and the longest-established in Croydon, having been founded in 1914 and now with around 100 members. It sings choral set-pieces from the classic repertoire, such as the great Requiems by Mozart and Verdi, as well as modern selections from show business and jazz. Continue reading
Wild Hunt to dance in the twilight in West Croydon, Aug 23
There’s another chance tonight to see the Wild Hunt Bedlam Morris troupe perform, if you missed last week’s spectacular Croydon Night of Dance.
The Wild Hunt – with their mysterious black masks and costumes, pictured above – have a dance-out in King George V Field, Sydenham Road, West Croydon on Tuesday August 23. Continue reading
Posted in Dance, Music, West Croydon
Tagged West Croydon, Wild Hunt Bedlam Morris dancers
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More questions over £500,000 bid to gentrify Surrey Street
Some traders and residents based in or around Surrey Street are beginning to question whether Croydon Council is steamrollering them into a future for the 700-year-old market which few, if any, of them want or are happy with.
Croydon’s Surrey Street market: down to 40 per cent occupancy of stalls
This sudden largesse was revealed by the cash-strapped local authority, apparently in response to existing traders in the borough questioning why their council had managed to find the money to make a £3 million loan to attract Boozepark to the town centre, while many of their businesses were struggling after six years of austerity and decades of under-investment in Croydon.
The area around Surrey Street has been operating as a market place since it was first granted a charter in 1276. Its more recent history has been that of steady decline, with fewer than half the pitches being occupied regularly (according to the council’s own figures, there’s just 40 per cent occupancy), and the variety of products on sale along the street also much reduced, with the “pound-a-bowl” fruit and veg stalls concentrated at the northern end of the street. Continue reading
150% rent hike forces Croydon Radio to stop programming
Croydon Radio has gone off-air, the community-run digital station having decided to leave its studio in Matthew’s Yard, off Surrey Street, after a demand for a 150 per cent rent increase.
There has been no new or live programming from the station since Friday, as instead they pump out auto-generated music selections – a sort of Tragic FM – presumably with the hope of resuming its normal schedule once new premises are located.
The latest financial crunch at the hipster “arts, cultural and creative hub” (Matthew’s Yard’s chosen descriptor, not ours), offering “a shabby industrial aesthetic” (please refer to our previous parenthetical remarks), and where you’re lucky to get change out of a tenner if you’re buying coffees for yourself and a couple of friends, has forced the rent hike for Croydon Radio, which was among the first partner organisations to move into the former warehouse when it opened in 2012.
Founded by Tim Longhurst and Tracey Rabbetts, the internet-based Croydon Radio had a roster of around 50 volunteer presenters, producers and wannabe DJs, generating an output which was both eclectic and eccentric, and attracted what can only be described as a niche audience, of fewer than 40,000 listeners in its first year.
Posted in Business, Croydon Radio, Local media, Music, Surrey Street
Tagged Croydon Radio, Matthews Yard, Saif Bonar, Surrey Street, Tim Longhurst, Tracey Rabbetts
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Croydon Health Services 2016 annual meeting, Sep 7
Posted in Croydon NHS Trust, Health, Mayday Hospital
Tagged Croydon NHS Trust, Mayday Hospital
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Mum2Mum nearly new sale, Addiscombe, Sep 3
The next Croydon Mum2Mum market takes place on Saturday September 3, between 10am and noon at Addiscombe catholic church, 147 Bingham Road, CR0 7EN.
There are 22 stalls already booked, promising to be packed with baby and kids’ bargains at up to 90 per cent off high street prices.
Plus free parking, goodie bags for the first 100 through the doors, bargain photo shoots, and lots more.
This will be the last Mum2Mums sale in Croydon before Christmas. Continue reading
Hard-fought draw sets up FA Cup replay at Croydon Arena
Croydon, playing in their yellow away kit, have one of their attacks thwarted by VCD Athletic’s hard-worked goalkeeper on Saturday. Photo: AP
Croydon FC have a second chance to qualify for the next stage of the FA Cup having held VCD Athletic to a hard-fought 0-0 draw at the Vickers’ Crayford ground on Saturday in the Preliminary Round.
The replay against the Isthmian League First Division side will be at Croydon Arena this Wednesday, August 24, at 7.45pm. Continue reading
Posted in Croydon FC, Football, Sport
Tagged Croydon Arena, Croydon FC, Dickson Gill, FA Cup
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Tory MP calls on minister to block Southern’s fare rises
Croydon South’s Tory MP, Chris Philp, has called on the rail minister to block a planned 1.9 per cent fare rise on Southern Railways.
This sort of rail service is well worth an abve inflation fare incfrease. Not
“For a service that has failed its customers time and again, this will be seen as unacceptable,” Philp said in his letter, sent on Friday, to Paul Maynard, the recently appointed Under Secretary of State at DafT, the Department for Transport.
Govia Thameslink Railway, who operate Southern, do so not as franchisees, but under contract from DafT.
The above-inflation fare increase is allowed under the Government’s agreements with the various rail franchises. Philp estimates that the fare increase will cost commuters in Coulsdon, Purley and South Croydon an extra £32 per year.
“Southern’s record under the ownership of Govia Thameslink Railway has been abysmal,” Philp writes.
Posted in Chris Philp MP, Commuting, Croydon South, East Croydon, TfL, Transport, West Croydon
Tagged Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Coulsdon, Croydon South, Govia Thameslink, Purley, Southern Railways, Tory
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