Recent Comments
insidecroydon on Purley’s purdah banner i… Anthony Miller on Perry makes no formal interven… Chris Cooke on Purley’s purdah banner i… Jim Bush on Purley’s purdah banner i… William Winterford on Purley’s purdah banner i… derekthrower on Perry makes no formal interven…
Croydon, June 2016: ‘Farage Lies’ and the signs of our times
We live in interesting times.
One week on from what someone like Roosevelt might have described as “the Referendum that will go down in infamy”, and the graffiti artists who have been daubing the hoarding around what was once Taberner House, the council office tower, have got to work with a new message. Continue reading
Posted in 2016 EU referendum, Business, Croydon Council, Taberner House
Tagged Farage Lies, grafitti, Grey Label, Taberner House
Leave a comment
Waddon school pupils get chance to eat as they learn
Croydon’s new Mayor tended to his roots in more ways than one when he came to open St Giles’s School’s edible garden today.
Councillor Wayne Trakas-Lawlor got in some good spade work to bed down a tree planted to mark his visit to open a garden that will allow the school’s children, who have complex needs, to enjoy touching, cultivating and eating fresh produce that they have grown themselves. Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Pelling, Education, Environment, Gardening, Schools, South Norwood, St Giles' School, Waddon, Wayne Lawlor
Tagged South Norwood, Waddon, Wayne Trakas-Lawlor
Leave a comment
Poets Anonymous, Wandle Park bandstand, Jul 2
Posted in Broad Green, Friends of Wandle Park, Poetry, Waddon, Wandle Park
Tagged Poets Anonymous, Wandle Park
Leave a comment
Croydon’s industrial history walk, Wandle Park, Jul 3
Posted in Broad Green, Business, Friends of Wandle Park, History, Purley Way, Waddon, Walks, Wandle Park
Tagged Broad Green, Purley Way, Waddon, Walks, Wandle Park
Leave a comment
Time for us all to act against London’s invisible killer
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Thousands of Londoners die each year because of an environmental issue which our MPs, councillors and London Mayor seem unwilling to do anything about. CONNIE MINTON says it is long overdue that we demanded action over this public health scandal
Nearly 9,500 people in London die every year due to contaminated drinking water.
Do I have your attention now?
Choking the town centre: there’s more traffic heading for central Croydon, where air pollution levels are often dangerously high
That opening statement is, of course, untrue. The truth is, cryptosporidium infected 231 people in Wales in 2005 and the water company faced immediate fines and restrictions and every trace of the bug was removed before it was deemed safe for human consumption. We drink on average 2 to 3 litres of water every day. Ever since John Snow traced the 1854 cholera outbreak to a water pump in Broad Street and contributed to the idea of environmental impact on the health of the public, we recognise that clean drinking water is a fundamental public health issue.
Yet 9,500 people in London do die every year because of an environmental impact upon their health. Not because of the water they drink, but because of the air that they breathe.26
Posted in "Hammersfield", Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Environment, Gavin Barwell, Health, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Steve Reed MP, TfL, Transport, Waste incinerator, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Barwell, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Gavin Barwell, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Labour, London, London Assembly, Mayor, Member of parliament, Sadiq Khan, Steve Reed OBE, Tory, Westfield, Whitgift Centre
1 Comment
‘Prominent’ Tory whip is accused of back-stabbing Boris
WALTER CRONXITE umasks an MP who is reported to be using the “dark arts” of the whips’ office to try to stop Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister
A prominent London MP who is a Tory whip: Francis Urquhart is more than a work of fiction
Tonight’s Evening Standard is reporting how the Tory whips’ office in Westminster is trying to stop Boris Johnson from making it on to the ballot for the Conservative leadership election.
If there was any doubt that our MPs can be a venal, untrustworthy and back-stabbing lot, then this news report offers proof positive that Game of Cards‘ portrayal of Francis Urquhart was more a work of documentary than drama.
Posted in 2016 EU referendum, Boris Johnson, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell
Tagged Barwell, Boris Johnson, Conservative, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Tory
3 Comments
Environment campaigners take protest to Viridor shareholders
The Stop the South London Incinerator Campaign is staging a demonstration in Beddington Lane tomorrow evening, June 29.
Protestors will be gathering on the public footpaths outside the entrance to the Viridor incinerator site before a photo-call at 7pm.
The organisers say that “This will be a peaceful protest”, with participants gathering on the public footpaths near the Viridor Incinerator entrance, not far from the Beddington Lane tram stop. The demonstration comes a couple of days before the annual meeting for shareholders of Viridor’s parent company, The Pennon Group, in Exeter at 11am on Friday. Continue reading
Former Palace player Southgate tipped for England job
REG E DWIGHT, our man on the terraces with the star-shaped glasses and a copy of When Saturday Comes tucked under his arm, reports on the consequences of our exit from Europe. Plus the latest Selhurst Park transfer news, including a shock £31m bid for Belgian striker
Gareth Southgate: well-suited to the FA
It will be a case of a Palace player succeeding a Croydon man if it comes to pass, as many believe that Southgate, the successful England under-20s coach, is lined up to succeed Roy Hodgson after the latter’s prompt resignation last night following the abject 2-1 defeat to Iceland in Nice in the last 16 stage of the European championships.
The veteran Hodgson’s contract was up for renewal after the championships in any case, and as he had been stating as a mantra before the game, “This is a results business”. And England’s results under Hodgson in major tournaments had been underwhelming. Despite going unbeaten through 10 qualifying games, come Euro 2016, England produced lacklustre and uninspired performances, with draws against Russia and Slovakia particularly demoralising.
Last night, it was like watching Iceland against Poundland, as a team drawn from an island in the north Atlantic with a population of less than Croydon’s and coached by a part-time dentist demonstrated greater skill, organisation and desire than Hodgson’s seemingly random selection of Premier League millionaires.
Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Roy Hodgson
Tagged Alan Pardew, Crystal Palace, Gareth Southgate, Selhurst Park
2 Comments
Bookings open now for summer holiday Bikeability courses
Posted in Activities, Coulsdon, Croydon Cycling Campaign, Cycling, Transport
Tagged Addiscombe West, Coulsdon, Cycling
Leave a comment
Waterlogged park forces organisers to cancel village fair
The very wet spring and early summer has claimed a casualty in Old Coulsdon, where this Saturday’s Village Fair has had to be postponed because Grange Park is waterlogged.
The event is organised by The Rotary Club of Coulsdon Manor and 2016 would have been the 20th annual fair. Without any insurance against bad weather, the charity fund-raisers in the local Rotary Club will incur some costs, though they hope to have a chance to recoup those losses later this year.
“It is hoped to reschedule the fair at a date in September,” David Caddick, from the Rotary Club’s organisers, said.
“Up to 100 charities attend the event and raise varying amounts of money, and between 2,000 and 3,000 members of the public support the event. Over the last 19 years we calculate that somewhere between £200,000 and £300,000 has been raised for charity at this event.
MP Reed never consulted us on Corbyn, say Labour members
Steve Reed OBE, the Progress MP for Lambeth South/Croydon North [delete to taste] waited until this morning before joining the exodus of right wingers from the Labour Party’s shadow cabinet, issuing a letter announcing that he is resigning from his junior position in the local government team, he says because of concerns about Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Progress: Steve Reed OBE
But members of his own constituency party say that Reed’s letter is at best is disingenuous, and at worst includes an outright lie.
“We had the Croydon North Constituency Labour Party annual meeting on Friday night, when members asked Reed about the threats against the leader,” said one activist who was present. “He refused to discuss the matter, saying that there was a meeting at Westminster on Monday and he would talk about it with parliamentary colleagues there.”
In his resignation letter, Reed has written that he made his decision, “After consulting my local constituency party…”
The CLP meeting was well-attended by members, including some Croydon councillors. Those who were there have told Inside Croydon, “He certainly didn’t discuss the party leadership with us.
“The CLP annual meeting would seem to be the ideal place for the MP to discuss such an issue with members. Last year, it was where Croydon North members voted democratically to support Jeremy Corbyn’s nomination for the leadership. Yet this year, Reed did not want to discuss the matter with party members.”
Posted in Catriona Ogilvy, Croydon North, Steve Reed MP
Tagged Croydon North, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour, Steve Reed OBE
12 Comments
Purley paddler’s 400-mile journey highlights plastic pollution
Water, water everywhere… Lizzie Carr got a soaking in the rain on the Thames on the first week of her paddle board challenge, but still completed her 400-mile journey
Lizzie Carr, the Purley woman backed by the Ordnance Survey to travel the length of England using a paddle board on the country’s waterways, has completed her epic journey, and made some very worrying discoveries.
Inside Croydon was the first to report on Carr’s intended adventure in March.
What Carr did not reveal at the time of the project’s launch was how she came to take up paddle boarding two years ago: she chose it as a low-impact form of exercise after being diagnosed with cancer.
“After being diagnosed with cancer the water was where I could gather my thoughts, seek comfort and find restoration,” she said after finishing her journey. “Paddle boarding was an important part of my recovery process and was where I found happiness and perspective during a difficult time.”
And last month – one of the wettest Mays since weather records began – Carr duly set off from outside Godalming, on the River Wey Navigation, heading for Kendal in Cumbria, 400 miles away, the longest stretch of continuous waterway in the country, and all powered by nothing other than her own paddle. Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Environment, Health, Purley
Tagged Lizzie Carr, Ordnance Survey, Purley
Leave a comment
Last Mum2Mum Market sale of summer, Bingham Road, Jul 16
What the Mum2Mum Market organisers are calling “The Last Sale of Summer” is being held in Addiscombe on July 16.
Staged at Our Lady’s Annunciation Church, 147 Bingham Road, CR0 7EN, from 10am to noon, at this sales event, run by mums for mum, there will be hundreds of great bargains on everything from used and nearly-new pushchairs, prams, clothes, toys, books, car seats, plus many other items.
Posted in Addiscombe West, Community associations
Tagged Addiscombe West, Mum2Mums Market
Leave a comment
Mitre Players’ family affair promises to go like clockwork
Megan Brown hopes everything goes like clockwork when she steps on stage for the Mitre Players’ new production next month.
Colin Warnock and Megan Brown in the Mitre Players production of The Clockmaker’s Daughter. Photo: Charles Marriott
Brown plays Constance, the titular character in The Clockmaker’s Daughter, which the amdram group will perform in the open-air Courtyard Theatre at Croydon High School in Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon, from July 13-15 at 7.30pm, with a Saturday matinee performance at 2.30pm on July 16.
It’s a chance for Croydon audiences to see the show before it travels to the prestigious Cornish clifftop theatre, the Minack, in August. Continue reading
Brexit uncertainties could mean a crisis for Croydon’s face lift
In the aftermath of yesterday’s EU Referendum, WALTER CRONXITE finds some senior figures close to the £1.4bn Whitgift Centre redevelopment feeling very nervous about its prospects
“The real fear now must be that Westfield walk away. They’ve done it before, after all. Look at Bradford.”
The Hammersfield mall first proposed for Croydon. Brexit might put all plans on hold
That’s the view of a senior Croydon figure, closely connected with the council and familiar with the proposals to build a £1.4billion supermall to replace the Whitgift Centre, after the announcement this morning that the British public had voted to quit the European Union in yesterday’s referendum.
For one of Croydon’s three Remain-supporting MPs, Steve Reed OBE, the referendum outcome is nothing short of a “crisis”.
“It’s a crisis,” the Croydon North MP told the Croydon Guardian. “It’s a political, economic and constitutional crisis – but it’s one the British people have voted for.”
The thing is, the crisis could be a lot closer to home than anyone in Croydon imagined when going to the polling stations yesterday.
Posted in "Hammersfield", 2016 EU referendum, Business, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Gavin Barwell, Jo Negrini, Nathan Elvery, Planning, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Barwell, Brexit, Conservative, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Jo Negrini, Labour, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman, Tory, UKIP, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
27 Comments
Lally defies Olympic selectors to realise her lifelong dream
After four years of struggle, Jade Lally is within touching distance of her Olympic dream
IAN LAMONT interviews a south London athlete who has overcome illness, depression and disappointment to drive her into becoming one of the world’s best discus throwers. Main photograph by IAN STRATTON
Jade Lally can put four years of hurt behind her on Sunday by securing a place in the British team for the Rio Games at this weekend’s Olympic Trials.
Britain’s No1 woman discus thrower made a tearful vow in 2012, after missing out on the London Olympics, saying that never again would she give selectors an excuse to leave her out.
Charles van Commenee, then the head coach of UK Athletics, drew Lally’s ire at the time. She said she would never forgive or forget the decision to leave her out of the squad of athletes who got the chance of a lifetime, to compete on the Olympic stage in front of a home crowd. Continue reading
Posted in Athletics, Croydon Harriers, Lawrence Okoye, Sport
Tagged athletics, Jade Lally, Olympic Games
Leave a comment
Referendum result sends UK hurtling towards breaking point
UKIP leader Nigel Farage fronting a controversial poster, with its overtones from the propaganda of Goebbels, and which had to be withdrawn. But not before it influenced the Referendum outcome
Nigel Farage this morning said that June 23 should go down as the country’s “independence day”. In fact, following the result of the referendum on membership of the European Union, yesterday will mark the beginning of the end of the United Kingdom, as Scotland and Northern Ireland both voted for Remain but were out-voted by Leavers in England and Wales.
Indeed, London, and Croydon, voted for Remain, with our borough voting 92,913 in support of continued membership of the EU and 78,221 wanting to leave, off a 69 per cent turn-out of voters.
But by the time Croydon’s vote was declared, the referendum result for the nation as a whole was already determined, with the BBC confirming at 6am that the Farage and Boris Johnson-led exit campaigners had accumulated enough votes to make it impossible, with just a few results yet to be declared, for Remain to win the vote overall.
Nationally, on a 72 per cent turnout, the BBC was reporting Leave at 52 per cent and Remain at 48 per cent, the Brexiteers having a majority of 1.1 million votes. Continue reading
Posted in 2016 EU referendum, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell
Tagged Barwell, Boris Johnson, Conservative, EU Referendum, Gavin Barwell, Labour, Tory, UKIP
6 Comments
Council was paying £110,000 per year to ‘despicable’ legal firm
Parents of children with special educational needs who have been forced to fight stressful and demanding legal cases to seek proper support from Croydon Council have won a small victory by getting the Town Hall to cancel arrangements for legal advice to be provided by controversial firm of solicitors, Baker Small.
Hands up if you think your council has been spending tax-payers’ money to stop vulnerable children getting the education support that they desperately need
Baker Small was exposed after sending tweets celebrating victory in tribunals where they had blocked special educational support for children. The tweets boasted a “great win” over parents of vulnerable children. Some described Baker Small’s attitude as “inhumane”, “callous” and “despicable”.
The firm later deleted the tweets and said that it had bunged a few bob (it never specified the value of its donation) to a children’s charity, in a conscience-salving exercise.
The law firm’s founder, Mark Small, said he was “deeply, deeply sorry” for the callous and tasteless tweets, before admitting that the real reason for his sorrow was that, “from a publicity point of view, it is a disaster”.
From a business point of view, Small’s social media boasting is looking to be a disaster, too, as several local authorities, including Croydon, have pulled the plug on Baker Small’s publicly funded fees. Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Jon Rouse, Julie Belvir, Nathan Elvery
Tagged Baker Small, Croydon Council, Education, Nathan Elvery
Leave a comment
Wandle Park to feature on live TV for launch of Rivers Week
Only the sight of the Saffron Square tower gives it away, that this is a scene from Wandle Park in central Croydon. Photo by Ally McKinlay
Friends of Wandle Park are seeking your help on Monday to help play a part in London Rivers Week.
The official launch of the week’s activities is being staged in Wandle Park and is to be featured on London Live. Continue reading
Posted in Friends of Wandle Park, Wandle Park
Tagged Broad Green, River Wandle, Waddon, Wandle Park
Leave a comment
Fight back against pollution with your own air monitor
How polluted is the air that you and your family breathe?
Air pollution is the biggest cause of early deaths in Britain, after smoking. It’s an invisible killer, so you aren’t even aware that you’re breathing it in.
Croydon, with its two urban motorways and the ever-busy A23 Purley Way, is already known for suffering from particularly badly polluted air. And it could soon get worse, once the incinerator at Beddington Lane, which we are all paying for, cranks up and starts pumping out its clouds of particulates and dirt, 24/7.
Male Voice Choir’s Patrons’ concert, Croydon High, Jul 9
The Croydon Male Voice Choir at their recent performance at St George’s Church near Ypres in France
The Croydon Male Voice Choir is rehearsing hard for its final concert of the 2015-2016 season – its annual Patrons’ Concert, to be held this year at Croydon High School on Saturday July 9.
The choir considers the concert, so-named because it acknowledges the important role of its patrons, to be one of the highlight performances of the year. Continue reading
Warlingham car show’s driving force for cancer charities
The Classic Car and Motor Bike Show returns to Warlingham rugby club on Limpsfield Road on July 17, confident of bettering the £4,000 raised for cancer charities in 2015.
One of the entries at last year’s Warlingham Classic Car and Motor Bike Show
More than 350 classic cars and 100 motor bikes turned up to Warlingham RFC’s Hamsey Green grounds on a glorious sunny day last year and, with lots of food outlets and side shows as well as the clubhouse bars, the club was visited by thousands of interested locals.
Organiser, Steve Wakeman said, “We had a fantastic response last year and raised more than £4,000 for Cancer Research and the visitors seemed to really enjoy the day. But it’ll be bigger and better this year as we’ve got three live bands, Warlingham Dance Studio, Morris men and lots of stalls with arts and crafts.” Continue reading
Posted in Activities, Charity, Sanderstead, The Lily Foundation, Transport, Warlingham RFC
Tagged Cancer Research, Sanderstead, Warlingham, Warlingham RFC
Leave a comment
