Palace offers youngsters sporting chance with One Goal

Posted on July 2, 2015 by insidecroydon

Crystal Palace Football Club has teamed up with London & Quadrant Housing Association to take part in a project called One Goal, which is offering free sport and arts activities over the summer holidays, as well as the possibility of an apprenticeship for youngsters who achieve necessary qualifications under the scheme.

Palace playersPalace is one of nine London clubs involved in the project, which is backed by £387,000 from the L&Q Foundation.

One Goal aims “to involve, motivate and inspire young people across the city”.

More than 5,000 young Londoners should be involved over the summer holidays. Participants can choose to take coaching qualifications, or access sport sessions and skill workshops, as well as creative activities including arts and creative writing. Thanks to the funding from L&Q Housing, the programmes are free of charge, removing any financial barrier for young people to get involved.

Continue reading →

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Top Hat and some tall tales coming to Cinema Ruskin

Posted on July 2, 2015 by insidecroydon

Cinema Ruskin, the informal monthly movie club staged at Ruskin House, resumes its eclectic programme of films next month.

Cinema projectorFilms, some 80 years old, from the golden age of cinema and featuring long-forgotten Hollywood stars such as Dana Andrews and Tex Ritter, or British film idols Jack Buchanan and Basil Rathbone, are all included in the mix.

The highlight is probably the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers classic Irving Berlin musical Top Hat, which was made in 1935, and is being shown at Cinema Ruskin on September 19.

Cinema Ruskin is open once a month, on Saturdays, with admission at just £2. The club – and club bar – is open from 7pm, with the films starting at 8pm. The programme may be subject to change.

Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Comedy, Dance | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

£700 in prizes await winners of Centrale’s Ping tournament

Posted on July 2, 2015 by insidecroydon

Table Tennis TournamentCroydon’s top table tennis talents have the chance of winning a total of £700 in prizes in a tournament being staged at the Centrale shopping centre on July 16 – which apparently is National Table Tennis Day.

The tournament is one of the various events being staged as part of Ping, which has delivered up a set of tables and table tennis equipment to a range of venues around the borough in an effort to bring the Olympic sport to the people of Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Centrale, Sport | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Developers are not the answer to London’s housing crisis

Posted on July 1, 2015 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Borough councils, including Croydon, have leant heavily on speculative developments to build new homes. But London needs a far more radical approach, according to CHRISTIAN WOLMAR, who is seeking selection by Labour to be the party’s Mayoral candidate

Christian Wolmar: transport expert has battled his way on to Labour's shortlist

Christian Wolmar: London’s councils need radical help to build homes for Londoners

The London Labour Housing Group holds its hustings for the party’s mayoral candidates this Thursday. It will be a fascinating hustings because housing is the central issue facing Londoners at the moment. It will also be interesting because none of the candidates have really been tested on their housing policies.

What is clear to me is that developers are not the solution to our housing problems. The reason is a little-known thing called “viability”.

That’s why a radical council-led social housing building scheme is one of the core policies of my campaign.

But first, let’s look at what is happening on the ground:

Lambeth Council has a 40 per cent affordable housing target in the borough. An intuitive way to deliver this ambitious but desperately needed target is to ensure that 40 per cent of all new developments are affordable housing. Not so for the high-end Keybridge House development in Vauxhall – of the 419 new homes, a mere 19 will be affordable – that’s just 4.5 per cent.

What is worse is that the story is the same across London. Just down the road, the ultra-luxury (and ultra-lifeless) Nine Elms development in Battersea will see the development of 491 flats, the vast majority of which will all cost more than £1 million. How many affordable houses? A shade better than Keybridge House with a paltry 52, just over 10 per cent.

The trend is the same across London. In March the Greater London Authority released figures showing the number of affordable homes completed is now at a six-year low, despite annual pledges by Boris Johnson to build some imaginary number of affordable homes.

Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2016 London elections, Business, Christian Wolmar, Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Walsh drums up support to help bring jazz to the high street

Posted on July 1, 2015 by insidecroydon

 

The Streets is an Arts Council-backed  project which aims to bring live music and performance to the high streets of six outer London boroughs this summer, including Croydon.

Internationally renowned percussionist Ben Walsh will be drumming up interest in music in South Norwood on the evening of July 28, when there will also be performances from local musicians. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Music, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mozart Players launch appeal to fund schools recording

Posted on July 1, 2015 by insidecroydon

The world premieres of Jonathan Dove’s For an Unknown Soldier played before sold-out audiences at Portsmouth Cathedral and the Fairfield Halls in November last year. The project and performances touched the heart of the Croydon community, bringing together the old and very young in a joint commemoration of the First World War.

For An Unknown Soldier ImageNow, The London Mozart Players have ambitious aims of crowd-funding a recording of this piece in collaboration with four Croydon schools: Monks Orchard, Croydon Parish Church Primary, Castle Primary and Ecclesbourne.

Commissioned by The London Mozart Players and Portsmouth Grammar School, For an Unknown Soldier is a cantata that commemorated the First World War Centenary. It was a nine-month community project that involved more than 300 children from the choirs of Portsmouth Grammar and the Croydon primaries. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Fairfield Halls, History, London Mozart Players, Music, Parish Church schools, Schools | Tagged , | Leave a comment

St Peter’s School Summer Fair, July 4

Posted on July 1, 2015 by insidecroydon

St Peter's Poster 2015 Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Schools, South Croydon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

South Norwood Primary is forced to become an academy

Posted on June 30, 2015 by insidecroydon

Parents and guardians of children at South Norwood Primary received the dread note of execution for their school yesterday.

"What do you mean, it's not a 'failing school'? Hand it over anyway": Nicky Morgan, the Tory Education Secretary

“What do you mean, it’s not a ‘failing school’? Hand it over anyway”: Nicky Morgan, the Tory Education Secretary

John Phillipson, the chairman of the interim executive board (IEB), has already overseen the forcible academisation of one Croydon primary school – Oval.

Now, he is driving the Department for Education’s juggernaut in top gear at South Norwood.

As Inside Croydon reported earlier this month, parents at the school felt that they and their children had been treated in a “disrespectful, insensitive and immoral” manner by the IEB, which had been imposed on the school earlier this year by Nicky Morgan, the Tory Education Secretary. The interim governors, led by Phillipson, forced out the long-time headteacher who was “the heart and the soul of our school” on the last day before the half-term holiday. Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Croydon North, Education, Hamida Ali, Paul Greenhalgh, Paul Scott, Schools, South Norwood, South Norwood Primary, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quality and service see Clarets maintain its high standards

Posted on June 30, 2015 by insidecroydon

ANDREW LENG, Inside Croydon’s Pubs Correspondent (how do you get a gig like that?), visits the Pub of the Year and calls on locals to sign up for CAMRA

The Claret Free House, or “Clarets” on Lower Addiscombe Road, has been named the Croydon CAMRA pub of 2015 – the second consecutive year that it’s seen off competition from The Oval Tavern and The Green Dragon.

Feeling flushed: Clarets' landlord, Don Burton, right, collects another CAMRA pub of the year award

Feeling flushed: Clarets’ landlord, Don Burton, right, collects another CAMRA pub of the year award

The award was presented to Clarets’ landlord Don Burton by the chairman of the Croydon and Sutton Campaign for Real Ale branch.

Clarets’ bar walls are already adorned with CAMRA awards; Burton is fast running out of space to display them all. This latest, the bar’s seventh, is well-deserved recognition for selling consistently good beer.

According to the friendly bunch of CAMRA members at the presentation, Clarets was chosen because of its beer quality, attention to cleanliness, sympathy with CAMRA aims and good service. As a fixture in the Good Beer Guide, Clarets really does tick all the boxes. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Pubs | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Pat Mear art exhibition, Cafe Adagio, July 1-31

Posted on June 30, 2015 by insidecroydon

Cafe Adagio Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Addiscombe West, Art | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Barnado’s steps in to help Croydon’s trafficked children

Posted on June 29, 2015 by insidecroydon

A scheme run by the charity Barnardo’s, with funding from the Home Office, has helped 20 at-risk young victims of human trafficking in Croydon over the past 12 months – almost as many as in the whole of the Midlands or in Greater Manchester respectively.

Children silhouettesCroydon is the only London borough covered by the trials, in which Barnardo’s expert advocates support, advise, guide and help young people navigate the maze that confronts them when seeking help, such as children’s services and the criminal justice and immigration systems.

The charity worked with 26 children in the south-east, 20 of them in Croydon, 23 in the Midlands and 22 in Greater Manchester.

“We know that children as young as three years old are being trafficked into the country,” said Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan.

Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Crime, Croydon Council, Education | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fairness Commission provides Blue Labour with opportunity

Posted on June 29, 2015 by insidecroydon

The consequences of the General Election result continue to roll out. Such as: What does Croydon’s Labour-run council do with its very Ed Miliband-esque Fairness and Opportunity Commission?

Feeling blue? Maurice Glasman is coming to Croydon next week

Blue sky thinking? Maurice Glasman is coming to Croydon next week

“Fairness” is so redolent of the Milband era, it appears that Croydon’s Commission is being subtly altered before anyone notices, from a council-controlled inquiry into issues affecting residents, to a debating society with a sprinkling of Blue Labour “magic”.

Next Tuesday evening (July 7), Lord Glasman is the star turn at the Fairness and Opportunity Commission’s next session, being held in the public space in Fisher’s Folly from 6.30pm, where we are told that he will “speak and answer questions about the power of citizen-led change”. Continue reading →

Posted in 2015 General Election, Bishop of Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairness Commission, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Plane nonsense is choking Croydon, one toxic gasp at a time

Posted on June 29, 2015 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: In the week when the Airport Commission is expected to deliver its verdict on runway expansion – Heathrow or Gatwick – PETER UNDERWOOD expresses his concern at the uncritical outlook of our local politicians

One of Chris Philps’ first acts as the new MP for Croydon South was to host an event for the rich developers behind plans to build another runway at Gatwick.

Gatwick airportPutting aside the negative impacts expanding airports will have on the climate and the fact that even people in the air industry think that expanding Gatwick is a bad idea, it is disappointing to see that Philp is not willing to take a stand and defend his constituents from yet another plan to reduce air quality in and around Croydon.

We know that poor air quality is killing thousands of people every year and it is clear that airport expansion at Heathrow or Gatwick will breach air pollution laws. You might hope that our elected representatives would stand up for the best interests of their constituents.

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, Duppas Hill Park, Environment, Peter Underwood, Sarah Jones MP, Waddon, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mr Holmes screening sees David Lean extend booking period

Posted on June 28, 2015 by insidecroydon

Ian McKellen’s portrayal of the fading years of Mr Holmes is the headline attraction of the latest programme from the David Lean Cinema, but with a twist. The volunteers of the Save the David Lean Cinema Campaign are taking bookings for the screenings for Mr Holmes now, even though the film, which is not released until next month, is not scheduled to be shown at the David Lean until August.

The 60-seat arthouse cinema in the Croydon Clocktower has been enjoying strong bookings of late, and the anticipated popularity of a new movie that combines McKellen and the world’s best-known detective character has persuaded them to extend the booking period. Continue reading →

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Park Hill Schools’ Association Summer Fair, July 4

Posted on June 28, 2015 by insidecroydon

Summer fair poster Continue reading →

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All too quiet about Quietway closures on Norbury Avenue

Posted on June 27, 2015 by insidecroydon

"Filtered permeability": what many people would call a road block

“Filtered permeability”: or what many people would call a road block on Norbury Avenue

Once the school run was over yesterday morning, official-looking blokes wearing hi-viz jackets blocked off a one-mile stretch of a suburban street in Croydon.

It’s a new “Quietway” on Norbury Avenue. Which might explain the near-silence from Croydon Council about the road closure, which stretches from the end of Sandfield Avenue as far as Kensington Avenue. For years it has been a rat-run for cars driving between Norbury and Thornton Heath.

Well, it won’t be for the next three months. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Cycling, Environment, Jo Negrini, Kathy Bee, Norbury, Norbury Green Residents' Association, Norbury Village Residents' Association, Parking, Planning, Steve Reed MP, Thornton Heath, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

2015 South Norwood Community Festival, July 5

Posted on June 27, 2015 by insidecroydon

South Norwood Festival Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Community associations, South Norwood, South Norwood Tourist Board | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Folk and Blues Festival, Ruskin House, July 11

Posted on June 26, 2015 by insidecroydon

Folk and Blues Festival Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, Music | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon’s Search for a Star, Centrale, July 4

Posted on June 26, 2015 by insidecroydon

Search for a star Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Centrale, Comedy, Dance, Music | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ash to ashes: unions boycott UKIP-dominated talking shop

Posted on June 26, 2015 by insidecroydon
Glen Hart: trades unions asked to boycott council-funded talking shop

Glen Hart: trades unions asked to boycott council-funded talking shop

Croydon’s trades unionists are being asked to boycott all future meetings of the “Croham Clux Clan” – what presents itself as a community talking shop sometimes also known as the Croydon Communities [sic] Consortium, or CCC.

This follows an order this week from the Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Andy Tarrant, to Croydon police to not attend future CCC meetings, while Croydon Council is considering taking legal action to secure the refund of the unspent balance of a £5,000 grant of public money given to the body 18 months ago.

One of the strict conditions for receiving the council grant was for CCC to be “apolitical”. But CCC has been exposed as having several UKIP members holding key committee positions. CCC’s deputy chairman was UKIP’s election candidate in Croydon Central, while his predecessor was forced to stand down after issued UKIP-supporting tweets and Islamophobic messages on Twitter. Continue reading →

Posted in Andy Tarrant, Community associations, Croydon Council, Mark Watson, Peter Staveley, Policing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Landlords challenge licensing scheme with Judicial Review

Posted on June 25, 2015 by insidecroydon

Another of Labour’s flagship policies for Croydon, the landlord licensing scheme which was a key part of the manifesto when they won control of the council last year, could be facing a crisis as a group of local businesses are to challenge the decision in the High Court.

Flats-to-let-007The Judicial Review against the council scheme has some commercial money behind it, coming from a group calling itself the Croydon Property Forum.

The landlords are challenging the manner in which the council conducted its consultation – which Croydon was forced to extend by 10 weeks after an earlier concern that the law had not been complied with properly.

Earlier this year, Alison Butler, the council’s deputy leader, and Jo Negrini, the executive director in charge of planning, had assured a meeting of the scrutiny committee that they had taken all necessary steps so that the council would avoid being dragged through the courts over this scheme, which was due to be implemented from October 1, with landlords expected to pay £750 for a five-year licence, discounted to a “bargain” £350 for those who registered early.

Croydon Labour has suggested that the licence fees are necessary to pay towards the administration of the scheme.

Today, Butler was forced to issue a terse statement which reads: “We are confident that our landlord licensing scheme is robust, lawful and will raise housing standards across the borough, and we’ll continue preparing to launch this scheme from October 1.” Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Palace revolution as Bromley hands park to community

Posted on June 25, 2015 by insidecroydon
Under new management: Jurassic Park has existed in south London for more than a century

Under new management: Jurassic Park has existed in south London for more than a century

Bromley Council has agreed to hand over the management and governance of Crystal Palace Park to a community-led trust.

The decision has been described as “one of the most important decisions in 30 years”. Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, Bromley Council, Community associations, Croydon North, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Community Association, Crystal Palace Park, Environment, History, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Martin Tempia, Mayor of London, Stephen Carr | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Libraries are bricking it over introduction of Lego clubs

Posted on June 25, 2015 by insidecroydon

They call it “building on the lessons learned in the classroom”. Geddit??!

lego brickOver the summer holidays, Croydon’s libraries will be trying to attract local children by offering them the chance to play with Lego.

Given that the management of Croydon’s libraries has been entrusted to Carillion, a company better known for being in the construction business, perhaps the only surprise is that Croydon kids will be given plastic bricks, and not real cement and concrete. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Carillion, Croydon Council, Education, Libraries, New Addington, Norbury, Purley, Shirley North, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Coe has been backing Baku while Crystal Palace crumbles

Posted on June 25, 2015 by insidecroydon
Sebastian Coe: has been winning gold of another sort with CSM companies

Sebastian Coe: has been winning gold of another sort with CSM companies

Sebastian Coe’s attempts to run a mile from being associated with recommendations to bulldoze Crystal Palace athletics stadium and other south London sports facilities which were to be part of the “Olympic legacy” promised by the 2012 London Games looks to be running out of puff. A report in this week’s Private Eye shows that CSM, one of the companies with which “Lord Olympics” is closely associated, paid  out

£1,500,000

to six “members” in 2013.

The Eye quoted from CSM’s 2013 company accounts, which also showed that one of those six – the one with “profit attributable to the member with the highest entitlement to profit” (whoever might that be?) – will have personally banked

£425,000 Continue reading →

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Boris Johnson, Bromley Council, Business, Croydon Harriers, Croydon North, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Community Association, Crystal Palace Park, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Property, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Queen’s Gardens’ new stage becomes a fountain of complaint

Posted on June 24, 2015 by insidecroydon
The way we were: the non-functioning fountain. Is its conversion to a stage a precursor for its demolition?

The way we were: the non-functioning fountain. Is its conversion to a stage a precursor for its demolition?

Croydon Council has been accused of ham-fisted incompetence over its treatment of the fountain in Queen’s Gardens, which it has in-filled with rubble as it is being “converted” into a stage for performances through the summer, including next month’s “Ambition” festival.

Unlike certain senior council figures, the fountain in the green space outside the Town Hall has been dry for many years.

There have been engineering problems with the fountain almost since it was installed, before the Queen opened the gardens in 1983. It has never operated properly or reliably. “It used to drive Peter Bowness to distraction,” one veteran of the Town Hall from those times recalls to reaction of the former Tory leader of the council, who oversaw the commissioning of the feature. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Music | Tagged , | 1 Comment