Perry repeats lie as he calls meeting over No Access Croydon

Posted on April 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Delayed replies, giving short-notice of an appointment and a divide-and-rule approach betray Mayor’s struggle to justify the closure of the authority’s public area, as librarians are now providing advice to the homeless. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Alice In Wonderland script: Tory Mayor Jason Perry is stretching credulity beyond breaking point

Jason Perry, Croydon’s part-time Mayor, was this afternoon meeting with representatives of Croydon’s voluntary sector over the “chaos” surrounding the council’s closure of Access Croydon and his decision to switch to an appointments-only system for residents requesting council help.

Many of the volunteers who manage their organisations in their spare time say that they were given barely a day’s notice of the Mayor’s meeting, which was scheduled to take place during office hours, meaning some of those invited would be unable to attend due to work commitments.

Inside Croydon reported last month how 30 voluntary organisations and charities had signed an open letter to Mayor Perry demanding that Access Croydon should be reopened “to enable Croydon’s vulnerable homeless residents to access the services that they are entitled to by law”.

They reminded Mayor Perry of his 2022 manifesto promise, “I will reopen the doors of the council offices to allow residents to speak directly to a real person.” Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Brown, Bernard Weatherill House, Charity, Community associations, Council Tax, Crisis Skylight Centre, Croydon BME Forum, Croydon Council, Croydon Nightwatch, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, South Norwood Community Kitchen, South West London Law Centres | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Six doctors lead the objections against ‘monster’ waste plant

Posted on April 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

Six concerned doctors are among the hundreds of worried Sutton residents who have filed objections to a plan to build what one local councillor calls “a monster” food waste plant on Beddington Lane.

Monster proposal: the Suez food waste plant has received hundreds of objections, with a public meeting planned for Wednesday night

The Suez food waste plant proposals are to be the subject of a public meeting in Sutton tomorrow night.

The plans have already been made into a council byelection issue by independent residents’ candidate Pamela Marsh, ahead of polling day for Sutton Central on April 10.

As predicted, a planning application from Suez to build their new plant was submitted within days of misleading leaflets being distributed to at least 80,000 local homes in the borough with the false headline claim that there has been a “steep rise” in food waste recycling rates.

In fact, according to official council figures, food waste recycling in Sutton rose by a pathetic 0.55% in 2023-2024. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Dave Tchil, Environment, Helen Bailey, Nick Mattey, Planning, Refuse collection, Suez waste treatment plant, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Community energy firm celebrates hitting £120,000 target

Posted on April 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

The people behind Croydon Community Energy, the innovative new company which wants to install solar panels across some of the borough’s public buildings, saving you money while helping to save the planet, are celebrating today after hitting their initial target in a share offer, with more than 30 days still to go on the share offer.

Hitting targets: there’s more than 30 more days of fund-raising to go for CCE

The £120,000 raised means that Croydon Community Energy now has sufficient funding to install panels on three sites, a little more than a month since the launch of the share scheme which offers up to 5% return on investments, while leaving any surplus to provide community gardens and alleviate fuel poverty.

“Across the country, community energy initiatives are transforming local economies while advocating for sustainable development,” Connie Duxbury, CCE’s chief exec, told Inside Croydon.

The community solar share offer, she says, “has proven to be a sustainable financial strategy that not only lowers energy bills but also drives local development”, while also providing social welfare benefits. Continue reading →

Posted in Archbishop Tenison's, Business, Climate Crisis Commission, Community associations, Croydon Community Energy, Environment | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Christ Church Primary teachers carry out their strike threat

Posted on April 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

School strike: teachers, support staff, some parents and children outside Christ Church Primary in Purley this morning. The governors say the school is open as normal

Strike action by teachers and support staff at Purley’s Christ Church Primary School has gone ahead today – despite the governors having written to parents last week encouraging them to ignore the industrial action and to send their children into the largely unstaffed school.

“Maybe the head is planning to have all the kids in the hall all day,” one cynic among the National Education Union members suggested. Continue reading →

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Kiosks to open today in clapped-out shell of Allders building

Posted on April 1, 2025 by insidecroydon

For one day only: the exciting new offer in the old Allders building. And Mayor Perry gets a free box of chicken wings

Monsoon has gone. WH Smith is soon to be no more. Sainsbury’s packed up and left. So has Body Shop. But after more than a decade of broken promises, “a bold, new retail era is being launched” by Westfield in what remains of the old Allders building on Croydon’s high street.

Seven new “microshops” are set to be unveiled in the abandoned space formerly occupied by Croydon Village Outlet, a discount store that was set up in the former department store 2013 as a cynical ploy to cash in when the council came knocking with a compulsory purchase order. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Inside Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, North End Quarter, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

April Fools! £40m Veolia contract comes into force tomorrow

Posted on March 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on Tory Mayor Perry’s multi-million-pound practical joke being played on residents tomorrow in a borough which can’t say which day a street’s bins are due to be emptied, and where the rubbish contractor is getting their excuses in early

Meet the new rubbish contractors, same as the old rubbish contractors: Veolia’s new eight-year, £40m deal begins tomorrow

Note the date of publication of this report. And be ready for what awaits the whole of Croydon tomorrow.

Croydon Council is playing the biggest April Fool’s joke on the public it is supposed to serve tomorrow: they begin a “new”, £40million, eight-year contract with rubbish contractors Veolia.

That’s the same firm they sacked for incompetence less than two year ago.

The Conservative-controlled council is describing its latest deal with Veolia as an “upgraded waste contract”. In reality, the only thing truly upgraded is the amount being paid to Veolia. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Refuse collection, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

‘We need a Mayor who puts people first’ says Labour’s Davis

Posted on March 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

Rowenna Davis has emerged as the front-runner in the race for selection to be Labour’s candidate for next year’s Croydon mayoral elections.

Front-runner: Rowenna Davis was quick to release a campaign video after being notified she had made Labour’s shortlist for selection as mayoral candidate

A councillor for Waddon since 2022, Davis announced over the weekend that she has been shortlisted in her party’s selection contest, using a subtly non-party mini-video on social media that states that what Croydon needs is “a Mayor who puts people first”.

Davis is on the shortest of shortlists, with another councillor, Manju Shahul-Hameed, the only other name being put before Croydon’s Labour members. The long-delayed selection process is expected to be completed by Easter – having given Croydon’s Tories, and Jason Perry, a six-month head start in his re-election campaign.

Five years since they crashed the council’s finances, Croydon’s Labour officials are still not trusted, even by their own party, to manage this selection process within the borough.

But the decision of the panel of National Executive Committee and London Region Labour officials who decided on the shortlist to include Shahul-Hameed displays a serious lack of awareness of the damage caused to Croydon by their party and of the simmering public resentment against Labour that still exists in Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Broad Green, Croydon Council, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis, Tony Newman, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Non-folding e-bikes banned from London’s transport network

Posted on March 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

From today, non-folding e-bikes are banned from most of the Transport for London network, including Tubes, Overground trains and trams, because of serious concerns over fires.

Anyone found breaking the rule could face a fine of £1,000.

The London Fire Brigade says it is dealing with an e-bike or e-scooter fire every other day and has warned about safety risks from bicycles that have had batteries added using electric conversion kits. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Cycling, London Fire Brigade, TfL, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hills and history around the margins of the parish of Streatham

Posted on March 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

That august group of people, the Streatham Society, is staging a Beating the Bounds walk on Saturday May 24, which promises to be full of history, and some hills.

“Beating the Bounds” an ancient custom that involves walking the boundaries of a parish or area, stopping at boundary markers to “beat” them with wands, to reinforce the community’s knowledge of its boundaries, from a time when Google Maps wasn’t as available as it is today. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, History, Norbury, Streatham and Croydon North, Walks | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Time to check out kids’ holiday activities clubs this Easter

Posted on March 31, 2025 by insidecroydon

The government-funded Holiday Activities and Food Programme returns in April, offering a wide range of sport, music and fun, plus free meals, for eligible children.

HAF provides families receiving benefits-related free school meals access to holiday programmes where children can enjoy safe and supported care, free of charge.

This Easter there will be 67 holiday clubs across Croydon providing programmes such as sport, cooking, coding and music. Each eligible child can attend four sessions during the Easter holidays, while parents and carers benefit from the programme’s childcare support.

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Schools, Sport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Film star from Croydon whose career ended in a tawdry scandal

Posted on March 30, 2025 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: He appeared alongside world-famous actors such as Lillie Langtry, Errol Flynn, Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone. But Lionel Atwill’s time in Hollywood came to a tough end after a party with some blue movies, as DAVID MORGAN explains

Hollywood classics: Lionel Atwill appeared in many well-known movies of the 1930s and ’40s

Cinema buffs who enjoy watching old black and white movies will probably have a list of their favourites.

One of the films on that list might be the 1939 version of Hound of the Baskervilles, with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. For those whose favourite genre is horror, then the 1939 Son of Frankenstein with Boris Karloff might be favoured. Those who enjoy watching the great Hollywood stars might choose the 1935 film The Devil is a Woman starring Marlene Dietrich.

And there is a Croydon connection between all three films, because prominent in the cast of each of them was Lionel Atwill, a huge Hollywood star in the 1930s and early ’40s.

Lionel Atwill was born on March 8 1885 at 2 Upton Villas, Selhurst Road, South Norwood. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, David Morgan, History, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Croydon families get help from second ‘hub’ in South Norwood

Posted on March 30, 2025 by insidecroydon

Croydon families will soon have more support, with a “Family Hub” opening at the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Centre in South Norwood.

Council services in action: the South Norwood family hub is funded by the government

The council said: “The opening of this hub marks another milestone in the council’s commitment to making sure Croydon’s families have access to the services they need, when they need them, in one convenient place.”

It turns out that the family hub is an initiative funded by the government, administered by Croydon.

Croydon is one of 75 local authorities awarded funding from the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care to roll out family hubs.

Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Family Hubs, Health, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rotary Field’s history portrayed in State of the Art’s new mural

Posted on March 30, 2025 by insidecroydon

State of the Art: Chris Shea’s latest, larger-scale work is in Rotary Field, Purley

Rainbow boy: Shea’s little bit of colour for the dark days of lockdown

It is almost exactly five years, since the first days of the covid lockdown, that the work of local street artist Chris Shea became noticed around the borough, his poignant boy with the rainbow watering can lighting up those dark days, while raising thousands of pounds for the NHS and charitable causes.

Now Shea, who works under the title State of the Art, has been at work once again, this time on a commission from Purley BID, the business improvement district, to transform an old toilet block in Rotary Field.

“My design is a mixture of abstract art involving the history behind the field, with it having the world’s first railway line – the Surrey Iron Railway, which ran through the area from 1803 to 1846,” Shea said on his Instagram account. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Croydon parks, History, Purley, Purley BID | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mayor Perry lied over access to services at other councils

Posted on March 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Claims made by the chief executive and executive Mayor over how other London boroughs manage their appointments systems have been found to be exaggerated and simply untrue
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Trouble with numbers: Mayor Jason Perry’s claims simply do not add up

Jason Perry has deliberately misled residents over the closure to the public of Access Croydon by trying to claim that the new appointments-only system to visit council staff is common at other London boroughs.

When announcing the closure of Access Croydon to the public earlier this month, Katherine Kerswell, the council’s £204,000 chief exec, said that the move was “in line with local authorities across London”.

On the council’s website, this is phrased slightly differently, saying that it “is in line with many London councils”.

But how many is “many”? Croydon Council has refused to say. Continue reading →

Posted in 'Future Croydon', Bernard Weatherill House, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

By Royal Appointment: King endorses work of local news sites

Posted on March 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

King Charles recognises the importance of robust journalism as ‘the cornerstone of our democracy’. He said: ‘It is in everyone’s interests that you should succeed’

Hold the front page: King Charles with some of the media guests at this week’s Buckingham Palace reception

Hundreds of figures from regional media, including the Independent Community News Network, of which Inside Croydon is a founder member, attended a Buckingham Palace reception this week, where King Charles lauded the work of local media as it “shines a light in dark corners, exposing injustice and wrongdoing”.

Among those attending was Darryl Chamberlain, our colleague from the Greenwich Wire, and an occasional guest panelist for our Croydon Insider podcast.

In his message to those who work in the industry, King Charles said: “I have long believed that regional media, in all its forms, has a unique and vital role to play in society, perhaps even more so in these uncertain times. Continue reading →

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Croydon Photography Forum with Nick Turpin, Apr 8

Posted on March 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Broad Green, Croydon Photography Forum | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Community event at Manor Farm Nature Reserve, Apr 26

Posted on March 29, 2025 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, Croydon parks, Environment, Love Norbury, Norbury, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘Nosey’ Parker proves to be a costly expense for local Tories

Posted on March 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

Our Political Editor, WALTER CRONXITE, on a spectacular own-goal by Croydon Tories’ long-standing agent

Number crunching: Coulsdon councillor Ian Parker has been complaining about election expenses

It is said that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The aphorism played out at Croydon Conservatives’ HQ at 36 Brighton Road in Purley would see every window smashed – from the inside.

Last week Inside Croydon reported that Tory councillor Ian Parker had levelled accusations of financial impropriety against Ben Taylor, Labour’s candidate for Croydon South in the July 2024 General Election.

Parker has been throwing mud on social media in an increasingly bitter, some might say deranged, personal campaign against Taylor.

“Nosey” Parker has asked about the amounts Taylor’s election agent, Michael Collins, was paid: a mere £672.30, covering the five weeks between May 30, when Parliament was dissolved, and General Election day on July 4. Continue reading →

Posted in 2024 General Election, Ben Taylor, Chris Philp MP, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Croydon South, Ian Parker | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ex-Labour councillor to stand for Greens in Fairfield in 2026

Posted on March 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

Paul Ainscough, once a Labour parliamentary election candidate and a former councillor for the party, has been selected to stand for the Green Party at next year’s council elections in Fairfield ward. He says he “feels let down by Labour”.

New slate: the announcement of the three candidates for Fairfield ward in 2026

Fairfield ward is where the Greens won their first ever seats on Croydon Council in 2022, with Ria Patel and Esther Sutton, and the councillors will be on the ballot paper alongside Ainscough in May next year.

Ainscough’s move to the Green Party is another sign of the growing disaffection among grassroots members with Labour, as it increases taxes on the working poor, takes benefits from the vulnerable and disabled, yet does not increase tax for the wealthiest. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, Croydon Greens, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Paul Ainscough, Peter Underwood, Ria Patel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Purley student Saadi given 39-year sentence for beach murder

Posted on March 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

‘No doubt you thought you had committed the perfect crime’ judge tells criminology student as she sends him down to jail for life

Nasen Saadi, a 20-year-old criminology student from Purley, was today given a life sentence, with a minimum term of 39 years, for the murder of Amie Gray and attempted murder of her friend, Leanne Miles, on a beach in Bournemouth in May 2024.

Guilty: Nasen Saadi was today handed a 39-year prison sentence

Gray and Miles were sitting beside a fire on Durley Chine Beach in Dorset on the evening of May 24 last year.

Saadi stabbed Gray 10 times, including to the heart. Gray was 34. Miles, 38, suffered 20 knife injuries but survived the attack.

Saadi had refused to face questioning at his trial and had pleaded not guilty to the murder and attempted murder charges. But at today’s sentencing hearing at Winchester Crown Court, Judge Mrs Justice Cutts revealed that Saadi had admitted his guilt to a psychologist after his murder trial.

She said in pleading not guilty, he had shown a “complete lack of remorse”. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two years of TfL road works to improve A23 at Streatham Hill

Posted on March 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

Transport for London will begin construction work this summer along the A23 at Streatham Hill to make it “safer and better for residents and those visiting the area”. The works, to be conducted in five stages, are likely to continue until spring 2027, TfL says.

Bus lane blockage: the A23 at Streatham High Road has become notorious for delays. TfL wants to remove loading bays and other obstructions at Streatham Hill

The scheme will create new pedestrian crossings, a protected cycling route and improvements to bus lanes.

“Currently, roads in the area do not make it easy or attractive to walk or catch the bus,” TfL says.

They say that the scheme will make it easier for pedestrians to cross the busy north-south route from Croydon to Brixton and central London, as well as offering “protected space for people to cycle and provide continuous bus lanes with fewer obstructions”. TfL wants to ensure its buses can operate on schedule along this important part of their routes. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Streatham and Croydon North, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Woman broke her back after Croydon Council cut her care aid

Posted on March 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

The Local Government Ombudsman has ordered the council to pay a resident thousands of pounds in compensation and issue a proper apology

A woman fractured her spine using a bed-turning aid installed by the NHS which Croydon Council thought could replace paid care workers for overnight care.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found against Croydon Council and ordered it to make amends to the resident, after someone at the local authority took a decision to withdraw funding for the woman’s night-time care.

In a statement issued by the Ombudsman’s office, they said: “The NHS instead installed a turning system. But she only used the system for two nights before injuring her lower back, leaving her in considerable pain.

A scan diagnosed her with a fractured spine. Continue reading →

Posted in Adult Social Care, Croydon Council, Croydon NHS Trust, Health | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lights! Cameras! Action! Coulsdon pupils enjoy studio time

Posted on March 28, 2025 by insidecroydon

On set: Coulsdon sixth formers during their visit to Elstree

Pupils from Coulsdon Sixth Form College were given an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of one of the country’s biggest film and TV studios as part of their course.

The group – all studying BTEC Media, or A-Level Media or Film Studies – went on the trip to Sky Elstree Studios in Borehamwood to see first-hand how a film is made, talk to professionals and find out more about the jobs available in the industry and the skills required to succeed. Continue reading →

Posted in Coulsdon, Coulsdon Sixth Form College | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Big Brother arrives in Croydon with Orwellian police cameras

Posted on March 27, 2025 by insidecroydon

North End and London Road are to be the first locations in the country to have permanently fitted Live Facial Recognition cameras, despite significant concerns about the legalities of the surveillance techniques and questions over their whether they even work

The dark future predicted by George Orwell in his novel 1984 is to become Croydon’s dystopian reality, with the Metropolitan Police being given permission to install permanent Live Facial Recognition cameras on North End and London Road, the first time this measure has been taken in Britain.

Big Brother really will be watching you, and it is likely to cause big bother, with civil rights groups and Green Party politicians suggesting that the Live Facial Recognition cameras are being used for a form of racial profiling, with their findings being prejudiced against black people, while they are also questioning whether the kit is even that effective at tackling crime.

Croydon’s Labour MPs and councillors have been silent on the issue.

Chris Philp, the Tory MP for Croydon South and shadow home secretary, was so excited by the news, he probably wet himself. Continue reading →

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Crime, Croydon Council, Croydon West, Fairfield, Knife crime, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Policing, Ria Patel, Zoe Garbett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

No tram service to New Addington for two weeks, from Apr 5

Posted on March 27, 2025 by insidecroydon

There will be no tram service to New Addington for two weeks, starting from Saturday April 5, as Transport for London carries out “essential maintenance” around the Shirley Hills Road crossing between Coombe Lane and Gravel Hill tram stops.

End of the line: New Addington will have no tram services for two weeks, beginning on April 5

Services will recommence on Saturday April 19.

No trams will run between Sandilands and New Addington tram stops during the track maintenance and repair works, “with engineering teams working around the clock during the closure to minimise disruption as much as possible”, TfL says.

“Trams will operate as usual between Wimbledon and Beckenham Junction and Elmers End tram stops.” Continue reading →

Posted in East Croydon, Lloyd Park, New Addington, New Addington North, TfL, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments