Mystery surrounds stalled opening of Grants’ Asian food hall

‘Coming soon’: Tokia Square was meant to open last Sunday, March 2, but there has been a ‘slight delay’ according to the business behind the project

Tokia Square, which promised “a dynamic food court offering an extraordinary selection of Asian cuisines”, has missed its grand opening date, with no explanation from the business behind the project for the delay.

“Tokia Square is designed to bring a unique culinary experience to Croydon, combining authentic flavours with a modern, vibrant atmosphere,” the owners promised last month, when announcing that their large-scale food hall was set to open in the Grants leisure complex on Croydon High Street on Sunday, March 2. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Tokia Square | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Thornton Heath man found guilty of animal cruelty to pet dog

A man from Thornton Heath was given a suspended jail sentence and banned from keeping animals for 10 years after being convicted under the Animal Welfare Act after a prosecution brought by the RSPCA.

An XL bully called Raynor was in an emaciated condition and considerable pain and distress, caused by severe ear disease, when owner Nicholas Johnston took her to a PDSA clinic in Croydon in February last year.

The issue around the dog’s ears appeared to have been caused by the dog having had its ears cropped, as is the fashion for some owners. Ear cropping of dogs is illegal in this country.

When taken to the PDSA, the condition of the animal was so poor that the charity’s vet had no alternative but to have her put to sleep. Continue reading

Posted in Charity, Crime, PDSA, RSPCA, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lanfranc in appeal to restore memorial to victims of air crash

In need of some help: the Lanfranc memorial in Croydon Crematorium, after more than 60 years, is in need of some restoration work

By NEIL BENNETT

The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy is asking for help to restore the memorial to 34 of its pupils who died in a 1961 air crash, one of the most tragic chapters in Croydon history.

No survivors: 39 lives were lost when the Vickers Viking crashed on Holtaheia Mountain, Stavanger, on Aug 9 1961

The boys, two teachers and three air crew were all killed when the aircraft taking them on a summer trip to Norway crashed. There were no survivors.

The memorial garden for the Lanfranc air disaster, in Croydon Crematorium, is badly in need of improvement and the school has opened a crowdfunding page to raise at least £60,000 to replace damaged name plaques and inscription stones, repair and clean broken paving slabs, remove damaged trees, and generally make the area a fitting place of commemoration once again.

Lanfranc School, on Mitcham Road, became The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy in 2014 and has always made huge efforts to keep the memories of the boys alive. A permanent display in the school’s foyer reminds visitors about the tragedy. In the school hall there is a plaque dedicated to all who those who were killed. Continue reading

Posted in Archbishop Lanfranc, Community associations, History, Schools | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Lady Ina Wood, wife of the former Bishop of Croydon, has died

‘Convivial nature, her warm smile and infectious laughter’: Ina Wood with husband Sir Wilfred, the former Bishop of Croydon, retired to Barbados in 2002

OBITUARY: Lady Ina Wood, the wife of the former Bishop of Croydon, Sir Wilfred Wood, died in January at her home in Barbados after a short illness. She was 86

Ina Eileen Smith was born in Barbados in the parish of St Joseph in 1938, one of nine children.

She excelled at school and achieved top marks in many of her classes, despite being disadvantaged by crippling headaches which initially went undetected, affecting her vision and making study painful. Continue reading

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Heritage building Heathfield House is pulled from auction

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Mayor Jason Perry’s bungling council has now withdrawn the publicly-owned Grade II-listed building from the auction in their latest embarrassing climbdown

Withdrawn from auction: the council-owned Heathfield House has been granted a stay of execution

Croydon’s bungling Mayor Jason Perry has been forced to withdraw Heathfield House from the controversial auction that was planned to take place this Friday, in the latest embarrassing U-turn for his cash-strapped council.

Perry was offering a 125-year lease on the Grade II-listed Italianate Victorian villa at the top of Gravel Hill, once the home of industrialist Raymond Riesco, with a guide price of £1million. Some property experts suggested that valuation was only one-third, maybe even just one-quarter, of the true worth of the 12-bedroomed, eight reception room and three bathroom house.

And it is the second time in a couple of weeks that a public protest and petition has forced the Tory Mayor into a “reverse ferret”, following Perry’s enforced change of plan over the closure of the Croydon Carers’ Centre on George Street. Continue reading

Posted in Addington, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Croydon parks, Environment, Gardening, Heathfield House, History, Mayor Jason Perry, Natasha Irons, Property, Ria Patel, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

LibDems’ sacked deputy storms out of meeting, and council

INSIDE SUTTON: A council by-election in Sutton Central ward is imminent, following a six-month period when the area’s Liberal Democrat councillor failed to turn up for a single meeting.
EXCLUSIVE by BELLE MONT, Political Editor

Sacked: David Bartolucci was a high-profile casualty of Barry ‘Basher’ Lewis taking over as leader of Sutton Council last May

Less than 12 months ago, David Bartolucci was the £41,000 per year deputy leader of Sutton Council, and leader-in-waiting for the Liberal Democrat-controlled council where illness seemed likely to see long-serving leader Ruth Dombey step down.

But having been passed over for the top job by his party colleagues on the council a deeply embittered Bartolucci made a strange cameo appearance at Monday night’s council meeting in the Civic Centre, before storming out. It seems almost certain that a council by-election will now be called to fill the vacancy Bartolucci has left in Sutton Central ward.

Bartolucci is now seen as no longer a serving councillor, having failed to formally attend any council committee meetings since September 4 last year. Continue reading

Posted in Barry Lewis, Jayne McCoy, Ruth Dombey, Sheldon Vestey, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stupidity is rewarded as two loyal readers win tickets for Wilko

Congratulations to Inside Croydon loyal readers Mark Vaughan and Austen Cooper, whose names were first out of the hat yesterday in our latest prize competition.

Quite a show: Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ’n Roll is on stage at the Southwark Playouse Borough until Apr 19

Mark and Austen, each accompanied by a guest, are off to see the “stonking” new play with live music: Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ‘n’ Roll at Southwark Playhouse Borough later this month.

A mixture of words, rock ’n roll, and quotes from the man himself, Wilko tells the amazing, uplifting true story of  the Canvey Island legend, and founder member of R&B band Dr Feelgood.

Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ’n Roll transfers to Southwark Playhouse Borough this month, following critical and audience acclaim in its initial run in Hornchurch in 2023.

Tickets for this exciting, foot-tapping new play are available now for the show that opens at the Southwark Playhouse Borough on March 20 and runs through to April 19.

Continue reading

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Passengers’ petition makes call for return to the old Route 166

Residents in Coulsdon and Purley have been echoing legendary rocker Chuck Berry, sort of, by demanding that Transport for London “take the highway that’s the best” (for passengers), and let them get their kicks on the old-style route 166.

Passenger petition: the delegation of Coulsdon residents’ associations, the East Surrey Transport Committee and councillors Parker and Davis met with TfL officials this week

It is 12 months since Transport for London diverted the 166 bus route which runs between Banstead and Croydon via Coulsdon, and instead re-routed it along Pampisford Road, away from the Brighton Road at Purley.

Route 166 on its revised route no longer serves Purley Hospital or Purley town centre.

Passengers from Coulsdon West, Chipstead Valley and Woodmansterne are now faced with changing buses or a quarter-mile walk, with steps, to reach Purley town centre and the hospital from Pampisford Road. Passengers with reduced mobility or in wheelchairs face an even longer walk from Pampisford Road to avoid the steps. Continue reading

Posted in Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Coulsdon Town, Coulsdon West Residents' Association, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Ian Parker, Purley, Rowenna Davis, TfL, Transport, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

College sets tough target of 50 apprentice places in 50 days

Croydon College is celebrating Colleges Week 2025 with a campaign to secure 50 apprentices in 50 days by appealing to employers to get involved and support young people getting into the workplace.

Work opportunity: Croydon College is seeking partners in local businesses to provide apprentice places

As part of the campaign, Croydon College has called on businesses to pledge to create an apprenticeship vacancy, helping students at the town centre further education college kick-start their careers.

The college is looking for employers to offer apprenticeships in engineering, carpentry, construction, plumbing, business, accounting, teaching, early years and adult care. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon College, Education | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Disruption to TfL tram services with Lebanon Road track works

There is to be further disruption to tram services this weekend, with another set of “essential” track repairs to be carried out near the Lebanon Road stop in Addiscombe on March 8 and 9.

Off track: essential repair works are taking place this weekend near Lebanon Road

Transport for London’s summary of the service changes says:

Saturday March 8

Normal service is expected across the network until 8.30pm.

After 8.30pm there will be no service between:

  • Reeves Corner and Beckenham Junction and Elmers End
  • West Croydon and New Addington
  • Trams will operate between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner

Sunday March 9

There will be no service all day between:

  • Wellesley Road and Sandilands
  • Sandilands and George Street
  • Arena and Elmers End

Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, East Croydon, TfL, Tramlink, Transport, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Free STEM workshop for children with autism, BLBG, Mar 29

Croydon families have a unique opportunity to participate in a free Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – STEM – workshop designed specifically for children with autism.

Taking place on Saturday March 29 at the Hub Broad Green on Keeley Road, the STEM workshop is led by the charity Chi Mu Mu in collaboration with RoboThink UK and Big Local Broad Green.

As a local support organisation, BLBG was delighted to learn that Chi Mu Mu was leading this fantastic initiative with RoboThink and to see their keenness to support children living with autism in Croydon. Recognising the need for more inclusive educational opportunities, BLBG immediately offered its Hub as the venue for the workshop to ensure accessibility and comfort for the children and their families.

Continue reading

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Top Tory admits Fairfield Halls could be sold for the right deal

CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘Come on down! The price is right!’ The cabinet member for finance has said that the arts and conference centre could yet be sold if the cash-strapped council is ordered to do so.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Acclaimed: Fairfield Halls Concert Hall has ‘the finest acoustic of any in London’

Jason Cummings, the Conservative councillor who is the brains behind Mayor Jason Perry’s floundering administration, has admitted that the sale of the Fairfield Halls could yet happen if they are ordered to do so by the government-appointed improvement panel.

Cummings is the cabinet member for finance who led on the bankrupt borough’s pitch for the latest, £136million government bail-out, as the Town Hall’s Tories failed again to balance their annual Budget.

Cummings was roundly criticised last week for shouting at a woman councillor on the other side of the Town Hall Chamber.

And it was Cummings who provided much of the vitriol directed at young woman councillor Ria Patel after she told this website’s news podcast, the Croydon Insider, that she had attended a briefing of the improvement and assurance panel where the council-owned arts centre the Fairfield Halls “was specifically mentioned” as being among the assets that could be sold. Continue reading

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Jason Cummings, Mayor Jason Perry, Music, Ria Patel, Section 114 notice, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

MP Jones issues correction on her inaccurate claim on growth

Sarah Jones, the Labour MP for Croydon West, has had her work in Parliament as the government’s industry minister given an ‘F’ grade, after she made a false claim in the House of Commons.

Ministerial blunder: Croydon West MP Sarah Jones has been told to get her facts right

The AI-powered truth checker Full Fact issued the gentlest of slaps on the wrist last night, under the headline: “Sarah Jones the latest minister to repeat inaccurate claim about UK’s projected growth”. Oh.

Full Fact was responding to Jones’s claim that, “The International Monetary Fund and the OECD predict that the UK will be Europe’s fastest-growing economy over the next few years.” Except that they don’t.

Jones had been responding to LibDem MP Clive Jones (no relation), who raised the spectre of expensive-to-buy electric vehicles, and the chainsaw-weilding President of the United States, Elon Musk. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Croydon West, Sarah Jones MP, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reader offer: 30% off The Sixteen concert tickets for March 17

The Sixteen, the world-renowned choir, begins its 2025 Choral Pilgrimage at Croydon Minster on March 17 with a world premiere – and Inside Croydon readers can be there with a special 30% discount on ticket prices!

Back at the Minster: The Sixteen will begin their 2025 tour in Croydon on March 17

There can have been few more appropriate times for the theme of this year’s Choral Pilgrimmage by The Sixteen: An Angel of Peace focuses on bringing peace and tranquillity to the chaos of day-to-day life.

The concert will include performances of today’s finest composers Anna Clyne, Arvo Pärt and Will Todd, in addition to the healing and wondrous music of Hildegard of Bingen and John Taverner.

The opening performance in Croydon will see the world premiere of Clyne’s Orbits for choir and solo violin. Continue reading

Posted in Art, Croydon Minster, Inside Croydon, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council reaches out to residents for more help with fostering

Croydon has a critical shortage of foster carers, according to the council.

Fostering help: the council is appealing for people to volunteer to provide stable homes for youngsters

There are 231 children and young people looked after by 142 fostering households across the borough. “But more carers are needed to provide safe and loving homes for local children so that they are not placed in foster homes far away from their families,” Croydon Council said in a statement.

This week, until March 9, the council’s fostering team will be running a series of drop-in sessions for anyone wanting to find out more about becoming a foster carer. There is no need to book, and social workers as well as current foster carers will be there to answer any questions.

“In one of London’s most diverse boroughs, the council is looking for people from all walks of life to care for Croydon’s vulnerable children and young people,” they say.

“There is no single type of person who would make a ‘perfect’ foster carer, so enquiries are welcomed from anyone who has the capacity to look after children.”

Under the fostering system, foster carers receive fees to provide help and support for the children or young people in their care.

Charlene Dry started fostering for the borough five years ago. With the help, love and support of her birth children, she has provided a home and family for four babies, and is fostering a 10-year-old.

“The support I get from Croydon Council is amazing,” Dry said.

“I have a supervising social worker who has been with me from the opening evening to right up until now. Anyone at Croydon Council that I call to ask a question, they’re always there to answer, so you always feel like you’re supported.”

Drop-in sessions

The Council fostering team will be hosting drop-in sessions for anyone wanting to find out more. Residents are welcome to turn up at any of the below venues without booking, or visit: https://www.croydon.gov.uk/foster-croydon to make an application.

Tomorrow, March 5, 4.30pm to 7pm
Venue: St George’s Hall, Elstan Way, Shirley, Croydon CR0 7PR

Thursday, March 6, 10am to 2pm
Venue: The Arc Café, 9 Weston Drive, Caterham, CR3 5XY

Friday, March 7, 11am to 4pm
Venue: Thornton Heath Leisure Centre, 100 High Street, CR7 8LF

The council also offers some free, “virtual” information sessions online, but these are limited in numbers and are currently listed as “sold out”.


 


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Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Anarchy in Coulsdon: Theatre Workshop is now taking the Fo

Coulsdon might not be the first place you’d think of for an outbreak of 1970s agitprop, but thanks to the always excellent Theatre Workshop Coulsdon, that’s exactly what’s coming to town next month.

The Dario Fo farce Accidental Death of an Anarchist is TWC’s next stage production, coming to the Coulsdon Community Centre from April 5 to 12.

Written in 1970, the play satirises the antics of the Milan police in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing.

They “fitted up” an innocent man with the “right” political leanings, who then “accidentally” fell from the fourth-floor window of the police station. As you do.

The debut run of the show was interrupted by an irate Milanese police force who arrested the cast and director on trumped up charges (oh, how that term has grown), only to have to release them later (without anyone nose-diving the pavement).

Continue reading

Posted in Art, Coulsdon, Theatre, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Parking wardens stop issuing tickets in four London boroughs

More than 200 parking wardens and environmental officers across Wandsworth, Richmond, Lambeth and Kingston have stopped issuing tickets as a form of industrial action.

Parking dispute: traffic wardens employed by APCOA are in dispute in Lambeth and three other boroughs

This is the continuation of a dispute which has seen members of the GMB union take 14 days of strike action since November.

The action “will continue indefinitely or until APCOA agree to settle the dispute”, the GMB said, referring to APCOA Parking, Europe’s longest-established full service parking management company, which holds the contracts for parking wardens in the four boroughs. Continue reading

Posted in Business, Kingston, Lambeth Council, Wandsworth Council | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Norovirus emergency admissions nearly double in a week

The latest figures on the number of people in London hospitals with norovirus show cases have increased by nearly 90% in the last two weeks.

Norovirus emergency: cases of the virus have doubled in two weeks in hospitals across London

Around 100 more beds are taken up by people with the illness, which causes sickness and diarrhoea, compared with the same time period last year.

The increase comes as the UK Health Security Agency warns of a new wave of the illness, with people who have had the virus potentially at risk again.

Continue reading

Posted in Croydon NHS Trust, Health | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Perry’s council endorses scheme for 3,000 flats in town centre

Detail-lite: gone are the flashy CGIs of what they promise to build… with their Masterplan Framework, all Westfield are saying is that they want to build flats somewhere down there

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Getting rid of two-thirds of the retail space in the town centre and replacing it with flats is about all that execs from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield were prepared to share to a council committee, reports our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES

Better late than never, perhaps.

But there was a distinctly subdued, an almost “we’ve all been here before” reaction, to the lengthy presentation delivered at last week’s planning committee by executives and architects representing Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield over the long-delayed redevelopment of Croydon town centre.

Some 11 years since the first Croydon Partnership scheme was crashed through the council process with some haste and enthusiasm, this wasn’t a new planning application (the third, by our reckoning). Nor was this the new Masterplan for the town centre that was supposed to have been delivered in 2023.

This was something called a Masterplan Framework. It was lacking in detail because, well, Westfield said, they need to be flexible.

But wheras that first planning application sought in 2014 was granted permission for around 600 homes, this latest version is looking to develop 3,000 flats, mostly in tower blocks overlooking Wellesley Road or on the site where the Whitgift Centre stands today.

At a committee meeting last week, councillors criticised the outline plans for potentially turning Croydon into a “dormitory town”, and for a lack of detail, the absence of any worthwhile new jobs and no promises of public infrastructure.

Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Helen Redfern, Housing, Ian Parker, Mayor Jason Perry, Nicola Townsend, North End Quarter, Planning, Sean Fitzsimons, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Fixing the finances: join the discussion with our podcast panel

In-depth and informed, this latest episode of The Croydon Insider looks back on a week of meetings at the Town Hall where residents’ Council Tax was hiked again and the council sought another government bail-out, this time £136million.

Joining our panel of loyal readers Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell, Brian Finegan and Yusuf Osman is Councillor Claire Bonham, the LibDem councillor for Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood ward, who faces our Questions for the Councillor. Continue reading

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon Insider, Inside Croydon, London-wide issues, Under The Flyover | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon landmark has listed status rejected for a second time

Croydon landmark: the Thruppeny Bit building shortly after it was completed in 1970

The 20th Century Society, the organisation that seeks to protect and promote the best architecture built between 1901 and 2000, has described as “disappointing” the decision that its application for a listing for No1 Croydon has been rejected. Again.

It was the C20 Society’s second application to get listed status for the building, also referred to as the Thrupenny Bit building, a landmark which was designed by Richard Seifert and Partners and built between 1968 and 1970, and positioned alongside East Croydon Station, and now the tram tracks and the busy bus station.

The rejection leaves the building at real risk of being at least compromised, if not ultimately destroyed. The lack of any meaningful listed status meant that the carbuncle of a Sainsbury’s Local was allowed to be plonked next to the building in recent times.

The C20 Society says that they believe No1 Croydon to be the most significant example of Seifert’s surviving works to remain unlisted.

They submitted the latest application for listing last August, soon after Inside Croydon broke the news that the building’s owners want to convert it from office use and turn it into 250 microflats across the building’s uniquely shaped 24 floors. Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Art, East Croydon, Housing, No1 Croydon, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Croydon Photography Forum with Paul Bogle, Mar 17

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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Here’s the news in 1925: policing, airport expansion and sport

High flyers: airport expansion was a worry for many in 1925, when this photograph was taken, as well as 2025, with Croydon becoming Britain’s first international airport

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: For all the modernisation of our lives in the 21st Century, a flick through the pages of a local newspaper from 100 years ago shows that there were key similarities, as DAVID MORGAN explains

In 1925, The Croydon Times newspaper was published twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It provided readers with news of what was going in the borough. You could look for jobs, seek out a place to live, catch up with the sport or find out the latest “hatches, matches and dispatches” – births, marriages and deaths.

History helps us to see events through a wider lens, so it is really interesting to see some of the stories which made the newspaper in their final edition of February, 100 years ago, and which still resonate with us today.

One of the concerns of local residents in 1925 was the planned expansion of Croydon Aerodrome. Residents who lived close to the runway were alarmed that the values of their homes would go down significantly. Householders who had retired to live in Purley were upset that their plans were going to be ruined. Continue reading

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Invest in your solar future with Croydon Community Energy

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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Posted in Advertisement, Business, Croydon Community Energy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Croydon Photography Forum with Carly Clarke, Mar 11

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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