Cultivating culture is year-round project, not just three weeks

Posted on May 23, 2013 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: In a previous column, DAVID CALLAM argued for a festival celebrating the borough’s heritage. But next month’s Croydon Heritage Festival misses the target in a number of important respects 

E viva la fiesta!

Time to party in Croydon, although since this celebration is sponsored by the Whitgift Foundation, maybe I should approach it with more decorum. For low-key is the theme running through the whole three-week Croydon Heritage Festival, which starts on June 3.

A rare opportunity for a glimpse inside the Whitgift almshouses

A rare opportunity for a glimpse inside the Whitgift almshouses

There are highlights, but few to resonate beyond the borough boundary.

The outstanding event for me is a transatlantic choral concert at Trinity School, featuring the internationally renowned Shirley boys’ choir and one from Phoenix in the United States. The choirs will sing a mix of classical pieces and Broadway songs.

I’m also looking forward to a chance to tour the Whitgift Almshouses in North End; Davidson Lodge in Freemasons Road; Elis David Almshouses in Duppas Terrace; and for just two hours on a single day of the 21-day festival, an opportunity to see the medieval architecture in Croydon Old Palace.

The rest of the programme, largely a collection of walks and talks, may offer some limited interest but is unlikely to set many pulses racing. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Care Homes, Cinema, Comedy, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon Heritage Festival, David Callam, David Lean Cinema Campaign, Education, Environment, Fairfield Halls, History, Libraries, London Mozart Players, Music, Old Palace, Schools, Theatre, Trinity School, Walks, Warehouse Theatre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Gove’s Roke “consultation” uses figures that do not add up

Posted on May 23, 2013 by insidecroydon
Maybe this boy could teach Michael Gove a thing or two about getting your figures right?

Maybe this boy could teach Michael Gove a thing or two about getting your figures right?

One of the basics taught at every primary school is adding up. Trouble with Michael Gove, the education secretary, and the “consultation” he commissioned on the future of Roke Primary School, is that none of it adds up.

Roke is the Croydon primary which over the past decade has had outstanding results, but which Gove wants to hand over to Tory party donor Lord Harris to run as an academy.

When Roke school conducted its own poll to discover whether the government’s imposed course of action was in line with the views of parents, they got 129 responses (only one response per household was allowed), with this answer to a key question:

If the school does become an academy, who do you want as the sponsor?

Riddlesdown Collegiate 83%
Harris Federation 17%

Now, the results of the consultation commissioned by Gove’s Department for Education have been published. This consultation cost the tax-payer £5,000.

Roke parents are highly critical of the report, saying that it “contains biased reporting of statistics and omission of data which is unfavourable to Harris”.

They say, “It is alarming but not surprising because the consultation was not run by a neutral or independent arbitrator but by Harris themselves.”

According to the Harris “consultation”:

62.5% support a Harris-run academy

How can one survey suggest just 17 per cent of parents favour a Harris academy, while Harris’s own survey manage to find that 62.5 per cent of parents approve the scheme?

“This is yet another flagrant abuse of statistics by those in power to meet their own agenda. Gove is becoming famous for it,” a spokeswoman for the Save Roke campaign told Inside Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Kenley, Richard Ottaway MP, Roke Primary, Schools | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Store at beating centre of making Croydon a Heart Town

Posted on May 23, 2013 by insidecroydon
The British Heart Foundation's new store on George Street

The British Heart Foundation’s new store on George Street

Croydon is to become a “Heart Town”, with the borough’s new mayor, Yvette Hopley, choosing the British Heart Foundation as one of her official charities for the coming year and endorsing the campaign to reduce the amount of heart disease among residents.

The other charity Mayor Hopley has nominated is the South East Cancer Help Centre, based at Purley Cross.

“I am particularly interested in both these charities as family members have been affected and required the services of both cancer care and heart surgery,” she said.

“I hope, by raising the profile through my work as Mayor, to help prevent and fight Britain’s biggest killer – circulatory and heart disease – and to raise awareness for early detection in cancer.” Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, British Heart Foundation, Business, Charity, East Croydon, Health, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Channel 5 looking to pull fast one on Croydon’s petty thieves

Posted on May 23, 2013 by insidecroydon

How others see us…

Oliver_Twist_06Earlier this week, there was a visit to Inside Croydon Towers by a television producer who had dared venture forth from his trendy offices in one of those fashionable “quarters” of east London in order to research a programme about the youth of Croydon.

He said he was “casting” for subjects for a documentary. We offered that we had never heard that word used in the context of journalism before, only for models, or fiction.

As we spoke, he eagerly scribbled down notes, apparently greatly interested. Until after a few minutes, with time clearly pressing, he looked up and said, “I’d love to get a Croydon rioter,” the look in his eyes imploring us to offer some sort of list of miscreants.

“They should all be out by now, shouldn’t they?” he asked. Going to Croydon was one thing, he seemed to be suggesting, but he was much less keen to have make a visit inside Wandsworth nick. He was soon on his way.

And then this morning, at the bottom of the bulging mailbag that Pat, our postman, drops off at IC Towers daily, we find a request from something calling itself “Channel 5 Television”. We understand this to be a TV station that may be owned by someone who has made his fortune from the sale of pornography.

The message reads: Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Crime, Local media, London-wide issues, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Which? brands SE25 eateries among worst in country

Posted on May 22, 2013 by insidecroydon

Fast food outlets in part of Croydon are among the worst in the country for hygiene standards, according to a report published today by the consumer watchdog, Which?

And don’t stray too far away across south London, because Bexley tops a league table for the dirtiest takeaways, with Kingston in second place.

Burger King Opens First European WHOPPER BarThe watchdog looked at restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels and food areas in convenience stores to compile its best and worst

A satisfactory rating is 3/5. Bexley scored 2.62, with food outlets in the SE25 postcode in Croydon, around Norwood Junction and Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park ground, averaging only fractionally better, at 2.65. Continue reading →

Posted in Pubs, Restaurants, Selhurst, South Norwood | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Croydon hooker manages to come third (with Clare Balding)

Posted on May 22, 2013 by insidecroydon

Local author Steven Gauge last night had his book, My Life As Hooker, named as the third-best rugby book of the year. That’s surely over-achievement for a book about life with the Warlingham 4th XV, once reckoned to be the third-worst team in the whole of England, made up of players who “don’t give a sh*t about being sh*t”.

A national treasure meets Clare Balding: former Croydon Council candidate Steven Gauge demonstrates why LibDems ought never to wear bow ties

A national treasure meets Clare Balding: former Croydon Council candidate Steven Gauge demonstrates why LibDems ought never to be allowed to choose bow ties

Gauge, who has a deep, dark secret of having managed Nick Clegg’s 2010 election campaign, attended the presentation dinner at Lord’s, where the national treasure got to meet Clare Balding.

“Very chuffed to have been mentioned in dispatches by the judges and awarded third place,” Gauge said at some point in the early hours.

“The winning book was choc full of proper research, footnotes and an index, for goodness sake, so I can’t really complain. Thanks to the wonderful people at Warlingham RFC for the inspiration, motivation and great stories that made My Life as a Hooker such a laugh to write.” Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Rugby Union, Sport, Warlingham RFC | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Countdown to council elections begins in Toy Town gowns

Posted on May 21, 2013 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: It is one year until the council elections, and for some, they have everything to lose, writes STEVEN DOWNES

Last night’s instalment of a new Mayor of Croydon, Sanderstead councillor Yvette Hopley, marked the firing of the starter’s gun for the long race to the council elections in a year’s time, most likely to be held on European voting day 12 months from tomorrow, on May 22, 2014.

The new Mayor of Croydon, Yvette Hopley, at last night's ceremony

Mayor of Croydon, Yvette Hopley, in her ceremonial robes

The looming elections were acknowledged, by Mike Fisher, the Conservative leader of the council, and Tony Newman, his Labour opposite number, as well as by Hopley herself, as she delivered her acceptance speech.

The speech might easily have been shortened with a bit of judicious editing, which could have seen her and the eager councillors tucking into their Town Hall canapes at least five minutes sooner.

As it was, this “full” council meeting lasted what is believed to be a UK all-comers’ record of just 46 minutes before the councillors and council staff, many decked out in ludicrous Toy Town robes and wigs, were able to make a dash for the drinks reception, accompanied by their families and friends, happily all paid for by the Council Tax-payers.

Austerity? Trebles all-round!

But it is a relief to have a new municipal year, as it is very likely that the council meetings will be better for the replacement of the outgoing Mayor, Eddy Arram, a man so unpopular that even in his final minutes on the Mayoral throne he still attracted boos and cat-calls from a member of his own political party sitting in the public gallery. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2012 by-election, 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Addiscombe West, Alison Butler, Badsha Quadir, Boris Johnson, Centrale, Clare Hilley, Coulsdon East, Crime, Croydon 8/8, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Dudley Mead, Eddy Arram, Environment, Gavin Barwell, Health, Louisa Woodley, Margaret Mead, Mike Fisher, New Addington, Policing, Purley, Richard Ottaway MP, Sanderstead, Selsdon & Ballards, Simon Hoar, Tony Harris, Tony Newman, Waddon, Waste incinerator, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Yvette Hopley | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Oi! Could the Town Hall do the Lambeth Walk under Labour?

Posted on May 20, 2013 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s Labour party looks like adopting a new approach to offer to the electorate ahead of the 2014 local elections.

pearly-queens-pie-and-mash-02Labour wants to offer “a council run for the town, not the Town Hall”, according to the deputy leader of the party in Croydon, Alison Butler.

The new politics offers something of a break from the borough’s first Labour administration, which ran from 1994 to 2006. The new position has emerged in response to the long-held dominance by a few powerful senior council officers in Croydon’s politics, and also because of the extravagance of the council offices being built for £140 million, when Council Taxpayers’ services are being severely cut.

Labour intends to devolve control over services to council “customers” – residents, businesses and voluntary organisations – and away from the control of officials. It will see council services answerable to users, rather than the council officials controlling residents.

Many of the ideas are inspired by the work done by Croydon North’s MP Steve Reed when he was the leader of Lambeth Council. Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, Alison Butler, Boris Johnson, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Lambeth Council, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Even in Croydon, the Tories are split over Europe

Posted on May 20, 2013 by insidecroydon

The splits in the Conservative party over Europe, so widely reported nationally, are even apparent between two of Croydon’s MPs, reports ANDREW PELLING

Gavin Barwell: working for a government minister, but backing an amendment to his own government's Queen's Speech

Gavin Barwell: working for a government minister, but backing an amendment to his own government’s Queen’s Speech

With UKIP polling as high as 20 per cent in opinion polls this week, Croydon’s Conservative MPs have been vocal on the subject of Europe – with one speaking out in favour of the European Union, the other backing a referendum that could see Britain leaving the EU.

Croydon Central’s Gavin Barwell has been opportunist while Richard Ottaway, from Croydon South, showed some backbone in the debate on the EU in the House of Commons.

With the Eurosceptic tide being so strong and the EU looking like a complete economic basket case, Croydon South’s MP showed real strength of character to put his head above the parapet and make the case for Britain’s continuing membership of the European Union. Continue reading →

Posted in 2015 General Election, Andrew Pelling, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Gavin Barwell, Peter Staveley, Richard Ottaway MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

How to set-up a busy street market in less than 12 months

Posted on May 19, 2013 by insidecroydon
Some of the produce on sale at the new Crystal Palace market yesterday

Some of the produce on sale at the new Crystal Palace market

Compare and contrast.

Yesterday, for the second week, a busy and buzzing street market was staged in Crystal Palace, at Haynes Lane, off Westow Street.

Around a dozen independent traders, selling locally sourced products, had stalls at the market. More are expected to take pitches in the future. The essentials of the market include the principles of Fair Trade, and good, local produce.

The Crystal Palace Transition Town group got this market off the ground in less than a year.

They did this without a six-figure grant from the government.

They did so without needing any endorsement or assistance from a television celebrity.

Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Community Association, Environment, Surrey Street, Tramlink, Transition Town | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Power to the people, not the snakes in Savile Row suits

Posted on May 19, 2013 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Our loyal reader questioned whether this site could, or should, be carrying articles from local UKIP representatives. Far too right wing, they suggested. But the Sage of Waddon, ARFUR TOWCRATE read the piece about local democracy and saw in it some worthwhile ideas

Power to the people! If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it

Power to the people! If voting changed anything, they’d abolish it

In this modern digital age, there’s no reason why referenda should be expensive, nor why they can’t be dirt cheap – see http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/ as just one example. If the national government can do this, why doesn’t Croydon Council?

I like the idea of Californian-style democracy where citizens can put forward their own propositions and see them taken forward. In Croydon – as elsewhere in the UK, whether locally, regionally or nationally – we are governed by the elite of an elite, by party hacks serving their own interests, or those of big business, rather than those of the people who elect them. We get lied to repeatedly and we are taken for fools.

This point is very neatly illustrated by the incinerator fiasco, with LibDem Sutton, Tory Croydon and Labour Merton conspiring to foist an unpopular facility on all of us. Here in Croydon, the leader of the Labour group says that if elected, this decision will be reversed. According to the Stop the Incinerator website, Merton and Sutton Conservatives are also opposed to the incinerator, as are the LibDems (in Bedfordshire, that is). Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Environment, Gavin Barwell, Planning, Waddon, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

That’s Oddie: HSBC takes dislike to questions from a Goodie

Posted on May 19, 2013 by insidecroydon

Wonder whatever happened to Bill Oddie?

Was he lost in the undergrowth at Springwatch? Did he get eaten by a giant kitten?

Neither. He’s been out stalking bankers.

The resulting short film report does not make for pretty viewing, and if you hold an account with HSBC, you may wish to consider switching accounts to a more ethical bank. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Environment, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Let them bake cake: Croydon Portas team’s £16,000 spend

Posted on May 18, 2013 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s Portas Pilot scheme, which saw the historic Surrey Street Market granted £100,000 of government money a year ago, is spending nearly £16,000 of that cash to stage a handful of baking competitions and to “improve” Exchange Square.

"Christo" Matthews, the organiser of the bake-off event, which Croydon's Portas team is "sponsoring" with up to £8,500 of public money

Crumbs: “Christo” Matthews, organiser of the bake-off event, which Croydon’s Portas team is generously “sponsoring” with up to £8,500 of our money

Inside Croydon obtained the spending details through a Freedom of Information request.

The Portas Pilot projects across the country were launched by the government as an attempt to revitalise failing high streets, where independent shops have struggled for survival against the twin assault of the recession and competition from the major supermarkets. In total, more than £2.5million of public money was allocated by Whitehall to 27 schemes, including Surrey Street in Croydon.

Nationally, the scheme has come in for criticism for the way in which the money was allocated, with claims that there has been undue influence from TV production companies working with Mary Portas, Channel 4’s “Queen of the High Street”. Croydon was one of the towns which Portas’s TV company stated that they wanted among the grant recipients.

Some of the committees of local volunteers, the Town Teams, have been in dispute with Portas, as the demands of making “good telly” proved to be at odds with the views of the market traders. Portas Pilots in some towns have been criticised for their slow rate of progress, while others have been accused of wasting public money.

In Croydon, progress has been glacially slow. The Easter 2013 deadline in the business plan has been and gone, apparently all the fault of the council, if one of the Town Team’s directors is to be believed.

But what the Town Team has managed to do is allocate up to £8,500  – nearly one-tenth of its grant from government – on a marquee and ovens, “for promotional activities”, according to Croydon Council, so that a few people can show-off their baking skills.

A case of Mary, Queen of Shops, saying: “Let them bake cake”? Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Business, Centrale, Clare Hilley, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Surrey Street, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Norwood Lake is having a fun day: June 8

Posted on May 18, 2013 by insidecroydon

Norwood Lake signThe Lakes Playground Action Group, which wants to regenerate the South Norwood lake playground, is holding an event for all the family on Saturday, June 8, with lots of activities for children including storytelling by Little Supernovas, a bouncy castle supplied by Bubbly Bees, cake stalls, a raffle, lucky dip and arts and crafts.

The event is free, and the action group urges people, “Why not pop in, have some fun, and find out more about the action group?”

Formed in October 2012, the group is aiming to raise funds to help to regenerate the park.

Steve Reed, the local MP, said: “South Norwood Lake and grounds is a much-loved local park, and I support the initiative to create innovative play spaces for all of the local community to enjoy.”

LPAG will also be staging its annual meeting during the event. “The team would love to hear your ideas about what improvements you’d like to see. There’s a fab competition for kids, too, to design a plaque that will go on display in the new playground.” Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Environment, Lakes Playground Action Group, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Channel 4 producers seek youngsters to face pay day alone

Posted on May 18, 2013 by insidecroydon

Pay day

Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Pay Day | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Inside Croydon’s Hero of the Week: Wilfried Zaha

Posted on May 17, 2013 by insidecroydon

Cometh the hour and a half, cometh the man.

Zaha header

Heading the right way: Wilfried Zaha scores Palace’s first goal in the play-off against Brighton

Even some of Wilfried Zaha‘s most devout fans had acknowledged that, well, maybe the young winger had seemed a little weary, perhaps even distracted, since his stunning start to the season, which had seen him win his full England cap and a multi-million-pound transfer to Manchester United.

And going into Monday’s Championship promotion play-off second leg at Brighton, Palace looked to be up against it. Crystal Palace had been in a form slump going into the play-offs, and goals had been in short supply. They finished the league season sixth in the table, loathed rivals Brighton were third.

The 0-0 first leg had seen Brighton dominant for long spells. Going to the Amex for the second leg, Palace would be taking on the division’s meanest defence without their injured top goal scorer, Glenn Murray. So where were the goals going to come from?

Oh we of little faith… Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Sport, Wilfried Zaha | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seni Lewis case raises “profound and frightening” issues

Posted on May 17, 2013 by insidecroydon

The death after police intervention of a 23-year-old IT graduate from South Norwood, Seni Lewis, was raised in the House of Commons yesterday by Croydon MP Steve Reed, who told parliament, “The questions that this case raises are profound and frightening.”

Seni Lewis: died at age 23 after being taken to hospital for treatment

Seni Lewis: died in 2010, but CPS and the Met are blocking an investigation

Reed said: “Two years and eight months after their son’s death, the Lewis family still do not know how or why he died. The public hearings scheduled for July 2012 and then March 2013 were both delayed without explanation.

“Seni Lewis deserves justice. The Lewis family deserve justice and they must not be kept waiting any longer.”

Reed addressed parliament after repeated approaches to government ministers on behalf of Lewis’s family had failed to produce any action, and with the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police apparently unwilling to consider compelling new evidence or to allow officers to be interviewed as part of an investigation which the Independent Police Complaints Commission wants to conduct. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Croydon North, Policing, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

UKIP’s solution on hot local issues? Hold a vote on them

Posted on May 17, 2013 by insidecroydon

Is there a better way? PETER STAVELEY, a UKIP candidate at next year’s Croydon Council elections, says his party would stage a public vote on important issues such as the incinerator

ballot boxWhen the controversial proposal for an incinerator at Beddington was given planning permission by Sutton Council this week, it was clear was that there had been little official consultation and there was a lot of opposition to the proposal from residents, especially those in Croydon.

It was also interesting that in the end, the councillors involved in the decision voted together in party blocs, rather than follow their individual feelings or even the feelings of their ward constituents.

All UKIP councillors are expected to vote for the best interests of their constituents, not just toe the party line. UKIP does not prescribe what they will do and there is no “party whip”.

There are, though, some general principles which UKIP councillors follow which are:

  • less regulation
  • smaller (local) government
  • retaining frontline services but making savings in administration and reducing bureaucracy

One of the complaints about the Beddington incinerator proposal was that voters did not have a say in the matter, let alone get a vote.

In this year’s UKIP manifesto for the county elections, the policy of local referenda was restated. Since that UKIP policy has existed for many years I am sure it will be in our manifesto for next year’s local elections in London’s boroughs, including Croydon. Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 council elections, 2015 General Election, Addiscombe West, Peter Staveley, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Hammersfield choose architects for Croydon’s re-design

Posted on May 16, 2013 by insidecroydon

The architects selected to redesign the Whitgift Centre and Centrale were named today as London firms Allies and Morrison and Leonard Design Architects, as a brief news story in Property Week suggested that the joint scheme between developers Hammerson and Westfield now carries a £1.5 billion price tag – a cool 50 per cent hike since Boris Johnson claimed credit for sealing the deal as recently as January.

Some of the early architects' drawings from Westfield for their Croydon plans

Early architects’ drawings from Westfield for their Croydon plans

However you cut it, it amounts to the most expensive Croydon facelift in history.

Allies and Morrison, the Blackfriars-based practice, have previously worked on the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall, a building and public realm area that dates from the 1950s where the architects’ work might be instructive in how they could approach some of Croydon town centre’s public areas.

They also worked on the Media Centre at the Olympic Park, which anyone who worked there last summer will tell you was little more than a pretty basic use of a vast shed-like building.

The other firm, Leonard Design Architects, did much work on Stratford City, the impressive Westfield-owned centre that is the gateway to London’s Olympic Park. Less auspiciously, Leonard are also linked to Westfield Bradford, which is also known as a decade-old hole in the ground. Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ashes to ashes: Only Boris can stop Viridor incinerator now

Posted on May 16, 2013 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Did Sutton’s LibDems last night grant planning permission to Viridor for its £1bn incinerator project at Beddington Lane just so that someone else could make the tough decision to block it? Contributing editor ANDREW PELLING says that nothing he saw at the meeting offered much hope for local politics

Opponents to the Viridor incinerator outside Sutton Civic Centre last night: not that their views were listened to at all

Opponents to the Viridor incinerator outside Sutton Civic Centre last night: not that their views were listened to at all

The health and well-being of generations of children in south London is now firmly in the hands of Boris Johnson, after the majority of Liberal Democrat councillors on a Sutton Council development planning committee last night opted to wash their hands – like Pontius Pilate – of any responsibility for the Beddington Lane incinerator.

In front of an audience of 200 unhappy local residents, after three hours of mainly impassioned arguments against the scheme, the proposal from Viridor to build an incinerator on a site on the boundary between Sutton and Croydon was granted planning permission by five Liberal Democrat votes to two Conservative votes against.

Even as he voted in favour of the Viridor scheme, John Leach, the chairman of the meeting, made some extraordinary and contradictory comments. Leach urged the opponents of the incinerator – Tories from Sutton, Labour councillors from Croydon, Green activists from across south London – to put together as big a campaign as possible to get Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to use his powers to block the proposal, which could otherwise see Viridor burning waste at Beddington until the year 2040, in return for £1billion in public contracts. Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Boris Johnson, Business, Croydon Greens, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Outside Croydon, Paul Burstow MP, Planning, Simon Hoar, St Helier Hospital, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Coulsdon residents call for more school places and new library

Posted on May 15, 2013 by insidecroydon

A Coulsdon residents’ group has called on the council to ensure that a new primary school is provided to cope with the anticipated increase in roll numbers as a result of developing nearly 700 family homes on the site of the old Cane Hill Hospital.

cropped-coulsdon.jpgAs Inside Croydon reported last week, Barratt Homes has been given the rights to develop the £250million public site. But except a (relatively modest) £9 million payment from Barratt towards community facilities, and likely to be spent across Croydon, the builders are trying to avoid having any school on the site, ludicrously claiming that there will be only 220 children living on the new housing estate.

Parents in Coulsdon already struggle to place their children in the heavily over-subscribed local primaries, and they fear that nearly 700 new homes being build in the area will make that situation far worse. Continue reading →

Posted in Cane Hill, Community associations, Coulsdon, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Education, Libraries, Planning, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disability group meets to discuss benefit cuts: May 30

Posted on May 15, 2013 by insidecroydon

DPAC disability against cutsCroydon and Bromley Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is a group campaigning for the human rights of disabled people in the context of austerity and cuts to services and benefits.

DPAC is holding a benefit justice meeting in Croydon from 7pm on May 30 at Acts Ministries, Acts House, 30 Union Road, Croydon, CR0 2XU. It’s an opportunity for people affected by the cuts to get some support, and for everyone to join our campaign against the cuts. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sutton Council looking to run energy company with Viridor

Posted on May 14, 2013 by insidecroydon

Sutton Council has been trying to register a commercial company that would manage the energy produced by the Beddington Lane incinerator – even before the proposals from Viridor have received planning permission from … Sutton Council.

Sutton councillor John Drage: no role in the planning decision for the Viridor incinerator. Just best mates with the Viridor CEO

Sutton councillor John Drage: no role in the planning decision for the Viridor incinerator. Just best mates with the Viridor CEO

The decision on the Beddington Lane incinerator was deferred last month, when Sutton councillors on a development committee reached a split decision on the controversial scheme. A second meeting has been hurriedly arranged for tomorrow night, with growing concerns from residents about the influence of Sutton LibDem councillor John Drage, who admits to being a long-standing friend and former business colleague of Viridor’s chief executive, Colin Drummond.

Drage, a councillor for Wandle Valley, has been on Sutton Council since 2006. He has properly declared his association with Drummond, who he says he has known  over five decades, and from whom he has received gifts, gone to concerts and been a guest at dinner. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Greens, Environment, Planning, Simon Hoar, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What do Croydon women want? Open meeting, May 25

Posted on May 14, 2013 by insidecroydon

LEE WEBSTER issues an invite to all women living and working in Croydon to an important meeting later this month

Women use public services more than men, according to the Fawcett Society, since they have maternity needs, are more likely to be lone parents and primary carers, more likely to experience domestic abuse, are on average poorer than men, and live longer, often living their final years alone.

Guest speaker: London Assembly Member Fiona Twycross

Guest speaker: London Assembly Member Fiona Twycross

So women have a vested interest in ensuring that local services – from the NHS, to education, housing and policing, meet their needs. Yet decisions about those services are largely made by councillors who are more often than not male – even at Croydon Town Hall, where 42 per cent of Labour councillors are women, it remains that only 26 of the borough’s total of 70 councillors are women.

An important meeting this month will give women in Croydon – all women, from any party or no party, from a local organisations or as individuals – to discuss the issues that matter to them locally, which will feed into Croydon Labour’s manifesto for the 2014 local elections. From more police on the streets, to better housing, to protecting our libraries, it will be an open space for women to share, and to influence. Continue reading →

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Streatham Crewe heads to Trinidad for a new scrum

Posted on May 14, 2013 by insidecroydon

Charlie Crewe, Streatham-Croydon’s scrum half, is to spend the summer playing rugby with Trinidadian champions Harvard.

Caribbean mission: Charlie Crewe in action for Streatham-Croydon

Caribbean mission: Charlie Crewe in action for Streatham-Croydon

Crewe was put in touch with Harvard on the recommendation of club captain Garvin Toussaint, a former Harvard player. Harvard are the Trinidad and Tobago league champions and cup-holders, having won both for the first time in their history in 2012.

Crewe has been Streatham’s regular first choice at scrum half for the last five seasons and has also played at fly half, centre and full back for the Thornton Heath-based club. The son of former player and under-11s coach Harvey Crewe, Crewe junior’s impressive performances have also earnt him a call up to the Surrey county representative side. Continue reading →

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