Rayner warned Croydon’s ‘budget gap’ will balloon to £83m

Posted on December 12, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The south London council ‘remains one of the most financially distressed in the country’, according to the local government minister. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor

Under a cloud: Croydon has lost control over its spending, according to the chair of the improvement panel who has been overseeing the council’s work for four years

Cash-strapped Croydon Council is going to need an even bigger government bail-out in 2025.

That’s the damning admission in its latest report to government from the Whitehall-imposed (non-)improvement panel, with a “budget gap” in 2025-2026 predicted to reach £83million – the worst ever seen in Croydon.

The letter, signed by Tony McArdle, the chair of the improvement and assurance panel, provides stark, independent confirmation that Mayor Jason Perry and the council chief executive, Katherine Kerswell, have failed in their mission to balance the books, despite making tens of millions of pounds’ worth of cuts to services while hiking Council Tax to record highs.

Croydon “remains financially unsustainable without significant government support”, McArdle says. Continue reading →

Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Coulsdon finial gives ‘Puff-puff’ Pirie a proper podium finish

Posted on December 12, 2024 by insidecroydon

Finishing line: the Gordon Pirie finial, now in place in Coulsdon

Finally, the lovely people who manage the Croydon Art Trail have managed to get Gordon Pirie across their finishing line.

Pirie was one of Britain’s greatest sports stars of the mid-20th Century, the distance runner winning an Olympic silver medal at the 1956 Melbourne Games and setting five world records at 3,000 and 5,000 metres.

Dubbed “Puff-puff” by the newspapers of the day, as much for the manner he inflated his cheeks when racing as for his steam engine-like front-running style, Pirie was celebrated for his great races against the likes of Emil Zatopek, the Czech who won three Olympic gold medals in 1952, and the Soviet, Vladmir Kuts, who beat the Briton to gold at 5,000 in Melbourne.

Pirie was such a big name, he was voted as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1955. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Athletics, City Commons, Community associations, Coulsdon, Coulsdon East, Croydon parks, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, History, South London Harriers, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thameslink’s party ‘survival kits’ include vital safety message

Posted on December 12, 2024 by insidecroydon

Thameslink commuters got an early Crizzie present this morning, with Govia Thameslink handing out free Christmas Party “Survival Kits” ahead of the busiest party period of the year.

Elf and safety: Govia Thameslink staff were out and about handing out ‘survival kits’ this morning

Despite half of Brits now working remotely, with tens of thousands planning to travel into central London by train to their work Christmas party, “with the possibility that many office workers will be heading home worse for wear”, Govia said, trying hard not to be too much of a sour-puss party-pooper.

According to the train operators, 1-in-10 of us admit to missing the last train after a Christmas party. “The ‘survival kits’ are designed to perk travellers up for their journey home, as well as helping weary heads the next day,” Govia said. Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trinity names Caden Cheong as this year’s Steinway scholar

Posted on December 12, 2024 by insidecroydon

Caden Cheong, a Sixth Former at Trinity School, has been named as this year’s Steinway Scholar.

Piano man: Steinway scholar Caden Cheong

The annual Trinity-Steinway Scholarship supports talented pianists by providing tuition at The Royal College of Music, professional-level performance opportunities and attendance at an international piano course.

The final audition took place via video conferencing, because key judge Professor Vanessa Latarche, the head of keyboard at the Royal College of Music, was in China at the time.

In the final, Cheong and Isaac Rogers, another Sixth Form pupil at Trinity, performed a concert work of their own choice and a Chopin etude, and after careful consideration, Caden emerged as the unanimous winner. Continue reading →

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Cocoa Jones: a melting pot of Christmas chocolate indulgence

Posted on December 12, 2024 by insidecroydon

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

Continue reading →

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Planning councillor failed to declare his new job for 8 months

Posted on December 11, 2024 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Addiscombe West councillor Clive Fraser has been caught breaking the rules yet again. By KEN LEE, Town Hall reporter

Job clot: ‘Thirsty’ Clive Fraser

Clive Fraser, one of Croydon’s most experienced councillors and the deputy chair of the council’s planning committee, went almost nine months without declaring that he is employed by another London borough… in their planning department.

All councillors are required to keep their register of interests up to date under Section 30 of the Localism Act 2011, and the council’s own code of conduct.

Croydon Council’s records show that “Thirsty” Fraser never made any declarations of interest at any of the meetings he has attended this year – including planning meetings.

And Fraser’s register was only updated on the day after Inside Croydon had submitted a formal inquiry with the council propaganda department to ask why the Labour councillor for Addiscombe West had not amended his declaration of interests for more than two years.

“Clive’s been Labour group chief whip and on the ethics committee, so he really ought to know what the rules are,” said one Katharine Street source. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe West, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Millionaire developer found guilty over out-of-control dogs

Posted on December 11, 2024 by insidecroydon

Controversial Labour Party donor and owner of the Grade II-listed Leslie Arms faces sentencing later this month

Anwar Ansari, the millionaire developer based at Coombe Farm, has been found guilty of six charges relating to his giant Turkish Kangal dogs, which were seized by police after they got loose and killed a neighbour’s hens and attacked another dog in Lloyd Park last year.

Out of control: two of the three Kangal guard dogs, as video’d in a neighbour’s garden last year

Kangals are large, Anatolian dogs, originally used by Turkish shepherds to guard their flocks.

Kangals can stand nearly three feet tall at the shoulder – a typical pet labrador is perhaps just two-thirds that size. If a Kangal stands on their hind legs, they are often taller than an average height person.

An eye-witness who saw the attack last year said, “Those dogs are a menace. They are out of control and it’s lucky that someone hasn’t yet been killed.”

Ansari’s Kangals got out of their compound in July 2023, breaking into a neighbouring garden where they killed three hens and then headed off into Lloyd Park. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon parks, Friends of Lloyd Park, Leslie Arms, Lloyd Park, Park Hill and Whitgift, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kroll Report provides no answers to £73m Fairfield fiasco

Posted on December 11, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Jo Negrini refused to be interviewed, all Colm Lacey’s emails got wiped and former cabinet members Newman, Scott, Butler and Hall were never spoken to in person as part of the £310,000 investigation. By STEVEN DOWNES

Late legal threats from one of the figures at the centre of the scandal of Brick by Brick and the botched refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls almost blocked the belated publication of a key report yesterday.

Right to the very last, the Kroll Report, commissioned from external investigators to look into the lack of competence, transparency and accountability at Croydon Council, was plagued by a lack of competence, transparency and accountability.

The 260-page report, looking specifically at how the refurb of the council-owned arts venue could have ever cost £73million, has been gathering dust on the (virtual) desk of Katherine Kerswell, the council chief executive, since April 2023. Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, College Green, Colm Lacey, Crime, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jacqueline Harris-Baker, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Lisa Taylor, Mott MacDonald, Paul Scott, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, Shifa Mustafa, The Penn Report, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Trial told how Saadi asked how he could get away with murder

Posted on December 11, 2024 by insidecroydon

Jury at Winchester Crown Court hears from Purley student’s university lecturer how he changed his course and repeatedly asked about DNA and police investigation methods

On trial: Nisan Saadi, 20, from Purley, drawn in the dock at Winchester Crown Court this week

The trial of Nasen Saadi, the 20-year-old student from Purley accused of murdering football coach Amie Gray and the attempted murder of of Leanne Miles on a Bournemouth beach in May this year, yesterday heard how he had asked his lecturer questions on how to get away with murder.

Winchester Crown Court heard that in the autumn term of 2023, Saadi had changed his course at the University of Greenwich to study criminology and criminal psychology.

Lecturer Dr Lisa-Maria Reiss told the court that after she had been giving a seminar titled “Introduction to Social Sciences”, about the country’s political structure, Saadi had asked her questions about murder. Continue reading →

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Arresting PC: ‘What I saw was a smear of blood on his thumb’

Posted on December 10, 2024 by insidecroydon

Day 2 of the trial of the killer of Elianne Andam heard from police officers who made the arrest and who were at the scene on Wellesley Road: ‘There were people screaming, shouting, people running away’

Murder victim: Elianne Andam was 15 when she was killed in September 2023

The police officer who tracked down Hassan Sentamu on the day that 15-year-old Croydon schoolgirl Elianne Andam was killed outside the Whitgift Centre told the Old Bailey murder trial that he moved to make an arrest when he saw “a smear of blood on his thumb”.

Elianne Andam was killed after standing up for a friend who had wanted to get back her belongings back from her ex-boyfriend. Sentamu, from New Addington, denies murder on the basis his responsibility was diminished due to autism.

At the Central Criminal Court today, PC Peter Nolan gave evidence in which he said he had been at the police station on the morning of September 27, 2023, when he heard a young woman had been stabbed and he went out to look for the suspect.

He told the Old Bailey that when he saw a bus from Croydon he decided to stop it, to see if any passengers matched the description of the assailant. Continue reading →

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

Davis quits Enfield top job to become Lambeth chief exec

Posted on December 10, 2024 by insidecroydon

The council chief executive merry-go-round sees a £220,000 boss move from north London and a £30m budget shortfall, to take the reins at Brixton Town Hall, where the budget gap is £50m

Lambeth Council has appointed a new chief executive, with the cash-strapped Labour-run authority adding tens of thousands of pounds to its executive staffing bills by hiring Ian Davis.

Top job: but will Ian Davis take a wage cut to move from Enfield to Lambeth?

Davis has worked at Enfield Council for 17 years, the last seven as that borough’s chief executive on a salary of £221,604. Davis has been recruited as a replacement for Bayo Dosunmu, who quit the job in the summer after pleading guilty to drink driving, failing to stop after a car crash and driving without insurance.

Dosunmu was paid £187,000, while the Lambeth recruitment ad for his replacement offered a salary of £200,000. Which has led to some pondering whether Davis has agreed to take a significant pay cut, or whether Lambeth councillors have opted to up the ante.

Announcing the appointment, Lambeth Council said that Davis’s “appointment was recommended by a cross-party appointments committee and following an extensive recruitment process. He is expected to take up the new role in Lambeth in early 2025”. Continue reading →

Posted in Claire Holland, Housing, Ian Davis, Lambeth Council, Streatham and Croydon North | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

London police numbers face 2,700 cut, Commissioner warns

Posted on December 10, 2024 by insidecroydon

Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, today warned the London Policing Board that the force in the capital is facing significant staffing cuts in order to balance its books.

Under pressure: the Met could be forced to cut 7% of its front-line officers next year

Sir Mark said he could be forced to cut 2,300 officers and 400 staff next year because of a funding shortfall of £450million – a cut of 7% of officers and 3.5% of backroom, civilian staff.

Such cuts will have “a seriously detrimental impact” on the Met, which currently employs 33,473 officers and 11,178 staff.

With the Met having sold off huge swathes of property, including police stations, across the capital in previous rounds of cut-backs when Boris Johnson was Mayor of London, Sir Mark said there is little left to sell and the use of reserves “is no longer possible”. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tory planning chief permits towers with 15% affordable homes

Posted on December 10, 2024 by insidecroydon

Reach for the sky: the latest Greystar twin towers, at One Lansdowne Road. Fewer than 115 of the 806 flats in the skyscrapers will be ‘affordable’

The “Croydon Dildo” is no more.

New plans for the long-vacant site at One Lansdowne Road – the hole in the ground off the Wellesley Road between Apollo House and the Jury’s Inn Hotel, where the YMCA building once stood – have been approved by Croydon Council’s planning committee.

The approved scheme includes two massive towers, one 47 storeys tall, the other 35 storeys, providing 806 build-to-rent apartments.

After a 5-5 vote of the committee last week, the scheme was only passed because the Tory chair of the committee, Councillor Michael Neal, a stooge of Mayor Jason Perry, voted a second time.

Neal has thus allowed through a scheme which will deliver less than 15% “affordable” housing, when London and local plans call for at least 30% – which would have amounted to about 224 of the proposed homes.

During the committee meeting, one councillor simpered about the project not providing “home-ownership opportunities”. The scheme delivers zero homes at social rent. Continue reading →

Posted in 101 George Street/Ten Degrees, Business, College Tower/Enclave, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Michael Neal, One Lansdowne Road, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tandridge reports itself to housing regulator over electric tests

Posted on December 10, 2024 by insidecroydon

Tandridge Council has reported itself to Regulator of Social Housing after it failed to carry out mandatory electrical safety tests on its council homes.

The district council, based in Oxted and covering Caterham, Godstone, Lingfield and Warlingham, announced its decision to submit the report yesterday.

“Following a reorganisation and as part of an ongoing review of the housing service, it became clear a mandatory electrical safety test of each home had not been correctly implemented,” the council statement admitted. Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Surrey, Tandridge District Council | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bournemouth beach killer made a study of violent crime

Posted on December 9, 2024 by insidecroydon

On trial: the court artist’s drawing of Nasen Saadi, 20, from Purley

A criminology student from Purley spent a month planning a random murder before setting out and attacking two women, one fatally, on a beach in Bournemouth in May this year, Winchester Crown Court was told today in the murder trial of Nasen Saadi.

Saadi is accused of killing Amie Gray, 34, and seriously injuring Leanne Miles, 38, on Durley Chine Beach on May 24. “He seems to have wanted to know what it would be like to take life,” Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, told the jury.

Saadi, 20, denies charges of murder and attempted murder. Continue reading →

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It’s pod-tastic! Croydon Insider looks at 2024’s biggest stories

Posted on December 9, 2024 by insidecroydon

The Croydon Insider is back, with the latest episode of our news discussion panel podcast thingy…

And the last pod-tastic episode of 2024 looks back on the Croydon news of the past 12 months in the company of former BBC news reporter Neil Bennett, current BBC Wales reporter Sanjana Idnani, former Croydon FM presenter Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell and Andrew Fisher, who appears on all sorts of broadcast channels, as well as ours. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Insider, Inside Croydon, Under The Flyover | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Elianne Andam was killed in ‘a fit of white-hot anger’ jury told

Posted on December 9, 2024 by insidecroydon

Elianne Andam, the Croydon schoolgirl who died outside the Whitgift Centre in September 2023, was killed in a row over a teddy bear, an Old Bailey murder trial was told today.

Memorial: the now permanent memorial to Elianne Andam, close to the place outside the Whitgift Centre where she died in September 2023

Hassan Sentamu, 18, from New Addington, has pleaded not guilty to murder on the basis that his responsibility was diminished having been diagnosed with autism.

Opening the murder trial, the prosecution told the court Andam had gone along with her friend and a group of girls to meet Sentamu on the morning of September 27.

Her friend and Sentamu had split up 10 days earlier, and the meeting was planned to exchange their belongings.

The jury at the Central Criminal Court was told that Sentamu lashed out at Andam with a kitchen knife when he met with his ex-girlfriend and her group when she was on her way to school.

Andam was 15 when she was killed. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Reduced services on London Trams for 11 days of Christmas

Posted on December 9, 2024 by insidecroydon

Croydon’s trams will be operating a reduced service throughout Christmas week, according to details released today by Transport for London.

TfL says it “will keep the majority of its services running throughout the festive period”, but for tram passengers, there will be only a Saturday or Sunday service from Monday, December 23, through until Thursday, January 2, with no service at all on Christmas Day but the promise of a special night time service on New Year’s Eve.

There will be changes and reductions in services to most other TfL services, including London’s buses, the Windrush Line and Tube.

Full details are available at tfl.gov.uk/christmas-travel

Continue reading →

Posted in Commuting, East Croydon, Norwood Junction, TfL, Tramlink, Transport, ULEZ, West Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ghostly convocation that is hardly a good omen for the Palace

Posted on December 8, 2024 by insidecroydon

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: As we head into the season of ghostly stories and things that go ‘bump’ in the night, DAVID MORGAN has a tale for troubled times in Croydon…

The tram rattled along Church Street and came to a halt at the stop. One of the handful of people who got off was an elderly man. The collar of his black overcoat was turned up against the cold. He seemed unremarkable, although if you looked closely, his coat didn’t seem quite right. Unfashionable, certainly, in fact quite old fashioned, and quite worn on the back, as if whoever was wearing it had been sitting for too long on hard benches.

His black shoes, untidily laced, seemed at least one size too large. Continue reading →

Posted in David Morgan, Old Palace | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nature charity creates Ashburton future forest with 3,600 trees

Posted on December 8, 2024 by insidecroydon

Dig in: Alastair Humphreys, credited with popularising the idea of the ‘microadventure’, seemed to enjoy his time creating a ‘forest of the future’ in Ashburton

Hundreds of volunteers worked to create a “future forest” in Ashburton Playing Fields last weekend with a mass tree-planting session where the organisers reckon more than 3,600 saplings were planted.

Tree-mendous: Trees for Cities made it a day of family fun

“The new trees will enrich the area by supporting biodiversity, cooling and cleaning the air, and boosting people’s mental and physical health,” according to the event organisers, environmental charity Trees for Cities.

To mark National Tree Week and Trees for Cities’ 30th anniversary, other festivities at the Ashburton event included the bright rhythms of Carribé Steel Band, The Museum of Memorable Trees exploring the deep connections people have with trees and Roaming Trees, a walk-about comedy act. Continue reading →

Posted in Addiscombe East, Ashburton, Charity, Climate Crisis Commission, Croydon parks, Environment | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

‘The Trams are here to stay!’ as club signs 25-year Arena lease

Posted on December 7, 2024 by insidecroydon

Croydon FC has announced that it has signed a 25-year lease with the council for their clubhouse and surrounding area at their home ground at Croydon Arena in South Norwood. “The Trams are here to stay!” they said this afternoon.

Stand alone: the main stand at Croydon Arena, which cannot be used on match days

The borough’s longest-established non-league football club has been hamstrung in recent times by uncertainty over their use of the clubhouse, as their landlords at the cash-strapped council have grappled with other issues.

The club still has to contend with the lack of investment in maintenance and upkeep of Croydon Arena, where the main stand remains unsafe and out-of-bounds to spectators – despite Mayor Jason Perry having falsely claimed it had re-opened.

Obtaining the security of a longer term lease has been a target of the club’s chairman, Gavin English, since he took up the role. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon FC, Football, South Norwood, Sport | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Coulsdon event survives as Storm Darragh blows into Croydon

Posted on December 7, 2024 by insidecroydon

Battering: Storm Darragh is the fourth ‘named storm’ of this winter, hitting the west coast and Wales with winds recorded of more than 90mph

Major cross-country race planned for Lloyd Park is cancelled at late notice due to stormy high winds

Coulsdon’s Yuletide Magic event, organised for Small Business Saturday by the local community partnership, has gone ahead today despite the ravages of Storm Darragh. At less than 24 hours’ notice, the volunteer organisers have turned what was planned as an outdoor Christmas event into an indoor one.

With 90mph winds reported this morning and red weather warnings for parts of Wales and the West Country, south London was spared the worst of the fourth “named storm” of this winter, but it still had an impact. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Athletics, Business, Community associations, Coulsdon, Croydon parks, East Coulsdon Residents' Association, Lloyd Park, Sport | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

South Norwood Community Kitchen’s Christmas 2024 appeal

Posted on December 7, 2024 by insidecroydon

Continue reading →

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After his latest failure, Mayor Perry claims he is powerless

Posted on December 6, 2024 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Although he was a member of the committee that handed a £437,000 ‘golden handshake’ to Jo Negrini, the borough’s elected Mayor is now blaming the law for his own broken promises.
By STEVEN DOWNES

Surprise, surprise: Mayor Jason Perry, just after someone explained to him how the law on misconduct in public office works…

Almost a week since council reports were published that confirmed that the Mdetropolitan Police had dropped their investigation into potential wrong-doing over the borough’s financial collapse, and Jason Perry, Croydon’s £82,000 per year elected Mayor, has broken his silence over his latest failures to deliver.

And he reckons it is all someone else’s fault.

One of the key recommendations of the Penn Report in February 2021 was to call in the police to check for possible fraud and other wrong-doing in the months and years that led to the council’s financial crisis, including events surrounding the failed housing company, Brick by Brick, the £70million botched refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls and the dodgy purchase of the Croydon Park Hotel.

But council chief exec Katherine Kerswell and Perry contrived to delay referring the findings of Penn and others to the Met Police until last year. Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Section 114 notice, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

RSPCA investigates dead dog found dumped in Selhurst park

Posted on December 6, 2024 by insidecroydon

The RSPCA has launched an investigation after the dead body of a dog was found in Whitehorse Road Recreation Ground in Croydon last week.

A member of the public discovered the body of a badly emaciated female brown and white bull breed-cross lying behind the park’s perimeter wall late on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 26.

The dog was very underweight, with her hips, ribs and spine visible. Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Crime, Selhurst | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment