Tag Archives: Fisher’s Folly

Mayor Perry: ‘It’s going to get worse before it gets better’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: It didn’t take very long once he became Croydon’s first executive Mayor after telling the electorate that he had a plan, that Jason Perry was forced to admit that he never had a plan at all. By … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Fisher, Section 114 notice, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Mayor condemned for ‘cruel’ treatment of street homeless

When other local authorities are looking to provide ‘warm banks’ for the poor and winter shelters for the homeless, Croydon’s cash-strapped council is seizing vulnerable people’s possessions in their effort to tidy up their swanky offices. By STEVEN DOWNES Tory … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Charity, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon Nightwatch, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Property, South Norwood Community Kitchen, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Town Hall questions take remote working to a new level

Nearly half the questions lodged by elected councillors have not had an answer from council officials within two months Part-time Mayor’s office only staffs phones for 4 hours each weekday Average wait time for phone calls to council contact centre … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The ins and outs of quietly getting rid of a council CEO

Did she jump or was she pushed? Our employment law correspondent, PERRY FREEMASON, delves into the murky world of human resources at Fisher’s Folly to sift through another expensive mess at the council Morale among staff inside Fisher’s Folly is … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Jon Rouse, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Council ordered to use public buildings as emergency shelters

Parts of the Fairfield Halls, the borough’s leisure centres and even Fisher’s Folly could be transformed over the weekend into emergency shelters for rough sleepers, under the latest government edict in an effort to limit the spread of the deadly … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Croydon NHS Trust, Fairfield Halls, Health, Mayday Hospital | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Brick by Brick to open its doors for Open House weekend

Croydon’s Council Tax-payers will get the chance to see how loss-making Brick by Brick has managed to piss away at least £1million on new office furniture and a real estate sales showroom this weekend. The Brick by Brick shop and … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Brick by Brick, Croydon Airport, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, History, Museum of Croydon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council office entrance closed because of ‘extreme’ weather

KEN LEE, our newshound on Mint Walk, sniffs out the latest piece of nonsense from the £140m council office building, where the main entrance has been ruled out-of-bounds Further proof, not that any has been needed, that Fisher’s Folly, the … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Your chance to travel in same lift as Rob Brydon… or Jo Negrini

Ever wanted taking a closer look at what cost Croydon residents at least £140million? Or just fancied taking a ride in the lift used by actor Rob Brydon in the film Swimming With Men? On the weekend of September 22-23, … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, History, Jo Negrini, Old Palace | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council’s £140m offices are to become a glorified Job Centre

WALTER CRONXITE on how the local council has been forced to take in more lodgers in its “prestige” £140m office building Tonight’s council cabinet meeting at the Town Hall is unlikely to uncover quite how the costs of building the … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Jon Rouse, Nathan Elvery, Planning, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Flood in Fisher’s Folly forces council staff to work from home

Dozens of Croydon Council staff are being asked to work from home tomorrow, after faulty plumbing in Fisher’s Folly, the borough’s £140 million office building, has caused flooding on at least one of the floors. This is particularly embarrassing timing … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council website is dull and overly complex, according to survey

Croydon’s efforts to go “online-only”, forcing residents to engage with council staff via its website rather than using a call centre, have taken a blow this week when a survey of local authorities’ digital offerings ranked Croydon 149th out of … Continue reading

Posted in Capita, Croydon Council | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Council finance chief Simpson’s promotion is confirmed

Richard Simpson, formerly the council’s finance director, has been promoted to the role of executive director of resources, it was confirmed today. Simpson’s move into one of the six-figure salary roles at Fisher’s Folly is part of the on-going reshuffle … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Nathan Elvery, Paul Greenhalgh, Richard Simpson, Taberner House, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Open House weekend: see where your money’s spent

Croydon’s somewhat curmudgeonly attitude towards Open House London, the annual opportunity to sneak a peek behind normally firmly closed doors, appears to have been shaken off, finally. But not as far as the not-so-dynamic team in the council’s press office … Continue reading

Posted in Activities, Art, Bernard Weatherill House, Boxpark, Croydon Council, Outside Croydon, Property, Ruskin Square, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Staff to move out of two more floors of £140m Council HQ

BARRATT HOLMES, our development correspondent, has discovered that by taking in corporate ‘lodgers’, the purpose-built local authority offices won’t be able to provide desks for 40% of the council’s staff Fisher’s Folly, the purpose-built local authority “hub” which was built … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Jon Rouse, Nathan Elvery, Planning, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cash-strapped council finds thousands for real estate beano

Cash-strapped Croydon is spending up to £26,000 so that senior council officials can rub shoulders with developers and estate agents at an event next week called the London Real Estate Forum. Despite laying off hundreds of staff to save money, … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Council pimps out £144m offices in £7.5m 10-year deal

Croydon’s cash-strapped Labour-run council is today celebrating clawing back just £7.5million-worth of the costs of Fisher’s Folly, the borough’s vastly over-priced civic headquarters. Over a period of 10 years. So only another £136 million to go. At this rate, it … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Business, Croydon Council, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hard-up Croydon rents out top floors of £140m council office

Cash-strapped Croydon Council is to rent out the top two floors of the world’s most expensive local authority offices, Fisher’s Folly. They reckon that the lodgers will contribute about £500,000 per year to the borough’s finances. So at that rate, … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Town Hall to have own architects department once again

Croydon Council is to recreate its own, in-house architects’ department. According to a report in Architects’ Journal, the council architects will be used to design housing schemes across the borough. “The move bucks the trend of recent decades, which has … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Bernard Weatherill House, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Planning, RIF, Tony Newman, URV, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council considers three-weekly bin collections as cuts bite

The leadership of Croydon’s Labour-run council is considering moving to a schedule of residential refuse collections of every three weeks as a way of saving money from a borough budget that faces losing £90 million from its grant from the … Continue reading

Posted in 2016 London elections, 2018 council elections, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Environment, Fly tipping, Refuse collection, Sarah Jones MP, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Architects’ top work goes on display in Fishers’ Folly

Fisher’s Folly, the Croydon Council office building on Mint Walk sometimes called Bernard Weatherill House, is hosting a special exhibition of the best of architecture from Sutton, Bromley and Croydon over the next fortnight. This first competition has been organised … Continue reading

Posted in Activities, Art, Bernard Weatherill House, Business, Croydon Council, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Kiely leaves council planning post with barely a mention

Last week, one Redhill-based publication devoted two complete pages to the retirement of one of its own staff. But we have been unable to find a single word in its pages about the departure from Croydon of the council’s planning … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Anthony Brooks, Croydon Council, Environment, Housing, Jo Negrini, Planning, Property, Tramlink, Transport, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council calls in Ronald McDonald to help pay off £144m bill

It would be a cheap shot to suggest that Fisher’s Folly is run by a bunch of clowns. But Ronald McDonald has registered a presence recently in Croydon Council’s £144 million headquarters building. Desperate to rake back some of the … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Business, Croydon Council, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Eye! Eye! Council offices’ £144m cost is attracting attention

Not for the first time, a scandal involving Croydon Council has attracted the attention of the scurrilous satirical magazine, Private Eye, when the local mainstream media has kept well clear of the story. Presumably, the Sadvertiser doesn’t think that an … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Planning, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Deal to bring university to Croydon looks to have fallen flat

The council’s attempts to turn Croydon into a “university town” by renting out some or all of their office space in Fisher’s Folly appear to have failed, judging by Labour leader Tony Newman’s remarks to a Town Hall meeting. Negotiations … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Croydon Council, Nathan Elvery, Planning, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Croydon council offices cost more to build than The Shard

Fisher’s Folly, the glass palace that is our council’s headquarters which opened just over a year ago and which cost the borough’s Council Tax-payers’ £144 million, was more expensive to build than The Shard. That’s the conclusion reached by a … Continue reading

Posted in Bernard Weatherill House, Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Jon Rouse, Leisure services, Mike Fisher, Nathan Elvery, Planning, Property, Taberner House, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, URV | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments