Tag Archives: London Borough of Croydon

Consultation begins for borough’s SEND travel and services

The council has opened a consultation on its planned services for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities and their families and carers. Croydon’s draft SEND Strategy 2019-2022, and its Draft Post-16 Travel Assistance Policy for young … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Schools | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Council’s short notice of New Addington special school event

A press release from our council’s dynamic press office slammed in to our email in-box just after 2pm today. Someone had thoughtfully passed it on to us, since the council’s press office seems to think they don’t need to deal … Continue reading

Posted in Addington Valley Academy, Alisa Flemming, Children's Services, Croydon Council, New Addington, Planning, Schools | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Planning chair prejudices position with speech for developers

The charge that Croydon’s Blairite council leadership is too cosy with property developers and their architect chums has been given even greater weight, after the chair of the borough’s planning committee gave a rousing speech at a launch event for … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Croydon Council, Housing, Leon House, Paul Scott, Planning, Property, Toni Letts, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Residents’ anger over builders’ mess at Auckland Road

“Auckland Road is a mess,” residents living in a conservation area in Upper Norwood say, blaming sloppy building practices on a couple of sites, including one run that is run by Brick by Brick, the council’s house-builders. And they accuse … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Steve Iles | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Brokenshire blocks planning permission for Purley ‘skyscraper’

BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, on a slap in the face for Croydon’s planners To the “delight” of Croydon Conservatives, James Brokenshire, the Tory Government’s local communities and housing minister, has reversed the decision of council’s planning department, its planning … Continue reading

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Church and religions, Croydon South, Planning, Property, Purley, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Council continues in its cover-up of Ombudsman’s rulings

Here’s something else you won’t read on Croydon Council’s website. The council press office – funded with an annual budget of at least £500,000 of public money – today issued at least its second press release  to publicise the attention-seeking … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ombudsman finds systemic problems with adult social care

“It’s no longer just one-off mistakes; we’re seeing problems with systems, policies and the way procedures are being applied…” That’s the view of Michael King, the Local Government Ombudsman, as he has today published his office’s annual review of adult … Continue reading

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

Schroders’ £500m Ruskin Square stalls over Westfield doubts

Big business is getting twitchy over the slow pace of developments in Croydon, as KEN LEE reports The agenda for the Croydon Labour group brainstorming weekend in Eastbourne this weekend is said to be “thin”. That may be deliberate to … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Jo Negrini, Ruskin Square, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

BINMAGEDDON!: 1% missed collections thanks to Crap App

Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, reports on how the council is using some dodgy stats to cover for its rubbish service The latest effort by Croydon to align itself with North Korea, where everything is perfect because the Great Leader … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Refuse collection, Stuart Collins, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

BINMAGEDDON!: Let’s build a Christmas tree with old boxes

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Three months after the ‘changeover’ in rubbish contractor Veolia’s bin collection schedules, with new bins, smaller wheelies and recycling boxes which were supposed to be taken away, loyal reader KIRSTIE SMITH, right, has penned on open letter to … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Kirstie Smith, Refuse collection, Stuart Collins, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Council is rocked by news that finance chief has resigned

EXCLUSIVE: Our local democracy reporter KEN LEE on a shock departure from Fisher’s Folly Richard Simpson, effectively the second-in-command at the council to chief executive Jo “We’re Not Stupid” Negrini, is to leave Croydon. Simpson has worked at Croydon Council … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Richard Simpson, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Williams signs up council to improve its digital service

Well this could prove an interesting “challenge” for Croydon, which is, apparently, “a council with a reputation for digital”, according to a press release it issued yesterday. The council press office left the readers of its release to decide whether … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Neil Williams | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Council remembers to publicise civic Remembrance service

Croydon Council’s press office, having forgotten to include any reference to this weekend’s Remembrance Sunday ceremonies in its autumn edition of the quarterly, Council Tax-payer-funded Your Croydon magazine, managed to put out a press release detailing the civic arrangements for … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Airport, Croydon Council, History | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Scott in shock resignation as chair of planning committee

Local democracy reporter KEN LEE reports on the latest bizarre conduct in the Town Hall chamber In what must be one of the least transparent pieces of council business conducted even under this Town Hall administration, Paul Scott, the all-powerful … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Paul Scott, Planning, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Government has withheld funding for new tram safety body

Croydon Central MP Sarah Jones has discovered that the Tory Government has delayed releasing funds to establish a tram safety body, two years after the tram crash which killed seven people and injured 62 others at Sandilands tram stop. The … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Central, Sandilands derailment, Sarah Jones MP, TfL, Tramlink, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Henderson’s ‘leaving present’: Kingston’s Ofsted failure

Another local authority has failed a visit by Ofsted inspectors, this time nearby Kingston for its poor delivery of services for children and young adults with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, or SEND. For parents and carers in Kingston, the … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Jo Negrini, Kingston, Outside Croydon, Robert Henderson | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Calls for council to halt use of weedkiller linked to cancer

Weedkillers including glyphosate, which has been linked to causing cancer in humans, continue to be used by Croydon Council, whose contractors even spray the substance around public parks and children’s playgrounds. Now Friends of the Earth is calling on the … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Croydon parks, Environment, idVerde, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Three Croydon high streets among ‘unhealthiest’ in London

Another day, another survey that demonstrates that Croydon is slowly deteriorating into decay, poverty and neglect. The Royal Society of Public Health published a list of “Unhealthiest Streets” this week, and Croydon was the only borough that had three entries … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Environment, Fiona Twycross, Health, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, New Addington, New Addington North, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, Sadiq Khan, Simon Hall, South Norwood, Thornton Heath, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Colonnades purchase is massive gamble with public money

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Spending millions to buy a private business risks feather bedding property speculators, says DEREK THROWER Under a Conservative government, local authorities, including Croydon Council, are being given public cash to nationalise private assets and land. That’s quite extraordinary … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Colonnades, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Purley Way, Waddon, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Council pays £53m to buy ‘unloved’ Colonnades centre

The business “brains” at Fisher’s Folly have gone out and splurged £53million of public money to buy the freehold of the “unloved” and rarely visited Colonnades retail and leisure park – just as industry experts are warning that 200 such … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Boxpark, Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Property, Purley Way, Simon Hall, Waddon, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Coulsdon councillor exposed as advising corporate lobbyists

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on the latest little sideline of one of Croydon’s leading Tories Coulsdon Conservative councillor Mario Creatura, who has a job at No10 Downing Street as a Special Adviser to Prime Minister Theresa Mayhem, may have broken … Continue reading

Posted in Coulsdon, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dinner winners look to move into Portland Road building

After 18 months of serving up thousands of delicious meals, using what would otherwise be unwanted and surplus food, the South Norwood Community Kitchen could soon be on the move. But rest assured, they won’t be going far… The community … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Charity, Community associations, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

DWP owes council more than £1m for housing, says Butler

Alison Butler, the council deputy leader who failed to declare that her son worked for an agency that was hired by the borough, has today entered the row over the chaos that is Universal Credit, calling on the Chancellor of … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Brick by Brick’s first new homes won’t be occupied until 2019

BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, on how the borough’s ‘award-winning’ house building company has taken nearly four years to build its first house The first homes built by Brick by Brick, Croydon Council’s loss-making house builders, won’t be available to … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Housing, Jo Negrini, London-wide issues, Paul Scott, Planning, Property, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Council’s official magazine forgets Remembrance Sunday

A former borough councillor says he is “extremely sad” that the latest edition of Your Croydon, described by Croydon Council as its “main source of community news”, has completely failed to make any mention of the centenary commemorations of the … Continue reading

Posted in Chris Wright, Community associations, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, History, Local media, Museum of Croydon, Old Coulsdon Residents' Association, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments