Tag Archives: Mark Watson

Residents offered chance to influence Addiscombe road flows

The thorny issue of heavy traffic using the residential side streets in Addiscombe is up for discussion once again, with potentially significant implications for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and children. The council is using traffic counters on some roads, gathering information … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe and Shirley Park RA, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Commuting, Croydon Council, Cycling, ECCO, Environment, HOME, Parking, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Scott and Butler lined up to receive council service award

Councillors who presided over Croydon’s financial ruin could soon be honoured by the very borough they helped bankrupt, thanks to the council’s flawed constitution. By Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE Tony Newman, Alison Butler, Paul Scott, Simon Hall and other … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Bernadette Khan, Croydon Council, Donald Speakman, Hamida Ali, Helen Pollard, Mark Watson, Mayor Jason Perry, Pat Clouder, Paul Scott, Paul Smith, Simon Hall, Steve O'Connell, Stuart King, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Chef Kerridge’s cinema tour brings comedy to Selhurst Park

There’s a big night of comedy coming up at Selhurst Park [cue gratuitous Wayne Hennessy-related gag here]… only this time it will be provided by television stand-up  Mark Watson and what is promised as “a line-up of some of the … Continue reading

Posted in Comedy, Selhurst | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Council deputy Butler fails to declare company directorship

WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, on the nexus of connections between a senior Town Hall figure, an ex-councillor’s charity and local Tories It almost looks like she’s getting the old gang together again. There today, in the official records of … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Charity, Mark Watson, Paul Scott, Paul Scully MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Street market licences fall by 87% after council ‘improvements’

The number of casual licences issued to stall-holders to trade on Surrey Street Market has fallen by 87 per cent since one of council leader Tony Newman’s closest colleagues at the Town Hall shut down the ancient market to squander … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Mark Watson, Surrey Street, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Meeting called over failed Addiscombe one-way scheme

The Addiscombe traffic balls-up is set to be discussed at a public meeting next week. The organisers were unable to confirm whether a proposal to change the name of Lebanon Road to “Alderman Watson Boulevard” will be on the agenda. … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe and Shirley Park RA, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe Residents Association, Community associations, ECCO, Friends of Addiscombe Railway Park, Friends of Ashburton Park, HOME, Jeet Bains, Lebanon Road Residents' Association, Maddie Henson, TACRA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Street art on Surrey Street can’t fill the gap in the market

Armed with his re-usable canvas bag, KEN TOWL strolled down Croydon’s ancient street market to pick up a bargain and find out how the traders are getting along, more than a year after its £1.1million makeover It is a truth … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Ken Towl, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Whoops! Road works wreck High Street’s ‘bold’ ground art

KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, digs up another embarrassing piece of public money wasted by the council The council’s ability for not quite thinking things through was highlighted again last week, as the pneumatic drills and JCB diggers were … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Croydon Council, Fairfield | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Council’s figures show traders in exodus from Surrey Street

Town Hall reporter KEN LEE has been doing some digging into how a £1.2m ‘improvement’ scheme has driven away businesses from the town’s historic street market The legacy of Mark Watson’s £1.2million, council-funded artwashing and gentrification of Surrey Street is … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Mark Watson, Surrey Street | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Signs of the times: Watson’s whim is now back on message

It has not been in position for two months yet, but Councillor Mark Watson’s whimsy on the newly pedestrianised bit of the High Street has now got a second sign. The art-installation seating, which looks as if it was made … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Mark Watson | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Council warning that Watson’s whim is dangerous structure

Less than a month since Mark Watson, the senior Labour councillor, heralded it as “a popular addition” to the town centre, his latest costly piece of whimsy in the High Street has now effectively been declared as a hazard and … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Mark Watson, Planning | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Watson ‘backing’ business, after halving his charity’s income

Above is the scene in Surrey Street Market in early afternoon yesterday, Wednesday January 3, 2018. It is about six months since the council, in a plan pushed through by the soon-to-be-ex councillor Mark Watson, spent £1.2million, on “upgrading” the … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Boxpark, Business, Mark Watson, Pubs, Restaurants, Surrey Street, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Road works in town centre force bus routes on diversion

Councillor Mark Watson’s whimsy of closing a stretch of the High Street in the town centre has encountered an unforeseen complication since the weekend, as Thames Water has dug up the road on Katharine Street, close to the Town Hall, … Continue reading

Posted in Mark Watson, Planning, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Disability groups never consulted over latest Watson whim

Members of two bodies which seek to represent the interests and needs of Croydon’s disabled and elderly – one of which is organised by the council itself – have confirmed that there was no consultation held with them before Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in Fairfield, Mark Watson, Planning, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Elderly and disabled avoid town centre as it is too dangerous’

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Former Labour councillor ADRIAN DENNIS, pictured left, accuses the current Town Hall administration of failing to fulfil its legal responsibilities over the closure to traffic of a short stretch of the High Street While there were very good … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Mark Watson, Planning | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

More changes on the buses thanks to Watson’s whim

Transport for London has been forced to make more changes to bus routes in the town centre as a consequence of the “Watson whim” closure to vehicles of the High Street between Park Street and Katharine Street. From Monday, January … Continue reading

Posted in Mark Watson, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Latest ‘Watson whim’ generates ridicule and confusion

As well as little proper consultation over the closure of a stretch of Croydon High Street, there doesn’t appear to have been much thought gone into what Mark Watson, the soon-to-be-ex councillor behind the scheme, and the council intend to … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Business, Croydon Council, Mark Watson, Planning, TfL | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

High Street closure to be permanent, says council consultant

The closure of Croydon High Street, between Park Street and Katharine Street, imposed on the town centre in October after only the briefest of “consultations”, is intended to be permanent, according to correspondence obtained by Inside Croydon. When it was … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Environment, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Mark Watson, Planning, Pubs, Restaurants, TfL, Tony Newman, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Labour councillor Watson opts to jump before de-selection

STEVEN DOWNES reports on the latest shift of power at the Town Hall Addiscombe councillor Mark Watson, an influential member of the council cabinet, last night stunned Labour Party members in his ward by announcing his withdrawal from the selection … Continue reading

Posted in 2018 council elections, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Andrew Rendle, Ashburton, Business, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Mark Watson, Patricia Hay-Justice, Paul Smith, Sean Fitzsimons, Stephen Mann, Surrey Street, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Night clubbers’ cars stop Surrey Street traders from working

It is only now, three months after the re-opening of Surrey Street Market, beginning to emerge why it was necessary to spend £1.2million on resurfacing a stretch of the road as part of Councillor Mark Watson’s attempt to drive stall-holders … Continue reading

Posted in Mark Watson, Surrey Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Calls mount for councillor to resign from community groups

Paul Scott, the Labour councillor who describes himself as a “community leader”, has been challenged to step down from at least one of his many roles and to consider the various conflicts of interest that he has, after being accused … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Cinema, Mark Watson, Paul Scott, Planning, Screen25, South Norwood, Stanley Halls, Tony Newman, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Watson’s latest whim will see High Street closed to traffic

WALTER CRONXITE reports on a town centre-changing scheme which has been kept a secret from all but just 10 of the borough’s councillors And now, ladies and gentlemen, from the senior council figure who spent more than £1million on Surrey … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe West, Croydon Council, Cycling, Fairfield, Jo Negrini, Mark Watson, Planning, TfL, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Latest Addiscombe road changes are heading only one way

Croydon Council officials’ ability to set neighbour against neighbour plumbed new depths this week at the Traffic Management Advisory Committee meeting held at the Town Hall. On the agenda was the council officers’ proposal to make Canning Road and Addiscombe … Continue reading

Posted in Addiscombe and Shirley Park RA, Addiscombe Residents Association, Addiscombe West, Community associations, ECCO, HOME, Mark Watson, Patricia Hay-Justice, Sean Fitzsimons, TACRA | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Now council’s housing developer snubs its Place Review Panel

BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, on how the borough’s Council Tax-payers are providing another nice little earner for the Town Hall  CEO’s chums In the eight months since council chief executive Jo Negrini unveiled Croydon’s Place Review Panel, it has … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Alison Butler, Angela Brady, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Mark Watson, Place Review Panel, Planning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Something smells about council’s Surrey Street party flop

M.T. WALLETTE, our shopping correspondent, bolstered the numbers attending Councillor Mark Watson’s cosy little soiree on Surrey Street on Saturday, when even the offer of free drinks couldn’t pull in the crowds It was a fitting metaphor for the whole … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Mark Watson, Surrey Street, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments