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Tag Archives: Steve Whiteside
Planners’ unconditional love for developers is unchanged
One of the arguments put forward for a change to a directly elected mayor was that they would be able to end the questionable practices of the council planning department. But as STEVE WHITESIDE explains, strategic ignorance and intellectual dishonesty … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lynne Hale, Pete Smith, Planning, Sanderstead
Tagged Arkwright Road, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Planning Committee, Planning enforcement, Sanderstead, South Croydon, Steve Whiteside, Tory
9 Comments
Key document withheld from planning scrutiny for 21 months
STEVE WHITESIDE with an update on how the council’s planners and planning enforcement teams continue to fail the borough’s residents, while turning a blind eye to developers ignoring conditions Last month, I wrote about the sad saga of 158 Purley … Continue reading
Demolition shows how council’s planners have no ‘red lines’
STEVE WHITESIDE on the developing (geddit?) saga of a house-builder who manages to ignore planning conditions laid down by elected councillors, thanks to some considerable assistance being provided by council staff The sad saga of 158 Purley Downs Road, where … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Leila Ben-Hassel, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Sanderstead, South Croydon, Yvette Hopley
Tagged 158 Purley Downs Road, Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Demetri Prevatt, Heather Cheesbrough, Labour, Leila Ben-Hassel, London Borough of Croydon, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Richard Freeman, Sanderstead, Sanderstead Residents' Association, South Croydon, Steve Whiteside, Tory, Yvette Hopley
17 Comments
Council’s planners lose multiple cases at appeal and in court
Independent inspectors and judges at the High Court continue to rule against decisions made by Croydon’s planning department. Yet those making these dubious, developer-friendly decisions remain in place Research for Inside Croydon has found at least another 11 planning cases … Continue reading
Posted in Aventier, Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Lynne Hale, Maria Gatland, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Neal, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Sanderstead, Yvette Hopley
Tagged Aventier, Church Hill Holdings, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, David Sullivan, Heather Cheesbrough, Labour, Lynne Hale, Mayor Jason Perry, New Place Associates, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Planning Committee, Planning Inspectorate, Sanderstead, Steve Whiteside, Tory, West Ham United
29 Comments
Home owner’s victory after four-year battle with planners
The planning department at Croydon’s dysfunctional council has been caught out yet again after the collapse of a developer’s appeal – but only after incurring huge and avoidable costs. Our housing correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, unravels a saga of deceits and … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Chris Clark, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Jade Appleton, Katherine Kerswell, Nicola Townsend, Park Hill and Whitgift, Parking, Paul Scott, Planning, Property
Tagged Brownlow Road, Chris Clark, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jade Appleton, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Paul Scott, Planning, Planning Committee, Ross Gentry, Silverleaf Developments Ltd, Steve Whiteside
17 Comments
Council planning approvals being ‘sold’ for £1,500 per flat
STEVE WHITESIDE, a former council planner, has been carefully monitoring development applications around the borough over several years. In the course of that work, he has observed a systemic move by the council to attach money-spinning legal agreements to approved … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Kenley, Planning, Property, Sanderstead
Tagged 158 Purley Downs Road, Browne Jacobson, Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Judicial Review, Kenley, London Borough of Croydon, Planning, Sanderstead, Steve Whiteside
7 Comments
Council delays and lack of enforcement cause residents misery
Council planners have ignored an Order from a High Court judge over the granting of retrospective permission for a block of flats in Sanderstead. But as STEVE WHITESIDE explains, the case of 54 Arkwright Road is far from an isolated … Continue reading
Posted in Aventier, Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Planning, Property, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Sanderstead
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Planning Committee, Planning enforcement, Purley, Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, South Croydon, Steve Whiteside
7 Comments
Council planners ignore court order over flats in Sanderstead
Those who hoped new Mayor Jason Perry would sweep away the bad practices of the council’s planning department are in for a bit of a disappointment. STEVE WHITESIDE with the latest in a long-running saga Even the decision of a … Continue reading
Planning director worried about her career? So she should be
CROYDON COMMENTARY: As someone who spent their career working on local authority planning matters, STEVE WHITESIDE has found council director Heather Cheesbrough’s attempt to gag one of the Mayoral election candidates just the latest example of shameless arrogance So Heather … Continue reading
The enforcers: residents making plans for council court action
Is something shifting in the Town Hall planning department? Amid news of the exit of a senior manager, and of director Heather Cheesbrough correcting her false claims on her online CV, and now a High Court ruling against the council’s … Continue reading
Buyers beware: High Court judge puts planners in the dock
A High Court judge has ruled against Croydon’s planning department, quashing the decision of a senior council official to grant permission for a block of flats in Sanderstead. Here, former council planner STEVE WHITESIDE explains how the court ruling could … Continue reading
Posted in Aventier, Business, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Housing, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Property, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Selsdon & Ballards, Selsdon and Addington Village
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Planning Committee, Planning enforcement, Purley, Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Selsdon, Steve Whiteside
19 Comments
Director of planning’s bogus claim over Institute membership
Planning officers routinely ignoring the requirements of local plans, little or no enforcement of conditions applied when permission has been granted and the courts throwing out decisions of the council. STEVE WHITESIDE on a litany of shortcomings, and worse, at … Continue reading
Council planners’ 3-month delay over Sanderstead complaint
When senior officials in Croydon’s planning department refuse to acknowledge their own serious errors, can residents rely on the council’s complaints system? Not if the latest development fiasco in Riddlesdown is anything to go by, says STEVE WHITESIDE Deliberate delays … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Heather Cheesbrough, Lynne Hale, Nicola Townsend, Planning, Sanderstead
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Hyde Road, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Nicola Townsend, Riddlesdown Residents Association, Sanderstead, Steve Whiteside
14 Comments
Developers given free rein from a council with no controls
Many Croydon residents feel ill-served by the council’s developer-friendly planning department while being ignored by the Town Hall’s somnolent planning enforcement team. Here, STEVE WHITESIDE examines a case in Sanderstead where developers have been given virtual free rein as the … Continue reading
The mysterious case of Rectory Park’s growing block of flats
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Among the many bad planning decisions made by the council in recent years, those taken to allow a redevelopment in Rectory Park, South Croydon, ‘must surely rate as some of the most perverse’, according to STEVE WHITESIDE, who … Continue reading
Croydon’s head of planning set to retire. Will things improve?
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Pete Smith has been responsible for some ‘appallingly bad decisions’ while the head of the council planning department. Yet he has been free of risk of censure by the town planners’ professional body simply by not being an … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Paul Scott, Pete Smith, Planning
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, London Borough of Croydon, Paul Scott, Pete Smith, Planning, Steve Whiteside
2 Comments
