Named and Shamed

Croydon Council Hires Expert To Help In Massive Rebuilding Programme

2021-04-01T03:42:00.003-07:00

Kim Jong Un is on a mission to build thousands of new apartments in Pyongyang | NK News https://t.co/vLUy72sQq7
— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@DrMarkPBarry) April 1, 2021

Croydon Council Hits a New Low

2021-03-23T03:50:00.005-07:00

I set this site up in January 2004, and have for many years highlighted areas/issues in Croydon that were shit.

It is no exaggeration to say that in all the years that this site has been running, this is without doubt an all-time low for Croydon!

Are these the worst council housing conditions in Britain?

These are some of the appalling conditions ITV News found people living in at a London tower block. Residents' repeated calls to the council for repairs were ignored.

More from @DanielHewittITV: https://t.co/7Y3Z26AUsC pic.twitter.com/em86Y7LkQ8
— ITV News (@itvnews) March 22, 2021

Croydon Has Gone Bankrupt

2020-11-12T05:18:00.001-08:00

#CroydonInCrisis : Council forced to declare itself bankrupt #Croydon ⁦@londoncouncils⁩ ⁦@BBCRadioLondon⁩ ⁦@itvlondon⁩ ⁦@lgcplus⁩ ⁦@UniteLondonEast⁩ https://t.co/UrjZP6D2hR
— Inside Croydon (@InsideCroydon) November 12, 2020

Scum

2017-04-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

Detectives investigating a vicious attack which left a teenage asylum seeker fighting for his life have released the images of three people they wish identify and question.

The two men and a woman are being sought in connection with the attack on the 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian who waiting at a bus stop with two friends outside The Goat pub in Croydon, south-east London.

The local MP, Gavin Barwell, has described the attackers as "scum".

Eight people are being held on suspicion of attempted murder following a series of arrests over the weekend and five have been charged over the attack, Scotland Yard said.

The Metropolitan Police said they know "approximately 20" were involved the incident that left the boy with a fractured skull and a blood clot on his brain.

On Monday police renewed their appeal for witnesses and information as the victim remained in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

A Room With a View

2015-06-15T02:30:00.002-07:00

Sign up here to buy an East Croydon flat for a mere £401,000 http://t.co/Z7UKVHtfjG pic.twitter.com/knOII4rkIZ
— Inside Croydon (@InsideCroydon) June 15, 2015

Croydon - Wanking Capital of London!

2013-02-12T02:42:00.003-08:00

It’s official: Croydon is the wanking capital of London.

That is according to Time Out.

The Legacy of Failure

2013-01-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

Andrew Pelling talks on Sunday 20th with Hammerson and Lloyd's chairman John Nelson of his love for Croydon and views on past Croydon planners' failures as Hammerson agree with Westfield to work jointly on transforming Croydon town centre.

Listen to the podcast here.

Croydon Council CEO Bans Press

2012-12-07T06:36:00.003-08:00

The Croydon Guardian reports that Croydon Council chief executive, Jon Rouse, banned the press from a public meeting last night, lest he be subjected to scrutiny.

The ban is somewhat "ironic" given that the press had been invited by the deputy chairman of the forum to attend what it had described as a public meeting at Croydon Voluntary Action resource centre in London Road, where the council chief was answering questions about the regeneration of West Croydon.

Now you know why Croydon continues to decay; the council have absolutely no intention of regenerating it, and don't want the press to report as such!

The Wind Atop Altitude 25

2012-11-25T03:42:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Andrew Pelling, here is the sound of the wind atop Altitude 25.

As he notes, high rise buildings are not the answer to Croydon's housing needs. Additionally aside from being windy at the top, these high rise buildings actually exacerbate the wind at street level.

Lansdowne Road & Dingwall Road Roundabout Improvements

2012-11-06T04:21:00.001-08:00

Those of you who care about the centre of Croydon and want to see the rot stopped, would be well advised to participate in the council's consultation over Lansdowne Road & Dingwall Road Roundabout Improvements:

"From July 2013 with the opening of the new northern entrance to East Croydon Station, Lansdowne Road will be the vital pedestrian and cycle connection between East Croydon Station, the major south London public transport Interchange and Croydon's retail core (the Whitgift Centre, North End and Centrale). The proposed improvement works will provide a safer more attractive route to handle the predicted 30% of the people who currently use East Croydon Station to access these parts of the town.

These works are part of the wider Connected Croydon programme of public realm enhancements. The project will deliver a lasting legacy for Croydon Metropolitan Centre over the next three years.

The works will also connect to a proposed new surface level pedestrian crossing on Wellesley Road that will connect Lansdowne Road and the main eastern entrance of the Whitgift Centre by 2014. This will further strengthen the role of Lansdowne Road as a direct pedestrian link between the new East Croydon footbridge and Croydon’s major commercial and retail core.

The main objectives of these works are as follows:

To transform Lansdowne Road between Wellesley Road and Dingwall Road (including Dingwall Road roundabout) into a pedestrian friendly space that still accommodates vehicles
To strengthen the sense of arrival to an important London destination by creating an inviting public space
To set a high quality benchmark for public realm improvements in Croydon Metropolitan Centre
To improve connectivity and increase capacity for pedestrians and cyclists between Lansdowne Road and the new East Croydon footbridge via Lansdowne Walk whilst maintaining its role as a vehicular route
To preserve existing bus movement and timing, and allow for future increase in capacity
Improve public transport interchange in the vicinity of the western entrance to the new East Croydon Footbridge including a new taxi rank."

Despite whatever comes of this plan, it is a pity that Dingwall Road will remain a barren wasteland that looks both hideous and dangerous until other issues are addressed.

The consultation runs until 30 November, and details can be downloaded via this link Lansdowne Road & Dingwall Road Roundabout Improvements.

Comments should be submitted by email to guy.protheroe@croydon.gov.uk or by post to the address below by the 30 November 2012.

Contact Details

Guy Protheroe

Telephone	020 8726 6000 ext: 62105
Email	guy.protheroe@croydon.gov.uk
Address	Capital Delivery Hub, 18th floor Taberner House, Park Lane, Croydon CR9 1JT

Croydon Council Wasting Your Money!

2012-09-27T04:13:00.001-07:00

Why does Croydon need another Equality Officer, costing the taxpayers £38K per annum, when it already employs five (and Bromley doesn't employ any)?

Croydon council, wasting your money!

Allders In Administration Again!

2012-06-15T07:04:00.003-07:00

In January 2005 I wrote:

"Allders, once Croydon's flagship store, is due to go into administration in the next 24 hours.

That is bad news for the staff and pensioners as, aside from the jobs that may be lost, there is a rumour in the City of a £17M black hole in the pension fund.

The Standard reports that the company that owns the Allders chain, Minerva, only acquired Allders to get its hands on the flagship Croydon site.

What does this mean for the centre of Croydon I wonder? "

Some five and half years later, and Allders is yet again in administration.

The Telegraph reports:

"The department store, the third biggest in the UK, today appointed Duff & Phelps as administrator, blaming a sales decline on “the well-publicised economic difficulties facing the UK”. 300 jobs have been put on the line.

The collapse comes in the year that the department store was celebrating its 150th anniversary. It remains open for trading."

What now for the centre of Croydon?

The Kiss of Death For Croydon

2012-04-18T07:45:00.002-07:00

Oh dear, on top of the creeping decay and blight eroding the centre of Croydon, it seems that the reputation of Croydon will be further sullied if this project ever gets airtime.

The Guardian reports that:

"A new reality TV show set to rival TOWIE is being made in Croydon.

Reality show Surrey Heights, based in Croydon, will be holding casting sessions for individuals, groups and couples at Shooshh nightclub next month."

Pass the sickbag someone!

Castles In The Air - Another "Plan" For The Whitgift Centre

2012-04-02T04:06:00.001-07:00

PropertyWeek reports that Hammerson has signed an exclusivity agreement which will enable it to buy a stake in the Whitgift Centre in Croydon.

This of course places a question mark over Westfield’s plans for the centre, and adds to the confusion as to what exactly is going on with the shopping centre.

In November 2011 Westfield announced that it had secured an exclusive agreement with the shopping centre’s freeholder, the Whitgift Trust, to explore options to redevelop the mall. However, the shopping centre’s other stakeholders had not been consulted and agreed to sell a share of their stake to Hammerson.

"Plans" for the redevelopment of the Whitgift shopping centre have been argued about for years, eg I wrote this in February 2005:

"Minerva is funding Croydon Council's fight against the Whitgift shopping centre expansion plans proposed by Minerva's rivals, who own the Whitgift.

Minerva is paying the six figure costs of legal fees incurred by the council, at a planning inquiry into the expansion of the Whitgift shopping centre.

The owners of Whitgift are appealing against the council's decision not to approve plans to extend the shopping centre. The extension is called Bishops Court 2.

The council is reported to back the rival project called Park Place, which is proposed by Minerva."

Frankly, based on the failures of previous schemes, I don't think there will be an redevelopment of the Whitgift anytime soon.

Nestle To Leave Croydon

2012-01-05T07:17:00.000-08:00

Nestle has announced that it will move its UK headquarters, housing 840 staff, from Croydon to Gatwick by the end of 2012.

Nestle has been based in Croydon for over 40 years.

It had been seeking a new head office in Croydon for "several years", but it had proved "very difficult". Croydon Council said that Nestle had chosen a type of office accommodation that it could not match, this is ironic given how much empty office space there appears to be in Croydon.

Well Done Reeves

2011-10-05T03:06:00.000-07:00

Kudos to the Reeves family, the staff of Reeves and the people of Croydon for showing what can be done in the face of adversity.

"Today, however, thanks to a combination of steely determination, black humour and the remarkable kindness of strangers – including donations amounting to more than £10,000, a handwritten letter from Prince William, and a tapestry stitched by a customer in her eighties – the store is in better shape than the family could ever have hoped. “I am absolutely staggered by the support,” says Reeves"

Prince Charles Visits Croydon

2011-08-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

"Tara Walton volunteers for All Inclusive, an organisation that offers financial training to young people, based in the centre.

The 24-year-old said: 'It is good they have come and are actually paying attention to Croydon for once, but it shouldn't have taken the riots to do that.'"

Source Croydon Guardian 18 August 2011

"Prince shares Ken's concern at town decay"

Source Croydon Guardian 11 June 2004

Reeves et al

2011-08-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

I am truly sorry to see that Reeves the family run furniture store was torched by scum last night, 140 years of history up in smoke, along with numerous other businesses, shops and homes.

The law abiding citizens of Croydon deserve better than this.

On Twitter East Croydon Station, 10am #riotcleanup

East Croydon Trending on Twitter

2011-08-02T01:23:00.001-07:00

Who would have thought it, East Croydon trending on Twitter?

Needless to say, for the wrong reason; a landslip at East Croydon station has screwed up the train service!

Things Are Worse

2010-08-06T03:43:00.000-07:00

Sad to see when walking along Dingwall Road the other day, on a visit to see my mother, that the decay and dereliction along Dingwall Road has become worse.

Why are there so many empty, decaying buildings and derelict sites there?

It is absolutely hideous, and a lousy advertisement for Croydon; most especially as it is the first thing that people see when they leave East Croydon Station.

Nathan Kirsh Bids For Minerva

2009-11-17T01:25:00.000-08:00

Property Week reports that South African investor Nathan Kirsh has made a bid to takeover Minerva with a 50p per share cash offer valuing the company at £84.5m.

He made the bid last night through the vehicle Kifin, which makes investments for the benefit of Nathan Kirsh and his family.

Kifin said the offer is at a premium of 30.7% to Minerva's closing price yesterday of 38.25p and a 52% premium to the average closing price of 32.9p per Minerva share for the three months up to yesterday.

Minerva are involved in the ill fated Park Place scheme.

Park Place Finally Dies

2009-05-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

In March 2008 I wrote:

"It looks like the Park Place development scheme has collapsed (or rather is going to collapse).

How many years has the council (both Labour and Tory) tried to kid us that this development would ever happen?

Who seriously believed that this scheme would ever get off the ground?

How many other development schemes touted by the council are going to fail to get off the ground?

The failure of Croydon council to plan effectively has led to the degradation and decay of the area designated for the development, eg St George's Walk. Local businesses, such as Turtle's, have been under threat of closure because of this scheme."

In May 2005 I wrote that:

"Turtle's, one of Croydon's best known independent stores, is searching for new premises after compulsory purchase orders were issued to acquire the land for the £500M Park Place shopping centre."

In February 2005 I wrote about Minerva funding Croydon Council's fight against the Whitgift shopping centre expansion plans proposed by Minerva's rivals, who own the Whitgift. I stated then that this must surely raise reservations about the council's independence.

In October 2008 I wrote:

"The Park Place development is dead in the water, yet it is still destroying the heart of Croydon."

Today we finally read the obituary of this unwanted, and unloved, scheme.

Property Week report that Croydon Council is to cancel its development agreement with Minerva to develop Park Place, after it said there was "virtually no chance" that Minerva could develop the scheme.

Have I not been saying the self same thing for quite some time?

The council without a single trace of irony are quoted:

"Rather than prolong the inactivity that has blighted the site for so long, the council now intends drawing up a revised strategy for the site which will include attracting John Lewis to the town centre. It is hoped that a new CPO will not be necessary but this will be a fall back position when a new development partner is in place".

Croydon council leader Mike Fisher, said:

"I very much hope that we do not have to resort to CPO proceedings as this will only further prolong the delay that has blighted the area and devastated so many of the traders who used to operate in St George's Walk, but if another CPO is the only way we will follow that route to ensure the area is regenerated."

The above comments from Fisher and the council beggar belief. They are the ones responsible for ripping the heart out of the centre of Croydon, and inflicting the blight that will remain for decades to come.

I would also remind them that were it not for their pig headed intransigence the Gateway development, that they sought to block for so long, would have long since been completed. Instead, thanks to their insistence in backing the wrong horse, they have succeeded in ensuring that the redevelopment has been delayed further as a result of the financial and property crisis. Thus adding another blighted area to the centre of Croydon.

The people of Croydon have been ill served by their council over the past decade, there is not a cat's chance in hell that the council are capable of reversing the blight that is eroding the heart of Croydon.

Developments Run Out of Money

2008-11-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

As predicted on this site on numerous occasions, according to the Croydon Guardian:

"Minerva, the company behind the £500m Park Place project, has admitted it needs someone to bail it out otherwise the development will not happen."

Why have the successive councils that have "ruled" Croydon insisted on favouring property companies that offer fancy ego boosting schemes, that have not got a chance in hell of becoming reality?

Croydon Council's stubborn delaying tactics over the Gateway development appear to be causing Stanhope Schroders problems as well.

Well done the council, serving their needs before the needs of the citizens of Croydon!

Park Place Folly Destroying The Heart of Croydon

2008-10-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

One of Croydon's oldest family businesses, Turtle's, is to close its doors for the last time on Christmas Eve.

The future of the business has been uncertain for the past couple of years since compulsory purchase orders were issued on Park Street shops to allow Minerva's massive Park Place retail development to go ahead.

The lease on the store which is famous for selling its huge range of hardware and tools, is coming to an end.

And owner Jeremy Turtle told the Advertiser renewing it was not really an option.
Mr Turtle said: "I am 65 and have been involved in the business for 44 years.
"I want to retire and there is nobody else in the family who is interested in taking over, so there is no choice but to close.

"Business has not been very good recently and I think it has been affected by the uncertainty. There is little chance of selling it as a going concern."

The store employs around 30 people, many of them on a part-time basis.

Mr Turtle said: "We are all very upset but you can't go on forever. I am very disappointed for my customers."

Source Croydon Advertiser

The Park Place development is dead in the water, yet it is still destroying the heart of Croydon.

Park Place Dead In The Water

2008-10-04T03:53:00.000-07:00

In May 2008 I noted the following:

"Aside from our very naive council, who seriously believes that this development will ever take place in the next five years?

This scheme is sinking fast, and is dragging down local businesses and the environment with it (see my article in March 2008 for further background)."

In March 2008 I stated:

"How many years has the council (both Labour and Tory) tried to kid us that this development would ever happen?

Who seriously believed that this scheme would ever get off the ground?"

In February 2005 I questioned the independence of Croydon Council:

"To my view, this must surely raise reservations about the council's independence.

As ever, the citizens of Croydon are left wondering when the creeping blight emanating from the town centre will be eradicated.

In my view, we are not being well served."

The latest report in The Croydon Advertiser indicates that I was right to be cynical about this project.

Quote:

"Croydon's flagship Park Place development will be delayed yet again and radically rethought, it has emerged this week.

Instead of this autumn, it will now be next year before any revised application emerges for the massive town centre scheme - and it looks set to be very different to previous plans."

This project is going absolutely nowhere, and dragging the centre of Croydon and St George's Walk down with it!

Surely even Croydon Council cannot be so naive as to believe that this scheme is ever going to get off the ground?

Why has the council allowed the centre of Croydon to hemorrhage for a "pie in the sky" scheme with no future?