Get a Grit #Croydon Council

The Grit crews are out in force and have been all day and night, yet Croydon roads are at gridlock - for the third time in two years.

The Pavements

Not gritted and when they have been gritted they have been gritted by operatives using shovels and their fingers

Roads

Gritting vehicles have been out across Croydon for the last 24 hours, yet the streets of Croydon are grid locked and have been for most of the day.

The solution

Pavement clearing staff need grit spreaders, just like the ones used by Westminster Council.
Sit on machines need to be used, some councils convert their grass cutting machinery and put salt sprinklers on the back of them and small ploughs on the front of them
All stations, main bus stops and shopping areas need to be cleared

Roads - more vehicles need to be used. I clearly remember (as a kid) the council having bolt on ploughs and trailers for its large fleet of vehicles. This would allow the posh purpose built ploughs to do the areas of the borough that are steep and difficult to get to with 'normal' vehicles.

You just have to do a search on the internet to find a vast array of trailers and devices available to councils. Why does Croydon Council not have any of these?

More equipment would enable the council to provide dedicated machines for the 'bottleneck' areas like the Croydon flyover. Radio Jackie is reporting that the journey time over the flyover has been at least 1 hour this afternoon. A dedicated vehicle covering this area and the slip roads around it would alieviate lots of the traffic problems.

New Addington and other difficult areas. New Addington has basically been without a bus service for much of the day. This is not acceptable. New Addington needs its own dedicated vehicles to clear roads and keep them open. I believe a similar situation exists in Coulsdon. basing extra resources in these areas will make a big difference.

Compare and Contrast

Snow is never going to be easy to cope with, but just look at the roads and pavements over in Lambeth. A lot better and the traffic is flowing a bit more too. You can check for yourself by looking at the TFL traffic cameras on http://www.londontraffic.org/a23/

Pink Grit is not the answer

much fanfayre was made by Councillor Phil Thomas that the Council was going to stop 'Salt Thieves' by colouring their precious grit pink. Over the border in Sutton the Council has given residents a bag of grit free. Instead of colouring the grit pink, perhaps Councillor Thomas and the Council could have invested in a few more tools for clearing the snow properly.

Come on Croydon Council. Get a Grit.

Congratulations to Ted Craig, #Croydon Arts Champion

I am really delighted to see Ted Craig, Artistic Director at the Warehouse Theatre, win this award from the Croydon Guardian.

Ted has kept the theatre going for many years and truly understands the importance of the Theatre to the artistic and business life of the Town.

I served as a Board Director and Company Secretary for many years and know the hard work and dedication that Ted puts in, with no support from the corporate council and even less recognition from the Council.

So well done to Ted and well done to the Croydon Guardian for recognising the importance of Ted, the Warehouse Theatre and the Arts to Croydon's future.

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Croydon Guardian Article

Croydon Champions honoured at awards ceremony

12:00pm Monday 15th November 2010

• By Kirsty Whalley

Croydon’s Champions were honoured at an awards ceremony to recognise the borough’s unsung heroes.
Hundreds gathered at the Hilton hotel in Croydon last Thursday for the Croydon Guardian’s ninth annual awards ceremony which aims to honour the bravery, selflessness and commitment of the people of Croydon.
Hosted by music mogul and MOBO winner Trevor Fisher with perfomances from dancers at Croydon College, Brit School’s Shanice Smith, rapper Scopes aka Adrian Grace from Harris Academy and indie band Zemitones.
Trevor Fisher said: “The jewel in Croydon’s crown is its people.”
Croydon Mayor Avril Slipper said it was wonderful to see so many recognised for their courage and devotion to the local community.
She said: “Many acts of kindness go un-noticed and unrecognised other than by those people who have benefitted from them.
“The excellent Croydon Champions awards are so very important. It enables those who are aware of a good deed by the unsung heroes of our town to get it recognised and applauded.
“I thank the Croydon Guardian for launching these awards nine years ago. Long may it continue.”
Assistant editor Matthew Knowles said: “When times are hard it is often easier to forego others and concentrate looking after yourself.
“But this year’s Croydon Champions entries shows that even a recession could not dampen the spirit of giving and helping within the borough.
“Everyone who was nominated was amazing.”
WINNERS:
Child of Courage - Laura-Anne Dellar.
Charity Volunteer - Ginny Harris.
Sporting Champion - Darrell Downie.
Parent of the Year Marie McAllister.
Teacher of the Year - Cathy MacDonald.
Community Champion - Hamish McFee.
Team of the Year - Croydon Visitor Centre.
Arts Champion - Ted Craig.
Business Champion - Megan Ward.
Act of Bravery - Diem Lac Truong.

Tories Fire Bomb Croydons future

It is a sad period in Croydon. After 127 years of Croydon Councillors building on the works of the Public Health boards, sewerage, water, slum clearances, parks being created - the sort of great works that built the strong modern society that we have today, the Croydon Tories are proud to be putting forward plans that will devastate our artistic life in Croydon.

I voiced my concerns at the Cabinet meeting that approved a hideous 'consultation' that includes the closure of the Clocktower museum and arts complex, the closure of the Local Studies Library and the ending of the Croydon Summer Festival.

I believe that if these proposals go ahead it will be the equivalent of fire bombing our Town. Not just the actual cuts will devastate, no, the impact of removing that artistic life from the borough will impact on jobs and the attractiveness for investment in our Town for decades to come. After all, why would a business choose to locate 2,000 jobs in Croydon when Croydon can offer no more than a Nandos and a shopping centre?

Culture is a key attraction, a way of giving life to an area or a Town like Croydon.


My genuine fear is that the Cuts are so bad that after the consultation the Council will 'reprieve' the Summer festival (A saving of £150,000) or / and the local studies library. The cabinet member, Councillor Bashford denied this, and claimed it was a 'genuine' consultation.

I doubt that very much, but we are bound to have some 'good news' as a result of these massive cuts. Thats the way of spin and decisions made behind closed doors.

I asked the Cabinet member why she was bringing forward these cuts and not looking at different ways of working. The Council has worked on various plans for a 'Cultural Trust' at least three times over the last 10 years, yet they bring forward straight forward 'cuts' and closures. No thinking that could deliver the Arts and Cultural objectives of our Town in a different way.

This goes to the heart of how the Council operates. It is right wing, but does not believe in the 'big society' or working in partnership with community organisations. Instead it defends its empire and wants a series of 'contracts' in place to govern all its service provision - it cares not who delivers those services and what the ethos is.

We must convince the Conservatives that they have made a mistake. We must keep our Cultural and Arts offerings alive and well.

Former Arts supremo in Croydon, Alderman Raj Chandarana sets out his thoughts on an Arts Trust on his blog. and includes some of the important, but seemingly forgotten, history.