A rather sinister sounding press release from Croydon council
Council websites the world over are forever trumpeting quite how glorious their towns etc are and how the best and brightest beat a path to their town (deliberate cliché overload) but with this press release Croydon seems to have mislaid the script:
"An increasing number of people are choosing to move out of Croydon and council and housing association tenants can use the Fresh Start scheme to help spread their wings." Among the places being touted as being preferable are "[the] Midlands and North...[and] areas as diverse as Newcastle, Liverpool and Wales". I have tried to find the standard puff piece on the site informing the public as to how "when a man is tired of Croydon, he is tired of life; for there is in Croydon all that life can afford" but have yet to succeed.
The reason for doing down the place is because they are trying to free up social housing, but encouraging the old to get out of Dodge Croydon does hint at social cleansing. Meanwhile, might the churning of tenancies, at whatever the cost ("Applicants may be able to claim some or all of their removal costs along with travel costs") be because the council is hoping to hail its reduced social housing waiting lists at some point?
"An increasing number of people are choosing to move out of Croydon and council and housing association tenants can use the Fresh Start scheme to help spread their wings." Among the places being touted as being preferable are "[the] Midlands and North...[and] areas as diverse as Newcastle, Liverpool and Wales". I have tried to find the standard puff piece on the site informing the public as to how "when a man is tired of Croydon, he is tired of life; for there is in Croydon all that life can afford" but have yet to succeed.
The reason for doing down the place is because they are trying to free up social housing, but encouraging the old to get out of Dodge Croydon does hint at social cleansing. Meanwhile, might the churning of tenancies, at whatever the cost ("Applicants may be able to claim some or all of their removal costs along with travel costs") be because the council is hoping to hail its reduced social housing waiting lists at some point?
Labels: Croydon
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on Saturday, October 28, 2006 at 11:23 am.
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Actually Croydon politics at the moment is providing me minutes of fun. For example we have the Labour Party pretending the almost £30 million black hole in Croydon's financing. Extra fun is provided by irate luvvies form the Warehouse Theatre complaining they aren't going to get £100 grand of our cash to keep their hobby alive.
As a resident of Croydon, what would you say to fly its flag?
Paul - Yes, we live in strange times. In terms of local government funding, £30M is the equivalent of the money you or I could find rooting around in the back of the nearest couch.
Elllee - Well, much of the Borough is quite verdant. From my office window I can see squirrels, pigeons, robins, tits and the occasional finch. And that's a 10 mins walk away from a station with a 24 hour service that can get you to Gatwick or the Smoke in about 15 or so minutes. One of the biggest shopping centres in the country, plenty of decent restaurants, a major theatre / concert hall in the Fairfield (OK, I'll draw a veil over their forthcoming attractions), comparatively good policing, education etc. I've lived in many worse areas of London.
Croydonian - I wouldn`t say Croydon was really part of london at all . It reminds me more of Luton.
I am mystified , as ever, at the notion that increasing the availablity of social housing will reduce the wating list for it .It has never done ,in the long term, for obvious reasons.
Your desciption of Sunny Croydon is worthy of Borat so can I suggest next set of glasses you aquire are a little less rose tinted?
Its an eyesore, as well you know, and Croydon residents of my aquaintance like it less than I do.
So what is the Council up to ? Isn`t it a Tory Coucil now ?
N - And I think of Luton as effectively being London too - Start at Charing Cross and everything within a 100 mile radius is, to all intents and purposes, part of London.
And Ellee did ask me to sell the place, didn't she? So I was trying to accentuate the positive rather than wax lyrical about Croydon Facelifts and the like. And yes, our lot run the place these days.
Are they really planning Reservations for the White Tribes to live on? In't North? They'll only throw us off even those if oil's discovered there. Do we get to run casinos?
Imagine working for that department.
"Yes, I follow up inquiries and try to persuade people to leave their homes and move elsewhere with a minimum of fuss".
There must be some ulterior motive for a scheme such as this to be operating - in the absence of anyt evidence to contradict me I'm going to blame central government.
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