Imitating their Jim Callaghan government, this Labour council’s attitude has been Crisis? What Crisis? Not content with winning the award of being a rotten borough, this administration continues to bungle from one calamity to the next. And we warned them. First, racking up a debt of 1.5bn, which has ultimately bankrupted the council; the fallout of this has led to the sacking of street cleaners, the sacking of social workers and the cutting of services that has hit the most vulnerable in Croydon. Labour isn’t working and even more significantly, Labour isn’t listening.
And certainly, the residents of Purley are not being heard. Besieged by planning applications, often in the most absurd locations, the sheer tsunami of planning permissions being granted in the area is bewildering. This planning assault means that Purley is on course to provide over 30% of the entire requirement for new homes in Croydon. That is over a third of homes for the borough provided in this small town with absolutely none of the (CIL) levied monies, paid by the developers to erect infrastructure, actually being invested in Purley itself. Meanwhile, the leisure centre is marked for closure? It is an abhorrent scandal and my residents have had enough.
But this is the reality of Labour in power.
Not content with bankrupting the council, they want to break the will of the people and bankrupt democracy too.
And this is why the residents of Croydon are fed up with this corporately blind administration and have decided they want to be the one-eyed king. Residents are exasperated at the incompetent running of this administration; they are tired of being ignored and DEMOC is their solution. The case for DEMOC is therefore indisputable. The ability for residents to democratically vote for an individual who they will be able to hold to account and who can provide scrutiny over decision making is appreciable. Stella Nabukeera, Labour’s Secretary for Croydon South also supports the DEMOC petition and takes a swipe at her party’s incompetence, by stating that “ I hope the referendum this year decides to have a Mayor so Croydon can have clear leadership”. I agree.
We know that, at least, Cllr. Audsley's position agrees with residents that “This referendum will be about the best for our town…I support changing the system to have a democratically elected mayor”.
What we don't know is what the wider view of the Labour Administration on DEMOC is.
Are they for it? Are they against it?
Will they be open and transparent and tell the people of Croydon right here and now how they will campaign?
Over 17,000 residents signed the DEMOC petition. These residents don’t need further dither and deliberating by this weakened administration. They need you to listen. Therefore, the Council should vote in favour of holding the Referendum in May, if only to ensure that it is conducted at the minimum cost to this cash strapped council.
