As the Executive Mayor, I have made it my top priority to listen to our tenants and leaseholders and to work with them to review and improve our housing services. Therefore, I was delighted to attend the launch of a new photobook featuring caretaking cleaning standards.
This bespoke guide will be used by housing staff to enhance the caretaking service on our estates, and by residents who conduct inspections of their local areas as part of our neighbourhood voice scheme.
I want to extend a huge thank you to all our residents who contributed to the development of these standards and this photobook.
I visited Thornton Heath recently to see our intensive blitz clean-up in action, where we are sending out crews to tackle graffiti and fly-tipping that is blighting our neighbourhoods. It was great to be joined by Thornton Heath Community Action Team (THCAT) and we discussed how we can work together to tackle issues in their local area and make our streets cleaner. Find out more.
At our Annual Council meeting on Wednesday, New Addington North Councillor Kola Agboola was appointed new Civic Mayor and first citizen of Croydon for the coming year. Councillor Richard Chatterjee was appointed Deputy Civic Mayor. A huge welcome to both of them in their new roles, I know they will be fantastic champions for our local communities. I would also like to thank Councillor Tony Pearson for his dedication to the people of Croydon as Civic Mayor over the last year, and Councillor Appu Srinivasan who served as Deputy Civic Mayor.
We work closely with Croydon’s Met Police and this week they shared with me the outcomes of a Live Facial Recognition camera operation held in Thornton Heath. The cameras only recognise suspects on a watchlist, and do not record images of anybody else. This deployment resulted in a number of arrests – including a man suspected of threatening people at the railway station with an offensive weapon. It is a priority for me to make our communities safer and we will continue to work with the police and community and voluntary organisations to achieve this shared aim.
It was wonderful that a number of Croydon’s charities and organisations were recognised for the work they do in our communities, at a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday. I do hope they enjoyed their special day.
There is still time to visit the fascinating ‘Tenison’s Through Time’ at the Museum of Croydon, which I opened last week. The exhibition follows the journey of the school founded in 1714 by Archbishop Tenison, here in Croydon. Find out more.
A very Happy Vesak to our communities who celebrated the Buddhist festival this week and I’d also like to wish everyone an enjoyable and safe bank holiday weekend.
Jason Perry
Executive Mayor of Croydon
