Goodbye Waddon, it's been a privilege

Paralympian David Weir opening Waddon Leisure Centre

As a true Croydonian one of the proudest moments of my life was when I became elected as a Councillor for Waddon ward in 2009.

As an ex-pupil of Regina Coeli Primary School it has been a real privilege to represent an area that I grew up in. Many of my school friends and their families still live in Waddon, so it has been an honour to serve these people alongside other Waddon residents, with my colleagues Simon Hoar and Tony Harris.

Waddon is lucky to have a vibrant community and I have many happy memories to take away with me including baking cakes for the Jubilee Party; welcoming the Olympic Torch to St Andrew’s School; helping elderly people clean up their gardens alongside their young neighbours; dancing at the cultural festival as a governor at Aerodrome Primary School; welcoming Boris Johnson and David Weir to the leisure centre and singing along to Gracie Fields with residents at Whitgift House at the Wandle Park open day. 

When I joined the Conservative Party sixteen years ago I never thought that I would become a member of Croydon Council at 25 years old. Over the past five years I have thrown myself into being a Councillor and am proud to have helped hundreds of residents solve their council-related issues. I am even prouder to have served during a Conservative administration that delivered a new leisure centre on the Purley Way and also invested in Waddon’s open spaces such as Wandle Park, Duppas Playing Fields and Waddon Ponds.

Opening Wandle Park

As one of the Waddon ward members, the Leader of the Council let me take a lead on organising the opening of Wandle Park last year. I wanted local residents to put their mark on this day and invited schools, community groups and local residents to form an organising committee. After six months of planning we managed to organise one of the most successful opening days in Croydon ever, attracting over 7,000 people!

However, even though delivering on your pledges is fun the most rewarding part of being a Councillor is being part of the community and helping out residents to the best of your ability. During the past five years I have helped hundreds of residents from all different backgrounds and walks of life as people look to you to improve their lives and make a difference where possible.

Celebrating the Queen's Jubilee with Waddon residents

I have made many friends along the way – including a local Green Party activist and will miss helping and solving local residents' problems. It has made me realise how important it is to have a strong community as being a member of one can make such a substantial difference to a person’s life.

Croydon has a bright and prosperous future ahead, with Council tax frozen and a £25 rebate for residents. Every day, from developments such as the Waddon Leisure centre to Westfield, our town is getting stronger.

I wish my successor the best of luck in the forthcoming elections and it is crucial that Croydon remains Conservative as we simply cannot afford Labour to mess up our borough again.

Croydon Labour votes not to give residents an effective 2% council tax cut

Croydon Conservatives were extremely disappointed that Croydon Labour voted against the proposed council budget for 2014/15, but were not exactly surprised given their track record on increasing council tax when they were in power. 

Over the 12 year period when they ran the council, Labour increased council tax by 107% in real terms - and of course by much more when you add the inflation back in. Compare this with the Conservatives record where council tax has fallen in real terms by 4.5%

COUNCIL TAX RECORD

                             + 107% under Labour        V        - 4.5% under the Conservatives

Boris welcomes Waddon's new leisure centre

Boris testing out the shoulder press

Yesterday morning the Waddon team were very proud to welcome the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson to test out what was on offer at the new leisure centre on the Purley Way in Waddon.

In January, the leisure centre was officially opened by Paralympian David Weir CBE, where local residents and school children came together to celebrate this wonderful occasion. 

Boris was delighted with the facilities on offer and tested out the shoulder press machine in the gym and also managed to play table tennis or as he calls it 'whiff-whaff'!

He said that he was very proud that the Conservative-run Council delivered on its promise to residents. 

Boris with the Waddon team outside the leisure centre

Croydon's Funding Inequalities

After a two-year council tax freeze, bills in Croydon are expected to rise by 1.2% to help protect services that matter most to local residents.

The budget that was agreed last night, comes as Croydon contends with a third consecutive year of cuts in government funding, which has taken £30m away from the borough. It has also seen an increase in demand on its services.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Mike Fisher called on the government at last night’s Council meeting to address the funding inequalities. Croydon has the largest population of all the London boroughs yet receives less grant per head than neighbouring authorities who have less need than Croydon.

Cllr Fisher said: “If Croydon received neighbouring Lambeth’s government allocation we would have millions extra to invest and we would be able to cut council tax by more than 90%. Croydon's diversity and deprivation levels are now greater than Lambeth's yet the archaic formula which divides up resources doesn't recognise this and needs to be changed urgently.”

Residents have told us that education and improving schools, support for special needs in the borough, protecting the vulnerable, improving roads and parks, leisure facilities, building affordable homes and reducing crime are the services that Croydon should continue to prioritise and safeguard, which is what we are determined to do.

The proposed council tax bands for 2013 and 2014 are: 

Band A £982.93 An increase of £11.40 per year or 23p per week

Band B £1,146.75 An increase of £13.66 per year or 26p per week

Band C £1,310.55 An increase of £15.60 per year or 30p per week

Band D £1,474.39 An increase of £17.56 per year or 34p per week

Band E £1,802.02 An increase of £21.45 per year or 41p per week

Band F £2,129.67 An increase of £25.36 per year or 49p per week

Band G £2,457.31 An increase of £29.25 per year or 56p per week

Band H £2,948.78 An increase of £35.11 per year or 68p per week

David Weir opens Waddon Leisure Centre

David Weir & school children posing with his medals

Last night, the Paralympian David Weir CBE came to Waddon to officially open Waddon Leisure Centre. It was amazing to meet him after his incredible achievement at the recent London 2012 Paralympic Games of winning four gold medals. School children were inspired by him and proudly showed off his medals to us all.

The Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Eddy Arram and the Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Fisher also attended to officially open the Centre. Those present were proud and delighted that this day had finally arrived and cannot wait to use the facilities.  

Sitting at the very heart of the community it will transform Waddon and is a project that as a Council we are all tremendously proud of delivering after an election pledge in 2006. It is a fitting tribute that three rooms were named after three local community activists; the late Frank Fadden, whose wife Grace was present and very proud; the late Councillor Jonathan Driver and Peter Collier, who attended and brought along his delighted family. The rooms are called- the Frank Fadden Community Room, the Peter Collier Fitness Studio and the Jonathan Driver Swimming Pool.

What’s really special about Waddon Leisure Centre is that it is equipped for people with disabilities and David Weir was very pleased to see that disabled people were able to access the swimming pool via a wheelchair pit and promised to use it himself.

I hope you will get involved and use the leisure centre and remember to tell your friends and family all about it!

Invitation to the Waddon Leisure Centre preview sessions

Over the last six years my ward colleagues Simon, Tony and I have been working alongside Croydon Council to ensure that our key election pledge of delivering a new state-of-the-art leisure centre for Waddon residents could be achieved.

I am proud and delighted to announce that the new state-of-the-art leisure centre will be complete and ready-to-use at the end of January 2013.

Before the new Waddon leisure centre opens to the general public, Croydon Council are hosting preview sessions that will be open to Waddon residents. The sessions will be on:

Friday 25^th January (4-7pm) and Saturday 26^th January (9am-1pm)

I hope that you will take the opportunity to preview this exciting new facility and note that all attendees will be given a free three-day pass!

For more information please click here