Police are appealing for information after a man robbed a Fieldway newsagent early on Wednesday morning (October 8).

The man approached a member of staff shortly after she arrived to open the McColl's newsagents in Wayside, Fieldway at 4.45am and forced her to open the shop's safe, before making off with cash.

No weapons were seen or used during the incident, and the worker was not injured.

The suspect is described as a black man, approximately 5ft 8ins tall, of large build, wearing a full face mask, dark trousers and dark shoes, with a dark green, knee-length jacket with a fur-lined hood.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Billy Clough, from Croydon CID, said: "I'm appealing to anyone who may have been up and about at that early hour yesterday morning to think back if they saw anything or anyone acting suspiciously in the Fieldway area.

"Although no weapon was seen or used in yesterday's robbery, it has clearly left the victim shaken up and we are determined to try and identify the person responsible.

"I'd urge anyone with information to get in touch with police, or if you want to remain anonymous, call the Crimestoppers charity."

A similar robbery happened on September 29 at the nearby McColl's newsagent in Headley Drive, New Addington and DC Clough added the force were "keeping an open mind" as to whether the two are linked.

Anyone with information should call Croydon CID on 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. 

TWO killers who savagely beat father-of-three Michael Hunt and left him naked in a South Norwood skip to die have been given life sentences. Fiona Nalty, 25, of Fairdene Road, Coulsdon, and Arry Green, 22, of Dinsdale Gardens, South Norwood, brutally assaulted Mr Hunt, 37, following a row in a cab office in Station Road, South Norwood on March 15. They were each given life tariffs at The Old Bailey this afternoon and both must serve a minimum of 19 years before being considered for release. Former Coloma Convent schoolgirl Nalty had denied any involvement in Mr Hunt's killing throughout the trial, while Green had offered a plea of manslaughter but denied murder. The pair, who were said to be having an affair at the time of the murder, were found guilty of murder yesterday by jurors after just a morning's deliberations. They both knew Mr Hunt and met him at some point after midnight on March 15 in South Norwood. Mr Hunt, of Holmesdale Road, was found by a member of the public in a skip down an alleyway stripped naked except for a black bandana around his neck the morning after the attack. He was taken to hospital with injuries including a fractured skull but died later the same day. Nalty and Green had punched, kicked and stamped on Irish native Mr Hunt during the attack. Judge Stephen Kramer QC, in his sentencing remarks, said despite the fact the pair were both drunk, they "knew perfectly well" what they were doing and their attack was "brutal, sustained and lethal". He added: "You took advantage of a gentle drunk, a passive man described as a 'happy drunk'." Judge Kramer said the aggravating factors in the case far outweighed any mitigating reasons outlined by the pair's legal representatives, including their "humiliation" of Mr Hunt by stripping him naked. Neither Green or Nalty, who both have young children, gave much reaction when their sentences were read out. Judge Kramer also criticised their attempts to "evade their responsibilities" in the aftermath of the murder. Both Nalty and Green were arrested at different addresses to their own and the footwear they wore on the night was never recovered.

CRYSTAL Palace boss Neil Warnock has responded to James McArthur's comments on him, after the 27-year-old hailed his manager's humour in training. The midfielder is currently away on international duty with Scotland ahead of facing Georgia on Saturday. And the recent deadline-day signing says Warnock "builds a happiness" at club level. "Good results make it more enjoyable as well and the manager is very good, not just because he signed me, but he keeps everyone in high spirits and is a good laugh," McArthur told Scottish media. "It's been brilliant so far. He's got a funny side to him which everyone sees and that's good, because managers can be too serious sometimes. "He builds a happiness in the camp and everyone feeds off that, but when it's time to do business he is ready to work hard." Warnock is set to watch McArthur and Barry Bannan in action on Saturday and has come up with a lookalike for the former. "I'm not surprised about that (McArthur's comments), Warnock told the Advertiser. "Last week was funny because I told him he looked a bit like Rab C. Nesbitt! I said all he needs is a string vest! "When he came off the other day I said to him he's going to be a hell of a player when he's even fitter. "I like the banter with the players, I don't think you can be serious all the time. I do enjoy that side of it though, I really do."

Check out the following clip of Rab C. Nesbitt below...

Don't miss the big interview with Warnock in Friday's Croydon Advertiser.

A JUDICIAL review of Sutton Council's decision to approve plans for an incinerator in Beddington Lane began today at the high court.

Justine Thornton, the barrister representing the Stop the Incinerator campaign, told judge Justice Patterson the decision to grant planning permission for the £1 billion deal was being challenged on four grounds.

The decision was "unlawful", she said, because Sutton "ignored" planning guidance which said Beddington Farmlands, where the incinerator is due to be built, is supposed to become part of the fledgling Wandle Valley Regional Park from 2023.

The court also heard claims that Sutton Council had failed to consider the harm the 'energy recovery facility' would do to the site which is on Metropolitan Open Land granting it similar protections to the green belt. 

She claimed the deficiencies of the plan, which would see 275,000 tonnes of waste burned a year, were washed over because the contract with Viridor obliged the developers to build the incinerator by 2017.

It was also claimed that planners had failed to assess the environmental impact of a pipeline from the boundary of the site.

Sutton Council maintains it followed proper planning procedures when it formally granted consent in March this year.

Around two dozen campaigners were present at the Royal Courts of Justice for the opening of the two-day hearing today (Thursday), including Shasha Khan, the activist leading the legal challenge.

The majority of the day's proceedings were given over to Ms Thornton, the wife of Labour leader Ed Miliband, who laid out her case to Justice Patterson.

The incinerator is the centrepiece of the South London Waste Partnership, an agreement between Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Kingston councils. The authorities say it would significantly reduce the amount of household waste sent to costly landfill.

While there has been some form of waste management usage on Beddington Farmlands, on the border of Croydon and Sutton, since 1995

A key part of the campaigners' case is that the London Plan, the South London Waste Plan and Sutton's own core strategy all acknowledge that site is due to become part of the regional park by 2023.

Sutton argues it was able to grant planning permission because the site is temporarily "safeguarded" for waste usage.

Ms Thornton sought to convince the court that Sutton was initially opposed to the Beddington Farmlands plan.

It produced an email sent by planning manager Duncan Clarke in which he said there were three other alternative sites which were more appropriate because they had been "safeguarded without a time limit".

Any of these locations - Villiers Road, in Kingston, Factory Lane, in Croydon, and Garth Road, in Merton - would have been more suitable than Beddington Farmlands, the court was told.

Justice Patterson was also read an email written by Jim Redwood, a consultant working for Sutton, to the GLA in May 2012 which described Viridor's plan as "visually harmful", that there were "other deliverable alternatives" and the incinerator could "adversely impact on Beddington, and possibly other communities".

Questions were also being asked about the 2023 deadline by the Mayor of London's office.

The court heard the Mayor requested it be "deleted" off a list of potential sites included in the South London Waste Plan because the London Plan, drawn up in 2011, had Beddington Farm earmarked for inclusion in the regional park.

The plan was subsequently amended to say the "inclusion of the site was supported until 2023, "after which the land will be required to be incorporated into the Wandle Valley Regional Park".

Viridor were clearly concerned about the implications of the footnote, said Ms Thornton, and put Sutton "under pressure" to change it to include the potential to extend the current waste usage of the site "beyond current time limits".

"This wording was not accepted by the four London boroughs including Sutton or by the examining inspector," said Ms Thornton.

"Viridor's attempt to amend the plan had not worked and it was left in no doubt about the position of Sutton and the other London boroughs at this juncture."

The councils, she added, were "categorical" that the need to vacate Beddington Farmlands to make way for the park was "well-known".

What followed, however, was a "fundamental reversal" of Sutton's position between May 2012 and April 2013, when council officers recommended the plan for an incinerator on the site should be improved.

The "significant factor", she explained, was that the contract between Viridor and the South London Waste Partnership had been signed in November 2012.

While there was "nothing unlawful" about signing such an agreement, she said, the inclusion of a requirement to build an incinerator on Beddington Farmlands by 2017 was what led to Sutton's "change of attitude" toward the plan.

It meant many potential sites were dismissed because they could not meet the deadline, imposed, the councils said, because of the rising cost of landfill.

Ms Thornton said: "Viridor's assertion that there is an 'urgent' need to divert waste from landfill is not borne out by any waste targets or by the local plan. Nor is this the view of central government.

"The reality of this case is that the decision making was driven by contractual rather than planning considerations."

She highlighted an email, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, sent by a Sutton council officer in 2012 which said it "cannot be right" that the authority should accept the Beddington Farmlands plan was the only option "simply because Viridor has decided to bring it forward".

He added: "[Sutton Council] believes the show-stopping urgency is the contractual commitment Viridor has entered into, which is not per se a planning consideration".

Saira Kabir Sheikh QC, representing Sutton, said the Mayor's amendment to the South London Waste Plan did not equate to policy and that the opinion of officers did not represent the position of the council in any way.

"It's wrong to say the council had any stiff resistance [to the incinerator]. This was officers considering the application. They were debating and discussing their own views with the GLA and Viridor. It's not a correct spin to put on it to say they suddenly changed their mind. They [the council officers] weren't the decision makers anyway," she said.

Ms Sheikh said Wandle Valley Regional Park was currently just an "aspiration". Ms Thornton argued parts of it were already in place.

The campaigner's barrister said that if the court choses to uphold the legal challenge then it must "quash" the planning consent.

Her skeleton argument acknowledged that such an outcome would lead Viridor and the council's involved in the partnership to suffer "substantial financial loss".

Sutton's response to the challenge is due to continue tomorrow (Friday). The case will then conclude, with the judge's final decision expected in several weeks. 

SEVEN out of ten Advertiser readers oppose a move to rename Norwood Junction station 'South Norwood'.

A poll on our website has revealed that 70 per cent of the more than 500 people who voted were against the idea, proposed by Labour councillor Paul Scott and reported in last week's Advertiser.

Cllr Scott suggested the name could assist with regenerating and rebranding the area.

But many residents, including local history enthusiast John Hickman, argued strongly against such a move, with Mr Hickman citing both the historical and financial cost of the idea.

We've also been inundated with comments and letters, opposing the proposal.

Tony Holding, from South Norwood, wrote:"What evidence is there that a name change will actually do any good or bring new investment to the area, as Mr Scott suggests?

"The cost of the name change at Smitham ran into perhaps hundreds of thousands of pounds and a similar cost at Norwood Junction is unlikely to be borne by Network Rail and Transport for London on a whim."

A SERIOUSLY ill little girl is to be allowed home from hospital for the first time in a year.

Melody Driscoll, 7, is set to spend 24 hours at home in New Addington, hopefully next Tuesday, as doctors look to reunite her permanently with her family.

She had an operation last October but was not discharged because health bosses feared her mother Karina and stepfather Nigel would not be able to cope with her complex needs.

But they reviewed her case after being inundated with letters from across the world supporting the family.

Melody will be allowed home a day at a time as Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) look to secure the professional support they need to fully discharge her from hospital.

There was double delight for the family as Karina gave birth to their fourth child – Logan – on Sunday.

It means they can look forward to spending Christmas together as a family after a difficult 12 months.

Karina, 32, said: "I'm so excited that Melody is coming home, even if it's just for 24 hours to begin with.

"Even though she is just one person it has felt like half our family has been missing because she has such an impact on our lives."

Melody has Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which causes severe physical and mental disability.

Her parents gave her 24-hour care before she went into hospital for an operation last year.

Doctors said she was ready to return home in February but, due to her complex needs, the family have been unable to secure the nursing support commissioners believe is necessary.

Karina and Nigel have undergone extensive medical training and argued they were fully able to care for Melody, as they did before she was admitted.

In fact on Wednesday, three days after giving birth, Karina was learning how to use the morphine and ketamine pump used to provide her daughter with pain relief.

A healthcare assistant agency has agreed in principle to provide someone to watch over Melody at home seven nights a week and Croydon CCG has approved funding.

A final assessment has to be completed before the care package can be put in place and she can come home permanently.

Nigel said: "We'll believe it when it happens. They've got our hopes up so many times before only to drop us back down.

"I feel more confident this time but I don't want to get my hopes up only for things to go wrong."

Karina said: "I'm happy, of course, but I'm also frustrated because we could have avoided all of this. We've been saying along we could cope and now they finally seem to agree."

Croydon CGG is understood to have been persuaded to look again at her case due to the mass of public support she received, including the 3,000 people who have joined the family's Facebook campaign.

Karina explained: "The commissioners said one of the reasons they agreed to meet was they had a pile of letters on their desk that people had sent in. They said it took them days to go through the letters and reply to all of them.

"It's so lovely to see how much support we've got.

"It was overwhelming to know so many people were on our side because it's always felt like everyone is against us.

"We've been fighting all the way to get her home. Every time we get told it's close to happening something changes and we're back to square one.

"To know there are so many people looking out for us, who see Melody as a little girl rather than a statistic, is so nice. I can't believe the support we've had."

The Driscolls will have a gathering of close family to celebrate Melody's return but, when she is settled, they plan to throw a party.

Not that she will be able to contain her excitement until then.

"Every time we remind her she is coming home she gives us a massive smile," said Karina.

"When we take her off the ward she waves her arms in the air and starts to giggle.

"She is so much happier."

On Melody's reaction to her new brother, Karina added: "She wasn't too impressed with him when she first saw him. I think it's because daddy was holding him and she gets jealous.

"There's probably going to be some jealousy problems when she comes home, but that's OK."

Dr Agnelo Fernandes, assistant clinical chairman at Croydon CCG, said: "All agencies involved in caring for Melody have continued to work hard to put in place everything that is needed to ensure she can be cared for safely at home.

"We are now very close to finalising an appropriate, multi-agency care plan which means that Melody should be able to start spending time at home.

"If Melody and her family are happy and coping well, the amount of time she spends at home can gradually build up over the coming weeks with the aim for her being at home full-time.

"The care Melody receives will be regularly reviewed to make sure it continues to be appropriate."

CROYDON'S unsung heroes have been recognised at an annual awards ceremony that celebrates outstanding volunteers in the community.

There were more than 150 nominations from the public for the third Croydon Community Civic Awards, which honours individuals and organisations that have gone the extra mile for others.

The 24 finalists who attended a ceremony at the Croydon Hilton Hotel on September 25 were judged by representatives of the voluntary sector and local business community.

The lifetime achievement award this year went to Jyotsna Patel, a 70-year-old Ugandan who arrived in the UK in 1972 and has been an active volunteer ever since.

For over 40 years, Jyotsna has helped people learn English, promoted healthy eating through her love of cooking, as well as organised a range of events to bring the young and old together.

"It's nice to be so appreciated – especially when you don't expect it to happen," said Jyotsna, who is now chair of the UK Asian Women's Organisation.

"I believe that working for people is in my blood," said Jyotsna. "Where my services are needed I will always give them.

"It makes me so happy to be busy the whole year helping and enjoying being with people," she said.

As well as the lifetime achievement award, accolades were given in the following categories: employees of the year, carer of the year, young volunteer of the year, civic life, personal achievement, voluntary group of the year, fundraiser of the year and volunteer of the year.

The Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed, said: "Thousands of people volunteer in Croydon every year, and they enhance the community in which we live and work."

Judges examined each entry and scored achievements against criteria designed to identify those people who had gone further than others and made a real difference to their community.

LIST OF WINNERS FROM THE CROYDON COMMUNITY CIVIC AWARDS

Barratt Homes 

Barratt has shown community spirit from senior management to shop floor over the past year in the helpit has given to Croydon Food Store. Last Christmas, Barratt provided a guarded storage unit for Croydon Food Store at a time when it had nowhere to keep donations. "When the Croydon Food Store got in contact with us we were pleased to offer our services as we're looking to support as many local charities as we can," said Lee Greenwood, project manager at Barratt. "The girls at the Croydon Food Store work so hard and do such good work. "The little we have done is nothing compared to them and it was motivating for us to see that."

Su Kamat 

Su Kamat, of The Vale, Coulsdon, is a full-time unpaid, informal carer for four people who seems to just keep going. She cares for her husband, who recently had open heart surgery, and her elderly blind mother but still finds the time to volunteer at Age UK, Mind and Cancer Research UK. "It is really special to look after people in this community," said Su. "Charity has always been in my life since my childhood. My mother really inspired me to do it and I think of it as a challenge. We take so much from society and I feel like it's my time to give something back."

Brendan O'Donnell

Eighteen-year-old Brendan O'Donnell, from Thornton Heath was encouraged by his children's home to volunteer at a food bank and he has had a hands-on approach there from the beginning. At Christmas, Brendan went out into Croydon looking for people who might be alone and living on the streets. Brendan had brought three willing friends with him and he encouraged them to sit and talk with homeless people. "We are proud of Brendan," said his nominator Fatima Koroma. "We applaud his efforts to overcome childhood adversity and his acceptance of opportunities available to him to make a positive contribution to the community."

Sahara Quli 

Sahara Quli, from Tanfield Road, Croydon, initiated a successful project to give long-term unemployed ethnic minority women the skills they need to enter the workplace. The project, called Mum's the Chef, has taken on 80 women over the last 18 months and helped them to gain their NVQ Level 1 in Food Preparation and Cooking. "It's very gratifying to be acknowledged but I don't see it as my award," said Sahara. "It's definitely our award. Mum's the Chef is a simple answer to a complicated problem. The idea came from focusing on what the women can do rather than on what they can't. We're like a family here and that's such a great feeling."

Annie McDonald 

Annie McDonald, from Surrey, has been volunteering at the sickle cell centre in Croydon two days a week since it opened 15 years ago. As someone living with sickle cell herself, Annie has made significant contributions through her willingness to talk about her condition and by sharing her experiences. When she is not at the sickle cell centre Annie visits patients in hospital to give emotional support and helps the nurses to improve patient experiences. Her nominator, Alice Allison said: "She is indeed a champion in the truest sense of the word."

Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre 

The Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre's telephone helpline is run by 40 dedicated volunteers who, together with their coordinator, provide up to 20 hours of support for rape and sexual abuse survivors every day. Volunteers for the helpline remain empathic and professional in what is a tough and emotionally demanding role. Yvonne Traynor, CEO of the centre said: "We are so honoured to have been selected by the Mayor of Croydon for this award and to bring the seriousness of Rape and Childhood Sexual Abuse into mainstream consciousness. We hope that by highlighting our existence here in Croydon it will encourage more women who have suffered from these heinous crimes to break the silence surrounding sexual violence."

Sally Bruce 

Sally Bruce, from The Windings, Croydon, has been a major link between organisations caring for homeless people in the borough this year. She has volunteered weekly at the Salvation Army Drop-in on Mondays for 6 hours, then at Nightwatch on Sundays for 3 hours. Sally has volunteered with Nightwatch since 1997. As well as this she also takes part in the Croydon Churches Winter Shelter system and volunteers for one night a week with the Waggy Tails Club, which helps children with learning disabilities by introducing them to the care of pet dogs.

Sara Greenidge 

Sara Greenidge, from Croydon, is a mother of two in the second year of study of a Level 3 Travel and Tourism course at Croydon College. Sara manages to juggle the demands of parenting with her studies yet still finds time to be a volunteer. She was presented with the Platinum award for completing 153 hours in her volunteering roles, particularly for her fundraising for Cancer Research UK.

A BURGLAR has been jailed for four years after police forensic experts linked him to two burglaries at neighbouring addresses in South Croydon on the same night in January.

Matthew Wilkins, 44, of Thornton Road, Croydon was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey on October 2 to four years imprisonment for two counts of burglary.

A man from The Ridge Way, South Croydon called police in the middle of the night on Janurary 31 this year because he thought there was an intruder downstairs in his house.

When police searched the house shortly after they found fresh footprints in the kitchen and the victim realised some cash and a wallet had been taken.

Despite searching the area police and police dogs could not trace the suspect.

Then later that day a man from a neighbouring house called the police to report a similar break in.

He had noticed muddy footmarks on the living room floor just before he went to bed after midnight, but did not think anything of it.

It was only after he woke up in the morning and found cash from two wallets had been taken that he realised the house had been burgled.

Forensic examiners went to the houses later that morning and found fresh glove marks near the kitchen window of one of the houses.

DNA swabs were taken and analysis showed the DNA belonged to Wilkins.

He was arrested on 20 February and was charged with both burglaries the same day. He was found guilty of both offences at the Old Bailey on Thursday 2, October 2014 and was sentenced on the same day.

Trainee Detective Constable Tony Dayes, from Croydon CID who investigated the case said:

"Wilkins has a long history of burgling in the Croydon area, so this sentence is good news for the residents of Croydon. Thanks to the excellent work of the forensic examiners and Crown Prosecution Service, we were able to capture the DNA evidence that placed Wilkins at the scene and because of this he will be off the streets for a considerable amount of time."

BORIS Johnson has been accused of treating the people of Crystal Palace with contempt, after it emerged a much-promised tram extension has yet again been put on the back-burner.

Despite indications this week from Transport for London (TfL) all may not be lost, supporters of the Tramlink extension believe the real picture is painted in a one paragraph entry in a consultation document about bringing the Bakerloo tube line to Beckenham and surrounding areas.

Talking of Tramlink extensions in the context of expanding the Underground, the paragraph says that those extensions would bring only limited benefits to the wider south-east London area.

It also said only a small part of Crystal Palace would be connected to Tramlink, and that an extension would not increase connections with central London.

Therefore, the document states bluntly, "these extensions are not actively being progressed at this time."

That has been enough to provoke uproar in the area, with the mayor being accused of going back on several promises, including one made during a photo opportunity in the last mayoral election campaign, that the Crystal Palace line was firmly on track.

TfL managing director for planning Michele Dix issued a short statement on Wednesday, which said: "Tramlink extensions are under active consideration, with detailed feasibility and funding work ongoing with the boroughs concerned.

"The aim is develop deliverable, fundable and value-for-money schemes. This continues to be a priority for the mayor."

But her words are unlikely to cut much ice locally.

Steve Reed, the Labour MP for Croydon North, said this week of the London mayor: "Boris Johnson has shown contempt for the people of Crystal Palace.

"He promised to support the tram extension during his election campaigns in 2008 and 2012, and repeated that support as recently as March this year.

"But now we discover he had no intention of doing what he said."

Mr Reed added: "People will be bitterly disappointed that the mayor has broken his promises in this cavalier way."

His views were echoed by Labour Upper Norwood councillor Pat Ryan, who said: "I am devastated by this.

"In 2010 the mayor gave what he said was a 'gold-plated' promise to bring the tram to Crystal Palace.

"It's no wonder ordinary folk don't trust politicians any more."

The Bakerloo document has also provoked a somewhat hostile reaction from Steve O'Connell, Croydon's Conservative London Assembly member.

He said he would be tabling a question to the mayor, asking him to clarify his position, and described the Bakerloo extension as "pie in the sky".

He added: "If the mayor is using the Bakerloo Line to knock the Crystal Palace extension off the perch that is unacceptable."

It is not thought the proposed extension of the Tramlink to Sutton is under threat from this latest announcement.

A PURLEY grandmother with seven grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday, September 28.

Sybil Hamm was born in South Wales into a large family - she had four sisters and one brother.

She married George in 1939 and they moved to Croydon. George gave up his job as a miner and retrained as a carpenter.

The couple stayed in Croydon where they had three sons, Richard, Philip and Geoffrey.

Geoffrey, who still lives in Croydon, said that Sybil balanced being a mum with working to help support the family.

As a child she had various jobs to earn money to help her parents, and, once married, she worked in as a hotel maid before getting a job at Sainsbury's.

After retirement she became a member of the Addiscombe Townswomen's Guild where she was voted in as chairman.

"She was always very hard working," Geoffrey said. "And she was an excellent cook.

"We can all remember the smell of Welsh cakes around the house when we came home from school after she had been baking. Sunday roast was a must, always cooked to perfection and her apple pie and custard was unmissable."

Sybil celebrated her birthday with a party with friends and family at Elmwood Care Home where she has lived for 15 years.

"It was wonderful," Geoffrey said. "All the family turned up and all the residents were there.

"We got through about a dozen bottles of champagne and we had a big cake about two foot wide. The family loved it."

MORE than 200 people gathered in Croydon Minster on Wednesday to remember and say goodbye to "one of the Croydon's great characters", former mayor and New Addington councillor Brenda Kirby.

The description of Mrs Kirby, who died last week after a four year battle with brain and lung cancer, came from Canon Colin Boswell, the Vicar of Croydon, who conducted the memorial service.

And it was echoed later by Councillor Timothy Godfrey in his eulogy when he called her a larger than life character who could "always be found in a crowd by her bright red hair and amazing laugh".

The service was attended by many members of the New Addington community to which she had devoted her life to helping both before and after being elected to the council as a Labour member in 1986.

They were joined by members of council, both Labour and Conservative, senior council officers and representatives from community groups. Also attending was Geraint Davies, now Labour MP for Swansea, who was elected as a councillor for New Addington in same year as Mrs Kirby and went on to become MP for Croydon Central.

Mr Davies said: "Brenda was an unusual politician because she had been deeply involved with the community before she was elected.

"She was a passionate representative of that community."

Mrs Kirby lived with her husband Bob on the estate for 45 years and it was a partnership, Cllr Godfrey said, which helped foster her commitment.

He said: "Brenda, like all councillors, would undertake her caseload with vigour and passion for every single case, but it was the excitement about changing people and places for the better that excited Brenda.

"Brenda was at her very best and most excited by what she could help to achieve for people and for New Addington and the borough of Croydon."

She had been immensely proud when elected Mayor in 2004 and even more so when made an MBE in 2010 for services to New Addington, something, Cllr Godfrey said, she saw as an award for New Addington as much as for herself. It was the diagnosis of brain and lung cancer which forced Mrs Kirby to decide not to stand for election in 2010.

Cllr Godfrey said after her diagnosis it would have been understandable if she had decided to spend more time with her family.

Instead she set about setting up a cancer help centre in New Addington to provide support to those suffering from the disease.

He said: "Using her own name for the centre was a great way to generate interest and exploit goodwill – something that on this occasion Brenda was willing to do to get the centre off the ground."

Cllr Godfrey concluded by saying her work in New Addington and Croydon should be an inspiration to those taking part in voluntary and civic life.

He said: "The world would surely be a brighter and more hopeful place if we call could adopt even a small amount of Brenda's unfaltering optimism and work ethic towards ensuring that all people deserve equal respect and opportunities."

Anyone wishing to remember Mrs Kirby are asked to make donations to the Brenda Kirby Cancer Centre c/o Rowland Brothers, 32 Central Parade, New Addington CR0 0JD.

ONE OF Croydon's finest athletes unveiled a plaque to one of the borough's lesser-known sporting heroes this week.

Former European 400m champion Donna Fraser helped mark the achievements of SE25 runner Ellen 'Ciss' Wright with a blue plaque at South Norwood Leisure Centre.

South Norwood runner Miss Wright, born in 1910, won the 440 yards at the Women's AAA in 1931 – becoming the England national champion.

Community group People for Portland Road sponsored the plaque after a campaign by local historian John Hickman and Mike Fleet of Croydon Harriers.

Fraser, 41, originally from Thornton Heath, said: "I was told a few months ago and I was more than happy to be there at the unveiling. It's good to give something back to Croydon, which as an area has really helped me in my career.

"It is good that they are doing this to celebrate local heroes, it's just a shame she's not around to see it.

"She won the equivalent of what is now the AAAs, which in my heyday was a really big deal but it was harder for her to get noticed."

Fraser excelled at the same distance as Miss Wright, winning the AAAs on a number of occasions and went on claim bronze medals at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Fraser, fourth in the 400m final at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, regrets the achievements of many athletes aren't recognised sooner. "It's such a shame that people only tend to be recognised when they die," Fraser added.

"Things are a lot better now but you can imagine females were not regarded in the same way so it would have been tough for her."

It is believed Miss Wright, who used to work in one of her father's shoemaking and repair shops in either South Norwood or Thornton Heath, emigrated to Australia with her husband and faded into obscurity.

Penge resident Fraser, is a breast cancer campaigner and also works as an ambassador for EDF Energy. She added: "I would be honoured to be recognised in the future but there are a lot of people who came before me who have done great things and are yet to be recognised. It'd be lovely to have a plaque with my name on it – as long as it's not in the ladies toilets in The Whitgift Centre!"

The plaque was unveiled on Saturday, at a ceremony also attended by council leader Tony Newman.

A HIGH court judge has retired to consider a verdict in the judicial review of Sutton Council's approval of plans for an incinerator on the border of Croydon and Sutton.

Judge Justice Patterson gave no indication of what her decision will be as the two-day hearing drew to a close at the Royal Courts of Justice today (Friday).

The judge said she will consider written submissions on a court of appeal ruling in a relevant case before issuing her judgment.

The court earlier heard from barristers representing Sutton, which granted planning permission in March, and developers Viridor, which has a £1 billion contract to build and operate an incinerator on Beddington Farmlands.

Yesterday Justine Thornton, representing the Stop the Incinerator Campaign, said planning permission had been "unlawful" because the council had "ignored" that the land is due to become part of Wandle Valley Regional Park in 2023.

Saira Kabir Sheikh QC, representing Sutton, said the issue had been carefully assessed and the planning authority had given sufficient consideration to the fact the site is on Metropolitan Open Land – similar to the green belt – and thus "very special circumstances" were needed to permit such a development.

Ms Sheikh said those circumstances were, in part, the urgent need to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by the four boroughs behind the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) – Croydon, Sutton, Kingston and Merton – provided. Sutton maintains that losing the judicial review would have a significant financial impact on the boroughs.

"It's undeniable there is an imperative to divert waste away from landfill," said Ms Sheikh. "It is simply hopeless to suggest otherwise. It is policy at all levels. It is unsustainable to continue to send waste to landfill.

"I don't believe this is a contentious point. It is entirely appropriate for the council to be giving [this issue] significant weight."

Even if it was not, she said, as the planning authority Sutton was permitted by law to decide for itself whether the benefits "outweigh the harm to the green belt".

Ms Sheikh pointed out that Beddington Farmland had been used for waste services since 1995. "It is the defining characteristic of the land," she added. If it is handed over to the park it will become a nature reserve.

Justice Patterson asked about the status of Wandle Valley Regional Park and neither side was able to provide a clear answer.

Ms Sheikh said it was unfunded and, at this stage, only an "aspiration", though admitted the creation of the park remained a "key strategic objective" for the council.

Ms Thornton said Beddington Farmlands was due to be the "centrepiece" of Wandle Valley and pointed out that the park had received £2 million from the lottery and a further £390,000 from Mayor of London's Big Green Fund.

Ms Thornton had, on Thursday, sought to convince the court that Sutton had been "fettered" by Viridor's contractual obligations to build the incinerator, which would burn 275,000 tonnes of household waste each year, on Beddington Farmlands by 2017. Her case was, essentially, that this restrictive timetable had corralled planners into approving the plan despite the issues with the site.

Ms Sheikh replied: "There is no evidence at all which indicates it has acted in an inappropriate way. It's absolutely clear that [by entering into the 2017 agreement] it was in no way fettering itself as a planning authority.

"It's wrong to be making assertions of this type. Plainly it's not the case that there is any smoking gun [proving] the council hasn't followed the proper procedure or its own advice.

"If anything it has been extremely careful to make sure there's a separation [between the council and Viridor]."

Ms Sheikh said the planning committee was not in any way involved in the contract process, but added: "There's nothing wrong with them having regard to the delivery aspiration."

David Elvin QC, representing Viridor, said that while the site of the incinerator would not be part of the regional park, the section 106 agreement signed between the council and Viridor meant that other aspects of Wandle Valley would be "delivered sooner than otherwise would be the case".

Ms Thornton had earlier accused the council and Viridor of ignoring other alternative sites, naming three owned by the authorities involved in the SLWP, because they did not meet the 2017 deadline, a timeframe she described as artificial.

Mr Elvin said there was nothing to suggest the location had been driven by this timescale.

"They weren't ruled out on time grounds they were ruled out because they were too small," he explained.

The defence to the legal challenge has relied on claims the site was "safeguarded" for waste use until the end of the South London Waste Plan in 2021.

Mr Elvin said what happens to the land after that date would be addressed in another plan when the time came. Ms Thornton gave that claim short shrift.

"When Sutton got the application it should have said to Viridor they could do what they liked to the site until 2023 but, after that, it's off limits," she said.

"If planning permission goes ahead it doesn't matter a jot what the next plan says; the incinerator isn't going to be pulled down and the land isn't going to be returned to Wandle Valley Regional Park."

On Thursday, Ms Thornton questioned the "urgent" need for an incinerator and pointed to DEFRA's decision, in 2008, to withdraw £225 million of PFI credits from the project because of the "reasonable assumption it would no longer be needed" to meet the 2020 landfill diversion targets set by the European Union.

Mr Elvin said the point was a "red herring" because the decision had been made during the spending review when, Ms Sheikh added, "lots of worthy projects lost their funding".

The fourth ground on which the campaigners, led by green activist Shasha Khan, challenged planning permission was the claim that Sutton had failed to assess the environmental impact of a pipeline running from the site.

The pipes themselves are a key part of the incinerator in that they will be used to transfer heat created by burning rubbish to nearby properties. The specific objection is with a pipeline that will run to a nearby sustainable housing development.

Ms Sheikh said the council had "expressly considered" the environmental consequences of the pipeline. Mr Elvin added that, in any case, any concerns would be assessed whenever a planning application for the pipes was submitted.

Interestingly, however, he appeared to suggest it was "not certain" they would be installed, leading campaigners to question whether the CHP (combined heat and power) aspect of the plan, relied upon by Viridor as one of the "very special circumstances" justifying the development on protected land, has been, or will be, dropped. 

THIS weekend a Japanese flower arranging group will celebrate their 25^th birthday with a visit from the oldest school for the art in Japan.

The Surrey Ikenobo Group (SIG) are holding an exhibition at Fairfield Halls this weekend to mark the occasion with guest of honour Yuki Ikenobo, the 46^th generation of headmaster at the 552-year-old Japanese school the Ikenobo Group

Hansa H. Patel, from Purley, is president of SIG who practice the Ikenobo school of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging.

Ikebana is different from Western flower arranging as it focuses on the individual flower.

Mrs Patel said: "In reality you appreciate the branch, the leaf, the flower, the bud, the berries because they are seeds and they regenerate.

"And for that reason we put much more emphasis not just on putting the flowers as a group but as an individual, while still bringing harmony."

Mrs Patel began practicing Ikebana in 1987 when her teacher, Tamiko Tamura, visited England. She took over SIG from Mrs Tamura 21 years ago, but still returns to Japan once or twice a year to carry on learning.

She gets up at 3.30am twice a week to visit Covent Garden flower market to buy flowers for her art.

Mrs Patel said she likes it because it is peaceful, and Ms Ikenobo added this comes from the harmony between the branches and flowers.

Mrs Ikenobo said: "I think because modern life is too busy and stressful and aggressive people need something to relax and refresh."

Mrs Patel said that she takes inspiration for her arrangements from the flowers themselves.

"Different plants have different things to offer," she said.

"When I go to Japan to study I see material there and then I come back and try to implement it so we can see much more of the inner beauty of the plants."

Mrs Ikenobo added: "We are trying to find inner beauty. Usually people pay a lot of attention to the outside, but what is important is we have the eyes to watch what is inside."

There are 100 Ikenobo groups outside of Japan so Ms Ikenobo is only able to visit one or two a year. Mrs Patel said it was a great honour for her to visit SIG.

And Ms Ikenobo was impressed with the work she saw at the exhibition at Fairfield Halls.

"I think they are really very good members and they have a really strong passion to study the spirit of Ikenobo and Ikebana," she said.

"Every Ikebana work is very good and very unique. I think it is because Mrs Patel is teaching them very enthusiastically," she added.

The exhibition will be open tomorrow (October 11) at Fairfield Halls between 10.30am and 6pm, and on Sunday (October 12) between 10.30am and 5pm. Entry is £4. Ms Ikenobo will give a demonstration tomorrow at 2pm, for which tickets cost £6.

CHURCH members who were prepared to bring the derelict Ashburton Library back into use have been betrayed by the new council, it was claimed this week.

But calls from Conservative councillors at Monday's full council meeting for His Grace Evangelical Church to be compensated for money lost when the deal to take over the building was dropped were defeated.

Instead, members were told by Cllr Timothy Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure, that the council was working to bring the building back into community use as part of an overall scheme to upgrade facilities in Ashburton Park, where the former library stands.

Church members are angry that, after they struck a deal with the former Conservative council to buy the building for £84,000 and spend up to £1million on refurbishing it as a meeting place and community venue, Labour pulled the plug on the project when it took power in May.

The new administration said the deal was not good value for money or in line with what the residents of Ashburton wanted.

Members of the church, which is based in Thornton Heath, renewed their protest on Monday, staging a demonstration before the meeting.

During the debate, Pastor Bola Thomas called Cllr Godfrey a "liar" for claiming he had talked to the church about possible alternative arrangements and meeting places for worshippers.

Pastor Thomas reiterated her claims after the meeting but Cllr Godfrey said despite ending the deal, it would still be possible for the church to get involved in some way with the building.

He said: "We even suggested we could look at an application for costs incurred, but Pastor Thomas rejected everything."

Pastor Thomas claims the church paid out around £10,000 in legal fees during the original sale negotiations.

The Conservative motion on Monday called for the church to be compensated for all reasonable costs incurred in the failed purchase.

Proposing the motion, Cllr Vidhi Mohan said: "The Labour council kicked this group in the teeth and withdrew from the agreement we had with it.

"They would have provided a youth club, a nursery and a lunch club which would have benefited the wider community."

He said the council was now talking about spending £700,000 itself on refurbishing the building and asked: "How are they going to find the money?"

Cllr Godfrey maintained that selling a building worth £500,000 for £84,000 was not a good deal for the council.

And Ashburton councillor, Andrew Rendle said: "We have spoken to thousands of residents and they want to see a widely-used community facility run by local people and not a building sold off at a knockdown price."

CROYDON'S new Labour council has refused publicly to commit to investing a promised £33million into the revamp of Fairfield Halls.

But the party's culture spokesman claimed the half-century-old venue will still get the refurbishment its management and board say it needs.

The assurance from Cllr Timothy Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure, made at Monday night's council meeting, failed to convince opposition Conservative members that the full £33million pledged by their previous administration would be spent.

Cllr Lynne Hale, the shadow cabinet member for culture, wanted a firm commitment from Cllr Godfrey that money would be available for a new roll-on, roll-off lift, allowing bands and artists to easily get huge amounts of equipment on to the stage.

She also wanted an equal commitment that the council would pay for the replacement of the halls' electrical and mechanical systems which, she said, were coming to the end of their natural life.

Cllr Hale said: "Without the roll-on, roll-off lift Fairfield won't be able to attract the shows it needs to be commercially viable."

Cllr Godfrey said there was a large capital programme involved with Fairfield and that it was part of the overall vision for creating a cultural quarter in the town.

He said: "We do need to go back to basic principle of who drives the refurbishment. It will be what the Fairfield board and management need as opposed to what we think they need.

"If a roll-on, roll-off lift is what the management wants, that is what we will do."

After the meeting, new opposition leader Cllr Tim Pollard said he remained unhappy that Cllr Godfrey would not openly commit to spending the £33million pledged by his party when it was in power.

OPPOSITION is mounting following news that the Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) is reviving plans to use the former Gala bingo hall in Upper Norwood as a church.

Previous plans to use the building, owned by KICC, as a church were rejected by Bromley Council in 2009.

Now the Open Door, as KICC is calling the operation, has launched a public consultation exercise prior to submitting a new application seeking permission for dual entertainment and worship use of the building in Church Road.

Already businesses, local councillors and campaigners who want the building turned back into a cinema, are warning that church use would create parking and traffic problems in the district centre, causing more congestion and driving shoppers away.

There is also concern the Open Door has seemingly pre-empted any planning decision by building a baptismal pool in the premises.

But in its pre-application publicity material the Open Door says it has invested £2 million in refurbishing the building and wants it to become an asset in the community.

Dr Dipo Oluyomi, pastor at the Open Door, said: "Following our restoration of this historic building we are delighted to now offer its use back to the Crystal Palace community. Alongside our church services we plan to hold many events and host community groups so that 25 Church Road will once again become the vibrant hub of the Triangle."

The Open Door says church services would only make up 30 per cent of the building's use, the remaining 70 per cent of the timetable would be available for local community and private hire use.

Community uses being suggested to local residents include education courses, fitness clubs, coffee mornings, a cinema club, corporate events and concerts.

A spokeswoman for the church's PR company said a baptismal pool had been built but this was something, as owners, it was entirely free to do, provided the building was not used for worship before any planning permission was granted.

In an open letter to Pastor Oluyomi, Crystal Palace Chamber of Commerce says its concerns about the development focus on parking.

It says: "Many traders tell us that as much as 80 per cent of their trade is at weekends. Lack of parking here is a serious issue. Any further reduction of parking availability would be detrimental to local business activity."

The Open Door is claiming it has carried out a transport assessment which shows its members would arrived by "sustainable transport" or shared cars.

Upper Norwood councillor Pat Ryan said he and his two ward colleagues would be lodging objections to the plans and he would be urging Croydon Council to also object formally.

Cllr Ryan said: "Trying to combine a church with community use just won't work. Crystal Palace is already at saturation point with traffic and it can't cope with any more.

"The community wants an independent cinema in the building and would like to see KICC find a new home. These plans will be detrimental to what is a vibrant district centre."

Annabel Sidney of the Crystal Palace Picture Campaign said feedback she had received showed people were worried that the intention, if permission is granted would be to concentrate on the church use rather than involve the community.

CRYSTAL Palace loanee Kevin Doyle featured for the Republic of Ireland in their 7-0 win against Gibraltar this evening (Saturday).

The striker came on as a second half substitute for Wes Hoolahan, who scored the seventh goal in the victory, after Robbie Keane had netted a hat-trick for Martin O'Neill's men.