60909 - Your_croydon_3a 14/11/06 13:53 Page 1 YourCroydon ISSUE 3 - DECEMBER 2006 How to have a healthy christmas & how to tidy up when it’s done Living independently Page 11 in later years Page 6 Boosting the borough’s enterprise culture Page 8 Don’t let Christmas leave you homeless Page 15 60909 - Your_croydon_3a 14/11/06 13:55 Page 2 TAKEadvantage OF OUR COMPETITIVE contents ADVERTISING RATES FULL page from £799 8 Assault on batteries 297 x 210mm What to do with your old power cells when they've died. HALF page from £350 Horizontal- 148.5 x 210mm 10 Mind the gap QUARTER page from £175 Keep warm - and your fuels bills down - this Vertical - 148.5 x 105mm winter. If you would like your business to benefit 14 Don't hit the skids from advertising in one of the country’s How to stay mobile this winter - and how the leading community magazines and would council's helping. like more information, a copy of our rate card or a booking form, please call: Paula Howell ☎ 020 8760 5644 16 Show your appreciation It's time to vote if you've received good council service. 17 Switch off and save Help the environment and your wallet by hitting "Off" instead of "Standby". This magazine is printed on environmentally 19 Giving something back friendly, TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) paper, It's Payback time for the borough's young produced from a sustainable source. When offenders. you have finished with this magazine please recycle it. extras To contact Croydon Council ☎ 020 8726 6000 go on top Taberner House, Park Lane, Croydon, CR9 3JS email: [email protected] Council website: www.croydon.gov.uk cans Community website: www.croydononline.org paper To contact the editor ☎ 020 8760 5644 glass Taberner House, Park Lane, Croydon, CR9 3JS email: [email protected] clothes The next edition of Your Croydon will be published on Wednesday 31 January 2007. Commercial advertising is welcome, but inclusion of an advertisement 020 8726 6200 www.croydon.gov.uk does not indicate council endorsement of any products or services mentioned. Please ask if you require a translation in a community language, in large print, on tape or in Braille. 2 YOURCROYDON ISSUE 3 - DECEMBER 2006 Designed by croydondesign the in-house business within Croydon Council [email protected] 60909/150M/11 60909 - Your_croydon_3a 14/11/06 13:55 Page 3 news All going swimmingly Get in contact for improved for South Norwood pool refit level of service The number of services available to callers to Croydon Council’s telephone contact centre has recently increased with parking enquiries now being handled by the 120-strong team of customer service advisers. Images of the plans for the refurbishment of a disability; a larger, 70-station gym; South Norwood Leisure Centre will reassure improved toilets; dedicated disabled and The new arrangement means that callers will local people of the council’s intention of family parking; and improved security. benefit from more effective handling of the providing a first-class facility for the area. following services: Extensive landscaping is planned for the The proposed near-£4 million refurbishment prominent corner site in Portland Road, and • Applying for resident and business programme will see the restoration of people’s involvement in the public art to be parking permits services much more quickly than if a new included at the Enmore Road side of the • Penalty Charge Notice enquiries, disputes / centre had had to be built. building is being sought. complaints, and methods of payment The major modifications and modernisation Also, still to come is the confirmation of • Enquiries following correspondence from work are expected to get under way later this designs for refreshing the building’s exterior, the bailiff month. while residents’ views on details such as the • Vehicle clamping and removals colouring of the building’s façade are also Among a comprehensive list of planned • Reporting an abandoned vehicle being obtained through consultation. improvements are: full access for visitors with • Parking restrictions and car parks in Croydon • Shop-mobility scheme (assistance for people Jobcentre Plus working with Croydon Council with disabilities) • Travel services – blue badges and disabled People receiving informally to one of the team’s specialist parking permits and bays health-related advisers, one of whom is pictured, left. The contact centre was established in January benefits can now talk They can provide information, help and 2004, replacing an outdated switchboard with Jobcentre Plus guidance on taking steps on job search, system that often proved frustrating for callers disability advisers at and finding and keeping paid work, as well and council staff alike. Croydon Council’s as associated benefits and working tax In those days, the switchboard operators were One-Stop reception credits advice. able to complete only about 10% of calls. Today’s to help them take customer service advisers, thanks to the that vital first step toward employment. Alternatively, people can telephone 020 8218 4856 between 8.30am and 4.30pm, Monday adoption of modern technology and training The Jobcentre Plus disability team provides a to Friday. methods, are able to answer 60% of customer drop-in surgery in the One-Stop at Taberner enquiries directly. House, Park Lane, on the last Wednesday of Jobcentre Plus can help in several ways. Those that are not answered directly are now every month between 9.30am and 3.30pm People already looking for work can visit more efficiently connected to the correct (no appointment necessary). www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk to search online, or telephone Jobseeker Direct on member of staff equipped to deal with that People claiming health-related benefits who 0845 6060 234 (Textphone 0845 6055 255) particular enquiry. are interested in getting back to full-, part- between 9am and 6pm weekdays, and 9am The answer to many queries can be found on time or voluntary work can drop in and speak and 1pm Saturdays. the council's website at www.croydon.gov.uk 3 60909 - Your_croydon_3a 14/11/06 13:55 Page 4 news International Grand plans for improved recycling conference on The equivalent of a grand a day for a year – improved to ease movement on the site and family for Croydon that’s how much Croydon Council is help encourage more recycling. spending to help boost the borough’s Factory Lane is set to see the greatest recycling rates. The Countess of Wessex visited the FJC earlier this year number of changes, including a separation The £365,000 investment will see a raft of of traffic between the domestic and trade improvements carried out across the three sites, which will result in improved safety and civic amenity sites, mainly over the course of movement on the site. Scheduled for May, the next few months. the work will increase the range of materials collected for recycling. Each of the sites – at Fishers Farm, New Addington; Purley Oaks, South Croydon; and Factory Lane, Waddon – will benefit from larger, clearer signs informing users of what can be left and where. Enhanced facilities at Purley Oaks will include new compactors for specific non-recyclable waste and cardboard, as well as a Croydon, home to Europe's only Family dedicated shredded paper bank. Justice Centre (FJC), is to host an international New signs will help overcome concerns conference on 29 November, to examine, for about depositing household waste that can’t the first time, how the FJC model is working be recycled. outside of America. Capacity at Fishers Farm will expand in The pioneering, multi-partner centre in February to take most of the materials Croydon will have been open for a little accepted at Purley Oaks. The layout will be under a year by the time top international figures meet. In that time, it will have helped more than 3,000 families. Get involved in planning the borough By examining how the centre is working in Croydon, and specifically looking at what Are you interested in how the borough Completion and submission of the form on families say they want and need, the will look in the future? that page will ensure inclusion on the list of conference aims to develop the model contacts and consultees for planning. before it is rolled out to other areas across Croydon Council has recently submitted to the UK. the Government a statement of how and Completed forms can be sent by post to: when it intends to involve everybody in the Allan Webber, Head of Policy & Strategy, Before Croydon's centre opened, services planning of the borough and in considering FREEPOST RLYG - JCCY-UELK, Planning LDF, designed to help victims of domestic and planning applications. Policy & Strategy, Croydon Council, Taberner family violence (adults, children and House, Park Lane, Croydon CR9 1JT. extended family) were scattered throughout The Statement of Community Involvement in the community. Planning gives residents the opportunity to Alternatively, they can be faxed to: 020 8760 have their say about how the council intends 5408; handed in at: One-Stop reception; Now, victims and their relatives have easy to involve the community in planning of the or emailed to: [email protected] access to comprehensive medical and legal borough by making representations about services, police officers, probation officers, the statement. doctors, counsellors, advocates, social workers, housing providers, benefit advice, Anybody wishing to register an interest in education providers, children’s services, being involved in planning for the borough adult education groups, and others working can complete and return a form which is from just one location, coordinated by a available on the planning section of the single body.