9 May (Part 1) - End of an era
As today will be the last that some council employees spend in the somewhat
dilapidated Civic Centre on Broadway I went to take a few last minute snaps before Tesco
pulls it down and also get some of the ‘new’ building in Watling Street. According to her
Twitterings the mayor was due there at the same time prior to her Land’s End to John O’Groats
charity drive. Although I was there in plenty of time I saw nothing of her, perhaps she was
setting off from the rear car park but I didn’t feel it was worth finding out.
(Twitter later said she wasn’t there either.)
Despite
it being still surrounded by security fencing it is now possible to go right up the the front door of the new building - well maybe not if you are in a wheelchair
because the access shows all the hallmarks of being designed by Bexley’s
renowned road planning incompetents. It is obstructed by three posts. A
pedestrian traffic light pole, a lamp post and some sort of electrical control box.
The wide angle lens has exaggerated the space available but there is not much
more than an 18 inch paving slab between the left hand pair of poles. The blind
following the tactile paving are in for a nasty surprise.
Here's some more attractive aspects of the new building for which I have high
hopes, after all, no less an authority than Teresa O’Neill has told me it
has cost me nothing and will save me £1·5 million a year. I’m looking
forward to about £25 off my council tax bill next year.
