15 February - Who is destroying Bexley’s parks?
I miss the days when nearly all the research into Bexley Council was done by Mick Barnbrook, Elwyn Bryant, Nicholas Dowling,
John Kerlen and John Watson and all I had to do was write it up for Bonkers. It is just not the same when for the most part
I have to stick around waiting for something to drop into my lap but for the past year or so there has been a new kid on the block
who calls himself @tonyofsidcup.
He must be doing a good job because nearly every
Bexley Councillor has blocked him on
Twitter whereas I am only blocked by one Councillor who I might be tempted to
follow. Philip Read blocked me on the day I opened a Twitter account which
speaks volumes for his interest in democracy.
@tonyofsidcup must be a pain in the backside to Bexley Council with his FOIs
and appeals to the Information Commissioner but he should count himself lucky
that Bexley Council even accepts them; they banned Michael Barnbrook from making
FOIs and convinced the ICO that they were right to do so by claiming he was conducting a racist
campaign against the then Monitoring Officer when Mick was only acting as John
Watson’s front man. They threatened to take John to Court for his part in the saga.
And now, until Bexley Council works out what to do with him we have @tonyofsidcup
who has become more than a little interested in the housing developments at Old Farm Park.
The following is written entirely by him, not a word has been changed.
When Louie French ran for MP in late 2021, he made a “Green Spaces pledge”. “Our green spaces are really important”, said Louie. “It’s why I’ve always supported them -
whether that’s by litter picking in local parks or by planting more trees. As MP, I’m ready to take that action
further - by leading the fight against any inappropriate developments in our community. That’s what
I’m pledging to the voters at this election”.
Five years earlier, Councillor French took time off litter-picking and
tree-planting to vote for Sidcup’s Old Farm green space being bulldozed and built over. Two years later, he
cast another vote, effectively condemning Old Farm as well as Erith’s West Street and Wilde Road parks.
“Another Tory hypocrite”, you will say, “Tell me something I don’t know”. I
will oblige, by briefly recapping the story of Bexley’s destroyed parks, and naming and shaming the
current Tory councillors who rubber-stamped the looting.
The Great Bexley Park Sell-Off got going in 2015, when the
cash-strapped
council considered disposal of 10 park sites, then whittled the number down to 4 - Old Farm, West Street
and the two parts of the Wilde Road site. (As the council’s asset liquidators were scouring the
list of Bexley’s parks and open spaces, one site they never saw was a Bexleyheath green space known as
Burr Farm. Once a school playing field, it remained an “educational” land asset long after the
school closed. Burr Farm neighbours, including a certain Teresa O’Neill, never knew they dodged the bullet).
The first vote, by Bexley’s Cabinet, took place in November 2015 and got the ball rolling, asking the
General Purposes committee to consult with residents and produce a go/no-go
recommendation. “Go”, the committee voted in March 2016, ignoring a wave of public protest
and demands for a public inquiry, and the Cabinet sanctioned the sell-off in April 2016. As
the estimated value of Old Farm was in excess of £3 million, a
full-council vote was required for that
site. The Tory majority, including Cllr French, duly delivered a “yes” before April was out. After
these four votes, the fate of Old Farm, West Street and Wilde Road was sealed, but there was a fifth
vote.
In March 2018, in one of its signature “let’s ask the Tories to vote for an amendment calling them
idiots” moves, Bexley’s Labour faction - the story’s powerless good guys - made a proposal to roll
back the park disposals. The proposal was predictably voted down, and that was it.
It took six months and five votes - two by the full council, two by the
Cabinet, and one by the General Purposes committee - to destroy three Bexley parks. Councillors who were
Cabinet Members got the most chances to vote - and so the list of Bexley parks’ worst enemies
predictably includes the trio of Teresa O’Neill, Peter Craske and Philip Read, plus Alex Sawyer, who each
voted against parks four times. A few Tory luminaries soiled their reputations three times, and most ended up with two.
Three individual cases are worth highlighting. First, there is Sidcup’s June
Slaughter, who, along with the other two Sidcup Ward councillors, Aileen Beckwith and Rob Leitch, spoke
against the Old Farm sale before the General Purposes committee and actually voted against it in
April 2016. By March 2018, however, Cllr Slaughter had given up on Old Farm and voted against the Labour amendment.
“Hold on”, I hear fellow Sidcupians say, “Old Farm is not in Sidcup Ward, it’s in Blackfen and
Lamorbey. Where were that ward’s councillors?” B&L councillors at the time
were Peter Craske, Brian Beckwith and Chris Taylor. Both Beckwith and Taylor departed in 2018 - the
flamboyant Mr Taylor is now making a comeback - and were replaced by Cllrs Munur and Hunt. What is
interesting about this is that both newcomers - now a Cabinet Member and a Mayor, respectively -
were on the General Purposes committee when it figuratively stabbed Old Farm. Despite this, they
were parachuted into the ward - and were elected! The perfect crime?
If the stories of Cllrs Slaughter, Munur and Hunt are depressing, the last
one is an uplifting story of a lucky escape. Look at the table below - is there a current Bexley councillor
who was a councillor in 2015-18 (this rules out Cllrs Diment, Gower, Jackson and Moore) but does not
have a single recorded vote against Bexley’s parks? Yes, there is. Cllr John Davey was
absent from the March 2018 full-council meeting where the Labour “rollback” proposal was dismissed,
but, oddly, his name is also nowhere to be found in the records of the April 2016
full-council meeting that condemned Old Farm. (Cllr Davey did not respond to a Twitter question about his Old Farm vote).
On paper, Cllr Davey has no incriminating votes on parks.
He is the only one. With the genuine exception of Cllr Slaughter and a random exception of Cllr Downing (a no-show at one of the full-council votes), each sitting Tory
councillor who was asked to vote on the future of Bexley’s parks repeatedly betrayed them.
If you care about Bexley, please bear this in mind when you vote in May.
@tony kindly provided links to his sources…
Public Cabinet, 2015-11-17
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=149&MID=27891#AI26424
Membership:
Councillors Linda Bailey, Peter Craske, John Fuller, Don Massey, Teresa O'Neill (Chairman),
Eileen Pallen, Philip Read and Alex Sawyer (Vice-Chairman).
Apologies were received from Councillors John Fuller and Eileen Pallen.
“Without dissent”
General Purposes Committee, 2016-03-15
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=145&MId=27946&Ver=4
Councillors Linda Bailey, Chris Beazley, Aileen Beckwith, Nigel Betts
(Vice-Chairman), Alan Deadman, Daniel Francis, Geraldene
Lucia-Hennis, Sharon Massey, Cafer Munur (Chairman) and Nick O'Hare
Apologies were received from Councillors Linda Bailey and Aileen Beckwith
and Councillors James Hunt and David Hurt respectively attended the meeting as their substitutes
Public Cabinet, 2016-04-12
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=149&MId=27895&Ver=4
Membership:
Councillors Linda Bailey, Peter Craske, John Fuller, Don Massey, Teresa O’Neill OBE (Chairman), Eileen Pallen, Philip Read and Alex Sawyer (Vice-Chairman).
Council, 2016-04-20
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=148&MId=27887&Ver=4
For
Councillors Ashmole, Cheryl Bacon, Bailey, Brian Beckwith, Betts, Brian Bishop, Christine Bishop, Camsey, Catterall, Clark, Craske,
D’Amiral, Dourmoush, Fothergill, French, Fuller, Hall, Hunt, Hurt, Leaf,
Lucia-Hennis, Don Massey, Sharon Massey, Munur, Newton, O’Hare, O’Neill, Pallen, Pollard,
Read, Reader, Sawyer, Seymour, Brad Smith, Tandy, Waters and Wilkinson.
Council, 2018-03-07
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=148&MId=28508&Ver=4
Against
Councillors Ashmole, Cheryl Bacon, Gareth Bacon, Bailey, Aileen Beckwith,
Brian Beckwith, Betts, Brian Bishop, Christine Bishop, Camsey, Catterall, Clark, Craske, Dourmoush,
Alan Downing, Ross Downing, French, Fuller, Hall, Hunt, Leaf,
Lucia-Hennis, Marriner, Don Massey, Sharon Massey,
Munur, Newton, O’Hare, O’Neill, Pallen Read, Reader, Sams, Sawyer, Seymour, Slaughter, Brad Smith, Tandy, Waters and Wilkinson.
Their votes for selling Old Farm Park presented in graphical form…
Note: We seem to be missing a Bacon. Cheryl Bacon 2 votes, Gareth Bacon 1?