18 November (Part 1) - Democracy? What democracy?
After a busy couple of weeks on meeting reports things will be quieter until the next one at the end of the month.
So it’s back to less formal stuff today.
While walking along a road yesterday, not too far from home, a resident tidying her front garden asked
me what I knew about the CPZ Consultation and why four
months after it being sent to residents we have heard not a word. I was only able to tell her what was
reported here a
week ago. That Bexley Council is now calling it a Survey and the Cabinet
Member is not expecting to see any recommendations until the end of the month.
The complication is said to be, If residents in a proposed Zone don’t want to see a CPZ and all the parking
taxes associated with it but are sandwiched between Zones that are happy to pay, there is a
displacement problem. I think that means everyone gets a Zone, like it or not.
Hence the wordplay between Consultation and Survey.
The lady in the gardening gloves didn’t seem too sure whether she wanted a Zone
or not. It will cost her money every time her daughter visits although I
got the impression that she voted in favour. What particularly concerned her was
that none of her neighbours knew about the (downgraded to Survey) Consultation and
they denied ever being given the letter. Very possible, I was missed from a
Consultation in 2009 that included areas much further from its subject than me.
When I said that I thought our three Councillors had taken it upon themselves to
ignore the Survey, or maybe follow it, (I do not know its result) and push for a
CPZ she was not very happy. Why should someone who lives in Welling tell her
what she wants, and probably she has a point.
Personally I selfishly don’t much care either way because at a push I could get
six cars on to my drive and I am only really interested in seeing the
prohibition of end on parking which sometimes blocks my drive and occasionally the
entire road. If that doesn’t happen you can be sure the scheme will get
nothing but criticism from me along with the three Labour Councillors who have allegedly intervened.
Not
in quite the same boat are the residents of Poplar Mount, (click map to see
where it is,) many of whom don’t like the imposition of yellow lines at all. They allege that Bexley Council has
responded to just one request to paint yellow lines in their roads and annoy
everyone else. I really don’t understand Bexley Council; in my neck of the woods
they ignored numerous requests to paint yellow lines around corners for years,
totally uninterested in the provisions of the Highway Code.
The petitioner has related to me what I would describe as the usual Bexley
Council trickery. Only advising a handful of residents out of 62 houses affected. A Freedom of Information request submitted in July disappeared
without trace because someone lost it and someone called Lucy can be pretty rude to enquiring residents.
The yellow lines will take away seven parking spaces but it seems to me that
Cabinet Member Richard Diment has already gone against residents’ wishes.
At present Poplar Mount people have 90 signatures on their petition while Bexley
Council has only one resident on their side. A complaint is going into a number
of people including the new Councillor.
Bexley Council’s track record on petitions is far from being impressive so good
luck with that. I have told them that petitioning the MP is not a lot of good
and the Cabinet Member might have been a better bet but the chances of Bexley
Council doing something now that might please residents is pretty much zero.
When did they last do that?
Dear Neighbours,
As you might be aware (or not as seems the case for many), the council has
decided to paint double yellow lines around the corners of Poplar Mount/
Methuen Rd and at the end of Methuen Road. This will remove around 6/7
parking spaces from our streets. You can see green paint where the lines will begin and end.
I did discuss this with a few neighbours at the time of a letter received
(mid-July) who informed me that they knew nothing about the proposal.
A number of us wrote to the council, all to reject proposals (as published
in the link provided below). Despite all of the people rejecting the
proposal the council is still going ahead. This is a quiet residential area,
not a major route and will only naturally encourage greater speeds on these
roads resulting in faster driving around the corner. Not only this but it
will also take away parking spaces from our streets.
The Council states that this is to improve sightlines based on one complaint.
I believe that this will make our roads less safe and I say why are they
trying to fix something that isn’t broken?
I sent a Freedom of Information Request on 22.07.2024 and will follow up
with another to gather more evidence because they have only published 4
rejections missing another 2 including mine and there’s a clear lack of
justification for the proposal.
You can find the details of the council proposal on this page;
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=3216
We are Plan 7.
In a democracy we should be able to have a say in the matter that affects so
many, yet how can we object if we don’t know it’s being done? Informed
consent should only apply.
With a view of all of the above, I am arranging a petition for those who do
not want to have double yellow lines painted.
I will knock on doors to collect signatures on Tuesday 12.11.2024 from 7 pm.
If you won’t be home or I miss you and you would like to sign the petition
please let me know and we can make arrangements that are better suited.
I very much look forward to hearing from you and hope that you will take the
time to join me in getting the double yellow lines stopped by signing this
petition.
Best wishes
Click image to see more.