1 May - Questions following the Leader’s report to Council
The Leader’s report to Council and any discussion that might follow is
limited to 30 minutes and the ultra-verbose David Leaf expended seven of them
on a party political broadcast. Questioning was thereby curtailed which could be
considered to be an affront to democracy in Bexley.
The first Councillor to try to make up for lost time was Chris Ball (Labour,
Erith) who began by acknowledging that the Council was “doing lots of good
things but it needs to do more”. His main concern was street homelessness. “I
know officer colleagues go out counting and we quite often get numbers in single figures
but I could quite easily find significantly larger numbers of people sleeping
rough. I would ask the Leader what he thinks we are doing and whether he is
confident that the number we have is really the actual number”.
Rough sleeping was said to be “not a massive problem” and no revised numbers were offered.
A second question concerned HMOs. There is a large number of them in Erith and
one road alone has eleven. He acknowledged that some cause problems but “we have
begun to demonise them”. He blamed Reform UK members for that. For some
unfathomable reason, while claiming to be a patriot, he took a swipe at flying the flag of St.George
“which has been deliberately used in recent months to intimidate and cause
distress. The flags are a symbol of acceptance of intolerance. Flags for the
Olympics are inspiring but three tatty flags in Brook Street is not patriotism at all, it is intimidation.”
Cabinet Member Munur said that what the public seems not to like about HMOs is
the loss of a family home and the pressure it puts on the roads in terms of
parking. It is not just about who may live in them.
The Council Leader said that flags are a sign of unity bringing people together.
Removing flags risks provoking an increase in community tensions.
Councillor Lisa Moore (Conservative, Longlands) merely asked that Cabinet Member
Newton congratulate herself on the recent SEND monitoring inspection. Disappointing
that a Councillor thought that to be a good use of the limited time
available. Did it do anything to advance democracy? An emphatic No.
Councillor Zainub Asunramu (Labour, (Thamesmead East) like her colleague in neighbouring
Erith, thought the Council was doing a reasonable job especially in respect of
community safety, anti-social behavior, drugs and acquisition crime “and all of
that is really welcome” but she went on to criticise disproportionality in
policing of the black community. “Longlands ward featured in the top ten in
London for disproportionality. What has the current administration done about it?
I hope the new Cabinet Member works with the police to reduce stop and search practices.”
She ended with a plea to vote Labour on 7th May to “renew Bexley” and fix all these problems.
Councillor Leaf said significant investment had gone into Thamesmead some of
which was opposed by Labour. Stop and Search was an important police tool which
takes drugs and knives off our streets.
Councillor Cameron Smith continued with his campaign to prevent developers
taking advantage of the Labour Government’s ambition to build on “grey belt”
land and in particular the proposed battery storage facility on green belt farm land at
North Cray. Bexley Council refused permission but the developer has issued
threats via media statements. The Cabinet Member was asked to assure residents that any
appeal would be fought “tooth and nail”.
Cabinet Member Munur assured him that he would fight any renewed application or
appeal by “greedy developers”.
Labour Leader Stefano Borella asked what the Conservative’s had done towards restoring
the [Covid] cuts to railway services while he was out campaigning for them. “You
got rid of the round the loop services. You need to vote Labour on May 7th.”
Leader David Leaf responded with a short party politcal broadcast.
For the record, as an attendee at most Transport Sub-Committee meetings I can
confirm that its Chairman Cameron Smith badgered Southeastern for restoration of
the old timetable and the loop line trains at every opportunity.