14 June - Bexley council. Arrogant, obnoxious, wicked, lawless? Take your pick!
A
recurrent theme of correspondence, apart from the regular complaints about bad
road design, concerns the arrogance of far too many Bexley council employees
and their enthusiasm for going out of their way to be as obnoxious as possible.
Presumably that tone is set from the top. Certainly we have councillor Craske who
delights in making the worst possible decision
if he can in the process blight someone’s life and bank balance, and
councillor Davey who speaks with a forked tongue and would rather see residents
unfairly fined than stand up for
justice. I could also mention the social services department who believe in
punishing the mentally disabled for being difficult to handle.
Miss Cairns, jobsworth extraordinaire, who
twice threatened to prosecute when a council tax payment was delayed solely by a bank
holiday. And did I mention the undersized parking bays
and Bexley’s retort that they could do pretty much what they liked and if you didn’t
like it challenge the parking fine in court?
The latest episode to come my way is another concerning a parking fine. Due to a
medical emergency while transferring an elderly lady to hospital a driver had
to pull over and stop for a few seconds, well under a minute. The road was
congested because someone had inconsiderately parked in an awkward place so the
driver stopped with his wheels up the kerb so as not to congest the road
further. Unfortunately the awkwardly parked vehicle was Bexley’s
moron-mobile which photographed the brief incident.
A few days later the penalty notice arrived in the post.
The driver decided to appeal against the fine on the grounds that it was a very brief
transgression, there was a medical emergency to deal with and the problem was largely caused by
the council’s gestapo camcar. Despite a number of emailed ‘chasers’ the
council did not bother to reply for more than a month and as one might expect
from such an obnoxious bunch of sub-humans they rejected the appeal.
By this time the fine had doubled and Bexley council simply didn’t care that the delay
was entirely of its own making. These so-called public servants unreasonably insisted
that the driver had to pay extra for the dubious privilege of appealing against being
forced up the kerb by the council’s own vehicle. Contrast that appalling attitude
with a letter issued in similar circumstances by a nearby borough.
“Currently
we are unable to specify a date for our response but during this time
the case will be placed on hold to stop it progressing any further. You will not
be disadvantaged by any delay on our part. Please accept our apologies for any
inconvenience this delay may cause you”. What a refreshing change from the
diabolical attitude Bexley council has on any matter involving roads or money.
The doubled fine was paid on the day the appeal was rejected. The receipt came
back with the words “To avoid incurring further charges please do not send any
further correspondence as it may not be responded to, however, it may result in
further recovery action being taken.” What is that nonsense doing on a receipt
for payment in full? My correspondent thinks it is “just another of their snide
digs”. It almost certainly is another of their attempts to hound residents
whenever possible, like when my bank made one error after 20 years of perfectly on time
council tax payments, I was given two days to pay or be prosecuted.
It not only adds to Bexley council’s reputation for being
bloody-minded but
confirms their total incompetence too.
The spycam shown here is for illustration purposes only. This one is
delaying buses and causing mayhem in Northumberland Heath; not the site of the
incident reported above.