16 August - Bexley council’s mission to make shopping more expensive
Bexley
council’s slogan used to be “Working to improve your quality of life” but it was
too easily discredited. “Please can you tell me how [insert idiocy of the week
here] has improved my quality of life?” would trip them up every time because
almost nothing a council does improves quality of life. The old slogan was
replaced by the bland “Listening to you. Working for you”. It’s complete
nonsense but it has the merit, from the council’s point of view, of not being
quite so vulnerable to direct questioning.
If Bexley council was working for us there might be fewer complaints. One I had
today was about the new rule about what shops can place on their own forecourt.
From 1st August small shops must pay £75 a month to display a few goods outside.
They don’t get much for the money, just 30 inches beyond their window. Any more
and the price doubles. Bexley council hopes to raise £65,000 a year from the
fees which is just enough to cover the leader and deputy leader’s allowances. To
ensure that shopkeepers don’t put things outside the council will be sending round their Enviro Crime Officers who don’t
work for nothing, so this imposition on shopkeepers and the prices they have to
charge is not going to be a big money-spinner. Councils don’t have to charge at
all, but Bexley likes to strangle businesses if it can.
The photo was taken today in Pickford Lane;
Teresa O’Neill’s territory where house to house calls seeking signatures for a
petition against
top salaries is still getting 95% support. The charity shop is keeping its
forecourt clear, the flower shop probably has little option but to have an
external display. It must be hard being a shopkeeper in Bexley but I’m sure they
will be happy to know that a councillor on £36k. a year doesn’t have to attend
another council meeting until 2nd November. Not Listening. Not Working.
A few days ago
someone asked why Bexley council kept having short sections of
road resurfaced for no obvious reason and implied something fishy was going on.
Whatever the scheme is it is a regular occurrence, Brampton Road got the
treatment yesterday. The new surface extends only as far as the traffic island.
New Road, Abbey Wood has been done too.