1 April (Part 2) - Public Realm Committee meeting, 29th March
I arrived 20 minutes early which gave time to read through the main points of
the Agenda and sat in solitary splendour throughout the meeting because I was the
only member of the public there. The evening began well enough, the two bouncers
hired to look after me smiled benignly when I acknowledged them on the way in;
the eye-catching Ceri Elliott-Yates murmured a greeting as she
took her seat as official minute writer, and councillor Howard Marriner (Conservative, Barnehurst)
introduced himself and shook me warmly by the hand. But peace and civility did not last very long.
Chairman
Cheryl Bacon opened the meeting at 19:33 and by 19:36 it was in full scale blazing row
mode. Councillor Munir Malik had objected to the minutes of the last meeting recording
his personal interest in The Co-Operative Group. He said he
mentioned that only in passing when the subject of supermarkets came up and as the subject itself
had been too trivial to include in the minutes it was not right to record his declaration of an
interest. Technically correct perhaps but Cheryl was having none of it delivering one of the
Conservative’s traditional put downs of councillor Malik. Hence the immediate
outbreak of hostilities. There were claims by Malik of “infatuation” [with his
shareholding], shouts of “let me finish” and finally a threat of legal action. All
puerile stuff over the recording of a fact which nobody was disputing.
Councillor Malik said he owned only one share and it had no pecuniary value.
Councillor
Colin Tandy said “It is fair to say I couldn’t care less about the Co-Op
but having declared an interest you can’t undeclare it”. I think he
probably summed things up pretty well. The addition of “Don’t declare interests
if you don’t want them recorded” would appear to be a more dubious suggestion. Straight out of
the Mike Slaughter book of dirty tricks
by the sound of it.
There followed a discussion of which borough shopping centre was in the worst
state with council officer Julia Webb saying it was undoubtedly Sidcup and
referring to a survey her staff had conducted. Apparently you can’t even buy a
pair of shoes in Sidcup. Conservatives agreed but councillor Malik begged to differ
adding that Sidcup is “relatively affluent”. He suggested that the Mayor is
spending money there to buy votes. Chairman Bacon became noticeably agitated at
the suggestion that a politician might spend money to improve his chances of election.
Councillor June Slaughter said she was “delighted” that Mayor Boris Johnson was
lavishing money on Sidcup and contrasted him with his predecessor “who didn’t
know where Sidcup was”. She wanted to know what effect the widening of footpaths
was going to have on parking spaces but no one knew.
Councillor
Malik asked if he could see Julia Webb’s survey which favoured Sidcup
but was slapped down with a “No” from the Chairman. He was not happy.
Councillor ‘Biffa’ Bailey
rose from her seat in finger wagging mode to admonish him. “Be quiet, you are
rude” she said and went on to accuse him of being “absolutely barmy” and “beyond
belief”. Maybe someone should present Biffa with a mirror.
Councillor Tandy added his two-penn‘orth without resorting to (too much)
personal abuse. He said that Malik was “disingenuous, not something he is
unknown for”. He said that “Welling is not in decline” and “Erith has had lots
of money spent on it and not much to show for it”. “Sidcup has degenerated and
needs money to pull it up again.”
Councillor Craske said about CCTV and crime levels that “Bexley is low [crime
levels] because the community wants to keep it that way”. That is what I said
months ago when he was praising various public bodies for whipping the
population towards total compliance with the law and civilized behaviour. It’s
good to note that councillor Craske may have seen the light.
Jane Richardson - she of the exemplary microphone technique - gave some
statistics relating to the soon to be demolished Larner Road Estate. No more
than eleven homes there are privately owned leading to a poor mix of incomes
etc. Her report referred to ‘families’ and councillor Malik wanted to know how
that was defined. Mrs. Richardson was unable to answer because the statement came
from Orbit Housing Association but she would ask them. Councillor John Waters
said it was “remarkable” that more dwellings were to replace the Larner Road tower
blocks than are there now. Councillor Brenda Langstead said there were still
nearly 7,000 people on the housing waiting list.
Councillor Craske announced that he had that very day decided to have free
parking in major car parks over the Easter break. Councillor Malik reminded the
meeting that the Christmas Eve concession was funded by council strikers. “Who
was financing this one?” Craske said it was him.
The
meeting moved on to discussion of the Olympics and the impact on Bexley. Ms. Richardson
anticipated no disruption beyond ten to fifteen minute road closures
when the torch comes through on a Sunday. She believed all road works are to be
removed from the A2 for the duration of the games.
Councillor Tandy said the council should publicise little known routes around
and in and out of the borough. The Sidcup to Woolwich rail loop via Crayford and
Slade Green. The DLR from Woolwich Arsenal to central London and Stratford and
the Overground from New Cross to the northern borders of the metropolis. I would
call him a trains-spotting nerd except that he revealed
nothing I didn’t know about already. Councillor Marriner said that there should have
been Park & Ride schemes set up just beyond the London borough boundaries but
the Chairman said none were planned.
A discussion on parking penalties provided a few interesting statistics from Mike
Frizoni (Deputy Director, Public Realm Management). The contractor is required to
keep mistakes leading to successful appeals under 50 a month. If it rises above that they incur a
penalty of 0·3% of their fee, 0·55% from 101 to 150 errors and beyond that the full amount of
each lost penalty charge. Councillor Malik said that no one should forget the cost in
time and human suffering that unfair penalties cause or the fact that some
people pay for the sake of a quiet life. Probably Frizoni wasn’t listening.
Pay
by phone got an airing too. According to councillor Craske the number signed
up for it had just reached 8,563. This is about 1,000 a month since the last
announcement so we are on course to have all the cars in Bexley registered at some
time just within the next 15 years.
Pay by Phone was extended to car parks in November 2011 and to on-street
spaces by today. Craske said it would be a choice between phone or cash and then rather spoilt things
by saying he would be looking at reducing the number of cash machines.
In order to satisfy local traders who have suffered a 40% loss of trade thanks
to Craske, he is trialling at one shop a system which allows customers to pay in
the shop or have the shop-keeper pay the fee. How drivers
will avoid getting a ticket while they run to and queue in the shop wasn’t explained
but at least Craske is showing some concern for the pain he has inflicted. Surprisingly
Mr. Frizoni didn’t know if the present system allowed payment at suspended bays.
The meeting ended a little before 22:00 and if I hadn’t attended many meetings before I might
have said that the members of this one came close to being sensible and reasonable; only Biffa
Bailey seriously let the side down. Even councillor Peter Craske failed to put a foot wrong.
Maybe the thought of one of their mates’ names being
in front of the Crown
Prosecution Service is a salutary lesson that they are supposed to be our
servants not domineering tyrants. But don’t be too optimistic, the really nasty
pieces of work aren’t members of this particular committee.