28 June (Part 2) - A chink in their defence
As
I said before, I do have some
sympathy for Mark Campbell
of Bexley Cabs. I am sure he is in more trouble than would be the case if his father was
not deputy leader of Bexley council.
Jim Palmer reported the situation in yesterday’s News Shopper and headlined it ‘witch hunt’.
Mr. Campbell is reported saying he was “accused of not following the planning
process”. In my view his mistake was not to put his own name on the application. It was always going to
look fishy that his own name wasn’t at the top of page 1. Neither did it help that the supporting evidence of
police support proved to be untruthful.
If I were in Campbell’s shoes I might ask myself why I was the subject of
“Chinese whispers”. I’d consider if setting up shop and assuming permission would be
a mere formality might be seen as supremely arrogant and wonder if I had reneged on too many
undertakings. The News Shopper reminds us that Bexley Cabs promised to “hire a
marshall and install CCTV for safety”. What happened to that idea? Bar Lorca has
been left to pick up the bill.
I suspect the problem can be summed up by Bexley Cab’s newspaper advertisement.
“Situated in the heart of Bexley village.” That is what villagers regard as
totally inappropriate and led to the rejection of the application. The
slogan also blows away every argument that Bexley Cabs is only operating a
telephone booking service. Calling those who wish to conserve their quiet village
atmosphere “idiots” does little to heal the rift either.