26 June (Part 2) - Bouquets and brickbats
Obviously the target audience for Bonkers is Bexley residents but inevitably quite a lot of readers come from further away.
Every day visitors include the Houses of Parliament and the local press and on
the second rung you get the Greater London Assembly, Transport for London, the
BBC and Sky News. The other London Boroughs are there every day too, not
necessarily the same ones every day, and I always imagine bored doorkeepers
giggling over a Google Chrome Book rather than a Chief Executive thanking the
gods of Common Purpose that none of his councillors labelled their road planning
“Bonkers”, but maybe the truth lies somewhere in between…
I’ll just start by saying that I really enjoy reading your blogs, even though
I’m north of the Thames. How did I find your blog? Well, I was doing
some research and decided to get in touch with the various Councils involved, to
find some information straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
As you’ve mentioned previously, typing Bexley into Google brings your site up
within the first couple of hits, so I thought I’d have a read. Needless to say,
I’m now an avid daily reader. Anyway, aside from the usual automated response
from my initial email, I’ve received not one bit of contact from your
illustrious Council, and that’s Local Government to Local Government!! Then
again, having read about them, I have a firm grasp on their ethics (or should
that be lack of).
Keep up the good work.
(Edited to remove the source borough.)
That was one of 23 emails received yesterday and almost none was answered because
I was away north of the river too, yesterday’s blogs were written the day
before. One of the 23 emails was not very complimentary which almost never happens, not
even a handful in the four years Bonkers has been going, councillor Melvin Seymour’s
thuggish
friends and relatives excepted of course. In my opinion the main thrust of the
email was wide of the mark. It said
You harp on about all of you information being factual and thoroughly checked yet
you have suggested that vinny rey was responsible for the works at ruxley roundabout,
when a simple check with the council would reveal that in fact that is not actually
the case. This is just one inaccurate fact that I have come across whilst browsing
this site with some interest. There is plenty of information on this site and whilst
I have the time to go through it I dont think that I would waste it when the accuracy
of it is clearly questionable. Sounds like another person with a chip on their
shoulder to me mate.
That one is totally unedited because I feel it gives some insight into the sort of
person who wrote it - anonymously of course.
I remember the three Ruxley Roundabout visits well as in those days it was rare for readers
to invite me out. My destination was Ruxley Nursery and I saw the owner whose name
was Gary. I think I can safely name him because Ruxley Nursery is a yard or two
across the Bromley boundary and presumably safe from vindictive retaliation by Bexley council.
Gary accumulated a file of papers about the roundabout, even councillor Craske, cabinet
member for Public Realm at the time, had helped fill it and because of that file I know there is no
need to revise the Ruxley Roundabout report.
Indeed I still have some of the stuff which Gary emailed to me and yes the relevant name is there. It may not have been the
only name involved but it was the one that took responsibility for the Ruxley disaster afterwards.