28 April (Part 3) - BID mistakes goodbye
I
hope it’s always been clear that if anyone sees something wrong on these pages
they should let me know. Spreading misinformation is just plain stupid, I leave
that to election pamphlets and Bexley Conservatives’ website.
Most days someone spots a typo or a misplaced apostrophe but factual corrections
are almost unknown. Last week I said councillor Sandra Bauer was the deputy
Labour leader in Bexley after forgetting that that position was taken over by
Alan Deadman last year but I honestly cannot remember the mistake before that.
I must have encouraged Ian Payne (Bexleyheath Business Improvement District
Manager) to correct me if I misreported him when
we met last Friday
because he was on to me early this morning to put me right on a couple of
things. I could have offered excuses but he is far too friendly for anyone to
want to risk an argument with him, however insignificant.
He
said his boss is not Teresa O’Neill because he doesn’t work for Bexley council.
If I had wanted to be combative I would have protested that Bromley council begs to
differ. Ian’s Register of Members’ Interests (see image) says that he works for
‘The London Borough if Bexley (via Reed)’, however Ian told me who he works for
and who his boss is and it is definitely not you know who.
Not unnaturally he was a little concerned that I had pictured more than 20 empty
premises while he had said there were only 14 vacant shops. Well leaving aside
the fact that a few of those photographed were probably offices rather than shops, I
did say in yesterday’s blog that I walked well past Lion Road which is the western outpost of Ian’s
territory. So we are probably both right - and Bromley Council should get their website
up to date.
If you see Ian around town don’t talk to him unless you want the hard sell
on how good a shopping centre Broadway is and how he is determined to make it better.