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News and Comment July 2014

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19 July - Teresa’s empty promise rumbled

So forty million must be saved and paying for a new Deputy Chief Executive post and making handsome payments to 56 year olds who want to go and spend more time with their building companies does nothing to plug the black hole. Guess who is going to pay the price?

The public consultation has not even started yet and now that the electorate has been successfully bamboozled into thinking Bexley is a low tax borough there is already talk of council tax going up by 2% (Page 7 of Summer 2014 Bexley Magazine) and parking charges being raised. You can see how desperate the council is to slash and burn when they opt out of Open House Weekend to save five grand and cancel Bexley in Bloom to save next to nothing.

We all know that the Danson Park Festival has gone for ever for reasons few believe, parks are to be left open at night, and what happened to the Civic Parade this year? It just didn’t happen and nor did the Erith River Festival although that is not so much council sponsored as council discouraged - by mountains of red tape.

When Will Tuckley was going on at the General Purposes Committee meeting about everything needing to be cut I felt like shouting out “what about the number of councillors”. It’s been something the Tories have been promising around election time for the past four years.
Election promise
Such a change will take a bit of time to get through the Boundaries Commission so there is no time to lose, presumably Teresa O’Neill is already pushing hard for a change and if she is an honest woman will be making an announcement at next week’s full council meeting. But don’t bet on it, I can see no evidence that she has got off her backside to help the borough through a financial crisis, but all may not be totally lost…
Motion
Councillor Seán Newman (Labour, Belvedere) has realised how busy the council leader must be and come to the her rescue - or maybe not.

This could be interesting, Labour have put forward a motion that the Tories put to the electorate as a possible vote winner but with every intention of doing a Nick Clegg on it. It would be interesting to see all the bent Tories vote against it but it’s more likely it will be talked out.

If you look at their tabled questions as well as the motion it seems clear that Labour have no intention of giving the Tories an easy time, as, I am tempted to say, happened under their previous leadership.

 

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