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News and Comment May 2014

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26 May (Part 2) - Tory cuts. First sign of things to come

TweetSomeone mentioned that Bexley had cut funding for Open House while I was at the count on Thursday. I forget who made the comment but it must have been someone from Labour as none of the Tories engaged in more than social chit-chat. I would probably have forgotten the comment totally if it wasn’t for Penny Duggan’s Saturday Tweet.

I know what Open House is, it’s the one day of the year when tourist attractions affiliated to the scheme allow free admittance. Presumably it raises awareness of attractions generally and we have quite a lot in Bexley. Crossness, Red House, Hall Place, Danson House etc. And it isn’t likely that visitors go away without spending money on something or other. They may even become members of the Crossness Trust or whatever. But not this year.

There is very little hard information to go on at present but I think I have worked out that by turning their back on this annual initiative Bexley will save the £5,000 subscription to the Open House organisation.

This is taking Tory cuts to a new level.

Presumably we have councillor Don Massey to blame for this. First he plans to lose the borough’s history in a cupboard in Bromley. Then it was the permanent cancellation of the Danson Festival and now there is no reason for tourists to come to Bexley on Open House Day. They will go to any one of the other London boroughs who participate instead.

Penny Duggan is Secretary of The Bexley Historical Society.

 

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