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News and Comment October 2014

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1 October - Crossings, Crossrail and Craske

CraskeIt’s a new month and I know some people will be quick to look for the appropriate new page, but council news is still in short supply; the next round of cuts have not really bitten yet. Libraries are obviously in the firing line again and it will be surprising if the recently concluded consultation on parking doesn’t lead to another round of price increases. Will the new cabinet member for Public Realm lie like the previous one, Peter Craske, and claim that Bexley has the cheapest parking - and more of it - than any other borough in South East London? Only if influenced by his wife presumably.

Across the river councils are supporting a scheme to extend the Overground to Thamesmead. Bexley has not joined them preferring the plan it dreamt up for itself, a bridge at Belvedere. A railway line to Thamesmead would do nothing to support the industrial estates which Bexley council must attract to Belvedere and with it the revenue from the Community Infrastructure Levy.


Speaking of Peter Craske, another document on his likely blogging activities three years ago has surfaced. An unknown police officer opines that “I cannot see [his] meetings with constituents being confidential”. It also reveals that previous comment here to the effect that the police traced the obscene blog to councillor Craske’s internet connection was wrong. They traced it to his wife’s internet connection.
Police comment
Crossrail has recently provided as much correspondence as Bexley council and if comments from workers on site are to be believed the temporary station at Abbey Wood will open before the end of this month. It should be possible to phone Crossrail’s Helpline and get a definitive answer but unfortunately they never know anything.

Phone calls are answered very promptly and in a friendly manner and they say they will call back on the number they have clearly obtained via CLI (Caller Display), but that’s the last you will ever hear of it. So I cannot tell you why a section of Peabody Homes’ land opposite Lesnes Abbey (Crossrail Site S14) has been fenced off. The money spent on fencing must be enormous. Part of the public footbridge near the station has been fenced off too and that is scheduled to be demolished soon.

Further along the line at Bostall Manorway there is no sign of the footbridge being replaced. My own primitive attempt to measure the width of the bridge suggests it doesn’t need to be widened to accommodate four tracks but the current track alignment doesn’t support the theory. The strip of concrete shown in Photo 2 could be the foundation for the disabled access but there is no matching feature on the other side. If Crossrail replied to enquiries guessing would be unnecessary.

Up on the Harrow Manorway viaduct the pedestrian crossing is nearing completion. Four carriageways are now reduced to two. Did the original viaduct planners envisage spending twice as much on a double width carriageway just to support a bus stop?

Crossrail Crossrail Crosrail Crossrail

Index to past Crossrail blogs.

 

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