17 March - One serious error is careless, two is incompetence
Senseless in Sidcup
Can
you believe that in the almost ten months it took to
improve the look of
Sidcup, absolutely none of Bexley council’s highly paid managers and engineering
staff noticed that the new footpaths buried all the water stop cocks leading to
the shops? Probably you can if you have lived in the borough long enough.
As a result of Bexley council’s negligence, Thames Water is digging up the new paving and
burrowing into the mud. The job is scheduled to take all week and Sidcup High
Street has reverted to one way working.
Original cost of scheme : £1·8 million.
The council officer whose job it was to report progress on the Sidcup
regeneration at council meetings was Mrs. Jane Richardson (Director of
Strategic Planning and Regeneration, £86,940 per annum plus usual perks) and the cabinet member in charge was
councillor Cheryl Bacon who
famously closed the public meeting which announced
it because she imagined that I and others were running riot in the council
chamber that night. A lie for which there is still a good chance that the police will
feel her collar before long - unless they succumb to political interference as
has become the norm when a Bexley councillor breaks the law.
Blockheads in Bexleyheath
In
Bexleyheath the year and a bit old blocked junctions in Arnsberg are being ripped up and replaced with
asphalt. When the £3·2 million award winning scheme was under construction, the
man often to be seen overseeing the work and who spoke about it a meetings was
David Bryce-Smith (£90,393 plus perks). Deputy Director of Development at the time.
It is now said that the basic design was wrong, which probably means that Bexley council has
belatedly realised what many people have seen elsewhere. viz. blocks and buses don’t mix.
Work is expected to last eight weeks.
Numpties in North Heath
Northumberland
Heath may be the perfect example of how £100,000 goes nowhere these days. There
was an exhibition in the library (while there still is one in North Heath) and
there was a consultations with the local forums who were less than enthusiastic
about the idea and who may be less so now.
All there is to show for the money is a couple of fancy railings either side of
Mill Road, a couple of impractical granite benches, a flower bed and some flags
flying from lamp posts.
Within yards of the new features the old remain to provide a contrast. The
bollard is especially impressive and parking spaces are still at a considerable premium.
Cabinet member Philip Read was especially proud of this scheme but within
months it is likely to be forgotten.
All the street photographs were taken today.