25 March (Part 1) - Can Anna hack it?
Fly tipping
has been a problem in my neck of the woods for as long as I can remember so to have
Anna Firth make a big issue of it as part of her election campaign is not a
fundamentally bad thing.
However when both Lesnes Abbey and Belvedere had Conservative councillors I don’t
recall any of them being active on the fly tipping front. Since they were sent packing last May
Danny Hackett (Labour Lesnes Abbey) has been a lot more pro-active. At least twice
he has asked if I could find the time to photograph nearby reported rubbish so that he can
be sure of his ground before notifying the removal team. This was
one that I remember and he
wasn’t even a councillor then. There was another request only yesterday.
When Danny was on my doorstep last weekend
I made a comment on what rubbish one might find in Sevenoaks but it’s a bit too much of a trek to pursue a
none-too-serious remark. Google had to do instead. It revealed that Sevenoaks is
not immune from fly tipping and following some service cuts at county level,
there is no Environmental Team to tidy up promptly or pursue the culprits. One up for Bexley.
Neither borough goes out of its way to be helpful to anyone who might be tempted to fly tip. Bexley charges £30 to take away a
household item and Sevenoaks £17
For
ten large items Sevenoaks charges £50, Bexley’s published charging schedule
maxes out at two items for £30. Maybe Anna Firth could teach Bexley council a
thing or two about waste collection after all - and spelling too.