12 April - Slowly but surely, Bexley as you know it disappears
I’m loathe to admit it for fear of being labelled a hypochondriac but I have
spent the last week dozing in a chair feeling more dead than alive. Obviously
the flu jab doesn’t work because the bug has come and got me, I think it is four times since last August.
Everything has been neglected, correspondence and this
blog in particular. Fortunately not a great deal of interest has come to light
but this evening’s Cabinet meeting will see another step taken towards Bexley
becoming a concrete jungle. The only significant item on the Agenda is the Disposal of Four Open Spaces.
The meeting will note that
the General Purposes Committee made no objection and saw no reason to either Listen to you, or Work for you.
The juggernaut will simply be put into a higher gear and nothing can be done about it before May 2018.
Whilst
Old Farm Park is the obvious high profile casualty of Bexley Council’s
many mistakes, the loss of smaller green sites goes by almost unnoticed. The
Crossness Nature Reserve is under threat from its neighbours, there was
a
protest meeting two weeks ago, and Crayford is in even more imminent danger. The
Crayford Rough, rated “one of the best wildlife sites in London” and home to rare
orchids, lizards and slow worms is recommended by Bexley Council for a six storey housing
complex. As if building in Erith Quarry had not caused quite enough environmental damage already.
There is just about time to make an objection. All the details are available
with relevant links on
the Bexley Wildlife website. But be quick, the planning meeting is on Thursday.
When I was a kid you could collect lizards from almost any ditch or waterlogged
bomb crater. There will soon be nothing left to make a semi-rural walk worthwhile.