22 January (Part 2) - The power of one councillor
Some of the Abbey Wood traders are
troubled by fly tipping
outside their premises, the Abbey Arms public house having suffered a recent spate of it. They
said they had examined it and it could be traced to a Bexley address, the pub is
a road width away in Greenwich.
The licensee had been given the run around by Greenwich Council who
said Bexley should collect Bexley residents’ rubbish. Bexley refused to do so
because the dump was across the boundary.
Whilst
still in the pub at the traders’ meeting I texted Councillor Danny Hackett who
did not give up on his street cleaning mission after the 2015 election had come and gone -
unlike some who could be named.
As luck would have it Danny’s homebound train was just pulling into Abbey Wood
station and he leapt out as the doors closed having misinterpreted my cryptic
message about problems outside the Abbey Arms. I suspect Danny would be as
useful in a pub brawl as I would be but full credit for fearlessly dashing to my rescue.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up
Councillor Hackett guaranteed that the rubbish would
be collected next day - and it was. I think it was Greenwich that blinked first and came to their senses.
The publican continued to maintain that it was Bexley rubbish and that Bexley had not provided the
flats opposite with green bins. Possible; there would be no storage space for them.
I think the pub people must have gone on the offensive about it, next morning I found a
notice on one of the alleged offender’s front door. It didn’t remain there long.
Note: Pubs on two consecutive evenings. It won’t happen again
- promise.