6 June (Part 1) - Bexleyheath set to be a ghost town run by ghouls
Cabinet
Member for Traffic and Transport, Alex Sawyer, is fond of saying that motorists
are very often used as a cash cow which I naively believed meant he was against
it. I should have known better. He was not in favour of closing the Belvedere
Splash Park and he was not keen on selling Old Farm Park when he was the
responsible Cabinet Member but he went ahead and voted against the wishes of the
public anyway. Why should we be surprised that parking charges go up by 10%
today, on top of last year’s up to 50% rise, now that he is looking after traffic matters?
Maybe Councillor Sawyer would argue that parking charges were not his business when the
increases were approved but he won’t be able to use that excuse when the
next attack on motorists takes effect. Not that it is just an attack on
motorists, the plan is to attack businesses too, in particular the so called
night time economy of Bexleyheath.
Bexley Council wants to extend parking restrictions to Sunday and to midnight
every day of the week.
They are already blaming residents for their proposal but we all know the
real reason. Bexley Conservatives have run the borough’s economy into the ground
and desperately need the money to avoid going broke. There is to be a
consultation but when has that ever changed anything in Bexley? Never.
I don’t think I can do better than a Bexleyheath resident in
further criticism of the draconian proposals.
As a resident of **** Road I have received
a letter from a Stephen Bates
of Bexley Council Traffic Services
inviting my views on a proposal to extend the
effective hours of the Bexleyheath Town Centre Controlled Parking Zone to
include Sundays and evenings even up to midnight. This is claimed to be in
response to complaints from local residents and businesses about difficulties
being caused by increased levels of on street parking on Sundays and evenings.
What a load of bunkum. The only reason Bexley would like to introduce it would
be the extra pound notes they think they could squeeze from the motorist cash
cow. They see the extra cars on late night shopping nights and Sundays and want
to get their greedy hands on possible extra revenue.
They could though be in for a nasty shock if the Sunday and late night shoppers
just boycotted Bexleyheath and keep going a few more miles to Bluewater with
free parking and a larger range of shops.
The Council letter refers to complaints from businesses but I would have thought
that businesses were more likely to lose trade if this proposal was introduced.
I will of course send in my views to the Council not that I expect they will
make the slightest difference to what the the Council elite will have already
decided will be the outcome of this public consultation.
On a purely selfish level it would not make any difference at all to me
personally since I have a driveway on which I can park my car and am within
walking distance of the Bexleyheath shops. The extra parked cars outside my
house on a Sunday or late night shopping nights do not cause me any problems.
Thinking back though to when I worked early Monday to late Friday and my wife
worked most Saturdays the only times we could go shopping together for larger
household purchases was Sundays or late shopping nights.
For the many people in similar circumstances I would not like to see their lives
made more difficult by money grubbing Bexley Council.
I am surprised that I had not heard anything about this proposal from your blog
or is this perhaps something the inner sanctum of councillors is trying to push
through on the QT without it being discussed at any council meeting?
No, there’s been nothing in Council about that but it’s not just shoppers and restaurant goers who will suffer from
the consequences of Bexley Council’s financial ineptitude but anyone who invites friends round during the
evening or at the weekend. They will need a visitor’s permit.
And what about those of us who go to Council meetings to try to keep tabs on the bastards? I
used to go by bus but it puts an hour or more extra on the time taken out of
life and these days I carry two cameras with big lenses and a sound recorder.
If the only time you can park on a single yellow is to be midnight till eight in
the morning, why not make them all double yellows and be done with it?
How long before their insatiable greed spreads to other areas?
The evil heart of Bexley Council.