19 June (Part 5) - In Bexley, don’t go out without a jam jar or bottle
Wherever
you look at the moment, Twitter, Facebook, Streetlife etc. people seem to be
thoroughly pee’d off with Bexley Council. It comes as no surprise to me, the
neglect can be seen everywhere.
On Streetlife the current topics are
parking ticket machines which allow drivers
to insert the old fee and issue a ticket without any warning that the price has
gone up and that old complaint,
the lack of public toilets.
Bexley has a list of public toilets on its website and the traditional bogs
recorded are as follows…
• Bexleyheath Cemetery, Banks Lane
• Erith Cemetery, Brook Street
• Sidcup Cemetery, Foots Cray Lane
• Hillview Cemetery, Wickham Street, Welling
• Library, Bellegrove Road, Welling
• Belvedere Recreation Ground, Woolwich Road
• Danson Park (Adjacent to Mansion)
• Foots Cray Meadows (Special events only)
• Lesnes Abbey (Adjacent to Information Centre)
• Sidcup Place Recreation Ground
Not a lot is it? And it’s worse than it looks.
The
cemetery toilets are only available to those with a RADAR key and those in
the Belvedere Recreation Ground are part of the sports facility and you’d have
to be in the know to be aware of them at all.
I once went into Welling Library looking for the toilet and the lady on the
desk, a volunteer perhaps, didn’t have a clue where they might be. Nearer to
home, the Lesnes Abbey facilities were demolished 18 months ago.
So if you ignore those that are not freely available 24/7 the list boils down to perhaps one - at best!
The decision to sell off public toilets was taken by Councillor Gareth Bacon.
There is nothing in Abbey Wood, the Belvedere shopping area, Bexley, Blackfen, Footscray (most of
the time), Northumberland Heath, Slade Green or Thamesmead. Keep your legs crossed.
Note: There are said to be automated cubicles in
Bexleyheath, Crayford, Erith and Sidcup if you can find them.