15 September (Part 2) - Delayed traffic report
Rather late in the day I remembered that today is the seventh anniversary of Bexley Council is Bonkers.
It went on line because I discovered that Bexley Council had lied to me and I naively thought
it was something exceptional. How wrong I was, I soon discovered from even the
earliest public responses that Bexley will lie to and where possible be vengeful towards anyone
who questions their decisions.
It was fashionable at the time to blog on whatever subject took one’s fancy so
an extra section was tacked on to the website as an afterthought. More than
3,000 blogs later the blog has taken over from the general information pages and
the site structure remains somewhat compromised by that original decision.
Yesterday I promised to review the recording of this week’s Transport meeting
and after some digital manipulation of the file I have made it audible.
Various subjects are summarised here and the following should be regarded
as an addendum to yesterday’s report.
Councillor Tandy felt that the Sub-Groupဲ’s proposals may have assumed that Bexley is
a much bigger place than it is. Bexley’s transport guru, Tiffany Lynch, was
inclined to agree but said it was the principle rather than the scale that was important.
Councillor Tandy sought clarification on the quoted 78% increase in potential
employees living within a 45 minute drive of the Belvedere Industrial estate
following the construction of a Belvedere river crossing. Did that figure take
account of the crossing? Ms. Lynch said it did. It was difficult to see how it could be otherwise.
Councillor Cheryl Bacon was not entirely happy that the Group’s report favoured
“a tunnel (not a bridge) at Gallions and Belvedere”. She thought it wise to be
more flexible about the type of crossing.
While discussing Councillor Hackett’s concerns for a Crossrail Tax on his ward
residents by way of an extended Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) I thought the
usually excellent Tiffany Lynch rather put her foot in it. She said “the permits
must be charged for because otherwise the money would have to be found from
somewhere else”. This is nonsense. The Crossrail Tax would be a bonus that landed
fortuitously in Bexley Council’s lap. Not only that but Crossrail has agreed to
fund the installation of a CPZ if the Council decides to go ahead with the
expansion. “A survey will be conducted within the next four to six weeks and be very extensive.”
Ms. Lynch went on to say that in some areas there is insufficient room outside houses
for every resident to park a car. Showing a typical local authority mindset Ms. Lynch
said this was not the fault of the permit system but, by implication, the
fault of residents. They own too many cars. The fact that car ownership is
higher in Bexley than in any other London borough may be related to the Tory administration being against,
until the recent change of mind, expansion of the
borough’s transport infrastructure. On the other hand, Ms. Lynch’s idea that a
CPZ should not be imposed until after Crossrail opens seems entirely sensible.
Only at that stage would there be a public consultation.
Councillor Cheryl Bacon spoke up for more intelligent traffic lights and like
everyone else is unhappy with lights operating to a fixed time plan. Traffic
lights are controlled by Transport for London. Gareth Bacon is Bexley and Bromley’s GLA member.
Maybe Cheryl could put in a good word for Bexley’s hard pressed motorists?