2 October (Part 2) - Just when I began to believe that Bexley Council may be going straight they resume their crooked ways
At the beginning of this year it was drawn to my attention that on three
occasions former Councillor Maxine Fothergill had submitted planning
applications in which she declared that the applicant had no connection with Bexley Council.
Michael Barnbrook reported her to the police under some obscure and ancient Act
(Perjury Act 1911) on 31st January but Ms. Fothergill is blessed with a Get Out
of Jail Free card so nothing became of that. The Police are much
more interested in hurtful Tweets.
Maybe it wasn’t the crime of the century and it was subsequently discovered that
other Councillors suffered from the same degree of forgetfulness, Hare brained one might say. Some might see
it as just a minor embarrassment to Bexley Council, nothing more.
It may seem minor to you and me but Bexley Council doesn’t like being found out on anything.
What would they do to put a stop to embarrassing mistakes; issue reminders to Councillors perhaps?
No, that would be too easy and far too honest. Instead they have done something that
is totally effective but at the same time irredeemably deceitful. They have removed all the
completed planning application forms from the their website. Whether Councillors
be crooked or forgetful they are now safe from criticism and that is all that matters to a bent Council.
I really was hoping that Bexley Council was more honest now than when I started
Bonkers in 2009 but it would appear that I am to be disappointed.
I cannot check every planning application obviously but
I have looked at a few old ones at random and it would appear to be an
across the board withdrawal, not just Councillors.
Note: A correspondent has suggested that the withdrawal of planning applications
from public view probably has nothing to do with Maxine Fothergill’s
fogetfulness, much more likely to be connected to the publication on Bonkers of
Leader Teresa O’Neill’s application last April. I had forgotten that, yes, much
more likely that Council policy has been changed on the instructions of the Great Dictator in order to protect herself from scrutiny.