21 March (Part 4) - Abbey Wood again. It’s going to be carnage
It is pretty clear now that
the information about the Abbey Arms that reached
the local traders at their monthly meeting was to coin a phrase, total bullsh*t.
What has in practice happened is in line with what was said six months ago but
not what the traders were told only two weeks ago. The Abbey Arms is shut for three months while it is transformed
into something more in keeping with what Peabody and others have in mind for the area.
It was on the basis of what turns out to be misinformation that the traders chose to stage the next Market on 29th June but
with pub closure scheduled until mid-Summer there will be some who may wish they hadn’t.
Given that you can’t rely on what anyone says any more I hesitate to pass on the
following but it comes from within F.M. Conway and someone who really should know what he is talking about.
Wilton Road is now scheduled for closure on 1st April. It will allow Gayton Road
and the area outside the Abbey Arms to be given the granite block treatment.
The road barrier will be placed such that BT vehicles can get into the telephone
exchange but vehicles will not be allowed to go any further. The road will be made
two way but the turning circle which a Councillor was promised will not be provided.
Drivers will be expected to perform a three point turn, using the BT entrance
road presumably, and depart as they arrived.
What is even odder is that parking will be permitted on both sides of the road
except perhaps for a couple of bays outside the flower shop to allow for easier reversals.
The promise to resurface the whole of Wilton Road, made when the new footpaths were constructed, appears to have
fallen down a budgetary black hole for now at least.
It is going to be total chaos and I will make a point of not taking my car
there. Fortunately the 244 buses will have no need to use the road, they will
have to do a U turn on Knee Hill. If you have never thought that Bexley’s
traffic planning is crazy you soon will.
Note: All as stated by a man on the ground today. Believe it if you like!