28 February - A failing borough

Bexley Conservatives don’t seem to like slogans but when it suits them are happy to indulge themselves. “Working for you, listening to you” and “Trusted by Bexley residents”. I still prefer the one that appeared in The News Shopper a dozen years ago. “Vindictive, Spiteful, Criminal.”

How are their 2018 Manifesto promises coming along? Failed on trees, failed on new green space. What about schools?
Not exactly brilliant. Twice as bad as Greenwich, three times as bad as Bromley.

Graph by @tonyofsidcup.

 

27 February - A failing contractor

Contrary to the promises of Cabinet Member Peter Craske, CountryStyle have been total rubbish at emptying the bins which serve the flats opposite my house.

As explained previously the rubbish contractor rarely replaced this almost new paper bin properly after emptying it leaving it inaccessible. This in turn led to it being vandalised by the sort of people the local flats have too often attracted, not to mention the contamination. The lid hinge is bent and broken and the lock is nowhere to be seen. I removed carpet and plastic from it earlier today.

Much the same thing happened last April with Serco in charge and the flats were deprived of a paper collection service for nearly two months but anything Serco can do CountryStyle can do better. This series of photographs goes back to 30th November last year.

 

24 February - Manifestos and Mendacity

Bexley Conservatives have become even more cunning over the years, their Election Manifestos are not really promises any more, they are aspirations; a bit like the national situation and the promises made on the pensions triple lock and National Insurance contributions. If Rishi Sunak ever becomes Prime Minister I might as well join the Labour Party; but I digress - again.

Despite the change in tactics, Bexley Conservatives are claiming to have kept all their 2018 promises and veering into Cloud Cuckoo Land by stating that it is trusted by Bexley residents.

They say they have made ‘An Even Better Bexley’. Name one thing that is better now than in 2018. Ask any ten residents at random if they trust their Council.

My new Russian friend - is one allowed to say that any more? - @tonyofsidcup asked Bexley Council in a Freedom of Information Request where the two new hectares of green space is, or even where it was targeted.

They know absolutely nothing about it. Somewhat reminiscent of Cabinet Member Peter Craske ten years ago responding to a resident’s question at Full Council by saying that a parking survey had been conducted but a follow up FOI confirmed that it hadn’t.

Mendacity is in the DNA of the ruling elite on Bexley Council.

You may judge if the 1,000 new trees promise has been fulfilled here. (Clue: They included the 236 trees planted in the year before the Manifesto promise to get the figure up to 1,000 and more than 100 were funded by Network Rail as part of the Crossrail improvements.)

 

23 February - This and that again

The Maggot Sandwich
Hugh Neal repeated on his Maggot Sandwich blog, with permission, what had appeared here on 18th February and commented “Malcolm does not watch the BBC or use BBC iPlayer, and thus has no need of a TV licence” which is true but unfortunately is not the whole story. In a fit of technological madness around 15 years ago I rigged a satellite dish which could be steered east and west and pick up broadcasts from the Middle East and all points in between. I soon got fed up with savages burning effigies of President George Bush, which was far more common than you might guess. 5,000 channels of trash is of no more value than 500 or 50.

However the point is that if I did that now I could be locked up. It is not just the BBC you need a licence to watch but anything transmitted from anywhere and received live, as it happens.

It is one of many reasons which caused me to become disenchanted with the BBC, others being the fact that their technical standards do not (did not when I last looked) meet the minimum technical standards set by the European Broadcasting Union of which the BBC was a founding member. And then their is their biased and censored news output. So I do not watch any live TV more have I ever registered for iPlayer. Mind you, I spend more on Blu-ray discs than a licence would cost but it is the principle that counts isn’t it?

The Election looms
I received my first election leaflet this week, it was from the Conservatives and tries to kid you that they have met 100% of the election promises, a claim that has already been debunked.

What I doubt we will be seeing this year is a reminder that Labour raised Council Tax by 40% during their four years of power that ended 16 years ago. By the time of the election in May, Conservative tax rises will have exceeded half of that in only four years.

The Conservative theme for 2022 is that they are trusted by Bexley residents. What a load of nonsense, nobody in their right mind trusts any politician after witnessing the past two years.

Here we go again
Some truly awful things have happened in Bexley over the past ten or twelve years. Rhys Lawrie died from parental abuse and Council neglect. Barbara Baker died alone because of Bexley Council’s mismanagement and sheer idiocy. Whistleblowers have been sacked for revealing malpractice and numerous children have been snaffled away from their families without obvious justification. And let’s not get into the criminal activities which have provoked police interest.

Emails such as this (just the tiniest extract below) therefore ring a variety of alarm bells…

Please, I need some help and advice. This evil Council have been…

They want to drag me into Court and my husband! We are both in our 60’s and have caused no harm to anyone yet these bastards just want to keep pursuing me!

The subject in dispute is entirely lacking but it is reminiscent of the war waged by Bexley Council on Rita Grootendorst. A war they eventually lost when a judge saw through their game.

I will have to try to find time for some sleuthing.

 

21 February - Just who can be believed in Bexley?

The Budget meeting report inevitably included Councillor Nicola Taylor’s continuing criticism of Bexley Council’s housing policy; fiasco or disaster depending on one’s point of view.

She said that Bexley had failed the Government’s Housing Delivery Test and the Cabinet Member for Growth vigorously denied it. Nicola Taylor suggested he looked at the Government website.

Probably he didn’t look but it was an open invitation to take a break from literal shit-shovelling to the metaphorical and search www.gov.uk.

Is Bexley listed as a failed authority? 21 Authorities are said to have failed the housing test with Lib Dem controlled Councils disproportionately represented. Conservative and Labour Councils share the honours equally and…

Yes; Bexley is on the list. It missed its target by 7%.

Oh dear!

Cabinet Member Munur seems to be ultra loyal to his boss but maybe less so to those who sleep in shop doorways. Bexley Council says there are none but it is not what local charities (an a vicar) have been saying recently.

 

18 February (Part 2) - “Sheer lunacy” from this Tory Government

And now for the final hour of last week’s budget scrutiny meeting which was all about the Medium Term Financial Strategy. MTFS. A bit repetitive because the same subject was discussed at Public Cabinet but at least we were spared hearing the Finance Director’s spiel again; it was straight into questions.

Councillor Nicola Taylor (Labour, Erith) jumped in with Temporary Accommodation - what else? Spending is shooting up, more details please.

The TA contracts are being renegotiated and the prices are going up. That accounts for about half of the expenditure which rises from approximately one, two, three and four and a half million pounds over the four years to 2025/26. The rest is “latent demand”. (The anticipated growth.)

Councillor Taylor said the Council had failed to future proof itself by ensuring a bigger supply of more permanent housing.

Councillor Alex Sawyer - remember him? - asked how the Council was managing its exposure to the risk of the PPP contract while unfortunately not explaining to lesser mortals what PPP is.

The Finance Director said there was no problem, the contract was in place and there is a reserve to cover it with inflation fully covered. The acronym remained a mystery. (Some research says it is the Public Private Partnership which exists between the Council and the Leisure centre contractors.)

Councillor Cheryl Bacon (Conservative, Sidcup) asked why it was assumed within the MTFS that the Council Tax Base would not increase and what was being done to recover the “substantial debt” owed by “key partners”.

She was told that the CTB has traditionally increased by around 1% a year but it has not been achieved in recent years hence the change this year and last. The NHS and SE London Clinical Commissioning Group have recently paid some of their debts so the situation is now better under control.

Nicola Taylor was back, this time on the staff vacancies in the housing department which does the homeless no favours. How have the salary savings been reallocated? The Director said that some of the vacancies are in the process of being filled but even so there is likely to be a one million pound underspend. The answer probably missed the point but nobody noticed.

Councillor Sawyer (Conservative, St. Mary’s & St. James) asked if the Government had issued any guidance on how the £150 Council Tax rebate should be administered. Not yet apparently but expected soon. Even those who have not paid their CT or are behind with their payments will get the £150. Councillor Sawyer said that is ֧“sheer lunacy”.

Councillor Taylor found another excuse to refer to housing or rather the lack of it. Covid had highlighted the problem especially among single adults. The supplementary Agenda report prompted her to ask “has Bexley failed the Government’s Housing Delivery Test and are we now required to create a Housing Action Plan?” Cabinet Member for Growth Cafer Munur strongly disagreed and produced a load of figures that he said proved his case. “Bexley is open for business.”

Councillor Taylor suggested that the Cabinet Member looked at the Government website which picks out Bexley as a failed borough when it come to housing. She went on to say that the housing problems arise from the Council not adopting the Labour plan to build houses. Councillor Munur said he would not be making that mistake and that was important. He did not want to see another Thamesmead or Kidbrook development - where he had grown up.

Cabinet Member Gower supported her colleague and said that schemes such as Old Farm Park were the way forward. “Everybody enjoys the higher standards. It is not a housing estate it is a community.”

Councillor Taylor said “we need more than just a dozen houses in Sidcup”. Councillor Munur said that Labour’s plans would simply cost too much and he would not stop making that point.

 

18 February (Part 1) - Scammed

It wasn’t a New Year’s resolution as such but it was around the turn of the year that I decided that I was spending far too much time at the keyboard or doing much the same on the smart phone and I should try to behave more like a normal human being. I contemplated buying a TV licence but paying the BBC seemed to be a step too far, instead I started ordering DVDs and wasting my time watching films.

It started with the new James Bond which I enjoyed and before long more films arrived from Amazon, HMV and Zavvi. Not many from HMV because I really can’t get on with their website but on 19th January I made my third order from Zavvi.

A neighbour, no not that one, told me that Zavvi were bad news; unreliable and useless if something went wrong but all my discs arrived in perfect condition and in good time but while acknowledging that third order they linked me to a page to say that I qualified for a special offer. I looked at it and instantly decided it was not for me; something about joining a discount club. I don’t even have a store card; can’t be bothered. I simply closed the web page and forgot about it.

At 06:27 on 7th February I received an email from a company called Complete Savings which told me that on the 13th of every month they were going to debit my credit card with £15 as a member of their club. I knew the source was Zavvi because with my first order I set up a unique email address for them only, zavvi@mydomain.co.uk. Complete Scammings had used that email address.

Complete Savings is a Swiss company. Swizz company?

As invited above I responded at 07:58 the same day to tell them where they could go.

On 13th February my credit card was debited, fraudulently in my opinion, and I phoned the credit card company, MBNA, expecting the worst. I was wrong. Once I had identified myself and their lady was able to look at my account she guessed what I was going to complain about. Complete Savings is well known at MBNA for wrongly helping itself to their customers’ money. It was all very easy, especially as I had refused Complete Savings’s offer within 90 minutes of them making it, and I can expect a refund within two or three days.

The MBNA lady was kind enough to give me the full contact details for the Swiss scammers and recommended I phone them to reinforce my email message. That did not go well. I was asked for my membership number and as I had never joined I didn’t have one. How I was supposed to take advantage of the discount offer without the number I have no idea.

So there you are, it’s a wicked world out there. Zavvi get no more orders, the unique email address is now cancelled, Complete Savings is exposed as an unprincipled foreign company but MBNA as Credit Card provider come up smelling of roses.

For the record I really liked the new James Bond film although I know two people who hated it. I am still avoiding TV but instead managed to get YouTube on to it and having made my first amplifier from valves and things in 1957 I am currently fascinated by videos of old Hi-Fi equipment. I have learned that the turntable I may have paid £19 for more than 60 years ago now changes hands for more than £3,000. And mine is still in its original box up in the roof! (£19 was more than two week’s pay.)

I will be careful climbing the ladder to retrieve the turntable and you should be very wary of the two words Complete Savings.

 

17 February - Free garden waste service and cheaper parking. Don’t hold your breath

There is yet another Scrutiny meeting on Bexley’s budget to report. Did anything fundamentally new arise? Maybe just a little.

First the usual report from the Director that everything in the Adult Social Care arena is better than ever but the cost of achieving a good outcome keeps rising, Circa £3 million a year higher than a couple of years ago. Councillor Wendy Perfect (Northumberland Heath) the Labour ‘shadow’ asked how the extra costs would be managed. There was no straight answer. Too many unknowns and past trends are unreliable. Pay inflation would be a big problem.

Councillor Pallen (Conservative, Bexleyheath) said that some ‘children’, many in their 50s have been looked after by family members for decades. What happens when the family can no longer manage? Charities seemed to be the answer.

Moving to Children’s Care it was reported that there had been a 20% increase in demand “over the Covid period” and a 22% rise in cost per unit. There is a nine point plan to cover these unwelcome developments. Councillor Perfect asked the same question as she did earlier. “How will the Department cope with the extra costs?” She was told “the environment is really challenging for the future”.

Councillor Richard Diment (Conservative, Sidcup) noted that foster carers have been more difficult to find, possibly due to Covid, and feared that would drive up costs. He was told that Bexley was in a better position than most Councils and the reliance on external providers is lower than most London boroughs. Nevertheless the foster care recruitment team is being expanded.

Councillor Newton (Conservative, East Wickham) asked which of the nine point plan are new ideas. The response went on for nearer six minutes than five and explained what each of the nine was about but failed to address the specific question.

Parking, Leisure and Waste costs were discussed next.

The share of revenue with the Leisure providers is not expected to recover any time soon. It will still be down by £261,000 in the next financial year before reverting to something like normal in 2024/25.

Parking revenue is down on all fronts; about £2·9 million this year but the deficit is likely to reduce to £855,000 in 2022/23. Enforcement Officers are proving to be difficult to recruit at the moment and according to Councillor Diment  around £1·65 million of parking PCNs remain outstanding. The answer was of the all too common Bexley is not as bad as the others variety.

The budget predictions for waste have been affected by Covid and the Serco strike. About £580,000 of planned savings will not be achieved this year but next year only food waste is likely to cost more than what was budgeted. About £100,000 more.

Ground maintenance costs will rise by “just over £500,000 a year” in order to pay the London Living Wage and buy some new equipment.

Councillor Melvyn Seymour (Conservative, Crayford) said there were indications that green waste collection would become a statutory requirement and if that happens it would knock a £2 million hole in the budget and a big change to the contract with CountryStyle. The Director of Finance said that he expected the Government to provide funding and no dates were known.

Councillor Nigel Betts (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) said that parking charges are always going up but has anyone considered the impact of a freeze or even a reduction. The surprising response was; “that is absolutely something we want to look at in coming years.”

Councillor Joe Ferreira (Labour, Erith) asked if there had been any modelling on the effect of lower charges up until now. Err, “No.”

Councillor Daniel Francis (Labour, Belvedere) said that an analysis of the figures provided for the future of parking revenue suggested “a smoke and mirrors approach” and a failure to hit any target. The Council Officer’s response was hesitant and unconvincing. When all is said and done he was only guessing in unprecedented circumstances.

Councillor Francis repeated his point that the Council will only make 39% of its predicted on street parking revenue this year but had adjusted the figure to look like 44%. He produced the financial figures to prove his case. There was no explanation.

By this point with the subject matter about to change, the meeting was exactly half way through its two hours and ten minutes but that is quite enough blog tedium for just one day!

 

16 February - Full circle

As you can see this paper waste bin is quite new having been provided only last May. I suspect it is fairly standard issue; a flap at the front and the whole lockable top section hinged so that it can be easily emptied into a refuse truck.

Before it arrived the old bin was abused and contaminated such that Bexley Council refused to empty it for two months or more. It looks as though history is repeating itself.

Surely every bin man knows which way round such a bin is supposed to be placed but most - and probably everyone since CountryStyle took over the contract - replaces it front to wall so that the flap is inaccessible. Eventually someone got fed up with the situation and wrenched open the top lid, demolishing the lock (it has simply disappeared) and bending the hinge such that the lid no longer fits properly.

Now that the lid is easy to open the bin has had polystyrene and plastic dumped within it which probably gets it labelled “contaminated” and once more, we go weeks without it being emptied.

It is not Bexley’s biggest problem but indicates yet again what a useless bunch our Council is and how little they supervise their contractors.

Ultimately the situation is down to bad behaviour by residents some of whom simply do not know what civilised behaviour is or can be bothered to learn the language and maybe comprehend the rules. That is nothing new but I seem to have acquired such people right next door to me.

It is now part of my daily routine to clear their rubbish from their sewer before it enters mine and blocks it. I have been assured that only regular toilet paper is flushed away but yesterday I fished out a large blood stained wodge of fibrous material. Bexley Council says it is not their concern and maybe it isn’t and Thames Water is only interested in selling me a ten pound a month insurance policy to cover the shared sewer. Shared sewers have been their responsibility since 2011.

The time is approaching when I will have to plug up my neighbour’s sewer pipe so that they have no access to mine. It is not a satisfactory or complete solution as the underground pipe layout is such that I cannot prevent access from their downstairs bog, only the upstairs one.

Cultural diversity is a wondrous thing.

 

15 February - Who is destroying Bexley’s parks?

I miss the days when nearly all the research into Bexley Council was done by Mick Barnbrook, Elwyn Bryant, Nicholas Dowling, John Kerlen and John Watson and all I had to do was write it up for Bonkers. It is just not the same when for the most part I have to stick around waiting for something to drop into my lap but for the past year or so there has been a new kid on the block who calls himself @tonyofsidcup.

He must be doing a good job because nearly every Bexley Councillor has blocked him on Twitter whereas I am only blocked by one Councillor who I might be tempted to follow. Philip Read blocked me on the day I opened a Twitter account which speaks volumes for his interest in democracy.

@tonyofsidcup must be a pain in the backside to Bexley Council with his FOIs and appeals to the Information Commissioner but he should count himself lucky that Bexley Council even accepts them; they banned Michael Barnbrook from making FOIs and convinced the ICO that they were right to do so by claiming he was conducting a racist campaign against the then Monitoring Officer when Mick was only acting as John Watson’s front man. They threatened to take John to Court for his part in the saga.

And now, until Bexley Council works out what to do with him we have @tonyofsidcup who has become more than a little interested in the housing developments at Old Farm Park.

The following is written entirely by him, not a word has been changed.

When Louie French ran for MP in late 2021, he made a “Green Spaces pledge”. “Our green spaces are really important”, said Louie. “It’s why I’ve always supported them - whether that’s by litter picking in local parks or by planting more trees. As MP, I’m ready to take that action further - by leading the fight against any inappropriate developments in our community. That’s what I’m pledging to the voters at this election”.

Five years earlier, Councillor French took time off litter-picking and tree-planting to vote for Sidcup’s Old Farm green space being bulldozed and built over. Two years later, he cast another vote, effectively condemning Old Farm as well as Erith’s West Street and Wilde Road parks.

“Another Tory hypocrite”, you will say, “Tell me something I don’t know”. I will oblige, by briefly recapping the story of Bexley’s destroyed parks, and naming and shaming the current Tory councillors who rubber-stamped the looting.

The Great Bexley Park Sell-Off got going in 2015, when the cash-strapped council considered disposal of 10 park sites, then whittled the number down to 4 - Old Farm, West Street and the two parts of the Wilde Road site. (As the council’s asset liquidators were scouring the list of Bexley’s parks and open spaces, one site they never saw was a Bexleyheath green space known as Burr Farm. Once a school playing field, it remained an “educational” land asset long after the school closed. Burr Farm neighbours, including a certain Teresa O’Neill, never knew they dodged the bullet).

The first vote, by Bexley’s Cabinet, took place in November 2015 and got the ball rolling, asking the General Purposes committee to consult with residents and produce a go/no-go recommendation. “Go”, the committee voted in March 2016, ignoring a wave of public protest and demands for a public inquiry, and the Cabinet sanctioned the sell-off in April 2016. As the estimated value of Old Farm was in excess of £3 million, a full-council vote was required for that site. The Tory majority, including Cllr French, duly delivered a “yes” before April was out. After these four votes, the fate of Old Farm, West Street and Wilde Road was sealed, but there was a fifth vote. In March 2018, in one of its signature “let’s ask the Tories to vote for an amendment calling them idiots” moves, Bexley’s Labour faction - the story’s powerless good guys - made a proposal to roll back the park disposals. The proposal was predictably voted down, and that was it.

It took six months and five votes - two by the full council, two by the Cabinet, and one by the General Purposes committee - to destroy three Bexley parks. Councillors who were Cabinet Members got the most chances to vote - and so the list of Bexley parks’ worst enemies predictably includes the trio of Teresa O’Neill, Peter Craske and Philip Read, plus Alex Sawyer, who each voted against parks four times. A few Tory luminaries soiled their reputations three times, and most ended up with two.

Three individual cases are worth highlighting. First, there is Sidcup’s June Slaughter, who, along with the other two Sidcup Ward councillors, Aileen Beckwith and Rob Leitch, spoke against the Old Farm sale before the General Purposes committee and actually voted against it in April 2016. By March 2018, however, Cllr Slaughter had given up on Old Farm and voted against the Labour amendment.

“Hold on”, I hear fellow Sidcupians say, “Old Farm is not in Sidcup Ward, it’s in Blackfen and Lamorbey. Where were that ward’s councillors?” B&L councillors at the time were Peter Craske, Brian Beckwith and Chris Taylor. Both Beckwith and Taylor departed in 2018 - the flamboyant Mr Taylor is now making a comeback - and were replaced by Cllrs Munur and Hunt. What is interesting about this is that both newcomers - now a Cabinet Member and a Mayor, respectively - were on the General Purposes committee when it figuratively stabbed Old Farm. Despite this, they were parachuted into the ward - and were elected! The perfect crime?

If the stories of Cllrs Slaughter, Munur and Hunt are depressing, the last one is an uplifting story of a lucky escape. Look at the table below - is there a current Bexley councillor who was a councillor in 2015-18 (this rules out Cllrs Diment, Gower, Jackson and Moore) but does not have a single recorded vote against Bexley’s parks? Yes, there is. Cllr John Davey was absent from the March 2018 full-council meeting where the Labour “rollback” proposal was dismissed, but, oddly, his name is also nowhere to be found in the records of the April 2016 full-council meeting that condemned Old Farm. (Cllr Davey did not respond to a Twitter question about his Old Farm vote). On paper, Cllr Davey has no incriminating votes on parks.

He is the only one. With the genuine exception of Cllr Slaughter and a random exception of Cllr Downing (a no-show at one of the full-council votes), each sitting Tory councillor who was asked to vote on the future of Bexley’s parks repeatedly betrayed them. If you care about Bexley, please bear this in mind when you vote in May.

@tony kindly provided links to his sources…

Public Cabinet, 2015-11-17
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=149&MID=27891#AI26424
Membership:
Councillors Linda Bailey, Peter Craske, John Fuller, Don Massey, Teresa O'Neill (Chairman), Eileen Pallen, Philip Read and Alex Sawyer (Vice-Chairman).
Apologies were received from Councillors John Fuller and Eileen Pallen.
“Without dissent”

General Purposes Committee, 2016-03-15
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=145&MId=27946&Ver=4
Councillors Linda Bailey, Chris Beazley, Aileen Beckwith, Nigel Betts (Vice-Chairman), Alan Deadman, Daniel Francis, Geraldene Lucia-Hennis, Sharon Massey, Cafer Munur (Chairman) and Nick O'Hare
Apologies were received from Councillors Linda Bailey and Aileen Beckwith and Councillors James Hunt and David Hurt respectively attended the meeting as their substitutes

Public Cabinet, 2016-04-12
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=149&MId=27895&Ver=4
Membership:
Councillors Linda Bailey, Peter Craske, John Fuller, Don Massey, Teresa O’Neill OBE (Chairman), Eileen Pallen, Philip Read and Alex Sawyer (Vice-Chairman).

Council, 2016-04-20
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=148&MId=27887&Ver=4
For
Councillors Ashmole, Cheryl Bacon, Bailey, Brian Beckwith, Betts, Brian Bishop, Christine Bishop, Camsey, Catterall, Clark, Craske, D’Amiral, Dourmoush, Fothergill, French, Fuller, Hall, Hunt, Hurt, Leaf, Lucia-Hennis, Don Massey, Sharon Massey, Munur, Newton, O’Hare, O’Neill, Pallen, Pollard,
Read, Reader, Sawyer, Seymour, Brad Smith, Tandy, Waters and Wilkinson.

Council, 2018-03-07
https://democracy.bexley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=148&MId=28508&Ver=4
Against
Councillors Ashmole, Cheryl Bacon, Gareth Bacon, Bailey, Aileen Beckwith, Brian Beckwith, Betts, Brian Bishop, Christine Bishop, Camsey, Catterall, Clark, Craske, Dourmoush, Alan Downing, Ross Downing, French, Fuller, Hall, Hunt, Leaf, Lucia-Hennis, Marriner, Don Massey, Sharon Massey, Munur, Newton, O’Hare, O’Neill, Pallen Read, Reader, Sams, Sawyer, Seymour, Slaughter, Brad Smith, Tandy, Waters and Wilkinson.

Their votes for selling Old Farm Park presented in graphical form…

Note: We seem to be missing a Bacon. Cheryl Bacon 2 votes, Gareth Bacon 1?

 

14 February - Not so innocent after all

“The problem in Bexley is largely caused by Labour councils sending their homeless to Bexley and causing a shortage here.”

So said the Leader a couple of weeks ago and her claim on behalf of Bexley Council to be looking after its temporarily housed residents placed in boroughs far away much better than Labour boroughs who abandoned their residents in Bexley was the subject of a minor push back.

Minor in terms of numbers but serious if true.

The only case of displacement that ever got close to me did not go amazingly well. A lady who lived not far away was shifted down to Gravesend and didn’t get what she bargained for. I never did quite get to the bottom of that story because Bexley Council denied it and I lost contact with the lady in question. Bexley had to be given the benefit of the doubt so when I got another similar message I was just a little bit wary.

It concerned a single parent family the head of which became very seriously ill and nearly died. Just what one doesn’t need at such a time is to be evicted but Bexley Council stepped in and rehoused them out of borough, as is almost the norm.

Once safely there they were invited for reasons which are not totally clear to me to swap their new abode for a hotel room - just for two days. It is alleged that that is a ruse which would have allowed Bexley Council to repudiate all their responsibilities.

Fortunately the ‘advice’ was not followed. Unfortunately Bexley Council told the family they were going to be evicted for ignoring it.

Legal opinion was that an eviction in such circumstances would be unprecedented especially as by then the pandemic was at its height and any eviction would be illegal.

The County Court staff went further and said the procedure adopted by Bexley Council would have been illegal at any time. When asked to specify the part of the Court’s Civil Procedural Rules (CPR) which allowed such a move, Bexley was unable to specify the section they had taken as their authorisation.

For resisting the eviction notice the family had their welfare support terminated and Bexley Council said it had fulfilled all their legal duties.

Cut off by Bexley Council the family attempted to seek support from their adopted local authority but they refused to assist citing Bexley’s actions.

There was no alternative but to turn to a charity for help but that was not a lot of use either, in the end help came from a private benefactor who was both enormously generous and supportive.

A worrying story which has been totally rewritten to protect the source. There was however a clue as to where in Bexley the family had lived and as luck would have it one of the ward Councillors has proved to be a friendly soul in the past.

Was the tale of woe recognised? was the question. It was and broadly correct too.

As well as confirmation that Bexley Council may not be as helpful to the homeless as the Leader would have us believe the reply included a political message.

“Bexley’s answer is to try to dump their responsibility elsewhere, wherever and whenever they can. The real answer is to build social housing and properly solve the housing problem. There are undoubtedly parties placed in Bexley by other London Boroughs, but to try and present the picture that Bexley is an entirely innocent player and the victim of sharp practice by other London Boroughs has about as much chance of flying as believing that Boris Johnson is a morally driven and ethically based decision maker. It is not the slightest bit believable.”

 

13 February - When the borough is broke, is anyone safe?

I thought only Councillor Philip Read believed I am some sort of Labour stooge but maybe I was wrong.

@tonyofsidcup has been digging deeply into Bexley Councilְ’s website and suggested that Burr Farm Park which lies behind the Leader’s house may not be a protected space after all.

My excuse for missing it may be that although it is listed on the Asset Register as Burr Farm it is almost anonymous on the Local Plan. It is now officially “Land behind Belvedere Road”. Page 205 if you are tempted to check it out. The name Burr Farm by which the land is best known appears nowhere in the document.

A four storey block comprising at least 85 dwellings built over 0·944 hectares is said to be a possibility leaving rather less than half of that as green space. Unfortunately the only access point is in the worst possible place to allow quick access to Bexleyheath Station. Perhaps Teresa O’Neill will allow a footpath down the side of her house. #doitforbexley.

 

12 February - He passed the test

Louie French MP is still doing an expert job of wriggling off constituent Elwyn Bryant’s hook. He agrees with him that the Police report into Partygate should be published in full and although one MP has reported the Whips to the Police for allegedly bullying him, he personally has had a very positive experience with the Whips even after he voted against Covid passes.

Having been put to his test and passed it I think Elwyn will be giving Louise a rest for a while.

Bexley Bulletin, 4th February 2022.

 

11 February (Part 3) - Cressida goes but why now when Institutional Corruption was acceptable?

I was poking my nose into the 1,250 page Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report to confirm my recollection of some of the bad things that Cressida Dick had done when Alastair Morgan himself popped up on LBC radio and covered pretty much what I had in mind.

Alastair said that he first met Cressida Dick in 2012 following the collapse of one of the Met’s investigations into his brother’s murder. There was no apology and Dick merely sat opposite him stony faced and uncaring.

Soon after the DMIP began looking into the corruption - Institutional Corruption was their considered verdict eight year later - the Panel’s Chairman was shown the door for colluding with the Metropolitan Police to ensure that the most incriminating evidence would never see the light of day. The Panel was set up by Home Secretary Theresa May and she would be very aware of the attempt to pervert the Inquiry. She had to find a new Chairman.

The officer attempting to bury the truth was Cressida Dick. A year later it was announced that she would leave the Met for a Civil Service job.

In February 2017, knowing her dubious history with the DMIP Theresa May brought Dick back again where the new Commissioner resumed her ambition to thwart the DMIP at every opportunity. The delays cost the taxpayer several millions.

In June 2021 the Panel reported that the Met Police continued to be corrupt and Cressida Dick was personally responsible for the Panel’s obstruction.

Within minutes of the DMIP report’s publication senior Met officers were on TV saying that the eight year investigation was totally misconceived and the Met was not corrupt; which sort of confirmed that they are.

Within days, Sadiq Khan, Priti Patel and Boris Johnson all backed Dick to the hilt and she herself said the suggestion of corruption was “offensive”.

Khan extended Dick’s contract by two years but something odd happened over the past few days, Khan went from being a dedicated supporter to sacking her.

Covering up a murder in which police officers are implicated is perfectly OK by him but ill-considered sexist “banter” in the police canteen is not. The Mayor seems to have standards after all; just not ones that anyone can fully understand.

The situation is hopeless; while writing the foregoing a succession of police apologists have been on the radio to say how wonderful the woman was and she should remain in post. The police really are Institutionally Corrupt on many levels.

 

11 February (Part 2) - Famous in Plumstead too

Index to Leather Bottle blogs.

 

11 February (Part 1) - Good value for money

The Conservatives are gearing up for the election In May and following their usual technique of announcing an Action Team rather than confirmed candidates. This is in case one of them gets into trouble with the police just before an election - it has happened.

The Belvedere team has been dishing out leaflets in Kingswood Avenue which is only a short walk from my home. Councillor Bishop has been demoted from moderately safe Crayford to probably unwinnable in 2022 Belvedere ward. Ms. Bishop is renowned for not getting a mention here on Bonkers in the past four years and her candidature in Belvedere is a firm indication that she is a ‘paper candidate’ who doesn’t really want the job. Please do her a favour in May.

As for the other two, Will Dorgu and Viny Poon, I know almost nothing apart from their faces being previously included in photographs of Conservative supporters.

The auditor saying that Bexley is a Good News Story even though their best qualified Councillors said otherwise at the relevant Audit meeting appears to be Taxpayers’ money well spent.

 

10 February - Manifesto claim. True or false?

Bexley Conservatives have been fighting the May elections since the beginning of the year and their rhetoric is ramping up. This week they claimed to have fulfilled all their 2018 Manifesto promises.

Can that be true? Possibly. They didn’t promise much.

After referring to Labour Councillors as ‘Comradesְ’ on three occasions, the specific promises were…

Making each penny count.
Keeping Council Tax low. (Wrongly implying that Bexley’s Tax rate is not very nearly the highest in London.
All Schools would be OFSTED rated as good or better.
Maintain the street cleaning schedule at once every three weeks.
To deliver ‘modern’ social care services. (What does that mean?)
To plant 1,000 new street trees by 2020.
Provide more than two hectares (over five acres) of new green space by 2020. (Where is it? Untamed weed patches do not count!)
Provide superfast broadband. (Usurping Openreach?)
Fight for the highest quality local rail services.
Build 8,000 homes on brownfield sites.

Last year they claimed to have fulfilled all those promises a year ahead of schedule so the recent announcement could be considered as regurgitating old news. Among the claims was that the 1,000 tree promise had been exceeded and that Bexley had been top of the London recycling league “16 years in a row”. Pedantic I know but that simply isn’t true, there have been some near misses but tell a lie often enough and some people will believe it.

For the years claimed, the total number of trees planted failed to reach 1,000 and many of those planted were part of regeneration schemes such as the Network Rail funded improvements at Abbey Wood station.

As always, by far the biggest Bexley lie is that it is a low tax borough. When the new Council Tax rate is announced in a few weeks time it will be 23% higher than the rate that immediately followed the publication of the Manifesto.

My present inclination is to vote Labour in May in the hope of delivering a shock to the arrogant Teresa O’Neill who too often justifies her decisions on being backed by her electoral majority. There is no hope of Bexley turning Red in May and Keir Starmer appears to be on a mission to return this long time Conservative to the Tory cause. He was in charge of the Crown Prosecution Service when it failed to pursue Jimmy Savile. Johnson’s reference to it was an unnecessary cheap shot typical of our PM but by blaming him for the Corbynite thugs who hassled him earlier this week Starmer heads down the path of a political chancer and is not PM material.

 

9 February - Knickers to Bexley Council

It has become part of my daily routine to open next door’s manhole and fish out their sometimes soiled knickers from my primitive knicker trap. A reader kindly drew my attention to the part of the Thames Water website which made it very clear that since 2011 a shared sewer is their responsibility yet all they are prepared to do is sell me a £10 a month plus £30 per call out insurance policy to cover what is their responsibility anyway.

A fraud if ever there was one.

Yesterday the landlord called round. His tenant had reported bad smells from a blocked downstairs toilet. All the drains mentioned until now served their kitchen and upstairs bathroom but when the downstairs loo was flushed the two manholes showed no evidence of it. I showed him the pile of retrieved ‘knickers’ and he agreed that it was not toilet paper. They don’t break up when hosed.

With the landlord’s help another manhole was uncovered. It showed ample evidence that it had been recently been filled to the brim with you know what. We cleaned it out and established that it serves only next door’s downstairs toilet. Yet the bulk of the pipework and the only manhole is on my property. Whose responsibility is that? Is it a shared drain at that point?

Much further down the pipe it becomes shared with my own but depending on where my ignorant neighbour manages to block it next I may be able to ignore it. Meanwhile it is me who now has three bits of a block drive to repair and perhaps it is Bexley Council’s fault.

What sort of planning allows all the plumbing from one house to run under another which it doesn’t service?

What sort of family carries on chucking ‘knickers’ down the drain after blocking it twice?

 

8 February (Part 3) - Bexley Council SLAPped down

News reaches me from the Councillor who supported the SLAP (Stop Lesnes Abbey Proposals) residents' group that Bexley Council’s Licensing Committee has not approved the near 24/7 drinking proposals for Lesnes Abbey park for which someone will be owing Dave Putson (Independent, Belvedere) a drink.

41 objections were put forward and whilst Bexley Council could appeal, the rejection of their case is said to be “comprehensive” and “the residents have done their community proud”.

 

8 February (Part 2) - Bexley’s Beer Ban

The Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting went on for another half hour after the e-scooter discussion ended. Incidentally my own sources on that subject say the Home Office instructed the police to go easy on scooter users presumably because they will look rather silly if they are prosecuting them one day but encouraging their use - with conditions one must hope - the next.

Councillor Mabel Ogundayo (Labour, Thamesmead East) asked what happened at King Henry’s School two weeks ago which led to the police restrictions placed on the surrounding area. “Serious violence was involved” but no further information was forthcoming.

Councillor Nicola Taylor said we were three months into the Borough Protection Order, has it had any positive effects?

The Police said it definitely had with close to 80 Prevention Orders issued. 61 Fixed Penalty Notices for street drinking and one for nitrous oxide misuse.

Councillor Caroline Newton was a little bit concerned, especially as Summer approaches, that an impromptu picnic on a park bench with a can of Fosters rather than Fanta will result in a fine by the profit driven Kingdom agents. The answer was that the situation would need close monitoring and justification but an opened can of beer may well have that result.

Maybe all the drinkers will migrate to Lesnes Abbey Park where Bexley Council aims to encourage open air drinking.

 

8 February (Part 1) - Your caring law breaking Conservative Council

It has been pretty much established over many years that Bexley is a thoroughly dishonest Council, maybe they all are, I simply do not know.

Many years ago it was proved that Bexley Council automatically dismissed parking appeals without considering the circumstances and parking campaigner and blogger Mr. Mustard from Barnet has discovered that nothing much has changed since them.

He reported yesterday how Bexley Council is disallowing parking appeals that they have a legal responsibility to consider. (Click the link for the full story.)

The law says this…

Bexley Council’s policy is…

Follow @_MrMustard on Twitter for a regular supply of similar material.

 

7 February - The Nicola, Caroline and Sybil show

Last week’s Communities Scrutiny Committee began a little late because the Chairman said that a member of the Committee had been taken ill, he did not say who it was but later referred to blue flashing lights and the fact that Doctor Robinson who was present as a Committee guest attended to the emergency.

Councillor Nicola Taylor (Labour, Erith) said that the minutes were incorrect because her question as to where the people who had been removed from the Temporary Housing waiting list had gone was still outstanding. She had been promised an answer and the minutes stated the issue been “resolved” but this was not the case. The amendment was accepted.

Shortly after the meeting got properly underway Councillor Taylor said that the number of households on the Temporary Accommodation Register had gone down again and she enquired once more about where people had gone.

Answer: Six months ago there were 1,603 on the Register and it was now only 1,020. 611 had gone into Social Housing and 171 have gone into private accommodation. 28 families were offered accommodation but refused it.

Councillor Taylor said that was the sort of information she had been asking for since October and was pleased that it is now available.

The meeting moved from Housing to Community Safety and in particular “non-serious violence”.

Police Inspector Dodds introduced herself and Councillor Caroline Newton (Conservative, East Wickham) was first to ask questions and catalytic converter theft topped her list. The thieves are getting to be increasingly violent.

Catalytic converter theft is not seen as a priority by MOPAC (Mayorֹ’s Policing and Crime Committee) but Bexley police “takes it very seriously”. The police spokesman agreed that the thefts are increasingly violent and are being combatted by converter marking events which have been welcomed by residents. Up to 150 cars have been marked at each event. Honda Jazz and Toyota Prius are the most vulnerable vehicles.

There were 262 offences in Bexley in 2019, 316 in 2020 but down to 211 last year. Unfortunately the scrap value of Rhodium is soaring, 20% up in the past month and far more valuable than gold.

Councillor Sybil Camsey (Conservative, Crook Log) said that residents were becoming very concerned about the use of e-scooters in Bexley. How many accidents? How many have been seized? Many riders are under 16, what is being done to educate parents?

The police said that their policy is engagement before warning but no individual seizure figures were available for Bexley. A total of 3,987 had been taken off London’s roads in the past 12 months. There are no legal sanctions available against retailers.

No accident statistics were available either.

Chairman Richard Diment said that the scooters were very frustrating and very dangerous and thought it was about time the “velvet gloves were taken off”. The police said they had specific actions planned for the coming months but for now they were reluctant to confiscate scooters which are then left in the car pound because the release fees are high.

Cabinet Member Sue Gower said that if a case goes to Court the offender could be given six points on their driving licence which for new drivers could mean immediate disqualification.

  

4 February (Part 2) - Bexley Council politely says “bog off”

One no longer expects Bexley’s Pay More For Less Council to actually do anything about anything which is not a statutory requirement so an open sewer and the consequent environmental health concerns are of little interest to them. I am still having to partially obstruct my neighbours drain in order to catch the daily knicker disposal ritual. To be honest I do not really know what the mass of fibrous material is.

However Ms. Nicholls (Bexley’s Regulatory Services) did at least do her best within the constraints imposed by budgetary mismanagement and told me what Thames Water should be doing. Rather different to what Thames Water has already told me is the full extent of their powers. viz. that all they can do is to send out an explanatory leaflet imploring people not to flush their unmentionables down the bog.

Despite their offer, Thames Water did not even do that. They distributed advertisements for their help service which offered to unblock drains for a monthly fee of £10 a month plus £30 for every call out.

Ms. Nicholls advice is to send a complaint to the Consumer Council for Water.

 

4 February (Part 1) - Another Party Pooper

Bexley Council has been accused of many things over the years but I only recall it being accused of fraud on one previous occasion. That was when the parking department was found to have two contracts with the enforcement company. One for public consumption and another for internal use only.

Bonkers has never published the Council’s own report on the matter but its Internal Auditor was (gross understatement) not at all happy about it and the official auditor recommended that I take Bexley Council to Court over it at my expense. It was what made me think that part of the Auditor’s job is to protect their own contract and turn as much as possible into “Good News”.

@tonyofsidcup has only 35 Twitter followers and is blocked or ignored by every Bexley Councillor apart from Sue Gower (Conservative, Bexleyheath) and one can understand why. The same reason as access to Bonkers was (is?) banned in libraries and Council offices.

‘Tony’ has been leading an almost one man campaign on the strange circumstances which led up to the so called Volunteer Event held in Danson Park last August.

He summed up the situation neatly on 9th January 2022. No public tender, no legal authority to place a contract until four days before the event, a contract actually drawn up before that and an allegation of collusion at senior officer level with a favoured business.

All of which looks to be true.

Almost needless to say Bexley Council has neither acknowledged nor answered these serious allegations.

Depending on how one defines ‘favoured business’ everything Tony reported four weeks ago is a fact confirmed by FOI and the music event organised by the same favoured person was dramatically cancelled by Bexley Council maybe after recognising the danger they were in.

 

3 February (Part 2) - Serious cuts have their effect on the budget and services

There was a Cabinet meeting in Bexley earlier this week. As has become the norm, the Agenda was concerned only with the shaky financial situation.

The Leader said that the future remained “uncertain” and Omicron was given a little of the blame for that.

The Director of Finance reported the situation continued to be a forecast of “break even” with an underspend of £1 million “predominantly due to the housing service”. A number of alleged service efficiency improvements were claimed.

The Capital Programme is currently forecast to underspend by £31·4 million against the initial budget of £61·5 million.

Cabinet Member David Leaf was uncharacteristically brief so that Members would be able to get home to see the second half of a football match in Charlton. He said that present trends “should allow the financial reserves to be bolstered at the end of the financial year”.

He reminded Members that an underspend of £1 million is a very small proportion (3%) of net expenditure. “there is no scope for complacency”.

Councillor Borella (Labour, Slade Green) said that pressures remained on Children’s and Adults’ Services and Parking revenues. Despite improvements there are still 1,000 families in temporary accommodation and they were people not merely numbers. The Leader was not unsympathetic to his comments.

The Finance Director said that the Local Government Settlement was made in December 2021 but there are still some unknowns. The Social Care grant is up by £2·2 million and another £2·5 million is allocated to cover National Insurance rate rises. (£400,000 for the Council and the remainder in its supply chain).

Councillor Leaf was concerned on behalf of residents of inflation rates in excess of 5% and more in some areas like fuel and food. “Times are tough.”

He confirmed that that no relief should be expected from Bexley Council. Council Tax rates will increase by the maximum permitted by law.

Councillor Craske spoke for exactly five minutes without once mentioning the subject listed on the Agenda.

Cabinet Member Sue Gower said that the temporary housing situation was improving and the housing team had worked hard to achieve that. Residents were beginning to notice and express their appreciation of the improvements. Councillor Borella said the underlying problem would not go away until the Council starts to build houses for rent but only Labour was prepared to do that.

The Leader said “that is not the way to deal with housing in Bexley.”

Councillor Craske asked the Labour Group the sort of damn fool question for which he is renowned, “Is it still the policy of the Labour Group to pull down the affordable housing which has just been built in Sidcup? Yes or No.”

Labour Leader Borella reminded Craske that Public Cabinet is an opportunity for Councillors to ask questions of Cabinet Members not the other way around and that any criticism of what was built in Sidcup was solely that there was not enough if it.

Cabinet Member David Leaf told Councillor Borella that if he kept on asking (answering?) questions he never would see the second half of the Charlton match. He added that it was rarely possible to build 50% affordable homes as advocated by Bexley Labour. BexleyCo would end up building almost nothing and he looked forward to “more sense and maturity coming from Labour. They are a party of slogans and Socialists”.

Councillor Craske complained that Labour had not answered his question and instead called it “stupid”.

Councillor Nicola Taylor (Labour, Erith) said that the housing team should spend less time reading letters of appreciation and stop ignoring the pleas from Bexley residents “who are forced to live in damp, overcrowded and expensive accommodation and refused help”. The number in temporary accommodation may have fallen but no one says where they have gone. “If it is a good news story for the Council why has it not be sung? The answer is because it is not. Those people are merely pushed off the register and refused help.”

“Funding for affordable rents comes from the Mayor of London and many Members opposite are private landlords and benefitting from that money.”

The Leader said that the problem in Bexley is largely caused by Labour Councils sending their homeless to Bexley and causing a shortage here.

Councillor Wendy Perfect (Labour, Northumberland Heath) ) reminded her that Bexley sends its homeless to Gravesend. The Leader said the difference is that Labour boroughs dump the homeless in Bexley and then walk away and forgets them leaving Bexley to pick up the pieces while Bexley continues to support theirs.

Soon after initial publication the written summary (above) of what the Leader said was queried by a Councillor so for the avoidance of all doubt this audio clip is provided. Some microphone fumbling by Councillor Perfect and the interjection (see below) by Cabinet Member Gower have been excluded but what remains is everything stated by Leader Teresa O’Neill.

Cabinet Member Sue Gower objected to the accusation of ignoring emails. “Please come to me and I will make it happen.”

 

3 February (Part 1) - Party and poopers

Another correspondent added to yesterday’s report about Bexley Council’s proposal for all day partying in Lesnes Abbey Park.

The resistance movement had named themselves SLAP (Stop Lesnes Abbey Proposals) and it was said that the Councillors pontificating on the subject remained wide awake throughout the four hour meeting.

Independent Councillor Dave Putson told me that he was hopeful of a good outcome for residents.

My drain problem has not gone away but my neighbour rather aggressively tells me that nothing but bog standard toilet roll is flushed down the loo. I have fished toilet paper out of their drain but there are also large masses of fibrous material like cotton wool. The neighbour is totally unconcerned by the inconvenience caused to me and presumably a lawn covered in excrement is all part of normal living to her.

Friends residing in two adjoining boroughs have told me that I was silly to fix the initial blockage myself as a call to the Council would have brought forth help.

Obviously they do not live in a shit borough like Bexley.

The Council’s website makes it amply clear that no help is available. I nevertheless filled in their web form and await a response.

As the local Labour party keeps saying, in Bexley the long standing tradition is pay more for less. A good job that I have as yet not found any rats, Bexley Council abandoned its pest eradication service years ago.

 

2 February (Part 2) - Non-stop Partygate?

Last year Bexley Council sought comments on their plan to turn Lesnes Abbey into an almost non-stop party venue. Noise and booze from nine until near midnight every single day of the year.

Your caring Council recently got cold feet over having a one day booze laden music festival in their political heartland, Danson Park, but Belvedere is not a Conservative ward and it is rare for any Conservative Councillor to venture this far north.

Last night a group of local residents was allowed to put their case for modifying the proposals to the Licencing Sub-Committee which is chaired by Councillor June Slaughter (Conservative, Sidcup) supported by Eileen Pallen (Conservative, Bexleyheath) and Labour Councillor Mabel Ogundayo (Thamesmead).

The local residents had sought the help of their local Councillors but no one from Labour responded to emails so it was left to Independent Councillor Dave Putson to support his residents. “Very well supported” to quote the residents’ spokesman.

No one on the Council side of the argument knew what they actually planned to do except that they wanted “a blank cheque” so that it could be whatever they liked.

The meeting went on for four hours and a decision is expected next week. If the Council tramples over the welfare of local residents (who would be more than happy to see more daytime events) while protecting those who live around Danson Park it will be the ultimate proof that the oft quoted assertion that Bexley Council does not care about its northern wards will be effectively proved true for all time.

I wasn’t going to mention this until nearer the time of the elections but of the only three Councillors who have ever helped me at the personal level as opposed to the blogging activities, two are Independents (Danny Hackett and Dave Putson). The third is Sally Hinkley, Labour - and without being asked.

Excuses: I woke up this morning to another blocked drain. The ‘paper’ was obviously coming from next door who seem to be happy to ignore the problem and displayed an unexpected degree of aggression when I drew their attention to the renewed problem.

I was assured that only ordinary white toilet paper is flushed away and I have collected some of it but there is also a fibrous material of a darker colour. It looks a bit like roof insulation but it can’t be that. What goes inside incontinence pads? No idea, and there is no one living there who looks to be a suitable candidate. The refusal to speak in coherent English is a problem.

I’m getting to be a bit fed up with Cultural Diversity right now. At a rural address In the early seventies I had a neighbour who thought the bog was the natural receptacle for banana skins and orange peel, but at least he would discuss the issue and eventually desisted.

 

2 February (Part 1) - Coincidence?

It must be nearly two weeks since I last walked to nearby Abbey Wood station due to the previously mentioned argument with a ladder. New bruises appeared overnight! However yesterday I drove over the flyover on a 6·8 mile journey that took two hours and 17 minutes thanks to Greenwich Council’s obsession with frustrating motorists and noticed that the barriers that had blocked the Gayton Road Stairs for the past three years had gone. Half of which were totally unnecessary. The stairs refurbishment was completed in August 2020.

I hitched a lift this morning to take a closer look.

A month ago I suspected that the Council’s neglect was a natural consequence of the better qualified staff looking for employers that were not on their financial uppers, a guess which proved to be correct.

I don’t know when the stairs were brought back into use but the timing suggest that Bonkers pricked someone’s conscience. Unfortunately this area of Bexley is not a home for any elected Councillor. They won’t be using Abbey Wood station, Belevdere maybe, Possibly even far away Albany Park but not Abbey Wood.

 

1 February (Part 2) - Par for the Parliamentary course?

Bexley Village resident Elwyn Bryant was quite pleased to receive a letter from his new MP who said that he too was “angry” that his party leader “has not been following rules”.

It turned out to be a standard letter which some people not known to me published on line.

As stated on 26th January Elwyn followed up with a letter seeking his MP’s view on the alleged blackmailing of Conservative MPs by their whips. It was emailed to Louie French on 22nd January.

May I also mention another alarming report coming out of Westminster, namely public accusations of Blackmail by the whips. Should this be reported to the Police, may I ask? Considering that MPs like to call each other honourable, I must say, there does not seem to be any honour amongst our MPs, more like, night of the long knives.

There was no acknowledgement or reply but a week later Elwyn returned to something close to his original question.

Considering the recent developments in regards to the Sue Gray inquiry, may I ask you again, do you agree that the said inquiry should now be published in its entirety, regardless of the interference by the Metropolitan Police? Do you also agree that the police have no right to interfere with an internal inquiry set up by the Prime Minister. Many senior figures across both sides the House, and others in the legal profession, have published their beliefs about the inquiry and the Police interference. Would you be so kind as to send to me where you stand, as my representative, on these matters?

Early days perhaps but once again the email has not been acknowledged. Louie French frequently says that he is keen to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps and appears to be doing so very literally in Elwyn’s case.

  

1 February (Part 1) - Back to the dark ages

Yesterday morning I took the cover off the next door’s drain and there were signs of more fibrous material down there so I obstructed the gully with a plastic stick. It started collecting ‘paper’ almost immediately. This was the situation at midday. By the end of the day it was worse.

Thames Water have said that they will post leaflets to all the nearby addresses but it seems that if someone unused to proper sewage systems chooses to block mine there is little that can be done about it. Illiteracy won’t help.