12 November - Cob, Cash, Cabins, Cameras, Campaigns, Copyright and Cancer diagnostics
The Leader’s report to Council was
even more fantastic than usual,
the F word occurred ten times in the written version which may be a record.
Her summary was fortunately more succinct than the Agenda’s 24 pages. She
returned to her techno theme by reminding Councillors that the Council no longer
needs to employ an army of inspectors to find issues but instead residents can
be relied upon to report them via FixMyStreet etc.
Shenstone school received a mention; despite the tendering set backs “it is an
investment in young people and she praised Director Stuart Rowbotham and the
late Mr. Robert Shaw, her NHS contact, who both played major parts in bringing the new
cancer and heart disease Diagnostics Centre to Queen Mary’s Hospital.
Councillor O’Neill was pleased to have been asked to open the new Welling Bank
Hub next month although Nationwide has pulled out with a replacement to be
found among financial institutions with large customer bases in the area.
The
Cob Horse will be replaced on the roundabout in Belvedere this weekend, “a
fantastic piece of sculpture. Absolutely fantastic”.
Sad and serious stories continue to come to light involving the cruel imposition
of the ULEZ tax. She was pleased that the Government responded positively to her
campaign not to close Railway Ticket Offices. (Did you see it? Nor me.)
Bexley now has “the largest incinerator plant in Europe under our noses”, which
may well be an apt olfactory description and Bexley rubbish will enjoy an environmentally
friendly short trip to take advantage of Cory’s facility. The Leader made way for questions.
Councillor Lisa Moore (Conservative, Longlands) asked about foster care recruitment. Cabinet Member Read
said there were 73 fostering households, some with more than one child, and
there are a further 23 post care support households for young people between the
ages of 16 and 25. Recruitment processes have been streamlined and numbers are going up.
Since April 2023 there have been five more fostering households and seven more
offering support and there are more in the pipeline.
Councillor Wendy Perfect (Labour, Northumberland Heath) said that some children are
being educated in temporary accommodation and parents are worried. Why?
The Leader said that the “Portacabins are fantastic units” and not like what
might be found on a building site and parents are being kept within the
information loop. (I was taught in a former army barrack building from 1954 to
1961 with a cast iron coke burning stove in the corner to keep the frost from
the inside of the windows. Did it do me any harm?)
Councillor Borella said he nearly fell off his chair when the Leader claimed
even a little credit for stopping Ticket Office closures. “The Council did
absolutely nothing until after the horse had bolted whereas this side [Labour] went to
every single station more than once to urge people to take part in the consultation.”
(The photo here is nicked from a Bexley Labour Tweet. I fully expect to be sued for breach of copyright.)
Stefano contrasted Bexley’s preoccupation with Sadiq Khan’s car taxes when it is
itself the highest taxing Conservative borough in London. “Does the Leader
condemn the camera vandalism? It is criminality.” He also said that he was
present when the photograph used in Tory publicity material was taken and it was
definitely the work of a Council photographer.
The Leader was sad at the opposition’s criticism of the Shenstone school project
which has at all times “followed stringent processes”. Her ticket office closure
campaign “took place behind the scenes”. (Brilliant excuse Teresa.)
On ULEZ the Baroness went into slippery snake mode by not supporting the vandalism
while accepting that a lot of people who cannot afford to pay are very
frustrated. She has asked for the geographical breakdown of where the fines are
being imposed but no information has been forthcoming from TfL.
On the photo issue, “Tweets do not have a copyright. Life has moved on”
(a penny for the Monitoring Officer’s thoughts) and when Boris Johnson was Mayor he
did not increase his precept for the first four years and cut it in the subsequent
four. Khan has racked it up by large amounts every year.
The Mayor of Bexley called time…
The Cob: I went to Sainsbury’s at 8 a.m. yesterday and found
some of their price increases unacceptable so drove to the Belvedere Lidl instead. I passed
the coned off roundabout at 8:36 and the cob was hanging from a lorry mounted
crane. By the time I parked and walked back the cob was safely down on its primitive
plinth and the jib retracted. There were no Councillors present but perhaps
someone in a yellow jacket was a Council employee. A group of three men
confirmed my recollection that the horse had been damaged by vehicles three times but told me
there were no plans to barricade the horse which is a shame, there should be plenty of spare concrete blocks now that
Felixstowe Road has been tidied up.
The three photographs are definitely copyrighted to me but if Teresa O’Neill can find a use for them she is very welcome.