I said my
piece on Motions 18 months ago and once or twice since then. “If Labour
comes up with a half decent Motion the Conservatives will vote it down so that
they can substitute their own and claim the credit for it.”
A Councillor kindly explained to me what Motions are for. They are to “wind up” the other side and
now that I know that I can better understand the one Labour put forward a couple of weeks ago.
The wind up here is the word “plagued” and perhaps the implication that Bexley is not a pleasant place to be. Did
the Member for Thamesmead East really expect the majority party to swallow that unchallenged?
In the
absence of Councillor Asunramu, Councillor Ball (Erith) moved the Motion and immediately referred to
“the systemic and endemic issue [of littering] that people are aware of on a daily basis”.
“25 years ago Bexley was a Green Borough but the reality is that we are no longer because in every street, every park, every open space and
every verge alongside roads the place is filthy. There is litter, there are weeds and there
is fly tipping and a general sense of environmental decline. Everyone sees it, weeds are everywhere and fly tipping is a nightmare.”
Councillor Larry Ferguson (Thamesmead East) who seconded the Motion said that
“anyone who walks around my ward on any day would see instances of fly tipping. Bexley isn’t working.”
He had sent video clips and photos of fly tippers in action to Council Officers but without result.
The
Tories could not allow themselves to be associated with a plague so Councillor
Cameron Smith (Conservative, St. Mary’s & St. James) put forward an Amendment
referring to its 100+ parks and green spaces, praised residents for their
contribution to keeping Bexley cleaner and greener, condemned the fly tippers, welcomed the
20,000 Penalty Notices
issued for littering and responded to Labour’s desire for more CCTV surveillance with his own ‘wind up’ gesture; to
switch the ULEZ cameras from tax gathering to crime prevention.
For the most part it looked like the sort of Motion that any reasonable person would support
but Councillor Nicola Taylor was in an unforgiving mood and engaged in verbal
fisticuffs with the Mayor. I believe a grudge from a previous meeting when the
Mayor curtailed her speech which overran its time allocation had not been forgiven. This time
the Mayor was alleged to have accused her of laughing when all she had done was
smile and “I demand an apology”. The depths of pettiness knows no bounds.
The Mayor said he would not apologise after she looked at him as if his serious
remark was “some kind of joke” and Councillor Taylor was wasting good debating time.
Councillor Smith thanked Councillor Ball for proposing “this important issue”
but put forward his Amendment because, whilst acknowledging that there is a
littering problem because of “a few reckless individuals”, it is inaccurate to
describe it as a plague, omits the counter-measures the Council is taking and under
appreciates the role of litter picking volunteers”.
Bexley has suffered about 5,000 fly tipping incidents annually in recent years which is
barely 1% of the total in London. The figure in Bexley is falling but in
Greenwich it is 8,666 and in Lewisham 29,515 incidents last year, “which could be describes as a plague.
Bexley issues the 30th highest number of fines of any local authority in the
entire country. It is inaccurate to describe Bexley as either grubby or plagued.”
Councillor June Slaughter (Sidcup) seconded the Amendment. “Littering is in the
hands of residents and there is no excuse for dropping so much as a sweet wrapper. It
is people who cause litter.”
Councillor John Davey (Conservative, West Heath) said he was very proud of
Bexley being a Green Borough, “it has thousands of trees and low air pollution
proving that ULEZ is just a money grabbing scheme and fly tippers are
prosecuted. The only residents who are in favour of ULEZ are Bexley Labour
Councillors.” He and his West Heath colleague Peter Reader are volunteer litter pickers.
Labour Councillor Nicola Taylor said she was “hearing some agreement that fly
tipping in the borough lets us all down and every Councillor will have had
residents reporting fly tipping or overflowing bins but we mustn’t rely on
volunteers to clean up. We cannot say that It [littering] is the residents’ fault
and they should clear it up.”
“Fly tipping is highest in Erith and it cannot be ignored that it is highest
where there is a high level of private rented accommodation and we need to look
at the role of landlords who dump stuff on the streets. Mentioning ULEZ cameras
is a stretch, they are TfL cameras. It was this administration which made all
our own CCTV staff redundant and which asks residents to litter pick for free
while Country Style pays shareholders and seeks to push down the wages of bin
workers. You are saying this is residents’ fault, they must clear it up. What
kind of leadership is that? You are using this for political aims.”
For time reasons, Mayor Dourmoush risked a further round of fisticuffs by asking
Councillor Taylor to finish to give Councillor Ball time to sum up. She carried
on for a further 28 seconds which was sufficient for her to chide the Mayor for
turning down her nomination of some litter pickers for Civic Recognition Awards.
The volume captured by my microphone reduced considerably when Councillor Ball
began summing up in more measured tones. He said that the differences between the
Motion and the Amendment were semantics that didn’t matter to him. He wasn’t
interested in what happened in Greenwich and Lewisham but he personally would be
happy to accept the Amendment if it was not for the final paragraph about repurposing the ULEZ cameras.
In confirmation that my Councillor informant was correct to say that Motions are about winding up opponents he said “You put that
in deliberately which I completely understand, we would have done the same, I get the game.”
The London Mayor has no remit on litter enforcement; “is the final bullet point valid?
A Motion should not ask a third party to do something he is not legally allowed
to do. The final bullet point is a deal breaker.”
I may not often agree with the former Labour Leader but he is absolutely correct
here isn’t he? The Amendment’s final bullet point is there solely to wind up the opposition.
The Cabinet Member for Places said the Amendment was an excellent Motion and
that the fine for littering in Bexley would shortly be increased
The Amendment was carried along the usual party lines.
Long long ago Thirty Minute Theatre was a BBC drama series. Now it is
replayed several times a year in the Council Chamber.
Overflowing bin and fly tipping in Coptefield Drive.
I had to venture across the Greenwich border to find weeds in the gutter.
(The paper bin was emptied soon after the photo was taken.)
Councillor Smith went on to make his position very clear on X (Twitter). I
know I do not get out much in Bexley, the occasional bus ride to Bexleyheath and
walking within a mile or so of home but I do not see Bexley as either grubby
or plagued by litter and fly tipping. The local bins are left unlocked which is
asking for trouble and I don’t think the food waste bin has ever been emptied.
Sometimes it stinks, at other times it doesn’t.
Note: I have occasionally seen my own Councillor Sally
Hinkley litter picking in Lesnes Abbey park.