2 December - CPZ. Consultation Passed-by Zone

There is still no webcast Cabinet meeting on line so probably that will be another victim of Bexley Council’s incompetence and what may have been said there will for ever remain a secret. Just like the tree that falls in the woods with no one there is said not to make a sound, was Councillor Leaf’s well rehearsed long speech effectively muted?

While driving along Lower Road Belvedere I spotted Poplar Mount which is the scene of Bexley Council once more trampling over residents' wishes. I found a gap in the line of cars and stopped to take a look. It is a quiet little cul-de-sac devoid of through traffic where people lived happily together until someone with an admitted grudge against cars asked the Council to paint some yellow lines.

In my own road we had to ask over several years and get the police and local Councillors involved before Bexley Council was stirred into yellow line action but not in Poplar Mount. A very few people were consulted and a single notice was strapped to a lamp post which in a cul-de-sac fewer than half the residents would have passed by.

Before they knew it. Cabinet Member Richard Diment had thoughtlessly signed an order into law.

Once back home and thinking that their newest Councillor Jeremy Fosten might like to make a name for himself, I asked my informant if she had tried to get her three Councillors involved. She said she had but none of them had replied to her email. Not one!

I think at this stage the residents will be lumbered by a cunning Council which knows exactly how to nobble a consultation, they did it in Abbey Road 17 years ago, but they are not likely to go down without a fight.

The publicly available Consultation document (PDF) lists only four objections all summarily dismissed by Bexley Council with none in favour. Someone needs to ask more questions designed to discover why Poplar Mount/Methuen Road was on the Council’s hit list in the first place.

The area is also on Bexley Council’s hit list for a full blown CPZ, same as that proposed for my address last July but about which there is no further news.

 

1 December - Bexley Council fails again - and again!

Cabinot
The only blog that is always planned in advance is the one scheduled for the first day of the month. Today it was supposed to be a report on last Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.

I was not able to go in person because I had another engagement and in the event didn’t go to either or even listen on line; that is because a nasty sneezing cold came out of nowhere and hit me for six. It is a bit better now but not a lot.

Nevermind, there is always the webcast, except that over the past few months they have become very unreliable. The cameras focus on the wrong person and sometimes there is a total failure to broadcast anything - which is what happened last week.

Not much of a public meeting and a perfect opportunity to hide bad news.

Idiocy
This is my nearest big paper bin. A week ago it was marked ‘Contaminated’ because someone had dumped plastic bottles in it. A shame because it was well filled with thick cardboard and paper. A week later it is definitely very contaminated and I haven’t any idea who does it, but I do know how it gets to be contaminated.

The lid has been broken since before CountryStyle took over the recycling contract.

It is just a case of a twisted hinge and probably repairable by anyone prepared to apply a bit of force to it.

But no, Bexley Council would rather have a contaminated bin and pay for it to be incinerated than apply a bit of common sense.