5 August - Ye Olde Leather Bottle. A brief history
On Saturday
I said that two emails had arrived in recent weeks about the state of what was
once Bexley’s oldest pub, Ye Olde Leather Bottle on Heron Hill and The Maggot Sandwich was going to
cover the present situation on Sunday.
Since then a third email has arrived.
Hugh Neal decided to publish the second email in full but perhaps it is time to remind readers of its history in more depth.
The pub was demolished without permission in 2015 having closed a
year earlier. Demolition paid no regard to public safety and the facade
could have fallen on passers-by at any time (Photos 1
and 2 at the foot of this page). The developer was prosecuted and fined by the
Health & Safety Executive. The footpath (Photo 2 above) which crossed the pub’s
car park is now impassable (Photo 3 above). It has been blocked for at least five years. (Photos 3 and 4 below.)
It is an offence to divert or close a public right of way, even temporarily,
without lawful authority. From the gov.uk website “In England and Wales, the
closure or diversion of a public footpath for longer than six months can only be
authorized by the Secretary of State.”
What has Bexley Council done about that? Nothing presumably.
The developer thinks he is a favoured person. On one occasion when I was
photographing the demolition I was manhandled (Photo 5 at the foot of this page) and informed that
I would be reported to my MP; the much missed Teresa Pearce. Maybe he does have
influence, Photo 7 below shows the wife of the now former Chairman of the Planning
Committee calling at the developer’s front door. They were invited in too.
Further connections earned an award at the Civic Offices too. (Photo 8 at foo of page.)
When I went to the address shown to make sure I had not misidentified it I was
chased away with an accusation of photographing his grandchildren. I made my
escape by car but was pursued by his van and the driver tried to run me off the road
to the extent I called 999 and the police had to come and rescue me.
Meanwhile the residents who have lost the use of the footpath and been forced to
look at a vermin infested mess for the past ten years have been abandoned by
Bexley Council but I was amused to read the third of my emails.
I will take the Maggot Sandwich approach and reproduce it here…
A
log time ago we lived in a house three doors up the hill on the photo.
[A reference to the photo shown on The Maggot Sandwich and reproduced here with the copyright owner’s permission]
It was our first home and we looked straight on to the pub. The grounds sloped down to the path along the rear of
our house. Then the owners re-surfaced the car park and raised the level and
removed the trees and hedgerows. It meant that cars (and people) were
looking directly into our back garden.
I approached the Council to see if anything could be done but they were no help so I applied for a reduction in Council Tax.
This was rejected but I appealed and went to a tribunal. It was
like a courtroom. I stated my case and produced photos. The council
representative stated their’objections and I cross examined him. The verdict? I won and
got a large reduction in Council Tax. I let all my neighbours know but none
of them bothered to do likewise.
To see how it is now makes me so sad.
If you can get a Council Tax reduction for wrecked sightlines there would appear to be plenty of scope for
making a claim now.
