I have no idea what the Conservative politicians do in
the North of the borough, not even up the hill from me where there are a few in
office (West Heath ward) but
in Sidcup and Bexley they maintain quite a high profile. I am inclined to think
the relatively youthful energy of Cameron, Kurtis and Louie has something to do with it.
Only a couple of months ago they were
banging on about slowing the SL3 Express bus by
diverting it into Bexley
Village as a permanent measure instead of just occasionally when traffic
congestion elsewhere makes it a sensible option. Running non-stop from
Bexleyheath to Sidcup allows five different routes that I have noted and
stopping in Bexley Village would put paid to that flexibility.
With the Labour Government presenting them with an open goal Bexley Conservatives have issued another
Newsletter which may be seen here.
They are boasting about the big reduction in missed bins since Councillor Diment relieved Councillor Craske of his
responsibilities and the new litter bins which have been placed apparently
randomly around the borough.
The
Tories have learned that campaigning for Bexley to remain a quiet backwater as
they did a dozen and more years ago was financial madness for which Council
Taxpayers are literally paying the price. Bexley is the highest taxing
Conservative borough in London
Back then it was
all about cancelling the Thames
bridge (against the wishes of residents expressed in the TfL Consultation) and doing nothing to encourage Crossrail into the borough. Who can forget
the front cover of the Bexley Magazine featuring Leader O’Neill selfishly campaigning to
keep traffic away from her Brampton ward? The Liz line may not have reached Abbey Wood had it not been for the
pressure put on a Labour Government by a Labour MP.
Having realised that campaigning against transport links is not a sensible
policy the Conservatives are now trying to make up for lost time by campaigning for a DLR
extension to Abbey Wood and maybe even Belvedere and a Liz line extension to Ebbsfleet. In the medium term
that is a lost cause but they were successful with their campaign for the SL3 to
run on from Bexleyheath to Thamesmead. Which idiot thought a simple duplication
of the 269 was good enough? Oh, that was the be(k)nighted Khan wasn’t it.
ULEZ (which is mentioned in the Newsletter) was not favoured in Bexley because it
achieves nothing other than more taxation and it may be the case that Bexley is the most driver
friendly borough in London. A low bar undoubtedly but despite its inability to
design roundabouts properly (Wickham Lane, Ruxley and Albion Road all rebuilt to
solve self-inflicted problems) and pedestrian crossings in silly places (Gravel
Hill in particular) and its vindictive delight in using
over-sized yellow boxes for no
reason other than to raise revenue, it does compare well with much of London.
There are no enforced bus lanes and except where Khan is in charge, no
20 m.p.h. limits on main roads. Not too many speed
cameras either. The Conservatives’ efforts to keep Labour out of Bexley should be
applauded. Can we have a Newsletter for Belvedere please?