Even after nearly 2,000 words on Go Ape some important facts were omitted,
One is
that the site will take up 2·28 hectares of land from Danson Park’s 75.
The number of trees to be felled is expected to be five but it could be more.
Two or three are dead and the remainder are immature.
Unlike the houses built on Old Farm Park which are permanent structures, Go Ape
is designed to be reversible. It could be removed if, for example, the price tag
proves to be beyond too many pockets. A few tree branches may be lost but long
term that will represent little impact on the wooded area.
More
than one speaker referred to Danson Park being ancient woodland but it was also
said it was full of exotic flowering trees which may be contradictory. The
Planning Officer said it is definitely not ancient woodland.
Pictured is Councillor Terry Barcock (Conservative, Sidcup) who said the noise
would be a big issue for residents but cast his concern for them aside by voting in favour.
Following my email to the Chairman asking for the definitive list of voters For
and Against, because it was less than clear on Thursday evening, he phoned me, which was nice.
He admitted that after four or five Conservatives were critical he was expecting the
Application to be voted down. He too was initially surprised at the result and
double checked with Officers before announcing approval.
Maybe this is the right time to say how Councillors earn their stripes on Bonkers. With a
few exceptions I cannot know if any of them is a good or mediocre ward Member
because I rarely get any information about casework. All I see (hear?) is what
goes on at Council meetings and whether Councillors are especially friendly
towards me. Inevitably those who are, are more likely to get an easier ride on
these pages, although the boot has been put in very occasionally when I believed
there was a good cause. Impartiality is important!
The mental picture I had of the Planning Chairman, Kurtis Christoforides,
was of someone not particularly high profile and for some reason not a Councillor I would
place in the especially friendly category.
But I think I may have been wrong. His call prompted me to do some research. He has been mentioned just over 20 times on
Bonkers and having reviewed every occasion, except when he heaped praise on the
Baroness, I agree with what he said. What is more it is specifically mentioned
that he welcomed me back to the Council Chamber after the Covid break.
In retrospect, I do not know why I had tucked away a slightly negative
opinion of Kurtis because my look back at the past four years has revealed there is no justification for
it. So these words are a public apology for any negativity you may have detected.
Going even further off topic, my next door neighbour
called on me yesterday to ask if I knew of any reason why his green bin had not
been emptied on Friday. I could only guess that the operative was so intent on
sticking the new notice neatly on the lid that his mind went a little blank for a moment.
My neighbour didn’t know that he could report the failure to empty the bin so he went on
line to do so. As of Monday evening the bin has not been emptied.