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.
13 June (Part 3) - Tory turmoil
Considering that there were no journalists present at the Planning meeting,
the events of that evening got into a surprising number of news outlets. Almost
needless to say it was not all accurate. But even for those in attendance some things were not entirely clear.
I and those around me initially thought the vote had gone against Go Ape because
the sightlines in the chamber are so poor for those forced to sit behind
Councillors. I left the meeting not knowing who had voted for the proposal and what soon
appeared on Social Media didn’t help.
Five for and five against is not a win.
My easily accessible contacts were no wiser than I was so taking the bull by
the horns I emailed the Chairman of the Planning Committee at 09:30 on Friday
morning to give him the opportunity to ensure that
no errors crept into my reporting. If the Facebook graphic was correct it could be
that a Labour Councillor had abstained leaving the Chairman to vote for a positive result.
However the Chairman, I have been told, doesn’t look at Council emails when at
work so won’t see my message until Monday at least so that got me nowhere. (A
private message said that the Chairman was initially confused too and had to double check the result
after so many Councillors had voiced concerns. He’d expected rejection after
three Conservative Councillors were negative to varying degrees, but two voted For!)
In the event my own photograph
(Photo 1, right) showed Labour Councillor Abi Johnson (Thamesmead East) voting in
favour of Go Ape. One might guess that Councillors from Thamesmead East will
have no great interest in residents of Danson Road and Welling.
Reform UK Councillors Oke Ene (Crayford) and Chris Purfield (Northumberland
Heath) in the white shirt in Photo 3 voted against Go Ape. Because I have not
yet upset Reform Councillors as much as some others I was able to ask them
why they were anti. They had asked for assurances that all the revenue raised
would be spent on improving Bexley’s parks but Bexley Tories had said they would
rather fritter the money away on anything but; like servicing debts
and
far too many pension advisers.
Social media comments to the effect that Reform Councillors voted for Go Ape are
totally untrue and may be the product of those
malicious and sometimes fictitious Labour activists again.
Those voting For were Conservatives Terry Barcock, Kurtis Christoforides, June
Slaughter and Thomas Clapperton. Also For were Labour’s Larry Ferguson and Abi Johnson
Barry Saunders, David Li and Oscar Harrison (Conservative) voted Against along with Chris Purfield and Oke Ene, both Reform. Presumably the Conservative election material
that said it was Reform that builds on green spaces was a lie.
Members of the public were impressed by Councillor Slaughter’s 16 points of
concern but they were presumably unaware that Councillor Slaughter has at least
once previously campaigned against proposals and then voting in favour. Moving Sidcup Library to smaller premises in the High Street springs to mind.
The thing that got the meeting
into the newspapers and
GB News
was Councillor Barry Saunders’ (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) comments
about feral youths from out of the borough coming to Bexleyheath for its
nightlife and causing trouble. That is something widely reported before Barry
was elected and is not really news anymore. But he went further and said they might be responsible for decapitating cats.
Contrary to press reports, no one batted an eyelid about his dead cat story.
However the allegation that he said that the youths are responsible for abducting
children would appear to be entirely fictional. I have listened to the webcast twice and have yet to pick that up.
Nevertheless it will be nice to have a Tory Councillor who believes in straight
talking. One must hope he survives the Kangaroo Court.
I had to be up and out by five the following morning so did not hang around
after the meeting for a moment longer than necessary, which was a mistake because I missed the
interval events involving Security. Apparently it wasn’t the protesters kicking
up a stink but a disappointed Councillor Dave Curtois. (Photo 5.) The webcast
shows Councillor Andrew Curtois apparently briefly remonstrating with the
Chairman too but there is no audio to prove it. There are plenty of
reports that say fellow Tories were called scumbags accompanied by shouts of shame on you. (Photo 6.)
However Dave Curtois is definitely a popular man when it comes to the protesters. He was
on the receiving end of several hugs and kisses from audience members.
Back out on Broadway I walked alongside, but not with, a gaggle of protesters and
to say they were annoyed with Bexley Council would be an understatement. They
were plotting revenge and how best they could legally cause trouble. Maybe they
too could take recycling retaliation? They all got on a 96 bus to Danson Park and
Welling while I travelled alone on a 229 bound for Thamesmead.
My main fear would be one of Barry Saunders “not nice” vandals getting inside an unlocked park with a knife and hacking into ropes.
Feral youths do not read Bonkers do they?
13 June (Part 2) - Recycling? Get in the bin!
I put my green bin out on Thursday evening
just before I left home for the Planning meeting. Same for my neighbour who is inclined to forget to do it.
His blue bin (paper) was full of plastic and in the past I would have sorted
things out for him, but I don’t much care about recycling since Bexley Council
fined me £70 for taking an old lady to the doctor’s and they disregarded her
disabled badge. Any inconvenience caused to me by recycling is a thing of the past.
Good will is easily lost and rarely regained.
So I left his blue bin as found fully expecting it to be rejected next morning.
But it wasn’t. Instead his green general waste bin was left unemptied. No idea why.
Bexley Council and logical thought are uneasy partners.
If past performance is any guide the green bin will stand in the street for a week and then
the contents will mysteriously disappear into a convenient fly tip,
Both his bin and mine were adorned with a new notice which I will ignore. I have
never put food in general waste because there is never anything significant left
over from meals. Peelings and the like go into a garden compost bin. Surely only
families with wasteful fussy eaters need a food waste bin? Foxes and pigeons are
useful allies occasionally.
13 June (Part 1) - Council makes money from old rope
Planning meetings can be a lengthy bore but last Thursday’s covering the controversial Go Ape plans promised to be
lively so I dusted off my long lens. There was a decent crowd outside the Civic
Offices by six twenty five and more in the foyer along with security men.
The following will be a relatively formal report on proceedings but there were
things that may require comment later.
The
public was let into the Council Chamber ten at a time and my photos suggest that there were about 100 people in
attendance, not all of whom were there for Go Ape.
As already noted, the tiered
seating was not in use which put some speakers, and eventually their votes, out of view.
The audience was not especially unruly although the low level chattering was a
distraction at times but few resorted to shouting their opinions. Even so, the
Chairman, Councillor Kurtis Christoforides was not happy about the interruptions especially when Officer judgments were questioned. His
comments and threats to adjourn the meeting were not well received by everyone.
The discussion began with a presentation by a Planning Officer. The ropeways
would extend both north and south of the central access road and have three
entrances. It will get within 29 metres of residential properties. Historic
England has raised no objections and the existing car park is said to be big enough.
A local resident by the name of Watson said the scheme would have a severe
impact on the park. Environmental habitat, security, safety and legal objections
were raised and the scheme would create noise. It is over-commercialisation of a green space.
A second objector made similar points mentioning the 647 written objections and
2,126 signatures on a petition.
Councillor Andrew Curtois
said he lived next to the proposed site and that the main objection was
the commercialisation of ancient woodland. He said that the law was that there
can be no development of ancient woodland. The application is unlawful and
conducting surveys after permission is granted is not acceptable. Go Ape
installations elsewhere have been wrecked by storms with irretrievable damage
done to trees all for the creation of two full time jobs.
Mr. Stafford was the Go Ape representative and he began his address to Council
with a complaint about the audience being somewhat vocal and excitable. The Chairman asked
them to be quiet. Go Ape would benefit the area and the environment would be
respected. The trees would be looked after because they are essential to the
success of the scheme. Litter picking would be daily and between 18 and 30
occasional jobs would be provided for young people.
Councillor Oscar Harrison (Conservative, Longlands) said he was extremely
disappointed by the number of adverse comments about Councillors posted on line.
He did not accept the commercialisation arguments. It has a boating lake and
kiosks and a farmers’ market. He was uncomfortable about the variety of and
unknown number of trees to be felled. He was concerned about noise. He was told
that current proposals envisage five trees being felled and that environmental
health experts had said the noise levels would be insignificant.
Councillor Barry Saunders (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) questioned the
ancient woodland argument but was particularly concerned about
anti-social
behaviour. Bexley attracts “not nice youths” from outside the borough and Go Ape
might bring more trouble. They decapitate cats and they are disgusting. It will be a big issue.
The Council Officer said that Danson Park is not ancient woodland but it is a
listed heritage asset. The three Go Ape access points will be locked overnight.
Councillor Larry Ferguson (Labour, Thamesmead East) said he was minded to back
the proposal. It was only a small area of the park and will create no
substantial harm. The imposed conditions will ensure that all changes to the park must be reversible.
Councillor
June Slaughter (Conservative, Sidcup) said she had “an awful lot” of questions
and proceeded to reel off 16 concerns. (The Chairman helpfully counted them.)
What will be the effect of concrete blocks on the woodland floor? What is the
long term effect of new structures? Can the Council’s parks team cope? Is
everything really reversible? What are these ecological enhancements mentioned
in the report? What part of the rope course lies outside the tree cover? What do
we know about lighting for evening events? How many customers are allowed on
site? As well as trees being felled, branches will be removed. What is the
effect on tree health? What will the stockades look like? Who will pay for extra
maintenance requirements in the car park? Overnight security will be problematic.
Have we discussed the long term effect of Go Ape with land owners elsewhere?
The Chairman said it is not practical to answer so many questions but she was
told most of her queries were answered in the official report. The Councillor
was told that everything queried was deemed to be “sufficient” and the maximum number of
customers permitted at the same time would be 128.
Councillor Terry Barcock (Conservative, Sidcup) said that noise would be a big
issue especially for nearby residents. Parking and tree removal were considered
to be of concern but the Council Officer said that no mature trees would be
removed. Immature being defined as under 20 centimetres at chest height. There
will be no ongoing noise monitoring. Councillor Harrison expressed his
unhappiness with the existing noise assessment which was based on a very different Go Ape site.
The proposer in favour of the Application was Councillor Ferguson from far away
Thamesmead and the seconder was the Chairman. To shouts from the public gallery
the Chairman announced that the Application had been approved.
Domestic arrangements preclude any significant news reporting on Fridays
(Mondays too) so by the time this is published, everyone who is interested will
know that Go Ape has been allowed to move into Danson Park.
A proper report should appear here tomorrow but I will put it on the record now
that no member of the press was present at the meeting (the Chairman asked them to identify
themselves) and the Council staff were too lazy to assemble the tiered seating. As a result few people could see
every Councillor and count the number of hands raised For and Against. Those
sitting near to me believed that Go Ape had been rejected and were staggered to
hear the Committee Chairman announce that it had been approved.
During today I have been in correspondence with seven Councillors and former
Councillors to try to establish exactly who voted and how. You’d think that
would be easy but there were conflicting reports on Facebook and Democratic
Services claimed that they had not kept a voting record. Maybe they have the memory
capabilities of a goldfish, or perhaps they are simply very unhelpful people,
With no journalist present,
what you may have read in the national press today is the result of hearsay and gossip
although it is almost certainly true. But more of that another day.
Before
Go Ape was debated, another Planning Application took up almost 90 minutes.
Several members of the public complained loudly about the Chairman’s lack of
urgency that allowed things to drift on that long.
An Application to build on disused tennis courts had been before the Committee before and this was a modified scheme
to satisfy previous misgivings; except that it didn’t.
The old tennis courts are in Old Manor Way and adjacent to
one
of the first parks proposed for disposal and development by Bexley Council.
Long before the coming of BexleyCo. It
never happened due to covenants,
tunnels and mine shafts.
This time the plan was to build twelve houses in two blocks on
the
old tennis courts. None affordable of course. The Council claimed ownership
and first tried to sell the courts eleven years ago.
Two local residents made their objections known but it was Councillor Howard
Jackson (Conservative, Barnehurst) who probably made the most impact. The site approach is on a steep
gradient via a very narrow railway arch on a blind corner. Inaccessible to HGVs
and speeding was known to be an issue. Minor scrapes were said to be common with serious accidents
occurring every eight months approximately.
This was something taken up by a number of Councillors, notably Larry Ferguson
(Labour, Thamesmead East) and it was the traffic issues that ultimately caused
the Application to be rejected. New Councillor Thomas Clapperton (Conservative,
West Heath) was very much on the ball too and asked a number of probing questions about the validity of
several items of available data.
This seemed to upset the Chairman who feared a costly appeal. I found it
slightly disturbing, and it is the main reason for reporting a relatively minor
Application, that the Chairman said he would ask every Councillor to
justify a negative decision. This he duly did and was not easily satisfied.
Maybe it is a precaution he believes to be necessary or it may be a legal
requirement but either way it pressures Councillors towards approving
Applications about which they may not be entirely happy.
Is it a small scale assault on democracy? Fortunately both Councillors Ferguson and Clapperton were not easily subdued.
I
have a busy schedule today but I am going to try to get to tonight’s Planning meeting. The main event is
the Go Ape
proposal for ropes and zip wires and things in a secluded corner of Danson
Park among the trees.
A huge protest has been whipped up by the two Councillors who live in a posh
house right next to the site. I have friends who are going to voice their
disapproval but I have difficulty in seeing what the fuss is about.
There may be additional problems with car parking but at £40 a person how
popular is it going to be?
I think there may be questions to be answered about the Application and the way
it has been handled. The public documents have been heavily redacted and it
seems to me that the Applicant has been told in advance that everything is set
for approval but backroom deals and Planning goes hand in hand, so what is new?
Go Ape has invested a lot of money and they must be on a promise.
How are ropes and zip wires any different to the tennis courts and bowling
greens that are found in many parks?
Lesnes Abbey Park has a parkour - whatever that may be - and a basket ball
pitch. Danson Park itself has a boating lake. A zip wire is not really building
on a park in any normal sense of the word. Bexley Council has set up BexleyCo to
do that in contradiction to its fraudulent pre-election
claims and I doubt that that money pit will get a mention tonight.
Most readers will be aware that the train operator Govia Thameslink was taken into
public ownership a week ago and immediately announced service reductions. The service
through Abbey Wood, never the most reliable, is halved to one train an hour
which is not a useful frequency with which to connect to the Elizabeth line’s
five minute interval departures.
Bexley Labour has voiced its concerns directly to the Secretary of State for
Transport. The service has always bypassed Erith and Belvedere stations without
improving the journey times to London Bridge over Southeastern stopping trains and
an hourly service is a significant step backwards.
Below is the letter sent to Heidi Alexander, Secretary of State.
There is a brief Press Release (PDF) on the subject too.
7 June - Councillors and their Allowances
In what has been a very quiet week for Council news time has been found to update and refine the code that produces
the list of Councillors and their jobs
and what they get paid for doing them. All available from the Menu above by
choosing Politics and Councillor details.
The information is extracted from Council sources but the BiB page brings it
together in an easily assimilated form.
Unlike in earlier years I can find no information on whether or not multiple
Allowances are paid. It used to be the case that beyond the Basic Allowance,
currently £10,398 per annum, only the highest of the Special Allowances is paid
if more than one ‘special’ job is held. Probably an omission or my failure to
find the information rather than a craftily introduced pay rise.
The header in an oblique font just above the Column Headers has become
redundant but its removal is very complex as it has been used in some of the
much older Councillor lists. Rejigging old lists would be a horrendously
laborious job so it must stay for now.
Do I now have to reintroduce the married couples linkages prevalent 15 years
ago? Six pairs back then!
The May Council meeting is like no other; purely ceremonial to supposedly elect a Mayor. Pure theatre
which attracts a large audience of friends and families of those involved.
It comes complete with an ’Order of Service’ which names the not yet elected Mayor and her
Deputy and spoiling the intended illusion even more, the outgoing Mayor’s,
Chaplain named Councillors Lisa-Jane Moore and Frazer Brooks in her opening
prayers. Lisa’s appointment is not a surprise as Bexley is going through a phase
of only electing female Conservatives but Frazer rather more so. He has always
appeared to me as being well outside the favoured band of young men who had
caught the Baroness’s eye. The optimist in me says that it may indicate a new
beginning now that she has thankfully gone.
Councillor Moore before and after the election of Mayor.
The
speeches were not especially revealing. The nomination came from Councillor O’Hare who
said that Councillor Moore was born and lived in South Africa (East
London) and represented her county as a swimmer. She worked in journalism both
there and in the real London from 1997 at the age of 22 where she was involved in some high profile
communications roles, notably the millennium bug fiasco nearly 30 years ago.
Lisa was seconded by Councillor Brooks who thanked Lisa for her support during the uncomfortably close election count
just over three weeks ago. He thought she was the most suitable candidate for
Mayor and hoped that the Labour Group would agree and vote for her. He was
presumably disappointed when they abstained.
After a short break to swap her blue dress for the red robes, the new Mayor
then formally appointed Frazer Brooks as her Deputy and her husband Justin as
Consort. Frazer chose his mother Allison as his Consort.
Labour Leader Stefano Borella congratulated Lisa on her election and thanked the
outgoing Mayor Christine Catterall and her escort “The Duke of Danson”. (The
recently elected Councillor Dave Curtois.)
He joked about not voting in favour of the new Mayor’s appointment but said she
would be supported by the Labour Group and implied she should count herself
honoured that his Councillors did not vote against the Mayor as they have sometimes in the past.
The retiring Mayor and her Consort Dave Curtois were presented with commemorative badges.
Signing in for duty.
Following the appointment of the Mayor, Councillor David Leaf was formally appointed Council Leader with Cameron Smith as his Deputy. Councillors Stefano Borella and Sean Brackstone were confirmed as Leaders of the Labour Party and Reform UK respectively and David Leaf thanked both of them for their help and co-operation in arranging representation at various Committees.