Caffe Nero

Great news, Caffe Nero can continue trading. It is an asset to Sidcup and offers a pleasant environment for local residents to meet with friends to have a ‘coffee and a chat’. I understand that the petition to keep it open was signed by a great many, something that those who were ‘strangely’ opposed to Caffe Nero appear to have ignored. There is an old fashioned element in Sidcup that need to move with the times rather than try to enforce their restrictive views on others.

Early in 2006 the Moghul restaurant, a small restaurant which opened in the early 1980s on Main Road, appealed against a Bexley Council planning decision refusing permission to open on Sundays like the newer pub and restaurants on the opposite side of Main Road. The Moghul lost its written planning appeal. Similarly Via Italia in Sidcup High Street applied to open in the evening like its neighbouring Chinese restaurant. This planning application was refused and the written appeal failed. These two applicants complied with both the planning law and the decisions.

Café Moca in central Sidcup High Street opened illegally and submitted a retrospective planning application. It was refused. Café Moca appealed and lost. Bexley Council is now legally empowered to close Café Moca down which  they have now done.

Caffé Nero converted a large part of Sidcup Post Office without planning permission, opened and broke the law. Under pressure from Bexley Council it submitted a retrospective planning application which was refused. It appealed. Unlike the aforementioned planning appeals, which were all written ones, Caffé Nero succeeded in with its moneyed and high powered legal representation in getting an oral appeal hearing. At that appeal Caffé Nero boasted of its record in opening up cafés illegally and then being successful on appeals.

Unfortunately Bexley Council did not present its case well at the Caffé Nero appeal. It failed to draw the Inspector’s attention to the recent refusal decision by another inspector in respect of the Café Moca. The Caffé Nero cited footfall as being beneficial to Sidcup High Street area. Bexley Council should have pointed out to the Inspector that the west end of Sidcup High Street already had a very large existing footfall area. It is the major Sidcup traffic junction and pedestrian crossing; it has five bus stops including the very busy eastbound bus stop on the narrowing pavement outside Caffé Nero; it is the location of no fewer than four separate cash points on the narrowing pavement and has the only post office left the Sidcup area. There is no problem with footfall at the west end of Sidcup High Street. Customer footfall is required in the central and east end of the Sidcup High Street area. At the east end of Sidcup High Street there is a restaurant which has been empty for two years.

Caffé Nero’s appeal success is a kick in the teeth for law abiding businesses in Sidcup. I am happy to be old fashioned. I prefer to support law abiding businesses.

Crime figures for 2006 show a marked increase of some 29% in the number of drug offences committed across the capital and yet at the same time the Metropolitan Police Service have issued 14,816 street warnings and cautions for the possession of drugs.

One of the biggest problems our society and our communities now face is that of drugs, and without an active deterrent to committing crime, offenders will continue to laugh in the face of the law. If being caught in possession of hard Class A drugs such as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy only results in a slap on the wrist what sort of culture are we nurturing for the future?

Better education, combined with a reversal of the Metropolitan Polices softly-softly approach to tackling drugs on the streets of London is the only way we will see a reduction in the 50,124 drugs offences committed last year.

In the 2005/2006 financial year, there were 512 drug offences in Bexley, of which 452 were possession offences. The police will not supply a Borough breakdown of the number of cautions or street warnings handed out.

The reason that the ‘manhole’ cover [or BT footway box 4a] is positioned where it is,is because our UG [underground] cables run in straight lines and at that point, junction off of Sidcup Hill into Knoll Road.To move this box anywhere else becomes a major logistical problem,hence the bollards!

On the subject of three letter abbreviations and historical note,the GPO officially ceased to exist after 1977 when it was renamed the PO,or PO telephones in this case.

Kind regards

Laurence Williams [BT & Bexley SDP (Social Democratic Party)

• You must forgive an old man for still thinking it was still under the roof of one company.  I’m lead to believe the other problem at the junction are gas mains and electricity cables. Ed

Graffiti & Buses

Just two separate issues I wish to mention in your letters column. I noticed recently the station footbridge at Abbey Wood station - where the bus stops are located are again plastered with unsightly graffiti and now presents a distinct eyesore!

In the same area, on the main road there are CCTV cameras, which, if they are working should pick up the infantile morons responsible for defacing the area since most of the graffiti appears to have been carried out from the bridge itself.  Is there any chance, or risk, of the Met. Police or British Transport Police  whose remit extends and covers a one mile radius of railway stations in London, including the underground network, catching the idiots and morons defacing the station bridge area.

The B11 bus service route Thamesmead-Bexleyheath is an absolute disgrace and overcrowded at most times, especially late afternoon and early evening. To make matters worse virtually all the B11 buses which are single deckers, have only one door for access/exit making it difficult for those at the back to get off. It’s about time TfL sorted out this shoddy service on the B11 route and the overcrowded 180 route Thamesmead-Lewisham. South east bus services are at the bottom of the pile for bad service and overcrowding!

What’s it cost?

The Mayor’s oil deal with Venezuela could cost Londoners millions of pounds.

During questioning at the London Assembly on 22nd March 2007, representatives from Transport for London confirmed that the work to be carried out in exchange for discounted Venezuelan oil “has not yet been decided”, meaning that the actual saving of £16 million quoted by the Mayor may be substantially lower.

Once discounted travel has been implemented in 2008, along with lost revenue and the cost of TfL officers’ travel to Venezuela to deliver their expertise in public services and transport, the total scheme could eventually become a burden rather than a benefit to many Londoners.

Once again we have a Mayor signing deals on behalf of Londoners and then spinning the benefits without being in a position to reveal the true costs.

Horrified

I currently live in Cork, Southern Ireland having moved from Wilmington in 2001. I travel back to Dartford on a regular basis to see my family. On a recent visit I was horrifed by the amount of litter around the Dartford/Crayford/Wilmington area. It was disgusting. Cans, bottles, bags, packets you name it I saw it. In bushes, by the side of the roads etc etc the list goes on. Lets be honest, since Bluewater opened Dartford town centre has been dying on its feet and surely if the council wants to attract new business and investment to the area it should first start by cleaning up its front and back yards. Surely Mr Kite would be better placed in spending council funds on road sweepers and urban litter collection instead of finding ever more ingenious places to place pictures of himself and self promotion....or is there an election coming up.

In 2004, Labour's Ken Livingstone promised to halve crime by 2008. Today's London crime figures show just how arrogant and out of touch that statement was. The Met would have to cut crime by 42% or 400,000 offences between now and next year to meet the Mayor's pledge. An impossible task by any standard.

The Met have done a great job at cutting crime across London, largely due to the millions of pounds being spent on policing the capital. But Londoners must know that Ken's biggest election promise is about to be broken.

Now the police must focus their efforts on tackling the waves of youth killings across London. Gang culture is on the rise across the capital, fuelled by guns, knives and drugs. Yet fewer than 1 in 2 people see a uniformed police presence in their neighbourhood each week. Local residents need to feel safe in their area and more visible policing is key to achieving this.