The Eagle has landed

Regarding “The Eagle has landed” in your March edition of the Chronicle.

Strangely enough, a friend in Wales sent me a request from a gentleman now living in New South Wales (that was in This England magazine Winter 2008/9), asking the same thing about the German airmans grave!  I went to the archives in Bexleyheath library and found that the body was exhumed on 30.10.62 for reinternment in the German War Cemetary in Cannock Chase.

Reading my Choice magazine today about this cemetary containing the graves of 5,000 German serviceman from the two world wars reminded me to write to you, so you can  now tell your sons why the grave in St. Paulinus churchyard had disappeared, I too remember it.

The pilot was Wilhelm Wolf who died 13.09.40 aged 23 years.

Mrs A Giaccone - Bexleyheath.

Delightful youngsters

What a delight it was to see all those beautiful pictures of the pupils enjoying Mexican Day at Birkbeck Primary School.

This school is a real gem for besides having a cultural day which gets them all working as a team they do a lot of social work.

Each year all the residents of Tudor Court (a block of 64 flats for over 55s) are invited to their Xmas Show, in addition a choir actually comes to the flats to sing Xmas Carols!

Then, later in the paper you feature an excellent two page article on a visit to the ATC 1227 Squadron at Sidcup.  It made stimulating reading to see how well all these young folk are enjoying themselves.  It is great to know that each month the Chronicle will feature articles on similar groups.

The majority of young people are well behaved and it will be nice to read all the future articles.  Sadly, we always hear of the troublemakers who are a small minority, but seldom of all the good deeds done by the majority of youngsters.

D Walters - Sidcup.

Doctors surgeries

Our health care organisation continues the thrust to remove patients plus their fees from Queen Mary’s Hospital to other PFI hospitals burdened with their enormous continuing escalating PFI debts.

We were told by doctors from two local surgeries (Barnard’s and Church Avenue) at a recent Sidcup Town Partnership meeting of a scheme to provide polyclinics at the emptying Queen Mary’s Hospital to augment and/or replace at least these local Sidcup surgeries.

The two doctors complained that their patient numbers are increasing to a point where the existing surgeries cannot cope. It does not occur to these doctors that the reason their patient list is increasing is due to the ever increasing number of new flats in and around Sidcup. I will give an example; Elm Road – a short road – has increased the number of households and therefore the minimum number of prospective new patients as follows:

• One empty site – 14 new homes + 14

• One house site increased to 4 new homes + 3

• One block of flats increased from 9 to 15 homes + 6

• One house dividing into 2 new homes + 1

This means an increase of a minimum of 24 patients looking for a doctor from one Sidcup road.

The doctors noted that there is little in the way of available parking for patients attending such Queen Mary based polyclinics and their patients will apparently share these proposed polyclinic facilities with others not on these surgeries’ patient lists.

Another neighbour tells me that she recently had to go into Queen Mary’s Hospital. A closed ward had to be re-opened to accommodate her and some 40 other patients. Due to the plumbing being removed they had to share one shower between them.

Multiply the increasing number of new flats all over Sidcup and the answer is plain – the Council and the health care trust should be increasing the infrastructure of health provision by providing new surgeries to accommodate a rapidly increasing number of patients from new households.

Jean Gee (Mrs) - Sidcup

Tories and the EU

With reference to the article by Syed Kamall, MEP, warning all recreational anglers that they are about to be regulated by the European Union. 

If he is so critical of the EU why is he still a member of the Conservative Party? 

Labour, Lib Dems and the Conservatives all want to remain in the European Union. 

Remember, it was the Tories that took us into the EU in 1973

• signed the Single European Act in 1986

• entered the exchange rate mechanism in 1990

• signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 

They are now demanding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but fail to pledge one should the Treaty be ratified by the EU. 

On the 5th March, 2008, the Conservative Front Bench deliberately abstained on an amendment to protect the legal supremacy of OUR Parliament from the measures within the Lisbon Treaty(EU Constitution)? 

Michael Barnbrook,

Prospective Parliamentary Candidate,

Old Bexley and Sidcup,

British National Party 

Elm Road sub-standard 

As a consequence of the Water Board attaching a new water connection in Elm Road, Sidcup, we have been able to see the very inadequate substructure to the road surface in Elm Road. It is all of 4 inches deep. No wonder the road surface keeps sinking and breaking up. This collapsing road surface is ably assisted by the underground water channels which run along Elm Road and Station Road down to the Station area. This underground water movement constantly erodes the the ground below these roads. The traffic along Elm Road can easily average some 1,000 vehicles per hour. This of course includes not only double decker buses but large delivery vehicles. 

For the last six years - ever since the Council superstore was constructed - a particular area in the road outside our gate has continually collapsed downwards and been patched again and again - to no avail. It is not the only area - just the worse one in Elm Road. Most of the manhole covers are also sited on these collapsing ground subsurfaces and constantly have to be repaired also. The clanging noise is terrible. 

A Council Highways Engineer says that the only real remedy is to construct a deep and adequate subsurface to these roads. However, it will cost millions of pounds and the roads will be unusable for several months therefore the Council will not do it. 

Jean Gee (Mrs) - Sidcup

Chewing Gum 

Further to your photo/article of the state of pavements in Sidcup, Station Road (Bexley Chronicle March 2009): 

The graffitti van and man with high-pressure hose spent hours removing chewing gum residues from the pavements opposite Somerfield down as far as the ruins of Lamorbey Baths. The remnants of grime have solidified there at the edge of Station Road traffic lights.

The pavements outside of Hewish the estate agents are still caked with the stuff. Let’s hope the council will get to work on these soon.   In the meantime well done Bexley Council for doing something about a nasty problem that affects us all. 

Rita Grootendorst - Sidcup.

Chewing gum or not?

Dorothy Holman’s letter is certainly interesting in regard to the theory that the spots on pavements are caused by aircraft toilet rubbish deposited from the sky. The spots on her own driveway, like my own, are in fact lichen growths, which can be seen on other paving slabs etc. in various places. 

The dobs of grey on the pedestrian areas of Bexleyheath, for instance, are quite definitely chewing gum spat out, as I have seen being done. Most do this very covertly, but some do so openly, The cleaners that have to scrape up this goo will certainly confirm this!   

Fraser Norman - Bexleyheath 

•Since the article on chewing gum was published the council have completely cleaned up the pavements in Sidcup. Ed

Fatties 

Bexley Council must be taking the growing obesity problem very seriously. The two new Zebra crossings being constructed in Elm Road and Jenner Close are wide enough to accommodate the width of a superstore delivery vehicle.

Jean Gee (Mrs) - Sidcup

Empty Homes in Bexley

Throughout the Mayoral election Mr Johnson pledged to tackle the blight of empty homes in London.  He believes that leaving homes empty when so many people are seeking housing is not only unacceptable, but too often they blight neighbourhoods, attract vandalism and create local eyesores.

Recently he announced an unprecedented £22m of funding to tackle this problem with  Bexley - set to receive £3,011,884  to bring empty homes in the Borough back into use. Across London this vital investment will see over 1300 abandoned, derelict and blighted buildings brought back to residential use putting the Mayor on course to meet his manifesto pledge to invest a total of £60million new funding to bring over 3,400 empty homes in London back into use by 2011.

This funding will bring improvements to social rented and private sector homes, improve the quality of homes and lives on some of the capital’s most deprived housing estates, and raise the environmental efficiency of social and private housing. 

Funding a range of practical measures to encourage owners to repair and bring their homes back into use costs a fraction of the price of building a new home, delivering real value for money for London taxpayers, as well as providing a further boost to the construction industry during these difficult economic times.

Richard Blakeway - Mayor of London’s Director of Housing

Let’s respect our youth

As I came around Sidcup Station approach I saw school boys throwing a bottle of water up in the air - thank God it wasn’t glass.  The leading culprit kicked the bottle to leave it there as yet more rubbish in this area, which I have been concerned about for months now.  There were about ten or more boys at the scene.

I called over to the leading culprit, “excuse me but would you stop leaving your rubbish around this area please and would you put that bottle in the bin”!

The others began laughing and making remarks as if to make fun of me, not all, but the boy I spoke to direct did pick the bottle up and “bin it”.  Dead silence all round as the leading culprit became a hero - well at least a respondent to my request.  I’m coming up to seventy by the way.  He showed me respect.

If enough of us, whatever our age, began treating our youth more with respect as adults towards them, and not just talk about them, we could win our youth to “Boldly & Rightly” go, “Bexleys emblem” challenge to us all in the Borough.

Bob Bedwell - Sidcup.

• I did the same thing recently Bob in St Johns Road. A group of about six young lads and a couple of girls were sitting eating and one of them threw a can on the pavement.  He caught my eye and I asked  him to pick it up which,  to my surprise he did.  I also remember walking past a tattooed  man with a chain around his neck. As I past by he threw a cigarette pack on the ground and I bent down picked it up and handed it to him saying “I think you dropped this”!  He thanked me and put it in his pocket. Ed

Be gas safe 

I was concerned to learn that, according to research carried out for Gas Safe Register, half of consumers would risk doing their own electrical and gas repairs. This is not least because saving money on an inadequate gas appliance repair can, sadly, end up costing the life of a loved one from carbon monoxide poisoning.    

Currently, consumers who wish to avoid this gamble use a CORGI registered gas engineer. However, in response to public and industry calls for change, from 1 April, Gas Safe Register will be the only scheme gas engineers need to join, and the only brand consumers need to look for. 

Consumers should continue to check the picture and licence number on the engineer’s identification card but look out for the new Register’s logo. Anyone who wishes to find out more can visit www.gassaferegister.co.uk 

Stephen Williams - Divisional Director of HSE for London.

Bexley First

We, the residents of the Borough are being ‘consulted’ on the Council plans for a new Civic Centre/Offices during April/May this year.

Judgements made by the Conservative Council in the 1970s resulted in the embarrassing edifice that exists today.

The Executive Committee of the Bexley Federation of Residents’ Associations are unanimous in their view that history should not repeat itself.  Through your columns, we ask all Resident Associations in the Borough to get in touch with us so that we might jointly monitor events and unite in obtaining a building that meets the needs of Council Service Departments and their staff AND be worthy of the Borough and its residents.

Please contact the Federation Chairman - Mr. R Watson, 156 Belvedere Road, Bexleyheath, Kent, DA7 4PC

Elizabeth Rhodes - Bexley London Borough Federation of Residents Association - Sidcup.