Crossrail £16 billion
The Mayor's "spend now, pay later" transport policies will cost London dear. Ken Livingstone has hit the spending limit on his 'London Plc' platinum credit card. More than £11bn of the £16bn bill for Crossrail will be paid, one way or another, by Londoners. Worse, London Underground's incompetence in managing the PPP contracts could land TfL with a bill for over £1bn. Precious little will be left for other important transport projects like the Cross River Tram.
Whoever the capital elects as Mayor next May will need to close a vast black hole in TfL's finances. Londoners can expect a savage hike in fares from 2009 - after the election, of course. Now the Mayor and TfL are in sole charge of managing the Crossrail project, extraordinary care will be needed to avoid cost overruns. The Olympics finances haven't exactly given Londoners much confidence so far.
Geoff Pope
Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson on the London Assembly
Len Colegate
I would like to add to the tribute written by Rita Grootendorst following the death of LEN COLEGATE.
Len was a member of the 2nd Sidcup (St. John's) Scout Group for over 30 years and the Group will miss him. His Scouting knowledge and tireless work was always appreciated.
D.S. Webb
2nd Sidcup (St John's) Scout Group.
Congratulations
I write to congratulate you on your newspaper.
Not only is it well laid out with informative articles but it has the champion of common sense and insight. John Stewards monthly feature I read over several days savouring the wisdom of it. Can’t you persuade him to stand for parliament!
I do believe I would pay a pound a month for the pleasure of reading the Chronicle.
A.E. Sandall,
Welling
• From December you will only have to pay 40p a month when you collect your Chronicle from your local newsagent or from your superstore. Great value and the Chronicle is now the only local paid for newspaper on the stands.
Local MP calls for more talk about the NHS
Local MP, John Austin, has called for a serious, adult debate about the future of local health services. Reacting to a recent advertisement in the Chronicle by Derek Conway, MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup, Austin said: “I don’t disagree with what Derek has said. The debate about the future of local health services needs to be open and informed and free of hype and exaggeration. I will need to be convinced that any changes are clinically sound and in the patients’ best interests.”
“We should be planning for the kind of service that we wish to see over the next five to ten years which means there will be some changes. Every hospital cannot provide every service, nor should they try. We need a rational debate about which services should be where, including an examination of those services that can best be provided in the community.”
“The debate needs to look at services across the area, Bexley, Greenwich, as well as Bromley and Lewisham, and it needs to look at creating centres of excellence, for example for cardiac services, strokes, paediatrics.”
Boris for London Transport!
I read taxpayers will have to foot the Metronet collapse! I hope this means London taxpayers and not residents living outside of London.
Londoners voted for Livingstone. Blair backed by Livingstone forced this underground mess on Londoners.
Had they both listened to Bob Crow this would not have happened. The only solution in London is to have all transport under one body and call it The London Transport Board. It’;s what most Londoners wish for - the RMT, ASLEEF, Busman Union are crying out for but will the Mayor listen? Still with a bit of luck Londoners will vote for Boris next year!
Jim Halford,
Swanley
• Don’t hold your breath Jim. Ed
Low flying planes
We would like to add our names to the list of protesters regarding low and frequent aircraft flying over the borough of Bexley.
Sitting in our garden between 2-05pm until 2-35pm I counted ten low flying and quite large aircraft presumably going to the City Airport. This seems to have increased dramatically over recent years and having watched the news that the authority wish to increase flights by 50% over a period of years. The noise is even worse in the evenings.
We both believe that this will be extremely detrimental to the environment of our Borough.
Susan & Eric Wheeler,
Bexley
Post Office Access†
I have just read a copy of your paper and note the deep and worrying concerns of Mrs Ford regarding her inability to use the Post Office.† As a well wisher I would just like to say The Post Office or tenant of those premises have a duty under the Disability Discrimination Act to ensure the commercial premises are available for use by all including partially sighted blind or physically disabled. Being an essential business I would have thought the Post Office would take these matters most†seriously.† As a local resident I have objected to Planning due to the restrictive width of the access for such users as Mrs Ford.
Perhaps she should ask the PO to comply with the DDA and if they fail to do say approach citizens advice on how to enforce the DDA.† Our Planning department and Planning Inspectorate should be taken such concerns on board when considering these applications and insisted on compliance with the legislation in force at the time of consent.
A Well wisher,
Sidcup
Referendum
One of my main responsibilities as a London Euro-MP is to provide voters in Bexley/Greenwich with information about the European Union.
Over recent months, there has been much talk of the European constitution and whether or not Britain should have a referendum. Many readers have told me they simply do not know enough about the treaty our government is planning to sign, so I have produced a handy pocket guide that explains the key elements of the new treaty and how they will affect them. This can be downloaded at syedkamall.com, or by contacting me at syed@syedkamall.com and I will post a copy/copies.
I believe the new so-called ‘reform treaty’ is mostly the old European constitution renamed, and it will transfer so much power from Westminster to Brussels that voters should be given a chance to have their say in a referendum. After reading my pocket guide, I would be eager to hear what people think.
Syed Kamall MEP
Conservative Euro-MP for London
European Parliament, Brussels, 1047
Health & My Safety!
On the evening of the 4th August I was blackberrying alongside the path that leads from Crabtree Manorway north to the river. Without warning the ground gave way beneath me and I found myself in a six feet deep drainage ditch up to my knees in stagnant water. Because of the mud, and lack of a foothold, I could not get out. After struggling for 1/4 hr, I started calling for help, it was 3/4 hr before I was heard, and a couple of bus workers bought round a pair of steps for me to clamber out.
I telephoned the Council on Monday, and couldn’t get past the telephonist. She relayed the message that it was nothing to do with them and to contact the Land Registry to see who owned the land - even though the Council must know who owns the grass verge either side of a public footpath. So I duly wrote off and enquired who owned the land on the west side of the footpath. They sent back a load of guff detailing who owned the land on the east side - it is Lidl’s alongside their depot. I telephoned the Land Registry who said that they were not allowed to give the information over the phone, but they thought it was Lidl’s and if I wanted it confirmed in writing send £8.!
I wrote to Lidl’s at their Raynes Park HQ and had no reply. So I wrote to the Council and told them that this open, deep, unguarded ditch would be lethal if a child or a dog fell in. If I a 5’11” adult could not get out, a child wouldn’t stand a chance. I had to keep marking time else my feet would have been held fast in the mud like glue.
I said all it needs is a strand of wire, waist high so nobody can trip over it, and a Danger - Keep Out notice. They could either serve an enforcement notice on the land owner or as a responsible Council do it themselves. I offered to take a council official there to show that I was’nt making a fuss about nothing. If a child wandered off this public footpath it could be fatal. This was over a fortnight ago, I have’nt even had an acknowledgement let alone a reply.
I have written to Councillor Craske twice, the first time was to congratulate him on being elected, and sympathising with getting the poisoned chalice of transport, but said that if he could solve Bexleys traffic problems he’d be in favour in perpetuity. No reply to either. An insider told me that he does’nt even bother to read letters!
The Post Office deal with their complaints just the same - just ignore them. I’ve written to the Post Master three times (Dartford) about missing post, one item which is costing me a lot of money, but again, without the courtesy of a reply.
We are all labouring under the dead weight of incompetence and inefficiency. At 76 I’m glad I’m retired. I feel sorry for the up and coming decent youngsters. Trouble is, the British character has changed. There is now nobody in work or in authority who can remember the relaxed, but restrained society we enjoyed up to the sixties. I think the lack of uniforms have something to do with it. Remember when postmen were smart uniformed collar & tie men instead of a load of scruffs with shirts hanging outside their shorts? Bus conductors, park keepers, even meter readers had peaked caps and coppers on the beat, all helped to keep us kids in order 50+ years ago.
Now, if you catch a kid misbehaving as I have, you can’t do anything about it, he can tell you - or his schoolmaster to ‘naff off’ and there is nothing you can do. Keep up your campaigning.
A.J. Burnett
Bexleyheath.
Sidcup Traffic Inquiry
I draw the attention of your readers in Sidcup area to the recent distribution of the proposed plans and questionnaire relating to the Sidcup Town Centre Traffic Management scheme proposals. I thought that this had been distributed to ALL Sidcup residents. It turned out that the distribution was very patchy. All flats over the high street area with access from the back were missed - and there are a lot. I e-mailed the Traffic Department and advised them of this. I also copied this e-mail to all six Sidcup Ward Councillors. I then discovered that all the Black Horse Road residents (a cul-de-sac off Sidcup High Street) had been missed out too. Again I e-mailed the Traffic Department whose reply was that the matter would be dealt with in 10 days. The closing date was the 19 October. Subsequently I discovered that an entire block of maisonettes in Carlton Road had been missed too. All these homes have been in existence and paying Council Tax for longer than Bexley Council has been in existence.
Someone came into Sidcup Library whilst I was there and asked if they had any spare questionnaires. Sidcup Library did not.
I have not received any acknowledgement from the Sidcup Councillors that they too were concerned at the distribution failures and I wonder why there was no public display in Sidcup Library and spare plans and questionnaires available to the general public.
Jean Gee (Mrs),
Sidcup
• The Sidcup High Street Promotions Group were also excluded from commenting. Ed
The Register Office
The Bexley Civic Society is very concerned over the proposal to sell off the Manor House, The Green, Sidcup. The Council has asked a consultancy to recommend ways in which a new Civic Centre could be developed. This would involve concentrating many departments in one building. The Society is not opposed to this concept, but is opposed to the loss of the Manor House. It is a Grade 11 listed building set in pleasant gardens, and serves as the Register. It was refurbished by the Council a few years ago at considerable expense to provide a suitable setting for weddings. There may be a case for selling off some Council buildings, but not this one. A developer could turn the elegant Georgian building into flats, destroying the unity of the house and grounds, and possibly building further dwellings on the site. We do urge your readers to write to Councillor Ian Clements, Leader of the Council, at the Civic Offices, Bexleyheath, objecting to this sell off.
John Mercer
Bexley Civic Society,
Sidcup
Reluctant Jumpers!
Mrs. Gee need not concern herelf about cycling routes. No cyclist will take a blind bit of notice. I have often wondered why councils go to the trouble and expense of erecting signposts for cyclists.
We are a hardy, resourceful, independent bunch, adept at map reading. I spent 25 years cycling all over London, often seven days a week without needing a recommended route). I could criss cross London without touching a main road, but today it would be difficult. Some dunderhead in our previous administration thought that road safety would be improved by turning the highways into obstacle courses. Side road cyclists today are reluctant steeplechasers. ‘Red’ Ken wants us all on our bikes - have you ever seen him on one? - then spends hundreds of thousands making it difficult and uncomfortable.
A.J. Burnett
Bexleyheath.
Sidcup Traffic Management
The Sidcup Area Traffic management has just been circulated locally, yet there are some serious, and obvious omissions-.
When drafting the brief for the document, why were the Station Rd / Hurst Rd and the Station Rd / Longlands Rd junctions omitted, together with the Queen Mary’s roundabout? These three intersections are an integral part of the Sidcup traffic flow, and should surely have been included, especially so when the report acknowledges that the major flow is North / South? It is far too simplistic to suggest that ‘solving’ the local congestion in the High St that will eliminate the total problem(s).
The introduction of a coast bound filter at the Queen Mary roundabout would reduce the queuing, and improve the flow towards Bromley, at very little cost, yet has not been suggested-, The introduction of one-way flow in Church Avenue would also improve the congestion on Sidcup Hill-, significantly this too is overlooked; We all witnessed the chronic congestion the one way working the gas works in the High St required, yet this is one of the new proposals! The traffic surveys were apparently carried out in the last two months, did this include the school holidays, or am I being cynical?
Does anyone responsible for these proposals actually live or work in Sidcup?
Malcolm Greening
Sidcup