My Month

My Month May 2008

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:29:09 +0100

They all want more money...

When my Council Tax notice arrived I looked out of the window to see if the world had suddenly changed. The Council want even more money yet the weeds are still growing in the road and along the paths, The road hasn’t been repaired since WW2 and I can’t remember the last time someone actually swept it. The pavements need attention and the trees in the road look as sad as I feel. What am getting for my average £233 every month? Precious little it would seem. We have a housing department employing sixty five people yet our council sold all their housing stock. A councillor told me they have statutory duties to perform and answer questions to the public who might call in at their offices in the Broadway!

Then we have the GLA part. They take money every month to spend on what I simply do not know. I’m told it could be for policing London. But where is this invisible force?

Gas Bill up 34%

Like most OAPs the latest gas bill floored me. Up by a massive 34%. Why? Apparently the government and oil companies agreed it was the most acceptable. So in one month I have had to find cash for the local council of £233 and now £539-39p for the British Gas. The lady at British Gas explained their charges had been increased by no less than 139%!!

Room 101

For the second time in two weeks I have been back to Room 101. Readers will recall I was asked to leave this famous room when I sat in on a Forum Chairman’s meeting but they decided secrecy was required! The second meeting was to hear how the Bexley First programme is coming along. Apart from the odd glitch like schools in Slade Green and retaining the Register Office in Sidcup the scheme sounds a lot larger and impressive than first meets the eye.

Derek Conway

Have we been too unfair on the MP for Sidcup & Old Bexley? Why you ask, didn’t he employ his sons and overpay them for undertaking research work for him! Yes, and he was vilified by the media. He stood up in the House of Commons and apologised to his colleagues and was reputed to have told his local Conservative Association he would not be standing at the next election. His career in politics seemed to be at an end.

But the local Conservatives did not want to have the expense of a Bye Election.

Now it turns out that the Sidcup & Old Bexley member of parliament is nothing like the rogue the press and his own colleagues made him out to be. What are the facts? In 2006/7 his travel expenses were 368th out of a total of 645 members of parliament; his staffing allowance (which included his payments to his sons) was 228th out of 645 and his total claim was 262nd of the total yet none of the hundreds who claimed more than he did have been vilified to the same extent and probably won’t be now which is why I say have we not been a touch too unfair to the otherwise hard-working MP for Sidcup & Old Bexley!

Bexley and the Olympic Games

Apart from perhaps supplying a number of volunteers for ground duties the prospect of Bexley playing any meaningful part in the 2012 Games seems doubtful.

Only two pre-Games training camps have been announced. Erith Leisure Centre and Crook Log for athletics and Mount Mascal and Shannon Leigh stables for equestrianism.

Cllr Len Newton said he could not enthuse about the Games and he would object to the new PPP schemes in Erith, Bexleyheath and Sidcup being used by competitors at the expense of residents. Cllr. Aileen Beckwith also said she was doubtful about what Bexley can contribute. She remained sceptical about what Bexley would get out of the Games.

My Month April 2008

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:45:27 +0000

Keep your nerve!

My suggestion that Mrs June Slaughter is adopted as the official conservative candidate at the next general election has not fallen on deaf ears with quite a few readers agreeing with me. It would be good to have someone who lives and knows the people living in Old Bexley and Sidcup. Let’s hope the local association have the nerve to stand out against the wishes of Central office who may well be planning to heave one of their own on us.

The Budget

Listening to the council ‘debating’ the new Budget and yet another increase in our Council Tax I couldn’t help picking up on two points. One was when the Leader of the Council suggested their hard work keeping the increase below inflation was why there was no public in the gallery listening to the ‘debate’. Secondly, the crass way selected individual members, of which there are fifty four in the ruling political party, score points bullying the nine minority members in the Labour group. Why the Tories can’t simply get on with the job in hand without bullying and bad manners is beyond me. After all who were they trying impress? There were only themselves present! And why do the selected few councillors who always talk so eloquently realise it is only the other sixty two councillors who hear and sometimes listen to what they say.

On the subject of the Budget. Why is it necessary to uplift allowances, wages and pensions in line with inflation every year when the majority of us haven’t had real wage rises in years? In the real world wage increases come from higher sales and profits. Why can’t our council keep the status quo!

Room 101!

One of Bexley Councils main meeting places is Room 101! So what is the significance you ask.

Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. He named it after a conference room at BBC Broadcasting House where he used to sit through tedious meetings. “You asked me once, what was in Room 101. I told you I knew the answer already. Everyone knows it. The thing that is in Room 101 is the worst in the world”. 0’Brien. Just goes to show someone in the council, or working for it, knew what they were doing when they numbered this room!

My Month March 2008

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:22:40 +0000

A time for change

What a month it turned out to be for our member of parliament Derek Conway and his family. Following his apology to the House about how he allocated his allowances he probably thought that would be the end of the matter. After all the story was almost a year old but it was like snow on a mountain building up to an avalanche of criticism mainly from his own colleagues and Tory media.

It was also a week when there wasn’t much else to report on by the national media who seized on the story like mad dogs in a news eating frenzy.

Whatever has been said about Conway when he took on the constituency from his predecessor he had a big pair of feet to fill and to be fair he was beginning to find a place on his political patch getting involved in lots of local issues including the fight to save services at Queen Mary’s hospital. His reputation was growing as a sound constituency MP. But now he has said he will not fight the next election will mean a new candidate will have to be found to represent the conservative party in Old Bexley and Sidcup.

It is obvious from the few people who are members of the local Conservative Association they do not represent the bulk of those who vote for a conservative candidate. After all there are only just over a thousand members in the whole of Old Bexley and Sidcup and they shun publicity as if it was a disease! Their counterparts in Bexleyheath are the opposite and promote themselves and their party at every given opportunity actively seeking out new members to take on the role of councillors.

But it will be up to the local association in Old Bexley and Sidcup who will decide who is to be the new candidate if Mr Conway does stand down. Or will it! Because it is a ‘safe’ seat the Conservative Central Office will have a string of prospective MPs just as Mr Conway was when the seat became available anxious to foist him/her on the good trusting people in the constituency.

The Chronicle would like to suggest they disregard what Central office have to say and put forward their own candidate, someone like Mrs June Slaughter (Pictured right) who lives on the patch. She would be an excellent representative. Lives here, dedicated to her party, loves politics, can listen, read and digest information and is articulate when giving an informed opinion. She would be an asset in Parliament and because of her reputation in the constituency as a councillor would soon make herself felt in the upper echelons of the Commons club.

So come on sleepy Old Bexley and Sidcup Conservative Association persuade Mrs Slaughter to stand but if she won’t then someone like her.

Council Tax Up Again!

The word is that our council tax is going up yet again. Some say by as much as 4% locally plus of course the GLA part which also grows year-on-year.

Pensioners will as usual suffer the increases most. They have already been told about meals on wheels and cuts in their medical care and increases in their utility bills which has wiped out the governments contribution of £100 toward keeping warm.

The government will not be amending pensions by the amount of increases they have had to bear.

Many pensioners live in larger houses which they have owned for years and many pay well in excess of £200 every month to the council to take away minuscule amounts of rubbish each week. Sweep their streets once in a while and keep their roads lit at night when they’re fast asleep! Few can remember the last time their roads or pavements being repaired and probably over half who have been forced to pay the levy for the Olympics will be dead by 2012. Most Bexley pensioners believe they do not receive value for money.

The Council say their hands are tied because of the amount of money they are given by central government which this year will be less than inflation. They say they have saved £6m a year since they took office from the previous administration.

My Month February 2008

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:06:15 +0000

The Rich List...

With almost freezing weather throughout December we were basking in temperatures hovering around twenty six degrees in Tenerife at Playa la Arena near Los Gigantes. For the first time in many years we had two mornings of atrocious weather with clouds down to sea level. When it lifted though Mt. Teidi was covered in snow.

The Christmas pudding and mince pies are but a distant memory. In my stocking came a mobile sat/nav. I had previously thought these were pretty naff. but having used one now I can see it is much more than just a navigation aid.

New Chief Executive

Although I’m dismayed to learn there is no-one living in the borough of Bexley qualified or capable to take up the vacant position of chief executive I must admire the fortitude of Will Tuckley (48) who used to be with Croydon Council.

Will was chosen by consultants Odgers Ray & Berndtson and put on a list of twenty nine people who applied for the advertised job. This was reduced to a short list of four applicants following interviews by Odgers.

The four were then subjected to a rigourous two hour structured interview and personality questionnaire and a ‘psychometric’ test and a personal interview with the council leader. They were then subjected to a mock cabinet exercise presenting a complex issue in the role of chief executive and answering members questions. Then references were considered. Only heads of departments seemed to have been missed out on the selection process!

Taking all that on board Will must be quite a guy with the patience of a saint. The Chronicle wishes him well and hopes he gets to like Bexley so much that he might move here from Lee.

Will was previously Chair of the Amicus Horizon Group Board, Vice Chair and an Independent Board Member with Amicus since 2000. His career has been in local government, in housing and other services. He was Director of Policy and Corporate Services and deputy chief executive for Croydon Council. Chair of Group Nominations and Selection Committee. He is expected to take up his duties in April.

According to the Tax Alliance Rich List 05/06 Will can expect to take home pay at least the same as Nick Johnson the previous chief executive which was £3,519 a week. Bexley Council is quite generous to its senior staff. Peter Ellershaw, Director of Environment & Regeneration Services earns a cool £2,788 a week and Deborah Absalom, Childrens & Young People Services £2,769 a week and David Berry our Deputy Chief Executive gets £2,596 a week. What do senior people like planners earn? See next issue.

Top pay for top people...

Will Tuckley £182,999; Ellershaw £144,999; Absalom £143,999; Berry £134,999

Kings garage

Most readers who drive will know there is only one garage in Sidcup selling petrol/diesel/ Loyal customers have been causing havoc in the main road turning in to fill up only to discover when it’s too late that the place is closed for three months for refurbishment. It’s a pity the management haven’t the wit to place a large notice that passing motorists could read or even afford to place an advertisement in one of the local papers. So please avoid Sidcups only garage until they tell us its open again.

My Month January 2008

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:50:30 +0000

The waiting game...

I read somewhere that the council were concerned that few journalists attended meetings in the Civic offices. I guess one of the reasons is that they, like many others have already put in a full days work and the chances of picking up a good story is remote.

One of the committees that sometimes has a story attached to it is our Planning Control Committee made up of councillors who, along with the councils planners are judge and jury as to whether a project will go ahead or not.

Sometimes the public gallery is full of people waiting to hear decisions about a particular application who are obliged to sit it out until their turn comes. This is often late in to the night. Would it not be possible for someone to ask the visiting public what planning application they were there to hear then bring those forward to be heard first thus saving everyone a great deal of time sitting on hard seats for hours on end listening to hard hat applications they have no interest in. If it’s difficult for the committee to deal with the public interest plans first, could the chair person to tell the public gallery to expect a delay of two hours giving them the option of staying, going shopping and returning later.

One typical public interest application recently was demolishing the old peoples home in Vicarage Road, Bexley. A resident, Jeff Miller, spoke against the development as did Mrs S.Mitchell. The council’s planners told the committee why they thought the project should go ahead and ward cllrs. Downing and Tandy supported the objectors. When it came to the vote six members voted for and six against. The chairman cast her vote to approve so the scheme goes ahead. We shall photograph the site and the finished project to see how it all fits in with the olde worlde of Bexley Village. The good news was that the developer and planners have solved the problem of flooding in Bexley.

Mr Miller stormed out of the meeting with other members of the public all shouting cringing abuse.

HIPS

Our friendly local estate agent has confirmed the market has pretty well dropped to its lowest level and the future of estate agents as we know them today will changed forever because of the introduction of the HIP which all house owners now require before they are able to sell their properties. Your domestic energy assessor plays an important role in obtaining a satisfactory HIP. Our estate agent points out that a whole new industry is being created by the government and the danger is that mortgages will be difficult to come by without a good HIP so home sellers might find themselves having to employ specialists to bring their properties up to a required standard before it can be sold. Think about roofs, boilers, damp courses, insulation, double glazing etc. If it’s sold as seen the HIP will say so and the price expectation will be lower so the seller loses both ways because he can’t sell without having a HIP. I understand a HIP only lasts six months! Sounds like a good 17.5% VAT earner for the government.

Planning

We thought the idea of planners and a planning committee was to make sure buildings that are erected in Bexley are compatible with those in the surrounding area. How on earth did this block of flats gain approval? A question that is being asked by many readers of the Chronicle. If they allowed this building why not the Gaudi look-a-like down by Sidcup station?

The NHS

I have discovered why the NHS are losing money. I received no less than three separate letters (all unsigned) requesting me to go to an optician in Sidcup for a check up. My own optician undertakes the retinal check and advises the Barnard Medical Centre of the results. My optician charges me £10 for the service as opposed to the NHS chosen optician who charge nothing!

St. Pancras station

The hullaballoo about the refurbished St.Pancras station has not moved me. Whenever I have to travel northwards I nearly always travel by car because of the tortuous journey from Sidcup to Charing Cross then the tube, which, quite frankly, leaves me exhausted. If I did want to spend a small fortune travelling by Eurostar to Paris why should I have to invest over an hours time travelling in the opposite direction? The worlds gone crazy.

My Month December 2007 - Getting the hump...

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:41:36 +0000

Mid-term crisis

With the new Council approaching its mid-term it was interesting to hear their robust replies to questions put to them by members of the public and Labour councillors at the last full council meeting.

A Sidcup resident Mr Ray Hutchins asked the Leader of the Council Ian Clement to explain what the conservatives had done for Sidcup. He replied that they had kept Council Tax to a 3% increase and talked about keeping future increases low - no question of them being reduced! This affected the whole borough not just Sidcup. He said the conservatives promised to sort out Sidcup’s traffic problems - this is still under consultation! They introduced seven day removal of graffiti, another borough wide issue not just for Sidcup! The conservatives helped to resolve issues of supported living homes they sold to L&Q Housing who wanted to close six of them- another borough wide problem not just Sidcup! The Leader said the conservatives had repaired 32 roads and pavements in Sidcup spending £1m! We asked where these were but have received no answer yet! He talked about safer policing, car parks and saving music/dance tuition in Sidcup which was also a borough wide problem!

The Mayor invited Mr Hutchins to put a supplementary question. He said he had done so five years ago to Cllr. M.Slaughter and was still awaiting a reply!

The conservative Leader also seemed very out of touch when he commented about the Morrison supermarket having no affect whatsoever on the High Street and what did it matter that they sold other than food items etc. Clearly he is not aware of the Conditions his planners put on the store before giving them permission to build then, when challenged to to enforce Condition 22, wouldn’t!

Bexley First

At the same Council meeting the driven desire of the council to establish new offices for themselves and changed working conditions for their staff was also discussed. Also about the buildings they now want to dispose of. Cllr. John Eastaugh reminded members that the idea of building 400 houses on the Howbury site in Slade Green could be flawed having only two roads serving it and the industrial estate! Cllr. Colin Campbell answered some of the criticism of selling the Manor House Register office. He said the cost of upkeep was about £140,000 a year which included salaries of staff. “We can’t ignore these costs...we were elected to make decisions... get rid of it”! He said he had received more e-mails favouring closure than keeping it open. Cllr.M Slaughter said he was getting mixed messages and he didn’t mind the Manor House being sold off provided something of equal stature could be found elsewhere. Someone suggested Hall Place seemed the likely option. Only Cllr. J. Slaughter spoke in support of keeping the Manor House and she said she was surprised to learn that Cllr. Campbell had received such positive support when her post (and the Chronicles) said the opposite.

Getting the hump!

I sent a perfectly polite letter to the councillor Mr.Craske who never acknowledged it but sent it to a council employee who in turn referred it to another. Our problem is that sometimes a vibration is felt when heavy lorries pass over the road hump in The Drive outside our house.

A letter finally arrived quoting ancient writings from the Highways Authority. It’s so easy just writing a letter quoting outdated information. Why not do as we do and stand beside the road and see for themselves. After just fifteen minutes they could see what we (and, I suspect, the two councillors who live in the road can also see) very few, if any regular road users, bother to slow down. This includes buses and heavy transport. The hump is clearly making no contribution to its intended purpose so scrap it!

Sidcup Traffic Review

With fuel now at £5 a gallon (remember when it used to be 7/6d!) Sidcup’s carbon footprint continues to escalate and air quality gets worse due to the conservative councils prevarication to come to a decision regarding the traffic review they promised residents before they were elected a few years ago.

Now we learn that the most recent questionnaire, which unfortunately was not distributed very widely according to readers who have written or called the Chronicle, is now being ‘consulted’ and gaining approval for a way forward. When? March 2008!

Why no more public meetings to make sure what is proposed is acceptable?

After so many delays it might be the best option for our ‘Listening Council’ or will they do what they usually do - what they want leaving the town grid-locked but one way!

My Month November 2007

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:09:41 +0000

Northern Rock

When the news broke about the stricken mortgage lender Northern Rock, I nervously scanned the queues on television to see if I could spot our own Mike Ellesmore with a suitcase ready to ask for the councils £5m he placed there on deposit! Clearly he had more sense and knew the Bank of England would bail out the company. The councils £5m is invested with maturities ranging from October 2007 to March 2008. The investments were all time deposits and are covered by the Bank of England guarantee. Wow!

Just to update readers the Council manages fixed rate long term debt totalling £76m, together with an investment portfolio that currently stands at around £90m. Whilst the level of long term debt remains fairly stable, reflecting the need to fund the capital programme, the amount of cash available for investment varies throughout the year and can fall to £40m. The cash is held not only for Council purposes but also for third-parties such as schools.

Handitills

A reader wrote in a little while ago complaining about the Handitill being out of order and suspected it was a way of perhaps paving the way for them to pay by other means.

Now we learn the council has admitted that collecting council tax by cheque or by cash is the most expensive. They say 67p per transaction as opposed to 1.1p for Direct Debit. Clearly no argument. The recommendation is to close the Handitills located at Bostal, Crayford, Sidcup, Thamesmead and Welling and seek alternative ways of receiving cash by Direct Debit, touchtone and electronic payments at the Nat West bank who have branches in Sidcup, Bexleyheath and Northumberland Heath.

Late Holiday

We have just returned from a break in Tenerife where the temperatures soared daily in excess of thirty degrees. Too hot really. We were again surprised to learn that spending on the islands infrastructure is on the decline but there doesn’t seem to be any letup in the construction of new apartments. There were more cars than ever on the roads, certainly more per head of population than in Bexley. The local authorities on Tenerife believe the best way to slow traffic is by roundabouts and two thick wires stretched across the road surface with a sufficient gap to make you want to slow down. Otherwise they still have no traffic lights and all seem well on the roads. We didn’t think too highly of British Airways. We booked Club Class both ways. Going out was not too bad but coming back one might as well have not bothered. I cannot understand why parents with young babies insist on taking them on holiday with their continual crying. It’s totally unfair on the baby and passengers. Now we learn the airlines are going to allow the idiot mobile telephone brigade to use their instruments on aircraft. A mistake.

Christmas parcels for our troops

Bexley’s staunchest Royalist and supporter of our armed forces is Ennis Smith from Crayford who is once again urging residents to make up small parcels of gifts for our lads serving overseas - especially those in Afghanistan and Basra.

Ennis asks that we do not send sprays, talcum powder or glass. She recommends small shoe box sized parcels containing playing cards, puzzles, sweets, games and books and other small items like handkerchiefs and mittens that will help cheer our lads up while they are away from their loved ones.

If readers who are willing to help could contact Ennis on 01322 551550 she will be able to confirm that your special parcel can be left at a branch of Sainsburys where she will arrange to collect them. Ideally before December 1st. Your gift parcels will reach many lonely outposts at Christmas giving our armed forces a timely reminder that they are not forgotten and there is life, love and a future at home.

My Month October 2007 - Don't bank on it...

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:05:42 +0100

Council Tax 2008/9

Our inner Cabinet of councillors considered a report in July which took account of forecast spending and Government support and an initial projection was made of the possible financial position facing the Council in the years 2008/09 - 2010/11. Again, projections this far ahead had to be accompanied by some fairly substantial caveats but the best information available suggested a Council Tax increase of around 9% for 2008/09 followed by increases of between 8% and 9% for each of the next two years. All of these figures are before any use of reserves and make no allowance for any new service developments. If you add the GLA Council Tax we could be looking at some serious increases well in to double figures. Added to the increased interest charges being forecast wage increases from unions and employees will add to the governments worsening position.

Cash problems

When I read that Barclays Bank plc had to borrow money to cover its trades I wondered how safe is ones money these days. Then my business manager telephoned me from London to tell me that the branch in the depressed Sidcup High Street couldn’t honour a cheque because it didn’t have enough cash! He then made frantic calls to a branch in Bexleyheath where I had to travel specially taking my passport and driving licence to prove my identity. I hope not too many people in Sidcup need cash from Barclays because they might be disappointed!

The Bexleyheath branch was stacked out with people, many of whom were Woolwich Building Society customers. It is this additional workload that is putting local Barclays staff under pressure. This was before the Northern Rock problems came to the surface.

Farnborough hospital

A close friend was admitted to the new hospital at Farnborough to the intensive care ward where he was well looked after. Visiting, I was staggered by the cost of parking the car, £1-50 for an hour or £2 for two hours! Needless to say very few spaces were available so the NHS must be raking it in.

Let’s leave London!

Having seen the Mayors workload I cannot understand why anyone would want to be the Mayor of London. Ken Livingstone seems to have got the handle on the Capital even if he doesn’t always get it right. I just cannot see Boris in the Mayors shoes, they would cramp his style and we don’t need a joker, however academic, running the capital. The Chronicle would like to start a new campaign to remove Bromley and Bexley from Ken’s clutches. With your vote and in one move you could rid yourself of Ken, the dreaded Olympic Tax, Transport for London, London Councils and lower our annual Council Tax by at least 5% all in exchange for a small cross on the ballot paper. As a popular politician once said “You know it makes sense”! What do you think. And which political party would be brave enough to make it happen?

My Month September 2007 - A long Weekend...

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:56:41 +0100

We took a couple of days off recently and ambled up the northern French coast to stay for a long weekend at Nieuwpoort in Belgium a the Cosmospolite Hotel which is situated right next to the promenade, beach, harbour and main shopping street. And do you know we were the only English people around. Lots of French visitors one town away at De Panne where the Belgium army aided the evacuation of our troops from the beaches during WW 2. One evening we had dinner in the old city where we were came across a visiting group of Irish folk dancers strutting their stuff and thoroughly entertaining the crowd. When you cross the French/Belgium border its like a car parking curtain descends. The free and easy French way goes by the board and the Belgium’s have parking meters. In some places they mark off free spaces with white lines and other colours for residents and businesses. If you are lucky enough to find a white space you park and don’t move, It’s an interesting way of keeping traffic stationary!

Having lost the use of the car while we in Nieuwpoort we bought two day tickets for the tram which travels from the French border to Ostend stopping every ten minutes or so so you can hop off, investigate, have coffee then continue your excursion. It’s quite comfortable and a super way of seeing all the sights.

On Sunday we took the opportunity of visiting a few of the first World War graveyards which are carefully kept. So many of the gravestones simply stated an unknown soldier. The occupations of the dead also emphasised the type of war it was with a heavy concentration of artillery soldiers and infantry. Youngsters today might be surprised to learn we actually ruled an empire then as the gravestones reveal the country of origin of the dead soldiers.

Cats

Because we own a dovecote we are a little wary of cats in the garden but recently whilst typing away in the office I felt something snaking around my ankles. Yes, it was a neighbours cat which had wandered in through the open front door. In minutes it had worked its way around eleven offices pausing to be photographed before making its way around the back garden. A welcome visitor.

Business tax

The more I hear about London Councils the less I like them. They were responsible for putting through recommendations about increasing fines for parking recently and for charging for plastic bags. Now they are supporting the call for councils to introduce a local business tax at a suggested starting level of 10%.

So far as I know London Councils consists of councillors from the 33 London boroughs. It’s a quango of an unelected body of opinion that affects us all and you pay a small fortune every year keeping them afloat.

Few councillors I know have much experience owning and running their own business. Most are employees working in paper pushing occupations. Look at what they are collectively not doing to our High Streets! Charging 10% tax to retailers will just about help to kill off those that are hanging in hoping business might improve. Others will simply say enough is enough and close down - they really do not need more hassle.

It would appear business people aren’t encouraged to become councillors because most of them have minds of their own and couldn’t follow the party political line. Let’s hope someone makes a sensible decision! I for one, am not going to hold my breath.

Planning

I heard on the grapevine that all the tenants in the building beside Sidcup station have been asked to leave by November which means, I guess, that a new planning application to develop the site will be back on the table shortly. Let’s hope it’s not as ambitious as the first one.

Radio Caroline

When I heard it was the 40th anniversary of the first active pirate radio station to operate in the UK with the unofficial blessing of the then Tory government. It took my mind back to another time when Jocelyn Stevens and myself wrote the first advertising time sheet for Radio Caroline from his Fetter Lane offices of Queen magazine. Those were the days!

My Month August 2007 - What we pay!

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:16:39 +0100

Reading a council balance sheet is something of an art, written in a broad-stroke style with little comparative detail. If you were looking to see what we paid our councillors you would have to know that the accounts call them Members! They drew a total of £862,000 in 2005/6 and £864,000 for 2006/07.

The number of Council employees (including teachers) whose remuneration was £50,000 or more in bands of £l 0,000 is shown below. Remuneration includes all sums paid to or received by an employee. Payments include salary (including performance related pay), redundancy, expenses and other benefits received other than in cash (e.g. leased car benefit), excluding pension contributions.

During 2006/07 130 employees received between £50,000 to £59,999; 42 received between £60,000 to £69,999;,16 received between £70,000 and £79,999; 13 received between £80,000 and £89,999; 7 received between £90,000 and £99,999; 1 received between £100,000 and £109,999, 1 received between £130,000 to £139,999; 2 received between £140,000 and £149,999, 1 received between £190,000 to £199,999 and 1 received between £300,000 to £309,999.

Interestingly only one person in the salary range £110,000 to £119,999 and one in the £300,000 to £309,999 range left the council during 06/07.

But the good news is that if you would like to read the latest council accounts you may do so from Monday 6th August between 9-30 am until 4-30 pm until 3rd September. On the 6th September you can meet with the councils external auditors to query any account. The auditor will be available at the council offices in the Broadway, Bexleyheath.

Road repairs

I’ve banged on before about the state of Selborne Road in Sidcup. Recently I decided to bring my old bicycle out of retirement, serviced it and pumped up the tyres and removed the dust. Having ridden up Selborne expertly missing the rat-run drivers I thought I might offer an invitation to our traffic guru Cllr. Mr Craske and let him ride my bike up the road. I just know by the time he got to the top its repair would be top of his list! But then I ventured to the central hub of our tiny universe - Bexleyheath and was diverted along a road called Blendon Avenue. If I thought Selborne was bad I think Blendon might win if it were a contest. Or do you think your road is worse? Let’s start a Worst Road in Bexley contest and see who wins. I will happily be the judge.

Shadow Foreign Secretary

Being in Opposition, whether as a national Member of Parliament or a local councillor must be galling. If the number in Opposition is small it can have little effect on legislation passed by the ruling party.

It was interesting to hear the Rt.Hon. William Hague talking to the local Conservative Association members when he told them he had visited forty four countries in his capacity as Shadow Foreign Secretary since he was appointed eighteen months ago pointing out ministers in the countries he visited were interested to hear the views of the Conservative Party should they be returned to power at the next election.

He shared a few stories about fellow MPs including a few about his cut and thrust in the Commons at Question Time when he had a brief spell as Leader of the Party. He also explained about the North South divide. He has the responsibility of raising votes in the North and Cameron in the South calling on everyone present to put their weight behind the forthcoming campaigns to elect a new GLA member for Bromley/Bexley James Cleverly. He, and his team will be crossing the bridge when the Sedgefield Bye-election gets underway. He is enthused being back on the front bench and being a part of the Cameron team describing his Leader as a terrific “small screen politician” emphasising the importance of television in today’s political world. What did the Chronicle think of Mr Hague? He is the epitome of what every Tory mother and father would like to have as a son!

Rocky goes nuts

Rocky our Irish setter went a little crackers one morning recently when he took offence at the poem published in this issue about punctuation so he took it out on the Daily Telegraph and my spectacles!

Has your dog been mischievous lately? My review copy of Bruce Fogles latest book, A Dog Abroad (the hardback edition) will be given to the best story you send in. Write to; Dogs Life, Andrew House, Granville Road, Sidcup, Kent DA14 4BN

My Month July 2007 - Where does all the money go?

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:11:17 +0100

Bexley Council are slamming motorists with a whacking increase in parking penalties - they will increase to £120 for Band ‘A’ and £100 for Band ‘B’ - coinciding with No Smoking day fines on July 1st.

These penalty charges are a joke. Local people we talked to wouldn’t believe it - they will when they see a charge stuck on their windscreen. I wonder where all the money goes?

Orpington Lake

Well, it’s not really a lake but the members of the Society of Model Shipwrights really look forward to their annual regatta at Orpington pond which is being held at 6pm on Friday 29th June. It’s situated on the left hand side of the Orpington bypass just before the traffic lights where you would turn right to the town centre. I wouldn’t miss it. Cruisers, battleships, cruise liners, submarines and sailing craft of every type are on the water, most with automatic steering gear. This year, model-maker supreme Arthur Sheldon, who lives in Sidcup, told me he might take his Tirpitz warship along. He has also made a model of the Bismarck with its formidable gun platforms. Why not go along and support our model makers. You would be welcome, especially with hand-held children, those on a lead and those with their hands in their pockets!

Music & Dance centre

Bexley pupils and their parents are quite rightly up in arms at the sudden closure of the Bexley Academy of Music and Performing Arts. The councils logic with regard to its providers is strange. For example they are only charging the nursery provider Mapalim in the new ｣4m North Cray Neighbourhood Centre a peppercorn rent and a five year lease yet they charged the Sidcup Music & Performing Arts company ｣70,000 a year rent! Now they tell us they are ready to provide special funding for music students. Bexley seems to spend an inordinate amount of money on the arts, music/ dance and the like but don’t appear to have the same appetite for teaching science or physics. Learning to play the recorder at school was always fun and those that wanted to go further made their own arrangements for piano lessons etc. If the public purse has to provide teachers why can’t it become part of Adult education?

Allotment insurance

The article in the Daily Mail about people in Monkton Heathfield, Somerset being ordered to take out a ｣5m liability insurance set allotment holders in Bexley wondering whether our council would do the same. Luckily they are more sensible than the local authorities in Somerset. Bexley does not require individual allotment holders to take out insurance.

In the borough there are eight delegated self-management allotments. They are required to take out public liability insurance, which they do at reasonable rates through the National Allotment Society.

Sheltered Homes

London & Quadrant Housing Association have an amazing relationship with Bexley Council whereby they bought the housing stock for a modest sum, taking rent and service charges from residents and leaseholders including those who moved in to sheltered homes six of which L&Q now want to close. They accept responsibility for the fabric of the buildings but not it seems for their residents leaving Bexley Council with the problem of staffing the sixteen sheltered homes with wardens, cleaners and gardeners. Despite the possible closure of six of the homes, the Chronicle understands that no less than four providers were keen to bid for the contract which Mr Tim Collett, Bexley’s Chief of Supporting People programme, has finally awarded to Kent Community Housing Trust.

It is understood that the decision whether to close the six homes will now be made sometime in September, somewhat later than had been originally forecast which was this February!

Bob Griffiths - Editor

My Month June 2007 - Developments

Tue, 22 May 2007 16:56:56 +0100

I expect the Labour Party central office are a little more relaxed now the English local elections are over and they didn’t suffer the severe drubbing the polls indicated. One expects they will now study defeats and begin to tighten up policys to ensure a better result in two years time. I guess the next time the leading Partys will be challenged will be the election for a new London Mayor and a replacement candidate for Bob Neill our current GLA member. The Tories have selected an out-of-borough candidate James Cleverley. It would be nice to have had someone who lives either in Bromley or Bexley who at least would know what’s going on here. I wonder if he reads the Chronicle!

Local Welling councillors told a packed planning meeting they would support the new superstore development at Embassy Court leaving an audience in the gallery who are against it wondering who will represent them if their councillors won’t! It also had the support of the Welling Town Partnership. Sounds like a repeat of the North Cray councillors who supported the sell-off of a school and sports field. The planners deferred their decision. More inside this issue.

The other big development discussed at the meeting and given outline planning permission was the B&Q development at Crittalls corner despite opposition from the Sidcup Town Partnership on the grounds of traffic.

Whilst writing about planning decisions I happened to pass through Dartford Heath recently and noted the housing estate built on the old Crayford sandpits. These were, for years, the landfill for Crayfords rubbish and a great playground for us kids during the war and afterwards. One of the key attractions was the sand canyon and sand wall near to the then gun club. Every year this was a haven of activity for the lovely fragile Sandmartens which look much like a Swift. I wondered how the developers of this landfill site and home of the Sandmartens ever got planning permission to build houses? Does anyone know? And what happened to the Sandmartens?

Write to me, Bob Griffiths, The Chronicle, Andrew House, Granville Road, Sidcup, Kent DA14 4BN - or fill in the contact box on this page

My Month May 2007 - Spring has sprung

Tue, 22 May 2007 16:32:01 +0100

Did you notice the lemons on the front of the councils booklet explaining how they spend our money? I now pay them £2,269.48 a year of which Bexley gets £1,763.01 and the Greater London Authority £506.47 that’s 8.3% more than I paid last year.

What I didn’t like about the councils sexy booklet was the way they publish broad stroke sums but give no detail. For example Children’s & Young people’s Services account for almost half of the budget. Does this include education? Does it include cost of schools/refurbishment etc.? Who knows! They include a massive £13m for housing yet they sold off all the council houses years ago so why do they need to spend £13m every year? If you were asked what the main services you require from the council what would they be? Can you tell us!

Do you remember when the Conservatives were in opposition making loads of promises to voters. They would free up the bus lane in Welling. They did. They would look carefully at the traffic problems in Sidcup, the gated roads etc. Here we are two years later and still nothing has been done...was it promises, promises?

When we went to Tenerife in March we were never held up in a traffic jam and do you know apart from the odd traffic calming roundabout we saw no traffic lights on the island which has a far higher population of cars than Sidcup. Perhaps we ought to by-pass the council and take some of the people from TfL out there to see for themselves how well the traffic runs without the aid of lights.

A male Sidcup resident called the newsdesk demanding to know what we knew about the religious sounding Cathedral Group who want to rip down Athena House beside Sidcup Station and build a couple of blocks of flats etc. I told him we published a front cover story about the suggested development last December. “I didn’t see it” he said “I work in London, what’s going on”? We explained they had just applied for permission to build and anyone remotely affected by the development would hear from the planning department so they could register their objections. He confirmed such a letter had been received. But what amazed me was that here we had a resident of twenty five years who can’t be bothered to read a local paper living in his own little world caring not a hoot what was going on in his town. And I wouldn’t mind betting he’s one of the 50% who doesn’t bother to vote at the local elections either. There seem to be so many like him. Why do we bother!

Writing about politics I was having a drink the other day with a couple of mates and one of them said “Why are the Scots in charge?”. What do you mean I asked. Blair and his cronies. Why are the Scots so good at managing us Brits? To be honest I hadn’t given it a thought. Someone else asked why the head of the police force had to be a ‘Sir’! And how did they earn this honour? I don’t know. Can someone tell me?

The early summer weather has done wonders for the blossom this year and few readers can have failed to have noticed its abundance and beauty everywhere throughout our garden borough. Unlike many residents who have paved their gardens I have been able to grow flowers and the present display of wallflowers is rewarding for the work I put in during the Autumn. I took a look at the devastation in the Meadows where the council have hacked away trees around the old mansion house leaving it looking like a tank park. On behalf of all the wildlife you have destroyed thanks. I didn’t like all the razor wire surrounding the stable block development which seems to have enveloped the old car park I understood was to be returned to the public!

Bob Griffiths