Safer Neighbourhoods?
Readers will recall that when the new Neighbourhood police teams were put in place with one sergeant, two proper policemen/women and three PCSOs they were to be ring-fenced and would not be called upon to top up or re-enforce police in other areas of the borough or London.
The London Mayor has clearly changed that policy without informing the public who are left with only PCSOs while their police force is working out of area. Sidcup is one area we know that has been exposed recently when a serious incident might have occurred in the north of the borough.
The decision to use policemen/women from their Neighbourhood Team duties in Sidcup was made by Chief Inspector Chris Hafford who explained that if he needed to use the police allocated to Safer Neighbourhood teams he would do so again.
Identity Cards
I cannot understand the public concern about identity cards when not a murmur has been raised about the government taking over our banks! How long will it be before the computers at the Inland Revenue start asking if they can be put in touch with those at the banks so they can check some financial data! And the police computers doing likewise!
Has Big Brother finally arrived but in a different guise than we had imagined he would?
Brown bins, green bins and black bins
The Bexley Conservatives in Church Road, Bexleyheath recently placed a half page advertisement which at first I thought was from the council. It praised readers of the paper for recycling their waste claiming that had the Labour Party had their way they would have only collected once a fortnight which would have cost them fines exceeding £2m! Perhaps they were confused with the European Parliament who will in fact be fining member countries for not reaching recycling targets. A closer study of the picture featuring the ten young ladies showed the majority were actually standing in bins which are only emptied every fortnight! One in the bin we fear!
Roadwork's
I wonder whether it is council workers or their contractors who decide when a job is to start. Do they have group meetings to see how much they can aggravate the public walking or driving. And why, oh why do these works have to be done just before Christmas?
Wherever you go it seems there is always someone in an orange jacket and hard hat standing over a hole or one that is about to be dug. Or works that have started but never seem to finish!
Sidcup Lights Up
The Sidcup High Street Promotions Group organised a day of cheer on a cold cheerless day to promote visitors and trade in their high street. With their financial hands tied behind their backs the Group did well providing Christmas lights and entertainment and Father Christmas for the children.
Elsewhere in this issue is a list of the good people of Sidcup and the traders who supported the lights and day of cheer. It could have been even better had all the traders and the multiples put their hands in their pockets. The only one that did was Morrisons. Such a pity the community spirit ends at the multiples tills. But to all those who supported the cause, well done and thank you.