23 May - One “ludicrous” garden. One ludicrous council
I am sometimes asked why Bexley council has spent so much time and far too much of our money
persecuting the owner of a wild life garden and I have to confess I don’t really know.
It may be that it is just a variant on their habit of attacking a critic in
whatever way they can, not unlike their obscene blogging about Elwyn Bryant and
me, or blaming Olly Cromwell for the flaming torches comment which was nothing
whatever to do with him. Or it could be retribution on Mrs. Rita Grootendorst
for splitting
the vote in an Erith election and letting Labour in, or perhaps someone with
close council connections is pulling strings.
It is strange that none of Sidcup’s councillors show any interest.
There
is no doubt at all that Mrs. G’s garden is totally unlike mine and may not
be to everybody’s liking. It is cluttered; definitely. It may be untidy; those
favouring minimalism and closely cropped lawns would say so, but what it is
not is severely detrimental to local amenities or derelict as Bexley council would
have you believe. It is far from being
the
worst example of untidiness in that locality.
I stumbled upon a video of Bill Oddie’s garden. It is possible to watch it and,
apart from the pond, imagine you are in Rita’s garden. Both are long, narrow,
secluded by trees and shrubs, full of hanging ornaments and oddments, some broken,
some not. Bits and pieces fill every available space and Bill, or more accurately,
his wife, says it is a “ludicrous garden” - but he obviously loves it.
Fortunately for him, Bill Oddie doesn’t live in Bexley.