3 April - Resources scrutinised
The Resources Scrutiny Committee met this week to discuss High Streets and Business Improvement Districts.
As you might expect, Covid got the blame for anything that was not quite
wonderful but £9·5 million of Government money has been distributed since
the middle of 2020 to alleviate problems. 955 businesses benefited directly.
There are more than 9,000 businesses registered in Bexley and self employed
traders on top of that. Most beneficiaries were in hospitality, retail and leisure.
Councillor, businessman and one time Resources Committee Chairman Andy Dourmoush
congratulated the two man team which successfully kept many businesses afloat
during the pandemic and asked if they had to deal with any fraudulent grant
applications. Only two apparently.
Shop vacancy levels are no worse than before the pandemic.
Councillor Peter Reader (Conservative, West Heath) asked about the problem caused by an influx
of school children to town centres between 3 and 6 p.m. but there was no
response to it. (The microphones muted for 11 seconds so it is possible there was a very brief one.)
Councillor Stefano Borella (Labour, Slade Green) was also concerned about safety
but later in the day. The evening and the so called nighttime economy. “In
Welling the punks and rockers seem to have come back”; presumably a reference to
the number of takeaway scooters zooming around.
It was accepted that the pedestrian area of Bexleyheath can get “quite empty” in
the evening and may be seen as a threat.
Councillor Dourmoush said that a Sub-Committee
reported quite some while ago (before the appointment of Cabinet Member Munur) that pop-up markets
improved town centre footfall and some adjacent car parks were empty at the
weekend but the recommendation has never been acted upon. “It has gone down the Cabinet Member’s black hole.”
The current Cabinet Member said he would look into it and Councillor O’Hare backed the idea. “Greenwich, Lewisham and
Swanley do markets brilliantly, Bexley doesn’t.” It was explained that markets in Bexley are legally
constrained by historic charters which limit their creation within sheep driving
distance of chartered markets and Bexleyheath is too close to Dartford.
The consensus was that the 200 year old charters should be challenged.