8 November - The Leader’s Report
As usual Teresa O’Neill’s spoken report to Full Council was only a brief summary of what was in the written version. (24 pages.)
Councillor Baroness O’Neill of Bexley O.B.E. chose to highlight the following news items.
• There is to be
a banking hub in Welling, one of only four - for the time being - in the country. She said it was a
personal achievement and perhaps it is. She emphasised the need to shop locally
if the town centres are to survive but omitted to reference the prohibitive parking charges.
• Bexleyheath now has only two empty shop properties in The Mall.
• The Leader chaired the Strategic Housing Partnership Board and had “a fantastic debate about climate”.
BOOBOBE then invited questions and the first came from Labour Leader Councillor Borella.
“Is the Leader going to stay in post after May 2023? Other Councillors in the
same position have resigned. Will she rule out
double-jobbing?” There followed a criticism of former Prime Minister Liz
Truss and of the many Bexley Councillors who supported her. “Will her [the Leader’s] funding
review be kicked into the long grass?”
Councillor Borella gave credit to the two Labour Mayors for the existence of
Crossrail. Livingstone for its inception and Khan for delivering it. The loss of
the North-South rail connections was roundly
condemned as was the 114% increase in commuter parking charges.
He said that Tory failure to condemn Councillor Davey for his
ill-judged comment on
Nazarin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was racist.
The Leader rightly refused to prejudge the Code of Conduct Committee
investigation onto Councillor Davey’s Tweet but she is going to stay on in Bexley.
She confirmed she had been a Liz Truss supporter and given the alternative was
Rishi Sunak, the WEF warrior, who can blame her?
The Fair Funding for Bexley debate is still ongoing. “It is not right that Greenwich gets twice what we get.”
Ken Livingstone, she reminded us, only visited Bexley once and phoned in advance
to ask where the tube station was.
“Crossrail has been a great success” - may I say I have been on it after 11p.m. for
four successive Mondays and it has been pretty much standing room only? I was
pleased to note that the Leader said there had been lots of complaints about
commuter parking around Abbey Wood. It might have been more encouraging news if Bexley Council had not
doubled parking charges without extending the Controlled
Parking Zones to protect residents. Is “Money before People” their new strapline?
She is for the continuation of the Sidcup to Abbey Wood loop line but extending
the Ultra Low Emission Zone is designed to hit those who can least afford it. A
staff member had paid more than £300 in ULEZ tax to visit a patient in Queen
Elizabeth Hospital over a couple of weeks and there is no evidence of its benefits.
Councillor Frazer Brooks (Conservative.
Falconwood & Welling) said that every ULEZ consultation had
shown a majority in opposition in Bexley. “What action is the Council taking to
oppose or mitigate this regressive hostile attack on our borough? Is it barmy
that the opposition is keen to talk about the cost of living one moment while
simultaneously supporting a plan to hit the poorest hardest and put livelihoods at risk?”
BOOBOBE asked Cabinet Member Craske to answer who said “we oppose ULEZ and it is
a precursor to road pricing. Why else would they spend £120 million on cameras
in Bexley?” He seems to have
come around to seeing things the BiB way.
“Labour cheers on this new tax just as they did Khan’s 43% impost on Council Tax. They
are always in favour of things Bexley residents don’t want and then wonder why
they have lost five elections in a row.”
TfL has already asked Bexley Council if they could hook its ULEZ cameras to its
lampposts. “Well Good Luck with that” he said.
Councillor Cheryl Bacon (Conservative, Sidcup) heaped praise on Councillor
Craske for introducing a recycling service for textiles and small electrical
goods. “How can we promote it and
how will it be used.” He said that Greenwich’s equivalent website advised
their residents to put such things in the residual waste.
Councillor June Slaughter (Conservative, Sidcup) said that the Sidcup Place
Community Garden had been awarded a Green Flag and has a Gold Award from The
Royal Horticultural Society. “Does the Leader recognise its worth? Will she also
condemn the miserable rumour mongers who say the Sidcup cinema will not open
because the operator has gone bust?”
BOOBOBE said that the rumour mongers were indeed miserable people and the cinema
will be fantastic. And yes all volunteers are appreciated and are fantastic.
And there endeth the 30 minutes allowed.