20 April - Bexley. A council built on incompetence and lies
A dozen years ago Bexley Council tripled the price of Residents’ Parking Permits and
Cabinet Member Craske justified the £100 cost by claiming that each permit
actually cost £254 in various administration costs. One might wonder how
inefficient his department could be, but it was of course a money grabbing lie worthy of Sadiq Khan.
Now he is at it again, the excuse being Elizabeth line commuter parking. He wants them to
pay dearly along with local residents whose permits will now be £150 per year
and any who currently avoid it because their cars are away all day will suffer
the Craskian fist. The two restricted hours (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
are to be extended to all day. 8 until 6:30.
You won’t be able to pick up your child from Granny when you finish work at five
because stopping for a few minutes outside her house will incur a fine.
All the roads in the existing CPZ both North and South of the railway line will
be affected and there is little need for it. The existing restrictions drive
commuters beyond the CPZ boundary which can be a nuisance to residents but that
is a problem that could be solved at almost zero cost.
The
problem in my road is not the parking as such but the ill-considered
parking. Cars on corners contrary to the Highway Code, cars parked opposite each
other so that access is restricted and nose to footpath parking on narrow roads
which can make pavement driving a necessity.
It would be instantly solved by double yellow lines on all corners and not just
two of them as now. Double yellows on one side of the road only, marked bays in existing laybys
and no parking in turning circles as stipulated by the original planning permission.
I personally have nothing against commuters parking legally in the road as there
is ample off street parking for residents, it is the occasional all day block-in that is bad for me.
The parking problem would be dispersed by leaving the existing CPZ alone and
painting the lines that Bexley Council thought were necessary 20 years ago. They
consulted on it but residents said No Thanks. It being a less dictatorial time
with no Craske in charge the roads were left unmarked.
Bexley Council is currently spending up to £100,000 to prove that Sadiq Khan is
the money grabbing Mayor that he is, imposing new taxes during a Cost of Living
Crisis for no discernible reason. What hypocrites we have for Councillors. Is
that not exactly what Craske is doing here?
Unlike the commuter parking problem at the top of New Road there are no buses to
consider on the largely residential roads nearer the station. The proposals are
an unnecessary imposition and an excuse to fleece residents of yet more money.
Mayor almost bankrupts TfL due to poor decision making, his precept up by 9.7%.
Tory Council narrowly escaped bankrupting Bexley. Parking charges up 30%,
Parking permits 50%, bin charges 20% every year (more than doubled in six) and
Yellow Money Box Junctions everywhere.
The CPZ tax in Greenwich is less than half what it is in Bexley.
The Proposals
Notice is Hereby Given that the Council of the London Borough of Bexley
propose to make the above titled Traffic Order under Sections 6 and 124 of
and Part IV of Schedule 9 to the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, as
amended as amended by Section 8 of and Part 1 of Schedule 5 to the Local
Government Act 1985.
The general effect of the Bexley (Abbey Wood Station) (Parking Places)
(Amendment No. X) Traffic Order 20XX would be to:-
Change existing Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) hours of Abbey Wood Station,
which currently operates between ‘11am and 1pm - Monday to Friday’ to ‘8am
and 6.30pm - Monday to Friday’. This includes:
a) All ‘resident permit holder bays’ in:- Abbey Road. Dalberg Way. Fendyke
Road. Florence Road. Fossington Road. Lanridge Road. Manorside Close. Monks
Close. New Road. Overton Road. Rushdene Road. Sydney Road and Woodland Way
b) All ‘business and resident permit holder bays’ in: - Abbey Road and Fendyke Road
c) All ‘resident permit holder and pay by phone bays’ in: - Rushdene Road and Sedgemere Road
d) All ‘resident permit holder and pay by phone and pay and display bays’
in: - Abbey Road. New Road. Overton Road and Sydney Road
e) Convert ‘free parking places’ to ‘resident permit holder only (‘8am and
6.30pm - Monday to Friday’)’ in: - Abbey Road. Fossington Road and Overton Road
f) Convert ‘free parking places’ to a shared ‘resident permit holder and pay
by phone and pay and display bays’ (‘8am and 6.30pm - Monday to Friday’)’ in: - Overton Road
g) Convert ‘free parking place’ to ‘resident permit holder and pay by phone
bay’ (‘8am and 6.30pm - Monday to Friday’)’ in: - Alsike Road (northern kerb line)
h) Convert ‘‘free parking place’ to ‘pay by phone bay’ in: - Alsike Road (southern kerb line)
The general effect of the Bexley (Waiting and Loading Restriction)
(Amendment No X) Traffic Order 20XX would be to:-
Change existing Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) waiting restrictions in Abbey
Wood Station CPZ, which currently operates between ‘11am and 1pm - Monday to
Friday’ to ‘8am and 6.30pm - Monday to Friday’. This includes:
i) Abbey Road. Alsike Road. Dalberg Way. Felixstowe Road. Fendyke Road.
Florence Road. Fossington Road. Harrow Manorway. Knee Hill. Lanridge Road.
Manorside Close. Monks Close. New Road. Overton Road. Rushdene. Sedgemere
Road. Sydney Road and Woodlands Way
The cost of resident’s permit will increase from £20 to £25 for visitor
scratch cards, £36.25 to £47.50 for 3 month permits and £125 to £150 for the
first vehicle. Multi-vehicle supplements apply to second and subsequent
vehicles in each household in addition to the permit price shown above: 3
months £6.25 / 1 year £25.00.
The cost of a business permit will increase from £62.50 to £82.50 for 3
month permits and £200 to £250 for the first vehicle. Multi-vehicle
supplements apply to second and subsequent vehicles in each business in
addition to the permit price shown above: 3 months £6.25 / 1 year £25.00.
The cost of ‘pay by phone’ and ‘pay and display’ charges will remain the
same for the duration.
Copies of the proposed Order, the corresponding Parent Order (and the Orders
that have amended that Order); the Council’s Statement of Reasons for
proposing to make the Order and plans which indicate the length of roads to
which the Order relates can be inspected during normal office hours on
Mondays to Fridays inclusive, at the Contact Centre, 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath, DA6 7AT.
Further information may be obtained by telephoning Michael Wenbourne on 020 3045 3943.
Any person desiring to object to the proposed Order should send a statement
in writing of their objections and the grounds thereof, to the London
Borough of Bexley, Traffic Services, Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street,
Bexleyheath, DA6 7AT or by email to
traffic@bexley.gov.uk within 21 days of the date of this Notice.
Persons objecting to the proposed Order should be aware that this Council
would be legally obliged to make any comment received in response to this
Notice, open to public inspection.
Andrew Bashford
Head of Transport and Infrastructure
Dated 19 April 2023
Andrew Baskford is of course well suited to doing Craske’s dirty work. To
justify his accident inducing redesign of Abbey Road
he told me that it was in
accordance with Transport Research Laboratory Reports numbered 641 and 661.
TRL let me have a copy of both reports and scoffed at Bashford’s untruthful
assertion. Bexley Council promoted him. Lying is a positive at Bexley Council.
Note: My house is the nearest to Abbey Wood station beyond the CPZ boundary. Am I
missing out on a money making opportunity? Would Photo 2 be a problem?