Last week I went back to look at
the wild life garden
that Bexley council deemed to be derelict. The last I heard the owners had been
given a stay of execution pending an inspection after the leaves had fallen from the
boundary trees. I almost walked past the house because I had forgotten the street number but
expected to recognise it from all the potted plants in the front garden, but
they had gone. The back garden was much as before; like all gardens at this time
of the year it looked a little sorry for itself but my main interest, the expected bare
trees, was a disappointment; there were none. They are some sort of evergreen
which I did not recognise. The garden remains secluded.
Apart from a curious blackbird I saw no wildlife, maybe they have not been told about the
Royal Horticultural Society’s Gold Standard Certificate which has been awarded
to the owners since my last visit.
While there I looked through the file of papers relating to Bexley council’s prosecution attempt which
included letters sent by council officials to the Local Government Ombudsman.
They were extremely defamatory and probably libellous if published. One fairly
small detail intrigued me greatly; the councillors who had originally
complained about the garden on behalf of a local resident were Aileen Beckwith
and Sandra Bauer. Councillor Beckwith’s involvement is understandable, the
garden is in her ward, but what is Sandra Bauer from far away Thamesmead East
doing poking her nose in? She poked her nose into the Olly Tweet affair too. She,
along with Aileen Beckwith, are the only two councillors that few have ever heard
of, I hesitate to use the word nonentities, who feature in the
Bonkers Top 20.
Am I missing something?