7 August (Part 3) - New look for Wilton Road. It’s a gazebo
The promised survey tent made
its appearance in Wilton Road today and I dropped by a few minutes after one o’clock
intending to catch the 13:13 train from the adjacent station. I finished up catching the 13:53.
I was probably not a typical visitor having been to all the Greenwich council
sponsored meetings and just as was the case there, the consultant was collecting
a lot of ideas, many of them conflicting.
There are those who want more parking and those who want it to be very short
stay to maximise customer turnover. Others thought an eye catching feature at
the Knee Hill end was essential whilst one hated the idea.
I had heard Sally Williams, the retail consultant (Twitter @retailrevival),
speak before and this time we talked about the local area, she seemed to be
remarkably well informed but I was able to add to her knowledge.
Sally said that two betting shops had come in for particular criticism by
morning visitors but she was unaware that Bexley’s cabinet member for Leisure, one Peter Craske, was
spokesperson-in-chief for the Association of British
Bookmakers. She knows now.
When we discussed her involvement in the Sidcup regeneration scheme I said I had attended
the scrutiny meeting presentation on 21st June 2012. How did I remember
so clearly? It was the day Peter Craske was arrested on suspicion of Misconduct in Public Office.
Sally did not seem very surprised, maybe something to do with her involvement
with North Finchley. Look it up!
It was only when I was on the train that I remembered that I was completely wrong, June 2012 was the Bexleyheath Broadway scheme.
The Sidcup presentation was a year later on 19th June 2013. Another date of
infamy for Bexley council. It was the day that councillor Cheryl Bacon banned the public
from hearing about Sidcup, thereby breaking the letter of the law and
decided the best way of covering a minor criminal offence was to set in train
a much bigger one.
The Wilton Road survey may be completed on line. The first
modern day photo
on their website is rather nice don’t you think? (It’s mine!)
For the photograph above I seized a moment when no one was there. Maybe not the best decision to have made.
