News and Comment April 2015

6 April - Belvedere Splash Park. Getting in deep

Yesterday’s report on how Anna Firth, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Erith & Thamesmead was getting busy with her Save Belvedere’s Splash Park campaign got me into a little bit of trouble, not that it was unfair but that I had completely failed to mention that Anna’s, to me, obvious bit of politicking didn’t actually admit that she was touting an election poster on behalf of the Conservative Party. It simply failed to say so.

You know and I know that Anna Firth is standing for Parliament but shoppers in Nuxley Road might not. Indeed there have been reports that some of the shopkeepers didn’t know and were furious about the deception.

Then there was the suggestion that I should go and look at the poster again and read the small print, but there was no need. Blow the photo up big enough and it is clear enough. Bexley Conservative councillor Peter Reader has lent his support to the deception. The address shown is his.

The address link might have been proved to your satisfaction by a reference to Bexley council’s website but it is off air again - see below; so here’s an extract from last year’s nomination papers instead. Are all Bexley Conservatives prepared to pull a fast one when asked?

Anna Firth has said on Twitter that she tried to contact the residents’ Splash Park campaigners via Facebook but received no reply. That may well be true, the Facebook page has been close to dead all year. It might have been better if she had contacted Labour councillor Daniel Francis instead. He knows the local area rather better than a Sevenoaks councillor and is not without his own ideas on how the park might be saved. I’m sure he would have welcomed a pooling of resources.