26 July (Part 1) - Council Questions
The first question at the Council meeting ten days ago was from Dimitri Shvorob who asked the
Council Leader what she thought of her Cabinet Member for Place Shaping “who is
responsible for asset disposal” buying Council property for himself. A one
sentence reply said he had not. Dimitri replied to the effect that she was
wriggling on a technicality but the truth was Councillor Munur bought it before his appointment.
Mr. Shvorob had a second question. Why has
the expensive block paving in Hadlow
Road, Sidcup been allowed to crumble over several years with no attempt to
repair it? Cabinet Member Diment said that the installation was to the design
standards of the time. The lack of action is caused by checking if higher design standards will be of any benefit.
The next question came from Tom Clapperton, Chairman of Bexleyheath
and Crayford Conservatives and West Heath candidate for 2026, who asked the Cabinet Member for Resources to
criticise the Labour Government which David Leaf duly did to a ton of clapping over the following eleven minutes.
Councillor Day (Labour, Slade Green and Northend) put forward a genuine
question. Why were no affordable homes started in Bexley in the year to April
2025, the worst record in the whole of the Greater London area? Cabinet Member
Munur had a glib answer. The GLA figures were wrong. They are “notoriously
unreliable and incomplete”. Bexley’s own figures are “accurate” but have not yet
been published. He conceded that Bexley’s lower property prices are not
conducive to building affordable homes. He is nevertheless proud of Bexley’s record.
Councillor Ball (Labour, Erith) was more interested in climate change than
housing. Seven London boroughs, all Labour, are in the country’s top ten for
work on climate change. Cabinet Member Diment referenced Bexley’s LED street
lights and its record of recycling. He went on to say that Labour boroughs
achieved their position by dimming street lights or turning them off and
introducing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20 m.p.h. limits. The implication was
that we do not want any of that Labour nonsense in Bexley.
Councillor Smith (Conservative, St. Mary’s & St.
James) said it was all green virtue signalling.
Councillor Curtois (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) welcomed BBE to the Civic Offices and Cabinet Member was
pleased to do so without either of them letting us know what BBE was.
Councillor Slaughter (Conservative, Sidcup) asked for an update on litter bin
provision. Cabinet Member Diment said the £250,000 roll out of new bins is just
about complete. 285 new bins, 200 old ones replaced and 350 refurbished. Every
bus stop has a bin. Additionally there are lamppost mounted gum and cigarette butt bins in shopping centres.
A further grant from Keep Britain Tidy will enable
gum clearing
in the streets of Bexleyheath and Sidcup.
Labour Leader Stefano Borella said the Parkside Community Centre had been
“flattened”. Does the Cabinet Member still think that the “model for community centre delivery” should be unchanged?
Cabinet Member Bishop said that Parkside “had been deemed a dangerous structure.
The only option was demolition.” Belvedere’s is closed and the future of others are constantly under review.
Note: Mr. Shvorob subsequently wrote to the Cabinet Member
for Place Shaping to apologise for his question wrongly implying impropriety. He
was in error with his investigation.