19 November - The Leader’s last report to Council
Full Council meetings usually allow half an hour for the
Leader to make her report and face questions and it is usually an interesting
session, maybe even the highlight of the evening. Evdently Councillor O’Hare
thinks so too as he moved that it be extended by 15 minutes. This of course
being a sop to the Leader who was making her final appearance in that role
and encourage her to go into bragging mode even more decisively.
She did so immediately claiming to be the longest serving Leader in Bexley and
only the fourth Conservative female Leader in all of history and the longest
serving Leader in London. “Staying power” she said.
She claimed to have saved the old Woolwich Building Society HQ and “recycled” it
into Civic Offices and built houses in Welling, Bexleyheath and Slade Green
(vacated Council sites). “To walk around Southmere Lake in Thamesmead is now an
absolute pleasure” and a Labour MP had congratulated the Leader on her achievement.
Short and sweet leaving Councillors plenty of time to have their say. A voice
from the dishonest past was chosen to speak first. Councillor Peter Craske
thanked the Leader for her service over 27 years (17 as Leader) as well he might.“The Leader
has a record of creating opportunities. It was she who had the 96 bus extended
to Darenth Valley and delivered the Bexley Box scheme.” He ended in the age old
way of reminding everyone that Labour voted against everything.
Labour Leader Stefano Borella responded to the praise heaped on the Slade Green
Community Centre by the Leader by saying that she won’t find anyone there who
speaks highly of it. Most don’t even know where it is. The Council sold the old
Community Centre for 14 million and spent only 3·2 on its replacement. He
reminded the Leader that the Labour Group wanted to build a new Civic Centre in
Erith, it would have been slightly cheaper than the refurbishment in
Bexleyheath, and now they struggle to get any investment into Erith.
He complained about flags being flown in Bexley. They are put up by drunken vandals who should be condemned.
BexleyCo should have different objectives and should not be building on green field sites.
Conservative Kurtis Christoforides
(St. Mary’s & St. James) heaped praise on the Leader who ended up a Baroness.
He picked out improved roads, protecting green spaces, investment in Queen
Mary’s Hospital and Bexley’s railway station, better SEND provision in schools and
improved Adults’ Social Care for special mention. “A good record.” Despite that
no one trusts politicians any more was another of his themes.
Andrew Curtois (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) climbed on the Praise the Leader bandwagon too.
Labour Councillor Larry Ferguson (Thamesmead East) suggested that everything
wrong with policing today is due to the years of Conservative austerity. They
made the poorest in society pay the bills and left local authority finances limping.
Labour Councillor Anna Day (Slade Green) said, among many other things, that The
StoryTeller cinema in Sidcup was a disaster leaving Bexley Council with a
£96,000 bill (£55k. paid out and £41k. lost rental income) which will not be
recouped as the operator is insolvent. The total bill is £117,000 plus not
including staff time. She too complained about the flying of flags.
The Leader said the cinema drove up footfall so it wasn’t all bad news.
Conservative Councillor Rags Sandhu (Bexleyheath) joked that he mainly likes to talk about
himself so he did that for about four minutes. But he quite likes flags.
Councillor Brian Bishop (Conservative, Barnehurst) praised the Leader for keeping all the libraries open
and which have become Community Hubs. Former Mayor Sue Gower (Conservative, Bexleyheath) said that the Leader
had shown care, compassion and support for colleagues subtlety and sincerely and thanked her for it.
The Leader summed up but strayed from the absolute truth by claiming that she
and her colleagues had fulfilled every manifesto promise since 2006. This is an
easily provable lie and it is perhaps fitting that she departed in much the same
way as her Council has conducted itself over the past 19 years. Lying, especially
in the early days, was both blatant and constant. @tonyofsidcup is currently
challenging this claim in his inimitable way.