Page 117 - Archive in reverse date order

other one of the strips of highway land running between the North Cray Road and St James Way.
These were thought to be very odd choices and, naturally, our members were very concerned
about what will happen in the autumn after Bexley has completed its review of all the sites on its
hit list. David added that selling off such open spaces is at odds with the Mayor's London Plan
which argues for making the most of, and extending, its open and green spaces.

David reported that we had been assured that Bexley had no intention of replacing any of these
27 targeted sites with others. Meanwhile, the Association had taken the precaution of seeking
Tree Preservation Orders to try to protect the mature trees on our two sites and have set up sub-
committees under the chairmanship of Phil Wilson of The Grove and Mike Webb of St James
Way so that the views of local people can be taken on board and action agreed when the further
promised public consultation takes place. The Association was also actively supporting other
groups throughout Bexley who were as concerned as it was about such sales – especially in the
case of parks, playing fields and playgrounds. When such facilities are lost, they will be lost
forever!

David closed with three thoughts:-

(a) although the land in question belongs legally to Bexley Council its position, we believe, is
one of a custodian on behalf of Bexley residents whose views must surely be fully considered –
the loss of open space to developers is an emotive issue.

(b) at our Committee meeting last week Cllr Don Massey advised us that he believed that there
would be no planning permissions attaching to the sale of the land as any development proposals
would have to go through normal channels. However, David said that would mean selling the
land for peanuts! Surely, there must be some form of outline planning permission attaching to
each site in order to get the very best value. Any such sales must benefit Council Tax payers, not
developers!

(c) he did question whether the two sites in North Cray are 'for real' or just there to swell the
numbers, ie if Bexley only sold six out of 27 sites as there was little development potential.
However, he added, suppose the two sites were just sold to a prospecting buyer who then decided
to pitch two caravans on one site and a few more on the other – claiming Gypsy rights to a
family life on land sold to them by the Council?? How would Bexley deal with this...

6.2 Enforcement: David said that this has been a major concern of the Association for the last few
years, and those present will have heard us discuss this at previous meetings and/or read our
concerns in our Newsletters. Failings in Enforcement action were key issues that might adversely
affect the outcome of the Private Gypsy Site appeal decision- and he asked how could anyone
possibly originally miss seeing four large containers welded together with doors and windows
cut out and later decide it was not a reportable infringement- an issue seized upon by the
appellant's lawyers. David added that the Association was advised by the Head of Development
Control, Susan Clark, that Planning could no longer be proactive and could only react to matters
brought to its attention, but the retirement of the senior Enforcement Officer, Rodney Kearns,
earlier this year had reduced Planning's enforcement team to just two people to cover the whole
borough!

At our Committee meeting last week Don had confirmed that, because of necessary cut backs,
Planning would have to make do with just two Enforcement Officers. We had asked him how
many were actually needed, but Don was reluctant to give a view – just repeating that two was
“all that the council could afford”. He had also gone on to explain that 'Enforcement' is not a

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