Page 120 - Archive in reverse date order

joined him in lobbying most firmly at the highest level. This blot on our landscape was totally
unacceptable, and some long term issues needed to be resolved, but funding to clear the site this
summer, and pay for Landfill site costs, is now available. James assured the meeting that this
matter was absolutely on his agenda!

There were financial challenges ahead - £30b savings were required by the Government. This
meant hard choices in central government as well as in Bexley. These challenges would have to
be met as the UK had to deal with the Deficit and Borrowing levels. So, again, hard choices...

James reported that work was progressing on a new cancer treatment centre at Queen Marys
Hospital, due for completion in 2016. And this summer a kidney treatment centre would be
ready. He saw a very positive future for Queen Marys, and he also wanted to see even more
services provided there, eg an improved Urgent Care Centre. All this would strengthen
healthcare in Bexley.

He then invited questions from the floor:-

(a) a member asked whether Bexley was contributing to the cost of clearing the Waste4Fuel site.
The answer was No, this fell on Bromley – but Bexley's residents would benefit. And the
Environment Agency was being urged to prosecute the offenders for piling up the rubbish and
then disappearing! The member then asked where did Bexley's rubbish go? Don answered that
this depended on what kind of waste it was – and Bexley had several places where it could be
disposed of, but recycling income was suffering as the market for plastic, for example, was
reducing.

(b) Trevor Jones of Barton Road asked how would any new River Crossings be paid for. Don
replied that there would, no doubt, be a need for some sort of toll-paying.

(c) Nik Carter of Parsonage Lane asked whether there was any chance of A&E being restored to
Queen Marys. James replied probably not – and we were now looking at a different sort of plan
for this service, eg how to get the Urgent Care Centre to do more, eg in diagnostics and xrays. He
wanted to develop and strengthen all this at Queen Marys, so while not being a fully blown A&E
it would be doing more.

(d) a member in Jaquets Court asked about possible plans for a Bexley By-pass in the light of the
queues of traffic along the North Cray Road. Don answered that there were none at present; but
funding had been obtained for the repair of the bridge leading to Bexley village. James added
that there was a planning application in at the moment for a bridge replacement.

(e) another member asked whether there could be a mini-roundabout on the North Cray Road.
Don replied that he had tried to get TFL interested in this, but they maintained that the economic
benefit was not enough to justify the several £m it would cost.

(f) another asked why not have installed a Traffic Congestion Alert to warn motorists turning into
the North Cray Road from Ruxley Roundabout? Don said that he would look into the possibility
of this.

(g) Phil Wilson of The Grove said that he had heard that single lane working was being planned
for the junction of Vicarage Road/North Cray Road for imminent gas works. Don replied that he
had not heard anything about this yet.

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