Latest
News Index:
Beckenham working
party looking again at improvements for High
Street
Development on Cyphers
Cricket Club Ground
Future of
Beckenham High Street
Winter 2011
edition of 'Safer Bromley News'
Winter 2011
edition of Bromley Council's 'Update'
The London Borough of
Bromley wants your views
Special Budget
edition of Bromley Council's 'Update'
Bromley Council's 'Update'
Safer Bromley News
Fire destroys
clock house in Beckenham Place Park
Latest edition of 'The
Badger'
Heron Watch 2011
'Our borough, our future.
Let's talk'
Decision looms on Public
Convenience - update
18/11/2010
Home Care
Services
Town Centre Wardens
Council Spending Cuts
Rogue Tree
Surgeons
New Rail Service
to London
Elderly residents
advised to check benefits entitlements
Parking around Beckenham
Junction station
There's another
hole in the road
Beckenham working
party looking again at
improvements for High Street.
Following
Beckenham’s failure to attract funding from
the Mayor’s Outer London Fund [OLF]
councillors will be looking again at ways of
improving the town. A working party has been
reconvened and will meet on February 9 2012 to
look at what changes need to be made to the bid
submitted for the OLF.
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/9514475/
Development on Cyphers Cricket Club Ground,
Kingshall Road
ISG
are to build nine executive homes on the site, as
part of a £2.7 million scheme.
http://www.isgplc.com/app/article/view.asp?gpuid=1&uid=528
The
Beckenham Civic Society has produced an
impressive and comprehensive report on what
should happen to our High Street. We recommend
all Beckenham residents and businesses read
this report.
Safer Bromley News -
Winter 2011 edition
The
Winter 2011 edition of Safer Bromley News is
available here
Winter 2011 edition of
Bromley Council's 'Update'
The
Winter 2011 edition of 'Update' is available here
The
London Borough of Bromley wants your views
With
over 330 million to save in the
next three years due to cuts in government
funding, they are making tough choices
about our council and our borough. Join
them at a public meeting so that they
can hear your views as they make these tough
decisions.
www.bromley.gov.uk/publicmeetings or call 020 8464 3333
and ask for Public Meetings.
Day
Time meeting
Tuesday 8 November 11am - 12.30pm Civic
Centre, Stockwell Close, BR1 3UH
Evening
Meetings
Thursday 17 November 7.30 - 9pm
Orpington Methodist Church, Sevenoaks Road, BR6
9JH
Wednesday 23 November 7.30 - 9pm Civic Centre,
Stockwell Close, BR1 3UH
Monday 28 November 7.30 -9pm, Citygate Church,
Rectory Road, Beckenham, BR3 1AA
Special
Budget edition of Bromley
Council's 'Update'
The
Special Budget edition of 'Update' is available here
Autumn
2011 edition of Bromley Council's 'Update'
The
Autumn 2011 edition of 'Update' is available here
Safer Bromley News
The
Autumn 2011 edition of Safer Bromley News is
available here
Fire
destroys clock house in Beckenham
Place Park
 A historic Grade II
listed building has been destroyed by fire in a
suspected arson attack.
The
old clock house in Beckenham Place Park has been
ravaged by a fire which started at around 1.30pm
on 2nd July.
More
than 60 firefighters battled to save the
building, which was derelict and is believed to
date back to the 1700s.
A
firefighter on the scene said the blaze is being
treated as a suspected arson attack.
The
clock is said to have been a permanent fixture in
the park off Beckenham Hill Road since the Cator
family moved it there in 1896.
Latest
edition of 'The Badger'
The
latest edition of Bromley's Countryside
Newsletter can be read here
Heron Watch 2011
 During the weekend of the
9th/10th April The Friends of Kelsey
Park, Bromley
Countryside & Parks Service, along with the Bromley
local group of the RSPB volunteers were on hand, with
telescopes & binoculars, for the 2011 Heron
Watch.
Grey
Herons are the largest in Europe, weighing
between 1.3 & 2.0 kilograms & reaching a
height of about 1 metre. They are top of the food
chain in freshwater habitats, predating mainly on
fish, but will also hunt frogs, voles &
ducklings as the opportunity rises. As a top
predator, their presence in an area can indicate
a healthy freshwater environment.
In
1985 there were three heronries in London
containing 114 nests, by 2000, this had increased
to 16 heronries with 302 nests, this year there
have been 24 nests and so far 51 young herons in
Kelsey Park.
 Grey herons are protected
under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981,
making it illegal to kill, catch, hold herons in
captivity & wilfully destroy nests.
Grey
herons are monogamous & most breed in
colonies. Nests are usually in places
inaccessible to ground predators, mainly in
trees, & are built of sticks, creating a
large platforms up to a metre across. Many nests
are used year after year.
At
five to six weeks juveniles start to wander out
of the nest onto adjacent tree branches & by
eight weeks they have learnt to fly. They remain
dependent on their parents until nine or ten
weeks after which they disperse & leave the
vicinity of the colony.
So
now is a good time to go and see the Herons.
'Our
borough, our future. Let’s
talk'
Meeting
held at Beckenham Public Hall on 17th. November
2010
Attended by approx 100 people
Panel:
Cllr Graham Arthur – Adult & Community
Cllr Ernest Noad - Children & Young People
Cllr Colin Smith - Environment
Cllr Julian Benington - Renewal & Recreation
Cllr Peter Morgan – Public Protection &
Safety
Cllr Neil Reddin – Resources
Cllr Stephen Carr – Leader’s Remit
Council
Leader, Cllr Stephen Carr spelt out the
Council’s goal: To become Customer Services
focussed – more listening
Aiming to make front line service savings of 20%
in four years. Looking at more flexible working,
for instance sharing of office accommodation,
sharing services with Croydon & Bexley.
Expecting a reduction of £40 million from
Central Government. Cannot rule out compulsory
redundancies in the Council organisation.
Some
of the questions from the floor and the
responses:
Street lighting – is
turning them off under consideration?
Police had advised Council this could
lead to increase in crime
Adult &
Children’s Services – could
they be combined to save money? It’d
been/being considered.
Services to the vulnerable
at risk? Nothing ring-fenced, but the
vulnerable (especially adult)
prioritised.
Wisdom of high-spend on
Orpington pavements questioned –
answer: it was central and allocated
money.
Much discussion of
recycling
Need to hold finance
reserves in these times? – Answer:
it earns interest! And acts as backup.
Could we have 20 mph speed
restriction – Cllr Carr not favour
as minimum of £1 million to introduce
and hasn’t proven effective in
boroughs operating 20 mph restriction.
Social Housing future
building: Cllr Arthur – ‘the
plan is to deliver housing
appropriately’
Volunteering – can it
be more utilised, for instance to run the
libraries? – with acknowledgement by
the questioner that this would mean
redundancies for current staff! We could
not manage without the vibrant 3rd
(voluntary) sector.
Looking to use ‘Pay
Back’ (used to be called Community
Service) workers in more areas.
Nearly
all answers/comments had the reservation that
nothing would really be known till the Council
had received final figures from central
Government on 4th December – several in the
audience complained that in that case this
meeting had been held prematurely!
Decision
Looms on Public Convenience
A
decision is imminent on the controversy over
keeping Beckenham’s public convenience
operating, behind its little garden of flowers at
the junction of the High Street and Kelsey Park
road.
 The Council’s
Environment Portfolio Holder, Councillor Colin
Smith, who is facing widespread revolt over the
idea of closing it to save money, will make his
mind up after a debate at a Council scrutinising
committee on November 9th 2010.
The
Council has already closed some conveniences
elsewhere in the borough and continues trying,
luckily without much success, to get some quite
unsuitable commercial premises to allow the
public to use their toilets free instead under
the "Community Toilets" scheme.
The
reluctance to fund proper public conveniences in
Beckenham has quite a history. Many years ago we
appeared to be on the verge of getting one at the
cinema end of the High Street, but finished up
with one cubicle at the Sainsbury’s store,
and that appears to be closed too often.
Last
autumn the Council’s Town Centres Review
Group recommended consideration of a new public
toilet near Beckenham Junction, a centre of the
"night economy". There’s since
been silence on that.
The
overwhelming view of Copers Cope residents, at
our Annual General Meeting in March, was that the
policy of closure is totally unacceptable for
Beckenham, especially for elderly and disabled
residents. Our neighbours in the Beckenham Civic
Society and West Beckenham Residents’
Association feel the same. The Civic Society
challenged the £12,730 figure given as the
official cost of cleaning our conveniences,
noting the £2,250 quoted for similar facilities
in Petts Wood. Other objections from all over the
borough were voiced at the AGM of Bromley
Residents’ Federation.
The
last we heard on the "Community
Toilets" scheme was that in Beckenham only
the Odeon cinema, Costa Coffee, and Waitrose had
shown interest, thus failing to match the
facilities at the public convenience. If you
value having public conveniences in the town
centre, tell the Portfolio Holder now -- write to
Councillor Colin Smith, at Bromley Civic Centre,
BR1 3UH.
Update - 18 November
2010
The
Environment Policy Development and Scrutiny
Committee held a meeting on the 9th. November,
but the item on our Loos was taken off the
Agenda.
This
could now be deferred to the next meeting in
January 2011.
However
this now appears to have become something of a
hot potato, maybe there will be a rethink on this
matter.
You
can still give your view on ours Loos by writing
to the Portfolio Holder Councillor Colin Smith,
Bromley Civic Centre, BR1 3UH
Home Care Services
Elderly
residents and their families are very concerned
by council plans to change their home care
services.
Staff
have voted unanimously to protest against the
plans which could see a number of part-time
carers employed by Bromley council axed as it
outsources all its domiciliary care to private
companies.
This
could affect the old, frail and vulnerable
residents and their personal carers who they rely
on for their everyday needs.
The
final say on the changes will be made by
councillors in November after a number of
meetings.
Town
Centre Wardens
Bromley
now has some Town Centre Wardens, currently
carrying out three shifts a week, two evenings at
weekends in Beckenham & Bromley and one
daytime shift Monday-Friday in West Wickham,
Beckenham, Bromley, Orpington or Penge,
alternating each week.
The
wardens are there for an additional presence in
Town Centres.
They
are trained to issue fixed penalty notices for
dropping litter, graffiti & fly posting. They
have copies of alcohol exclusion areas & will
be advising anyone drinking in these areas that
it is an alcohol exclusion zone, should this be
ignored they will seek support from the local
Safer Neighbourhood Team to enforce this.
Wardens
have been asked to only issue fixed penalty
notices as a last resort, for example, if someone
who has dropped litter refuses to pick it up
& put it in a bin.
Council
Spending Cuts
There
will be tough times ahead as Bromley Council
announces plans to cut spending by 25%.
It
has not yet been decided where the axe will fall,
but the cuts are expected to be across every
department.
Compulsory
redundancies have not yet been ruled out, but the
human resources department will be exploring ways
to avoid these.
All
departments are working on producing a list of
savings which will total a quarter of their
budgets for the 2011/12 financial year.
These
savings were discussed by top council staff in
July and will be looked at again in September.
The
council will know how much money it will get from
the government by mid to late October, when the
results of the government’s comprehensive
spending review are announced.
Final
decisions about where savings can be made will be
taken from October until January next year,
before the council tax is set in February.
Rogue
Tree Surgeons
A
crackdown on rogue tree surgeons has been
launched.
Bromley
Council’s trading standards team has found
that a number of rouge tree surgeons, using
several names and false addresses, are operating
in the borough.
Investigations
are under way and the team wants to hear from
anyone who has been cold-called by the traders,
had a card put through their door or had work
carried out by them.
Anyone
approached by cold-calling traders should always
ask for a written quote before agreeing to any
work.
By
law, consumers have a seven-day cooling off
period to think about it.
To
contact the council’s rapid response team,
call 07903 852090
New Rail Service to
London
A
great new rail service has recently opened which
could benefit the residents of Copers Cope area.
Its called London Overground and seems to be a
hybrid of a rail and tube system. It goes from
Dalston Junction to New Cross/Crystal Palace and
West Croydon.
The
nearest stations for most Beckenham residents
will be at Penge West or Anerley. Trains run
every 15 minutes all through the day
Approximately 25 minutes after joining the train
at Penge West you can transfer on to the
Underground at Canada Water to take the Jubilee
Line to London Bridge or Waterloo or Canary
Wharf. Both Anerley and Canada Water have lifts
for full access. For anyone wanting to travel to
North/East London this service will save a lot of
time as the trains call at Whitechapel and
Shoreditch. For full details of the stations and
accessibility on this line go on the Transport
for London Website www
tfl.gov.uk
The
good thing for Freedom pass holders is that you
can travel at any time on these trains –
unlike the rail network which cannot be used
until after 9.30 a.m. So if you have an early
appointment in London this could be the way to
go.
Elderly
residents advised to check benefits entitlements
Age
Concern Bromley, Bromley Council and Bromley
Citizens Advice Bureau want to make sure older
residents in the borough are receiving sound
advice to make sure they are not missing out on
benefits to which they are entitled. They are
urging elderly residents to contact their
organisations to receive free advice. This
follows reports of pensioners being offered free
benefit advice only to find they had to hand over
up to 45 per cent of the back pay.
Maureen
Falloon, Chief Executive of Age Concern Bromley
comments, ‘Many people, including
pensioners, simply don’t know they could be
entitled to a benefit or can simply be
overwhelmed at the thought of filling in the
forms. I would urge older people to be wary of
any company offering help with this. Older people
wanting a benefits check can contact us at Age
Concern Bromley. Last year we were able to
increase older people’s income through
benefit claims totalling £751,849.’
Joe
Clark, Chief Executive of Bromley CAB adds,
‘Bromley Citizen’s Advice Bureau is
here to help people with just this sort of thing
and we want to remind people that our service is
truly free of charge and confidential.’
Safeguarding
adults is a priority for the Bromley Safeguarding
Adults Board, which brings together all of the
major agencies in Bromley. The work of the Board
and the Council includes making sure older people
are alerted to the importance of getting benefits
and other financial advice from a reputable
source. You can contact the Council on 020 8461
7777.
Parking around Beckenham
Junction station
e-Mail
sent to Bromley Council Environmental Services
Department, Traffic Group:
I
understand that the budget for next year includes
a review of parking around Beckenham Junction
station.
In
advance of this I would like to make a
recommendation that “permit parking” is
considered for my street (The Drive) and for the
other streets in the grid opposite the station.
At present they are, in effect, free parking
places for commuters.
I’m
sure you realise that a number of residents have
chosen to convert their gardens into driveways -
which is fine for them. But for those of us who
choose to maintain gardens for the beneficial
visual effect - there is a constant battle for
parking space.
We
do have space at the end of our gardens, but this
leaves our vehicles vulnerable to vandalism…
Bromley
Council has implemented the Copers Cope and Clock
House parking schemes so it does not seem logical
to leave the grid of streets nearest the station
as a “free for all”.
Could
I ask you to consider these aspects in your
forthcoming review?
Regards
Roy
Lott
36
The Drive, BR3 1EQ
Reply
from Bromley Council:
Dear
Mr Lott,
Thank
you for your email regarding parking in The Drive
that has been passed to me for a response.
There
is a review of the Beckenham Town Centre parking
planned for the next financial year. The review
may result in the installation of a Controlled
Parking Zone (CPZ) but the boundaries of any such
zone are yet to be defined. I will add your
comments to our database so that they are
considered during the review.
Regards,
Joe
Burbidge
Traffic Engineer
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING DIVISION
Environmental Services Department
London Borough of Bromley
Room 87, North Block
Civic Centre
Stockwell Close
BR1 3UH
Tel:
020 8313 4544
Fax: 020 8313 4555
email: joe.burbidge@bromley.gov.uk
There’s
another hole in the road
 A new permit scheme to
reduce disruption for road users is to be
introduced across London.
Utility
companies will have to receive permits from
Transport for London (TfL ) before digging up
roads in 18 London boroughs.
The
scheme will co-ordinate work so utilities avoid
digging up the same area twice.According to TfL,
utility companies dig up 300,000 holes in London
each year.
Bromley
will be introducing this scheme as from the 1st
of April this year & more information will
then appear on their website.
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