TfL consults on proposed changes to bus routes 61, 273 and 661 serving Chislehurst, Petts Wood & Bickley

Last week Transport for London (TfL) launched a public consultation seeking views on the future of a number of bus routes that were diverted by the closure of Chislehurst Road bridge to buses between 2009 and 2012.

In April 2009 routes 61, 273 and 661 were placed on diversion following the closure of Chislehurst Road bridge to buses.  As a result these routes were diverted to use Leesons Hill, Cray Avenue and Poverest Road.
When the bridge reopened in 2012 a decision was made to return route 61 to its original roads whilst routes 273 and 661 continued to follow the diversion. 
When TfL analysed the results of this it found that good use was being made of the new links but a service also needed to be retained on Chislehurst Road. 
It was found that approximately 800 extra passengers per day were benefiting and making use of the changed routes.
TfL proposes to make the current service patterns permanent and is seeking the views of local residents and passengers. 
A public consultation opened on 3rd October and is available on the TfL website.
The consultation closes on Friday 8 November 2013,  after which the consultation results will be considered and a final decision made.

1. The routes concerned are:

• Route 61 (Chislehurst - Bromley North)
• Route 61 runs every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes, every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday evenings and Sunday shopping hours and every 30 minutes Sunday evenings. It would continue to run via Chislehurst Road
• Route 273 (Petts Wood - Lewisham)
• Route 273 runs every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes all day Sunday and all evenings. It would continue to run via Leesons Hill, Cray Avenue and Poverest Road - (St Mary Cray) which would now be the permanent routeing
• Route 661 (Petts Wood - Eltham College)
• Route 661 is a schoolday-only service towards Eltham College in the morning and towards Petts Wood in the afternoon. It would continue to run via Leesons Hill, Cray Avenue and Poverest Road - (St Mary Cray) which would now be the permanent routeing

2. Drop-in sessions
TfL will have staff available from both Transport for London and Bromley Council with whom you will be able to discuss these changes.

They will be available on the following days:

• Monday 7 October between 17:00 and 20:00 at Leesons Primary School, Leesons Hill, Orpington BR5 2GA
• Wednesday 9 October between 10:00 and 13:00 at Poverest Adult Education Centre, Poverest Road, Orpington BR5 2DQ

3. Postal responses to the consultation may be sent to:
FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS

Three words our local politicians don’t want to hear

Last month, specialist social researchers, TNS BMRB* published the results of a survey in which polling showed that nearly three quarters of the 1217 adults surveyed (72%) think politicians are more interested in furthering their own careers than in doing the right thing for the people of Britain. 60% think they do not represent “people like me”.

This is hardly surprising considering the fiasco that is hospital services for the people of Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Bickley, amongst others.

Way back when, when the Conservatives were last in government, there were fully admitting hospitals (i.e. those that “do everything”) in Sidcup, Orpington and Bromley South. Today, the accident and emergency unit at Orpington is long gone, the whole hospital at Bromley South has gone and the A & E at Queen Mary’s, Sidcup has gone. Three A & Es that have disappeared in recent history.

Of these three closures, the most galling is that of Queen Mary’s. Back in 2007 when Labour were in power, the Chief Executive of Queen Mary’s denied that its A & E was set for closure. In 2010, during the last general election campaign, the Conservative manifesto stated  that if elected they would “...stop the forced closure of A & E and maternity wards...” Once in power they blamed their failure to act on being in a coalition, despite their coalition partners,  the Liberal Democrats also being against the closure.

Before that, the PRUH at Farnborough was largely rebuilt using a Private Finance Initiative scheme which, at £156 million, was amongst the highest value of such hospital schemes. It had been intended that the sale of the Bromley South site would pay for the rebuild but following a change of government the funds went into the Treasury and the PFI scheme was put into place, with finance provided by (and onerous contracts agreed with) United Healthcare (Farnborough Hospital) Ltd, a consortium comprising Barclays Private Equity, Innisfree and Taylor Woodrow. The contract term was 35 years!

Fast forward to 30^th September 2013. Queen Mary’s was by then in the hands of South London Healthcare NHS Trust, which comprised Queen Mary’s, the PRUH and Queen Elizabeth in Woolwich. This Trust had been formed in April 2009 under the weight of the PFI debts. However, with debts rising to £207m, the Trust was placed in special measures in June last year. Its final ignominy came five days ago when the Trust was formally dissolved.

And what a mess we have now!

From one Queen Mary’s Hospital Trust we now have Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust running Queen Mary’s with services provided at Queen Mary’s by no fewer than four further Trusts! Question: How many managers does it take to run a hospital? Answer: More than there are doctors and nurses.

And what does Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, have to say about all this?

“What is in the clinical interests of patients in South East London has been at the heart of my decision making process...”

So at the general election in 2015 when a politician asks you if you think that they represent “people like you”, reply in three words:

“Queen Marys Hospital”.

www.tns-bmrb.co.uk*

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Which sweet are you?

It was meant to be a harmless trip to Greenwich Market for the hard-worked Chislehurst Village News staff. However the first stop - Mr Humbug - put paid to that. For those who don't know, Mr Humbug is a sweet shop on the corner of the covered market and home to all those loose sweets in jars that are hand-weighed to order, with a few blocks of fudge on the side.

Ms Chislehurst Village News no less was first to go with an "um" and an "errr" whilst she surveyed the 200+ jars in front of her. "You choose" she said to the assistant. "You look like a lemon sherbet to me" came the reply. "Hmmm, I do like lemon sherbets, I'll have 100 grams please".

This then started them all off. "You look like a chocolate banana.....a liquorice satin (they do over 20 types of liquorice!).....a ginger cream..... And so it went on.

As we left the shop, chewing, crunching and munching, the debate started. "I don't think I look like a ginger cream man". "Oh yes you do". "Oh no I don't" etc, etc.

What Mr Humbug doesn't know is that we're all going to sneak back in a couple of weeks' time to see if we still look like the same sweet or whether we've been changed. In the meantime...

Do try: Spinning tops - Smooth and creamy cones topped with hundreds and thousands just to make them that much more adorable. 

Avoid: Monster jaw breakers - Described as replacement cricket balls.

Do not go near (unless, presumably, you're Dutch): Dutch Triple Salt Liquorice - They smell worse than dog biscuits and taste even worse. (In our opinion).

You can even buy: Black Jacks.

Mr Humbug can be found at Greenwich Market, London, SE10 9HZ
www.mrhumbug.com
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Data matching catches Chislehurst resident fiddling benefits

A national fraud data matching initiative led to a Chislehurst woman admitting to fraudulently claiming benefits.

Karen Younger 50, of Willow Grove, Chislehurst, pleaded guilty to defrauding Bromley Council out of £12,310 in housing benefits for the period October 2010 to February 2013. Information received through the National Fraud Initiative data matching exercise, led to an investigation that showed Ms Younger was a student in receipt of student loans and grants that she had not declared. Younger was sentenced on the 31 July at Croydon Crown Court to a 4 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, a 12 month community order requiring 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £60. As well as having a criminal record she will be required to pay back the overpayment.

Councillor Neil Reddin Chairman of Bromley’s Audit Committee said: “Data matching is another tool we use to identify and successfully prosecute claimants who fiddle the system. Protecting our public funds and ensuring that they are only used for those in genuine need is a priority for us.”

This case brings the total of Bromley benefit claimants prosecuted to 335 since Bromley and Greenwich Councils started working in partnership to track, trace and prosecute benefit fraudsters.

Anyone with information about a suspected benefit fraud should contact (in strict confidence) the Fraud Hotline on 0800 169 6975 or email audit@bromley.gov.uk
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk 

Dr Sean Creighton - a man with time on his hands

He's not a GP doctor that's for sure, but one with an unbelievably large amount of time on his hands given that he also has a young daughter.

Here at Chislehurst Village News we have never been on the receiving end of a Freedom of Information request, and hopefully never will be. The making of such requests seem to be the daily diet of retired men with far too much time on their hands, not young fathers with children shortly about to start school.

A reader tips us off about the most extraordinary efforts Dr Creighton has been going to earlier this year to extract some information from Chislehurst C of E Primary School as to the number of applications, places offered and places taken up per year, broken down by the faith of the parents.

There then follows a year's worth of correspondence which is, in our view, a textbook example of why the Freedom of Information Act should be repealed!

It would be interesting to know just how much time is taken up by public bodies having to respond to such vexatious requests.

In the meantime, there must be someone who knows Dr Sean Creighton and / or which school his child got into. Did he get to the closet [sic] school to where he lives? (Given that he has written to at least 10 faith schools in the Borough he must move around an awful lot!) Has he worked out yet that Roman Catholicism and Church of England are denominations, not faiths? (Christianity is faith, but that was not what he was asking.)


You can read Dr Creighton's rants here whilst thanking God that you don't have to deal with this man! Sit down with a cup of tea and 20 minutes to spare.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/school_applications_broken_by_fa

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

The Bickley back on The Historic Pub Tour of Chislehurst route

Since the Chislehurst Village News staff decided on an annual Historic Pub Tour of Chislehurst (8 pubs in 3 hours; plenty of History) for charity a few years ago, The Bickley had been off route due to its not selling draught beer, just bottled. However, we're pleased to report that following owner, Terry Pullen's, decision to sell The Bickley, draught beer is back!

Having recently married long-standing girlfriend, Amy, Terry is believed to be moving back to central London to concentrate on The Bloomsbury Ballroom, a huge conference / dinner / event venue a few minutes' walk from the West End.


Chislehurst Village News understands that The Bickley has been bought by Redcomb Pubs Ltd which owns a number of pubs in the south east having set up just 3 years ago.

The Bickley is open 7 days a week from midday...and will shortly be back on the Historic Pub Tour route.

Andy (this year's Pub Tour quiz winner) will, no doubt, be mightily relieved!
www.thebickley.co.uk
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Chislehurst Chiiiiillers!

‘CHISLEHURST CHILLERS’ WIN LOCAL HISTORY GRANT

The Chislehurst Society’s Local History Group has received a £400 grant from the Kent Archaeological Society towards the cost of running its ‘Chislehurst Chillers’, a voluntary group which tells ghost and ghoulish stories to 10-year-old children and inspires their interest in local history by engaging them in drawing and writing activities.

Said group leader Joanne Friel: ‘The grant will help us make a CD and resources pack, and research stories of spies, murders, ghosts and executions in Chislehurst Caves.

‘Our events are humorous – inspired by Horrible Histories. The children are encouraged to attend in costume.

‘Parents can attend and there is appropriate adult supervision, with plenty of time for colouring activities – we don’t want the children to have nightmares!’

Contact Joanne on 020 8467 9000 or email joanna.friel@yahoo.co.uk

The KAS grants are made annually from the society’s Allen Grove Local History Fund, a legacy of one of Kent’s most eminent historians. Mr Grove was Curator of Maidstone Museum from 1948 to 1975, Hon. Curator of the KAS for 26 years (and its President in 1987/88) and Chairman of the Kent History Federation for eight years.

When he died in 1990 he left £26,000 from the proceeds of the sale of his house to the KAS, with instructions that the society should invest the legacy and distribute the interest in ways that would promote the enjoyment of Kent’s local history.

Grants of up to £500 (or more for ‘exceptional projects’) are awarded to individuals and groups who are working on important aspects of Kent’s history. The latest date by which new applications must be submitted is 31st March 2014.

More than £30,000 has been distributed since the fund was established in 1994, mainly to help cover the cost of publishing books and booklets; setting up exhibitions and displays in heritage centres; completing oral history projects, and establishing archives and research centres.

For an application form visit www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/grants or apply to KAS General Secretary, Peter Stutchbury: email secretary@kentarchaeology.org.uk , tel 01303 266966

The Disappearing Coppers at St Nicholas Church Hall

NOW YOU SEE IT...

NOW YOU DON'T. (AND WHO'S NICKED THE SAPLING?!)

Not long ago two copper beech trees graced the skyline looking north from Walnut Tree Close in Chislehurst.

But no more.

The first one to go was a few years ago when Bromley Council's Tree Officer agreed with a Walnut Tree Close resident that with a large number of branches falling from the tree into their back garden, this could be symptomatic of a dying tree - although, at first sight, it looked quite healthy. The resident was concerned that the tree was so tall that should it fall into their garden, their bungalow would be demolished. The Tree Officer inspected the base of the tree and found some fungus. A few days later the chain saws were out and a small crowd gathered to squirrel away the wood for the large number of wood burning stoves that there are in the vicinity. The other copper beech was looked at and it was pronounced in "good health". 

However, last week it breathed its last and over it went. Without warning this huge tree crashed into the garden of another Walnut Tree Close resident, reaching the guttering of their property but fortuitously no further.

Beech are very susceptible to wind and drought (as well as fungal attack), and we've certainly had both over the last few years. Given that very little root has come up out of the ground suggests that all three susceptibilities have had their part to play.

The skyline in this part of Chislehurst has now changed considerably and for anyone looking for logs for next winter, here at Chislehurst Village News we certainly know where to go!
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Dunkin' Donuts to appear in Chislehurst?

We have a few shops empty after all.

Dunkin' Donuts is coming back to Britain after it pulled out 20 years ago.

This American chain will shortly be launching 50 restaurants [sic] in London over the next five years, with the possibility of a further 100 branches across the UK.


Here at Chislehurst Village News we are intrigued by a restaurant meal of "donut". In the meantime, what's wrong with Krispy Kremes that have more recently appeared in Bromley, in "The Glades"? More to the point, why can't the Americans spell anything correctly?

"Donut" wars here we come!

Anagram Time
Dunkin' Donut = Unkind Donut
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk

Chislehurst Recreation Ground: The Council responds

In its press release of 17th June 2013, in respect to the works being carried out at Chislehurst Recreation Ground, Bromley Council stated the "...improvement works mean that during the next few months the main grass area at the recreation ground will be inaccessible whilst works are carried out and the re-seeded grass establishes."

Following our report last month we approached the Council to ask when we could expect the pitches to be back in use.

We have today received a response. A Council "spokesperson" said, “There are no delays - it was always envisaged that the pitch would be out of action for the best part of a year which is why FC Elmstead are not playing their matches at the Rec at the moment.  Leaving the issue of the glass aside for the moment, the grass was dug up so that new drainage could be laid and this uncovered the glass but it could have simply uncovered stones as we expected, because of the depth of the excavation works.  The next routine step was to sward clean the area and there were various processes to remove the glass and stone, part of which used a stone burier but we would still expect to do this process again after seeding and when the grass had established properly as we would expect further materials to come to the surface, particularly while the root mass had not formed a barrier in the soil.

Stone and glass will be removed before further re-seeding will take place, with sand then being used to create a top quality playing surface.  Interested residents should be assured that all the glass will be removed before the pitch is finally open for use and I would ask residents too to spread the word, that the area is fenced off for good reasons, to help the grass establish but there are also safety considerations too and we would ask everyone to respect the fact that this area is off limits.”  

Whilst we here at Chislehurst Village News would echo the Council spokesperson's comments with regard to keeping off the fenced-off area it is not the glass that is present at the moment that is the issue. It's little Johnny sliding on his knees to celebrate the first goal of 2014 and instead of getting mud down his legs gets a nasty gash from a 19th century shard of glass. Anyway, you read it here first; "all the glass will be removed before the pitch is finally open".

In the meatime, what started with a "few months" is now "the best part of a year". So the next football games to be played on the Rec will probably be - cricket!
www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk 

No official Open Houses in Bromley this year...

www.openhouselondon.org.uk

This year the following local authorities in London are supporting OpenHouseLondon: Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, City of Westminster.

And who’s in the four that aren’t supporting? Bromley!

Refusal by Bromley Council to part-sponsor the annual OpenHouseLondon event means the public will be denied the chance for free entry to many unique buildings this September.  But two regular participants in the Bromley borough have decided to open despite not appearing in the official programme.

St George’s RAF Chapel of Remembrance and a wartime dispersal area at Biggin Hill airport will be open for tours through the efforts of Chapel staff and South London Air Scouts.

In 2007 The Sunday Times listed the tours of ‘front line’ buildings at Biggin Hill Airport as one of 20 ‘hidden gems’ amongst the sites open during the London Open House event.

Scouts’ Air Adviser Ian Piper said, “Sadly Bromley were not able to find money to allow properties in the Borough to appear in the programme this time.  But from previous years we know that hundreds of Bromley residents enjoy these tours and attend whatever the weather.  So despite lack of official sponsorship, we are determined to give the public what they want. 

On Sunday 22nd September the tours will help bring wartime ‘Biggin on the Bump’ back to life, when visitors can see the remaining ‘front line’ wartime structures at the Airport.  We are delighted that the ‘RAF at War’ living history group will be on hand in authentic uniforms and vehicles, and it is hoped that 1940s vintage aircraft will also be on show".   

St George’s RAF Chapel in the old RAF headquarters site on the Main Road, Biggin Hill will be open on both Saturday 21st September (10.00am-3.30pm) and on Sunday 22nd

September (11.00am-4.00pm). Sadly, many of the other fascinating buildings in and around Chislehurst, Petts Wood and Bickley won't be.

For more information contact Ian Piper at Ianp@pbmail.co.uk

www.londonopenhouse.org

www.chislehurstvillagenews.co.uk