The Thamesmead & Erith Chronicle October 2008

Peter Craske a councillor in the Blackfen and Lamorbey ward chaired a public meeting to hear first-hand comments about a Bexley council plan to invest a grant of £1. 5m from Transport for London to improving the lot of residents and traders in Belvedere village. He told a packed hall that the scheme was a oneoff opportunity to improve facilities and to attract more trade in to the area. The village could have better street lighting, resurfaced roads, wider pavements with rest benches, trees etc. But traders were told they would get no compensation for the disruption and loss of business when work started and residents were openly hostile to opening an access route from Albany Road threatening civil disobedience if it went ahead. Craske was told that only 2% of all visitors to the village came by bus yet car parking spaces were being reduced! A trader asked why customers had to pay in the car park. He pointed out that Dartford council allowed the first hour free of Chronicle 40p Where SoldT h e Vo i c e o f T h a m e s m e a d Thamesmead & Erith Your Local! NEWS • MOVIES • THEATRE • MOTORING • LIFESTYLE 26 Movies20 Motoring16 Competition OCTOBERwww. bexleychronicle. com THE FRONT PAGENewsagents and Much More. . . . . . Newspapers Magazines, Stationery, Confectionary, Tobacco, Travel Passes, Photocopy Fax Services Full Post Office Service Available Unit 2 Joyce Dawson Way, Thamesmead Town Centre Tel/Fax 020 8310 7119 October 2008 NHS & Private Dental Care Vijay Vithani Dental Practice 12 Joyce Dawson Way Thamesmead Town SE28 Ring for details: 020 8311 9400 LATE NIGHT AND SATURDAY APPOINTMENTS ALSO AVAILABLE Hubble bubble keep your teeth out of trouble Let our magic spells keep your teeth perfect Pain free dentistry - Happy halloween to all our patients “Do we want the Tfl scheme? Hands up! Those who don’t. . . WE DON’T WANT IT! SAY VILLAGE PEOPLE Continued on back page Fare hike to hit Londoners Labour’s London Assembly transport spokesperson, Val Shawcross, has slammed Boris Johnson’s decision to raise bus and Tube fares. Val said: “This unnecessary, above inflation fare hike is going to hit the pocket of every Londoner hard and makes a complete mockery of the Mayor’s promise to provide value for money. “The Mayor has given us no evidence whatsoever for his claim that there is a transport finance blackhole. What the evidence does point to is an increase in passenger numbers and revenue in TfL’s coffers. If anything there should be a surplus this year, as there was in previous years. For Boris to blame his predecessor for this fare hike is nothing more than a cheap political shot. “If the Mayor genuinely is concerned about the fares budget then he should have thought twice abolishing the £25 higher charge for gas guzzlers and should reconsider his expensive plans to replace the bendy bus. It’s strange to say the least that the Mayor is consulting about the future of the Western extension of the congestion charge but hasn’t seen fit to consult Londoners on this fare hike which will hit all passengers hard. It just smacks of playing political games with London’s transport network” Clocks go back The evenings are now slowly but surely getting shorter and what little sun we had has abandoned us, it can only mean one thing, autumn is here! On the 26th October we will all be putting our clocks and watches back by one hour, which means an extra hours sleep but darker evenings drawing in too.