At the Full Council Meeting on the 8th of November, Bexley Labour Councillors raised the concerns of thousands of Bexley residents about the appalling state of our roads, pavements, town centres and open spaces. Litter, fly-tipping, and weeds are now the norm in every part of the borough.
Labour Councillors commended the work of the Litter Picking Volunteers, but questioned why they should be needed. The contracts for street cleaning and bin collection are routinely challenged, but have been cut beyond the bone, over the last 17 years, as we see daily moving around the borough. Weed removal seems entirely ineffective, with Tory Councillors being forced to agree that standards are not good enough.
Cllr Chris Ball, Labour Lead for Places said ‘Every street and open space in Bexley is plagued by litter, dropped by people who just don’t care about the environment or who just add to what is now seen as normal mess. Our parks are blighted, and we rely on volunteers to provide a service we all already pay for. Added to that fly-tipping in many places means Bexley is no longer the green and leafy place the Council pretend it to be.’
Cllr Larry Ferguson talked about the issues faced routinely by residents in his ward, which are replicated borough wide. ‘People pay a significant amount of Council Tax and expect basic services like keeping our streets clean to be done. Something the Tory Administration are clearly failing to deliver.’
Labour called for the Council to commend our volunteers, hold our contractors to account and deal robustly with those who are littering and fly-tipping.
The Tory Administration tried to palm the blame off onto others and failed to back Bexley residents, who were told on Wednesday night that it your fault that Bexley is no longer the number one recycler in London, a proud record first achieved under the last Labour led administration in 2005. The reality is Bexley Tories have led a race to the bottom, after years of cuts, poor service delivery and poor staff relations. Bexley Labour believe strongly that investigating to bring these services back in house, would deliver better services for Bexley residents.