On behalf of Bexley Natural Environment Forum (the umbrella group for Friends of parks and open spaces and wildlife campaigners in the Borough), we are inviting campaigners to a meeting at Bexley (Village) Library next Thursday 19th at 3pm to discuss how we can work together to save Bexley’s green spaces now and into the future.
Following Bexley Council’s recent disclosure of the 27 green sites listed for possible ‘disposal’ in its recent budget ‘savings’ consultation, a number of petitions have sprung up either asking the Council to save all the green spaces or petitioning for them to keep specific green sites such as Old Farm Park. It is really encouraging that people have taken the initiative to act, but there is a danger is that we spread ourselves too thinly and end up with several petitions, none of which have enough signatures for the Council to take them seriously. It would also be prudent to minimise the scope for the Council to adopt a ‘divide and rule’ strategy by keeping some sites at the expense of others.
We are also still at the stage where there is a debate to be had with the Council about the principle of sell-offs versus less maintenance, and there is no guarantee at this stage that if ‘sell-offs’ wins, there won’t be more sites added to the sales list in future, hence the need to work together to minimise future threats as well as current ones.
Campaigners at Old Farm Park and Old Manor Way Playground have said that they will be attending.
– Mandy Stevens BNEF/Friends of the Shuttle
