Before and after.

After many false starts, delays and confusion, development work is finally to begin on the old Tram Depot site in Walnut Tree Road, Erith. You can see the brown field site in the photo above - click on it for a larger version. Part of the original depot site was built on a few years ago when Bexley College, (now renamed London South East Colleges: Bexley, which is somewhat of a mouthful at the best of times) was relocated from Tower Road to the new build campus next to Bronze Age Way and Erith Station. The other half of the site was left as wasteland; a plan had been hatched to build a hotel on the brownfield land, but that came to nothing, and the plot has been empty and unused for around the last forty years since the tram depot was demolished. Now a housing development is to be built as part of the planned redevelopment of Erith Town Centre. As previously mentioned, the redevelopment will mean the end of the much disliked underground pedestrian footway that links Erith Station with the town centre - which is better known as "The Tunnel of Doom" by locals. It has always been a magnet for graffiti and anti social behaviour, and I don't think that many locals will mourn its passing. The details of the new residential development are still very sketchy at present, but it is anticipated that it will consist of one or more blocks of flats. The architects for the project are a well known partnership called Ash Sakula, who have a very good reputation for both public and private building design; they have won a total of ten RIBA awards for previous designs. Ash Sakula is currently working on mixed-use projects in Hackney Wick, Southwark, Deptford and Newcastle, a car free development in Banbury, and a leisure scheme in Hangzhou, China. Their studio and office is based in a former 1930s workshop in the heart of London’s jewellery quarter. Cany Ash - Before setting up Ash Sakula in 1994, Cany Ash worked for the GLC Architect’s department and Burrell Foley Fischer as well as in New York and Berlin. She has taught at a number of architectural schools as a critic and studio tutor and is an External Examiner at Cambridge University. She is an experienced co-designer, leading design workshops with young people and many community groups. She has served on the RIBA Awards Group, as a CABE Enabler, a Client Design Advisor and a Civic Trust Awards Assessor. Currently she is member of the South East Design Review Panel. Robert Sakula - Prior to setting up Ash Sakula in 1994, Robert Sakula worked with Clough Williams-Ellis, David Lea, and DEGW. Robert is a Civic Trust Awards Judge, a RIBA Competitions Advisor and a RIBA Awards Jury Chair. He has taught and lectured at many schools in Britain as well as in Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo, Milan, Portland and Chongqing. He is a member of four design review panels. It would seem that the pedigree of the architects is above reproach; I am hopeful that whatever buildings they design for Erith will be worthy of the area, and not along the lines of the recent tower block built adjacent to Abbey Wood Station. It is too early to determine; I do understand that their preliminary designs will be open to public consultation later in the year, much in the way the development of the old Erith Riverside Swimming Baths site was a couple of years ago, though that development is completely unrelated to this newer one. This new project has been widely reported in the local media; both the Bexley Times and the News Shopper have covered the story, with varying degrees of accuracy. The News Shopper has not exactly covered itself in glory, unfortunately - once again the papers lack of local reporters has shown through. Walnut Tree Road is referred to as "Walnut Street Road" - when even a simple check on Google Maps would have corrected this fundamental error. I do not entirely blame the reporters - they are not locally based, and their knowledge of the area is limited at best. The big giveaway that the News Shopper reporters are remote from the area they write about is that many of the photos used in the paper and on their website are either stock images, or they are taken from Google. I understand that they often ask witnesses to events to submit photographs to the paper, as they no longer have a staff photographer. I fear that the paper is in a downward spiral. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Regular readers will be aware of my opposition to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT) as deployed in betting shops around the country. FOBT's have been described as "The crack cocaine of gambling" due to their extremely addictive nature, and the ability for them to take bets of up to £100 every twenty seconds - meaning that problem gamblers can lose fortunes extremely rapidly. There have been calls for the gambling machines to have strong limitations placed, upon them, or for them to be banned outright. A government consultation which began in October last year has been investigating the effects of FOBT usage on gamblers, and also feedback from the gambling industry, which provides a huge amount of revenue to the government in the form of taxes. The government review of fixed-odds betting terminals, could see the maximum bet reduced to between £2 and £50, with many finding the machines addictive because bets of up to £100 can be played every twenty seconds. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, reportedly in favour of the most severe restriction - a cut to £2, said it believes current regulation is “inappropriate” and that changes to the maximum stake would help reduce “the potentially harmful impact on the player and their wider communities”. The proposals include encouraging the industry to take greater social responsibility. Betting shops are able to have four FOBTs in each outlet but there is concern the machines are clustered in poorer areas where there is more unemployment. Though the government has admitted being unaware of how many problem gamblers are receiving treatment on the NHS, the Gambling Commission warns that more than 2 million people in the UK are either problem gamblers or at risk of addiction. Certainly the number of betting shops in the North of Bexley is a worry. It has been said that FOBT machines are so profitable, they actually subsidise other forms of betting such as on horses or football. I understand that the proliferation of betting shops in the area and elsewhere is due to the legal limitation of only allowing four FOBT machines per shop; the law apparently says nothing about the number of shops allowed in any high street, leaving the decision to cash strapped local councils, who need the business rate income - and who are thus likely to permit additional shops despite the damage these can cause to local communities. Hopefully a change in the law will put a permanent stop to this.

It has been long known that the outer London boroughs of Bexley and Havering are the two least expensive places to buy a house or flat in Greater London. A recent report by estate agency Rightmove has confirmed this; Erith came second in terms of property popularity after Sidcup, which saw the biggest growth in Greater London property prices in the past year, with prices rising 8.3 per cent to an average selling price of £443,000 in January this year. The average asking price for a house in Erith is now said to be £321,000 is almost half of the London average. The average is a bit misleading, however, as most of Erith has house prices which are below three hundred thousand; the figures are skewed by the relatively small number of very high end houses located around Park Crescent, Victoria Road and Avenue Road - the "Beverly Hills" of Erith. There are some absolutely lovely houses in that area, and they do add to the average price in the town by quite a margin. Bexley consistently records positive house price growth, and zone six has seen the biggest rises of 2.3 per cent, compared to zone four which only rose by 0.8 per cent. The forthcoming opening of Crossrail and the Erith Quarry housing development will no doubt increase the attractiveness of the area to potential outside buyers.

The photos above show the "before and after" look of the completed refurbishment of the fascia of the White Hart pub in Erith High Street. The pub fascia has been restored with a replica of the original frontage now in place; the original historic front had been illegally ripped out and replaced by plate glass by the criminal owners of Potion - the cocktail bar / drugs den that you can see in the upper "before" photo, which was housed in the building for a number of years until they lost their licence after repeated Police raids and complaints from the public regarding fights and drug dealing in the place. Now the new owners, The Wellington Pub Company have responsibly carried out the instructions of the Council and recreated as close as to the original Victorian frontage as was possible, which you can see in the lower "after" photo. It is not one hundred percent accurate, but it is very close.  Rumours still abound as to what business will occupy the ground floor, former bar area of the building; previously I had heard that it might become a Gelato shop, then yesterday someone mentioned to me that they had heard that it was to become a Meze Parlour. To be honest, I don't have any reliable information, and at this stage I am merely reporting conjecture. If anyone has some hard information, please let me know.

I can finally say that I told you so - a subject that I wrote in some length about, back in March of 2016, I wrote:- "When Sky launched their original analogue satellite based service back in February 1989, there was no broadband infrastructure in the UK (or anywhere for that matter), as the World Wide Web had yet to be invented by Tim Berners – Lee. Satellites were the only economic method of broadcasting to large areas of the planet. Now the use of satellites for broadcasting is soon to go the way of using hot air balloons for air travel – yes you can still do it, but why would you bother? Fibre optic broadband is the way forward. Mark my words, the age of Sky using hugely expensive satellites to broadcast will soon be at an end; they will either change their operating model and switch to online, or they will slowly die". Well, on Thursday of last week, Sky announced that they plan to make all their channels and content available online, meaning customers will no longer need a satellite dish on their property. Italy will be its first market to get all Sky channels online, followed by Austria, with the UK expected to follow in 2019. The story became one of the most widely read on the BBC News website. You heard it first from the Maggot Sandwich, nearly two years ago.

Now for the weekly safety and security updates from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association; beginning this week with Barnehurst ward:- "Barnehurst Ward has suffered four burglaries in the past week, one of these was a non-dwelling burglary. On 16th January at 09.25pm in Dorothy Evans Close a loud noise was heard by the residents. Suspects fled due to being disturbed by the occupants turning an upstairs light on. A rear window was found smashed and the locking mechanism to a side gate had been broken. Barnehurst Local Policing Team provided the victims with window alarms, personal attack alarms and a TV simulator for added security. On the same date 16th January a burglary took place in Mayplace Road East between the hours of 09.00pm and 10.15. On this occasion the lights were seen on by a neighbour who in turn called Police. Entry was gained through a rear door whereby a wooden panel had been forced. No items were taken from the property. Also on the 16th January a non-dwelling burglary took place in Mayplace Road East very close the burglary mentioned previously. At 07.00pm resident returned home and found the side gate open, on further inspection the victim noticed the shed door open and the padlock removed however nothing was taken. Barnehurst Local Policing Team provided the victim with a shed alarm. On 19th January a burglary took place between 07.50am and 07.55pm in Hall Place Crescent. The resident returned home to find lights on and an untidy search was found within the property. Entry was gained through a ground floor kitchen window, this had been forced open leaving tool marks on the window frame. In the early hours of the 20th January in Sevenoaks Close there was an incident of Arson. A garden bench was found burned out and due to the heat from the flames, damage was caused to the windows of the property. It is unknown how the fire started or how it was put out. Barnehurst Officers have been carrying out plain clothes patrols in an attempt to combat the increase of burglaries on the ward, please be vigilant and ensure door are double locked. If you have porches be aware of what you leave in the porch. Wheelchairs, walking sticks tell burglars this may be the home of someone vulnerable. The team have successfully applied for a warrant under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and will be visiting an address on the ward today with the RSPCA Inspectors and vet. We will update you next week as to what we find and any offences. If you can’t wait til next week to see what’s going on please follow our Twitter and Facebook for updates. A reminder that Coffee with cops will be held at Barnehurst Golf Club on Tuesday 20th February. Feel free to join us for a chat". Belvedere ward:- "This week the team have been making enquires with Bexley Council in relation to CCTV in the Nuxley Road car park as occupants of a nearby property reported anti - social behaviour by youths, with eggs being thrown at houses. We are hoping to visit any person involved in the near future once they are identified. PC Green and PCSO Worrall also visited all primary schools to arrange upcoming talks to pupils and parents on various subjects. There was also a recent attempted burglary in Regent Square – in response to this, the team provided crime prevention tips and literature to resident. During patrols of Clive Road, a group of 4 people were stopped and searched. Subsequently, one person was issued with a cannabis warning and a second was issued with a PND for possession of cannabis. In a separate incident, the team assisted with the arrest of a male for ABH and also have recently conducted a weapons sweep, involving several stops and searches in the Picardy Street area". Brampton ward:- "Brampton team have completed liaising with ward panel members (21st Feb) and almost every NHW coordinators (16th Mar) regarding upcoming meetings this will be completed this weekend . Please send me in your email address and confirmation that you are attending for our records and so we can contact more easily (thanks to those that have already replied) . Both meetings will be at St Peters Church Pickford Lane small hall which is to the side of the large hall, Thanks to rev Jim for the loan of the hall A school talk was completed at St Thomas more , pupils were shown what Police do and what kit we use along with a talk on Stranger danger . Crimes over the week were very low with a residential Burglary in Heversham Road, a rear ground floor window had been forced open , the victim had a jewellery box taken. The team completed a reassurance visit and gave out some security items. 2 x Harassment in Bristow Road, by the same person to the same victim on separate days , investigation ongoing to obtain an Harassment warning . We conducted our first Community Contact Session at St Peters this week , this will be an ongoing feature to the ward .At present we only have the one venue, so if anyone knows of a small hall that we can use for an hour please get in touch. NHW coordinator in Dunwich road has asked the team to give out some security advice to residents in the road , this will be held in their home on February 8th , if anyone else would like us to attend to give a small talk or anything, also please get in touch. We will be attempting to recruit more NHW coordinators in those roads that do not have any over the next few weeks Please follow us on Twitter @MPSBrampton and Facebook : Brampton Police and on the met police website www.met.police.uk , place in your area , put in your road and you will go to the Brampton page". Christchurch ward:- "A vigilant neighbour called the police on Saturday 20 January at approximately 11.45pm. He had observed 2 cars park at the end of Sandford Road, occupants get out and dress with jackets, hoods and balaclavas and set off down Sandford Road. An occupant remained in each car. When the police arrived, they arrested one of the occupants and impounded both cars. The belief is that the arrest was for ‘being equipped’". Colyers ward:- "A busy week for Colyers again with 2 attempted burglaries, 1 aggravated burglary, 2 theft of motor vehicles and 1 theft from motor vehicles. The attempted burglaries were in Barnehurst Avenue on Friday 19th January at around 1am where a male attempted entry via an open ground floor window light but made off when disturbed by the home owner and the other was in Windermere Road on Thursday 18th at around 8pm where a rear window was smashed but entry not gained. On Friday 19th January at around 8-8.30pm in Hornbeam Lane an aggravated burglary took place where 2 armed males smashed the front panel and threatened the occupant in an attempted to steal goods within but made off on realising the next door neighbour had called police. In the early hours of Wednesday 17th January an Orange Duke motorbike was stolen from outside an address in Colyers Lane. Another car was stolen on Monday 22nd January at around 2.30pm in Frinsted Road. Unfortunately the victim had left their car door open and keys in the ignition with the engine running whilst they loaded their car. Please do not leave your car vulnerable in this way. We also had 2 persons stopped for possession of Cannabis, one in Colyers Lane and the other in Bexley Road". Crayford ward:- "Sadly, last week was too good to be true and we have had four burglaries in this last week. Between 22.00 on 17/01/2018 and 06.00 on 18/01/2018 entry was made via the front door of a property in Heath Road. A handbag on the stairs was stolen containing cash, cards and keys. The UVPC locking system was faulty and had not been securely locked, this has now been repaired. The resident there was concerned that the burglar had intended to steal the car keys to steal the car, the bag including cards was found locally. On 20/01/2018 between 17.30-23.55 entry was made via the front door of a property in Crayford Road. All the rooms were searched and English and American currency was stolen. On 19/01/2018 between 17.00-21.00 burglars smashed the glass panel of a door to the rear of a property in Valley Road, an untidy search took place but nothing was stolen, the resident believes that the burglar may have been disturbed. On 20/01/2018 between 20.00-23.00 burglars (captured on nearby CCTV) entered a property in Crayford High Street, by forcing a rear door after smashing a security light. There was an extremely untidy search of the property (furniture overturned, bath panel removed) resulting in a high value of Asian gold being stolen. One thing that all these properties have in common is that there is no Neighbourhood Watch. If you have friends / relatives in these areas perhaps they could be encouraged to establish a watch in their road? A number plate was stolen from a vehicle parked outside an address in Woolbrook Road between 05.00-18.30 on 19/01/2018, it is always best to report a number plate being stolen. On 22/01/2018 at 23.25 a motorcycle was stolen from Tanners Close. On 19/01/2018 between 19.00-22.45 a vehicle was reported stolen from Mayplace Avenue. The vehicle was involved in a fail to stop accident in Crayford town centre that same evening and the vehicle was seized. On 23/01/2018 thieves on mopeds attempted to steal a vehicle parked in Barnes Cray Road, as it had additional security they managed to move it a short distance before abandoning it. A robbery took place in Kennett Road on 23/01/2018 at 19.35. Several males with tools chased after two victims and then stole their vehicle which was located later, the victims were taken to a place of safety by a local business and unfortunately there are no details known about the victims or why this robbery occurred. Our team attended Walker Close on 23/01/2018 as we were made aware that a motorcycle stolen from Midhurst Hill in Bexleyheath on 14/01/2018 was parked and covered up in the car park there. The registered keeper came to collect it, damage amounted to £200 but the gentleman was delighted to get it back. We have visited most of the above victims, completed door to door enquiries and delivered crime prevention advice to the areas close to the burglaries. We have been able to provide more foot patrols for reassurance in the recently affected areas as well as utilising the Pulse Patrol bus for mobile patrols. On Thursday 25/01/2018 we will be holding a crime prevention/drop in for a chat event at the Ellenor shop in Crayford Road between 11.00-13.00, it would be lovely to see you. Our quarterly Ward Panel meeting will be held on Tuesday 30/01/2018 from 19.00 at the Europa Gym, Vimm Way (just off Maiden Lane). If you would like to come along, or know anyone who would like to represent their local community, we would be delighted if you would join us". Erith ward:- "Thank you to all that attended the Erith Ward Panel meeting last week. That was one of our biggest attended. Dates for your diary – Next Ward Panels for 2018 - Thursday 26/04/18, Monday 23/07/18 and Wednesday 17/10/18. At the moment these are all at 7pm Erith Pier Road. Street briefing in Christchurch Avenue. 25 residents attended and we recruited NHW coordinators in the street. Weapon sweep in Compton Place which resulting in a lot of finds you can see images of these on our Twitter @MPSErith. Some Crimes on the ward: Theft of MV (Motor Vehicle) 17/01/2018 Maximfeldt Road; C/Dam (Criminal Damage) 16/01/2018 22:00:00 Compton Place; C/Dam Vehicle 17/01/2018 Car park, St Fidelis Road; Theft from MV 19/01/2018 St Fidelis Road; Shoplift <£200 21/01/2018 Riverside Shopping Centre; Burg Res (Residential Burglary) 21/01/2018 Christchurch Road; Making off 23/01/2018 13:45:00 Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc, James Watt Way. Burg Res 23/01/2018 18:00:00 Chandlers Drive; Theft from MV 23/01/2018 Avenue Road". Lesnes Abbey ward:- "Attempted burglary occurred in Harvel Crescent, between the 22/12/17 and 04/01/18, damage to wooden back door and UPVC window. On Friday 19/01/18 between the hours of 3 : 00pm and 11:00pm a burglary occurred in Lensbury Way, no sign of forced entry to the UPVC door. Between Sunday 21/01/18 at 5 :20 pm and Monday 22/01/18 at 01:00 am a burglary occurred in Woolwich Road, entry was gained through the rear garden window which was smashed. Update from recent burglaries - Encouraging turn out regarding a burglary street briefing that took place on Sunday 21st Jan, Woodland Way. Despite the persistent rain approximately fifteen residents attended and voiced their concerns. Excellent work by Bexleyheath Officers where due to joint teamwork, a male has been charged and remanded in custody in relation to two burglaries at Abbots Walk and Woodland Way. While on routine patrol, PC Pruden identified a vehicle abandoned. Checks revealed that the vehicle was stolen by means of a burglary on the 12th January, and was subsequently used in further burglaries in the Bexleyheath area. The vehicle is currently at Charlton car pound where it will be forensically examined. Burglaries which have occurred on Lesnes Abbey, jewellery has been taken. Crime Prevention (Jewellery) - You can help to protect yourself from losing your valuable heirlooms by photographing your jewellery and keep copies of the images somewhere safe - with your insurance documents in case you are unfortunate to suffer a burglary. Make sure the jewellery is included on your insurance forms, in case you ever need to make a claim. Invest in a good quality home safe - consider the value of the items you want to protect when buying a safe. Speak to your bank to see if they provide safety deposit boxes. If anyone has friends or family in the Ward that is interested in being a NW Coordinator, please contact us". North End ward:- "It has been brought to our attention that an email has been received by several residents in our ward claiming to be from the Inland Revenue stating that there is an outstanding tax refund in your name awaiting a claim. It then asks to click the link to make the claim. This email is a SCAM and should be deleted. Please do NOT click the link as it will ask for all of your banking details etc. Please mention to friends and family. You can email us and ask any further questions if you have them. No burglaries this last week which is good. One crime of note was Criminal Damage to Motor vehicle in Howbury Lane last Thursday evening around 9pm. A bit of road rage escalated into an incident and lead to wing mirrors being kicked off the drivers car. Investigations are ongoing to find the suspects. PC’s Mark and James have had a busy week. 6 stop and searches were made in Grange House leading to a cannabis warning and all of the suspects removed from the communal stairwell after recent reports of drug issues inside the block. A stop and search was carried out in Boundary Street, again leading to a cannabis warning for the individual. They also made an arrest for a Domestic ABH, found a stolen motorbike in Lincoln Close which was reunited with the very happy owner, and extra patrols of The Nursery are ongoing after the recent knife point robberies at Erith Food and Wine shop at the location. Added to this they have been out with colleagues from other SNT’s on the patrol bus which included a weapon sweep in Compton Place whereby a Samurai style sword was found in some bushes. Finally, we have a surgery on Monday 29 Jan from 11am at Forest Road café. Hope to see you there for a coffee and a fry up!" Northumberland Heath ward:- "We have had some good results this week. We were conducting proactive plain clothed patrolling in Mill Road, when a disqualified driver pulled up in a car, who we recognised as being wanted for a burglary. We ran over to the male and after a three minute struggle were able to safely detain him. We arrested the male for suspicion of burglary, disqualified driving and possession of cannabis. The vehicle being driven was seized by police and permanently taken off the streets. We have also conducted a number of stop and searches throughout the ward and a further cannabis warning has been issued. We continue to stop and advice youths seen cycling in a careless manner, which is a ward panel priority. This has resulted in a parental home visit on one occasion and several youths having been given words of advice in the streets. On another positive note, having conducted three parental home visits at the start of the year and having delivered letter’s to local residents in Dickens Close and Byron Drive, we are pleased to report we have had no further incidents of anti-social behaviour in this area. Unfortunately in the last week we have had three burglaries on the ward and one garage burglary. The first burglary took place overnight Last Wednesday January 17th in Colindale Avenue. Thankfully the elderly resident was asleep throughout the incident, but is understandably very shaken and distressed by what happened. Tool marks were found on the front door and an untidy search took place, the resident had £55 stolen from her handbag. The second burglary was in Belmont Road on Saturday January 20th at approximately 5.45pm. The occupant returned home and was unable to enter the property by the inner door. He saw several people running down the stairs and they exited by the rear sliding patio door. It is unclear exactly what, if anything was taken at this stage but it is believed the victim may have been targeted for theft of Asian gold. The third burglary was in Nurstead Road and took place between Saturday and Sunday of last weekend. The occupant was away on holiday and the property was being checked daily by a family member who discovered footprints on the hall carpet when entering the property. The rear double glazed UPVC door was forced and the locking mechanism was damaged. The suspect stole an IPad and a Rotary watch. Power tools were stolen from a garage in Winchelsea Avenue on Monday evening this week. The occupant was in the lounge at approximately 9.45pm when she heard a noise coming from the garage. The resident is currently having building work done to the property and the builders put a Yale lock on the garage which had been removed. He tools were over £400 in value. One criminal damage to motor vehicle this week in Sussex Road. On Sunday 21st January the victim was woken up at 01.20 by the sound of a car horn going off. The victim went outside and discovered the offside middle window to her car had been smashed. Nothing was taken but it is believed that an attempt was made to steal the vehicle as plastic casing around the steering wheel was damaged". Thamesmead East ward:- "One burglary to report this week that occurred at Kingfisher Close, on Wednesday 17th January at 1900 hours. Kitchen window smashed, entry gained and expensive watches stolen. As a result the team have been patrolling the location and surrounding streets. A vehicle was stolen from Kale Road, on Thursday 18th January, however it had been notified off road. During the early hours of Monday 22nd January a motor vehicle was broken into (smashed passenger window) and a handbag was stolen. Just after midnight on Tuesday 23rd January, local officers stopped a male who was acting suspicious in Glendale. A search revealed 14 wraps of white powder, which is believed to be cocaine. The male was arrested, enquiries ongoing. The team have been busy over the past couple of days, attempting to recruit new Neighbourhood members by posting leaflets in various streets around the ward. Register your property for FREE and improve your chances of getting it back if it is lost or stolen and help reduce property crime, register at: https://www.immobilise.com . We are always interested in recruiting new Neighbourhood watch co-ordinators for the ward. Please ask your family and friends if they would like to set up a Neighbourhood watch in their road. Please spread the word to any family and friends in the Borough - they can contact us on 020 8721 2049 or Thamesmead.SNT@met.police.uk for more information".

In a very interesting development, Secretary of State for international trade, and president of the board of trade, MP Liam Fox met with Bexley councillors on the 18th of January to discuss the need for the extension of Crossrail from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet. Bexley Council leader, and controversial figure Teresa O'Neill said in an interview with the News Shopper that:- "Given the scale of investment in Crossrail to date, C2E represents a fairly modest investment that can release valuable housing land and connect growth areas along the Thames with fast, reliable metro-style services. It is inconceivable that Bexley and West Kent will not be served by Crossrail services in the way that Essex and Berkshire will be – particularly given the region’s critical role as the country’s gateway to Europe". The Councillor makes one assumption in her opinion regarding an extension to Crossrail from Abbey Wood, down into rural Kent, and that is that the former London Paramount Theme Park development will still go ahead, despite Paramount having pulled out of the deal last year, and to date no new intellectual property partner being appointed. One of the primary justifications of any Crossrail extension into Kent was to provide a fast rail link to and from the proposed theme park and into London. Now that the whole project is in some doubt, the same must be said of the proposed rail extension. Secondly, Teresa O'Neill says that the rail extension is vital given Kent's role s the gateway into Europe. This may well be true, but there are doubts as to how that may or may not change once Britain leaves the EU - nobody knows for sure, as this kind of thing has never happened before. I think that Teresa O'Neill is confusing what she would like to happen with what actually may happen - in my opinion the whole situation is in such doubt and flux that it is impossible to make any accurate prediction at this point. I know that many of the proposals outlined in the Bexley Growth Strategy document rely on the assumption that the extension of Crossrail from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet will go ahead. I have always said that this was the single biggest flaw in the strategy document, amongst many smaller ones. Time will no doubt tell. Who says that I don't plan these things? The end video this week explains how the Crossrail system will open, and it is not as straightforward as you might think; not only is the whole new railway going to be renamed as The Elizabeth Line when it opens, but the opening is being done in phases over the course of a year - not as many had assumed all at once. The video below explains exactly what will happen, and when. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or alternatively Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The Pom Pom Womblers.

The photo above shows The Cross Keys Centre and Erith Playhouse, both located in the Erith High Street conservation area; out of the shot and to the right of the Playhouse is the White Hart (no longer referred to as the White Hart / Potion Bar, as all reference to that lager swilling, drug dealing, Chav infested abomination have now been completely and utterly expunged from the site as part of the ongoing restoration and conversion of that historic Victorian building). The new replica frontage of the White Hart is now well on the way to being completed; it is now in the process of being glazed and painted, and already it looks vastly superior to the anachronistic and shabby float glass frontage that was illegally installed by the owners of the hated Potion Bar. The whole High Street area is looking immeasurably better than it has done for many years, thanks to a handful of dedicated people who have put much time, effort and money into improving the historic part of Erith. 

As I recently mentioned, it would seem that London Mayor Sadiq Khan has quietly dropped plans for a river crossing between Rainham in Essex and Lower Belvedere. This is despite a survey of local residents which indicated that seventy seven percent were in favour of river crossings at both Thamesmead and Belvedere. In fact, Richard de Cani, managing director for planning at TfL, said in an interview almost exactly a year ago: “With the capital’s population rising rapidly and more much-needed housing being built, crossing the river will become ever more important. It’s great to see overwhelming support for these two new cross-river connections at Gallions Reach and Belvedere, which would provide better public transport links and help unlock opportunities for local people.” There is a degree of polarisation of opinion regarding the necessity of extra river crossings; Latest estimates have London’s population growing by 1.5 million in the next 15 years, with South East London already taking on vast new housing developments - Erith alone has Erith Park, Tower Hill, the redevelopment of the former Riverside Swimming Baths site, and the large development on Erith Quarry. Proponents of the scheme believe more road links linking the north and south banks should be built sooner rather than later to accommodate the extra traffic this would bring. There is also a discrepancy between crossings in the West and East of London – there are twenty six Thames crossings between London Bridge and Kew Bridge to the west, while there are only eleven from Tower Bridge to Dartford Crossing in the East. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

Home in less than fashionable suburbs of outer London have become the fastest-selling in the capital, research released this week shows. An analysis by property website  Zoopla shows that properties in Sutton are the quickest to go under offer after they are put on the market. Experts said the study is further evidence of the strength of outer London’s property market in comparison to the “prime” central London market, which has stalled in recent years. More people are now willing to move to previously unpopular areas because of their affordability and improving transport links, they added. Sutton properties take an average of 28 days after being listed for sale to get an offer, the research suggests. Havering and our own Bexley were next at 29 days. I am certain that areas such as Plumstead and Abbey Wood will be strongly affected by the Crossrail development. I predict that the area around Plumstead Common will be a very popular area once the Elizabeth Line opens - in fact I predict that it will become like Blackheath Common in time - the shops, cafes and pubs will move upmarket within a very few years of the new transport hub opening. Mark my words. 

A little known fact is that the hospital that is now known as Queen Mary's in Sidcup was instrumental in pioneering several forms of surgery that have become vital in modern medicine.  A chap called Doctor Harold Gillies – a New Zealand born surgeon, who earned the title of “The father of plastic surgery” pioneered reconstructive surgery on wounded soldiers who had been injured in the trenches of the First World War, and who had a remarkable local connection. Harold Gillies initially opened a small unit in the Cambridge Hospital at Aldershot which had beds for two hundred injured men. He pioneered the use of skin grafting – a technique he adapted from one first used by professor Hippolyte – Morestin in France, he employed dental reconstruction techniques invented by Charles Valadier, coupled with the use of X-Rays, and photographs to detail the injuries of his patients; he was also fastidious about cleanliness and the use of antiseptics (a very important point, as antibiotics were yet to be discovered, and deaths from sepsis or blood poisoning were still very common). Harold Gillies also came up with the simple but effective policy of ensuring that all patients were attached to a luggage label listing their injuries, and where the injured soldier needed to be sent for treatment – many of the men were unable to speak through injury, or otherwise rendered unconscious. Once the Battle of the Somme took place, the two hundred bed unit in Aldershot was drastically overcrowded – at one point there were ten patients for every bed. A new home needed to be found for the plastic surgery unit, and one was found at Queen’s Hospital at Sidcup (what is nowadays Queen Mary’s).  The unit took up much of the hospital, and it was conveniently close to the Royal Artillery barracks at Woolwich, where a small number of patients were located during their convalescence. Doctor Gillies was an interesting man – on top of being a very early pioneer of plastic surgery, he was a great golfer, a professional standard violin player, rowed in a winning team for Cambridge University in the boat race, and created a comedic alter – ego called Doctor Scroggy which he used to entertain his patients. He would walk around the wards of Queen’s Hospital at night, dispensing champagne and oysters to the injured soldiers, despite the strict ban on alcohol within the hospital grounds. He encouraged the recovering men to perform theatrical productions and shorter skits, which often involved the recuperating soldiers dressing in drag. Harold Gillies was aware of the emotional as well as physical trauma he was treating – and his solution was to make recovery fun. His influence was such that later, in the Second World War, he was able to rebuild the burned faces and hands of airmen, alongside his better known cousin, Archibald Mcindoe, whose disfigured pilot patients later formed The Guinea Pig Club. Harold Gillies also performed the first gender reassignment operations, and became a leader in the field of sex change surgery.  He was ahead of his time in so many ways, and much of his work first undertaken at Sidcup has been used as the foundation for modern reconstructive surgery. It is a shame that the story is not better known.

A story broke early in the week in the local press, which as well as being serious and a matter for concern, also brought an element of black humour. In the early hours of Monday morning, a JCB load lifter was stolen from a building site in Erith. Normally when such vehicles are stolen, they are loaded onto a lorry and taken by a gang of organised criminals. Not so in this case. Instead a hardened criminal with what appears to be the I.Q of a small Begonia was the culprit. Alan Lamb, 34, of Star Lane in St Mary Cray was caught by Police after a (very slow) chase of the JCB along North End Road and into Thames Road. Bearing in mind such vehicles are limited to a top road speed of 35 miles per hour, the pursuing Police cars cannot have rivalled the car chases in Smokey and the Bandit or The Blues Brothers! Alan Lamb was promptly arrested, and appeared in court on the 14th March. He claimed that he had  attempted to drive the JCB to Dartford. However, he didn’t know how to control the digger correctly as “there were lots of levers”, so when police signalled for him to stop, he could only let the vehicle slowly roll to a stop. This meant police were only able to stop Lamb along Thames Road outside Dartford. When the police approached Lamb in the JCB, he told them that “I have just nicked this and I’m wanted on recall to prison.” When interviewed by the police further, he told them he was going to be paid money for the JCB and he needed the money because he owed two men for heroin and crack cocaine. He was also wanted for the theft of £350 worth of coats from Peacocks in Orpington on December 17. Lamb pleaded guilty to stealing the JCB and for the theft of the coats and was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison. What amazes me is that however astonishingly thick and drug addled Alan Lamb may be, he did not realise the utter futility of stealing construction plant or equipment. It is well known that nearly all such valuable kit is fitted with electronic tracking devices, which enable security companies to relatively easily trace stolen hardware, notify the Police and get the kit returned to its rightful owner. You can see a series of videos on exactly how stolen plant equipment is tracked down by clicking here.

As predicted some time ago, the spit of land which separates Fraser Road and Alford Road in the area of Erith historically known as the Pom Pom, due to the historic noise of 20mm and 30mm cannons being tested on the nearby range that was located behind the Maxim (and later Vickers Maxim) arms factory in Fraser Road. The land is now being stripped and will shortly be used to widen the road adjacent to the entrance of what will be the new Erith Quarry housing estate, which is currently under construction. One piece of good news is that a new volunteer group has recently been established, which will be collecting rubbish from in and around the Pom Pom area; they are called the Pom Pom Womblers. They are keeping the Pom Pom clear of rubbish, and acting to assist the council in generally keeping the area looking clean and tidy. Organiser, Brian Weekes, who was already a regular volunteer litter picker with his wife Brenda in the Alford Road area said: "At a recent meeting of the community group we requested help for a clean-up on Saturday 19 November and we received offers of help from 12 people. We also posted information through letterboxes in Pembroke Road, Battle Road, Riverdale Road and St John's Road. We had a good turn out on the day, collecting 46 bags of rubbish. We are hoping that many of those who turned up will continue with litter picking within the area." Volunteers for the Pom Pom Womblers, or anyone wishing to set up their own local rubbish collecting volunteer group should please email Jennie.Beckett@bexley.gov.uk or telephone the Council on 020 8303 7777 and ask for Jennie Beckett.

A new and very worrying form of Ransomware has been discovered, which targets computers running Windows. Ransomware is a form of malware that infects target computers and stealthily encrypts the users files, making them unreadable. The ransomware then offers to provide the decryption key to restore the encrypted files - in exchange for a large amount of money, and of course there is no guarantee you will get anything at all after handing over your hard earned money. The new ransomware infestation has a Star Trek theme, and is known as "Kirk". Kirk is reckoned to be the first ransomware to utilise virtual cash transfer system Monero rather than BitCoin as the ransom payment of choice. The malware decryptor "Spock" will be supplied to the victim once the payment is made, but at this time the ransomware does not look like it can be decrypted, anti-malware firm Webroot reports. At present, there are no known victims of the ransomware and there’s no sample of the decryptor, so information regarding it is limited. The decryptor is said to be promised once the ransom is paid, but obviously there are no guarantees and it cannot be decrypted at present without it. For the first two days, crooks are demanding 50 Monero or roughly $1,072 (£867). The fee doubles every few days if victims fail to cave in. If no payment is made by the 31st day, the decryption key gets permanently deleted, according to the ransom note. Security researchers are currently investigating the malware in the hope that they will be able to find a backdoor or other vulnerability in the malicious code that will enable them to neutralise the threat, but thus far one has yet to be found.

The "then and now" photos above come from local history expert Martin Barnes. They show the ridiculously narrow opening under the railway bridge at Maiden Lane in Crayford, both in 1938 and more recently in 2014. I have never understood why the bridge was designed in the way that it was - it seems to make no logical sense to make something so small. If you have any insight into why such an impractical bridge was designed and built, please let me know.

The Shortlist rankings website recently ranked the ten worst ways to commute into and out of London. Not surprisingly Southeastern Trains came out as the number one worst way to commute. Their opinion of Southeastern was expressed thus:- "Run by the same French public body as Southern, the undisputed champion of bad commutes has to be Southeastern. The evil geniuses at the top have managed to double profits in the past 12 months, despite astonishingly low levels of customer satisfaction and punctuality. Even City Hall says the service is so bad it should be run by TfL. If you’ve ever had the misfortune of being on one of its ancient carriages you’ll know the pain of being on a train so slow it is overtaken by elderly foxes strolling along next to the tracks, before the train terminates early leaving you stuck at a bus stop in the middle of Lewisham. There’s a poor guy working at Cannon Street station who has said “Southeastern apologises…” so many times it’s given him Tourette’s.  The company once took umbrage when we said Isis could run a better train service but now we think about it, although they both love a scapegoat (either the US or Network Rail) and are run remotely, the terrorists do seem better organised and more social media savvy." Quite. I feel that things are very much unlikely to improve until Transport for London are allowed to take over the running of the service. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced in December that he would not devolve responsibility for the Southeastern franchise to London's Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan. He claimed Transport for London's business plan did not offer extra capacity and was simply based on "a belief" that the organisation could run the system more effectively. But Mr Grayling was accused of putting politics ahead of passengers over the issue after a leaked letter showed he opposed the policy in 2013 as he wanted to keep the network "out of the clutches" of any future Labour mayor. In a recent interview, Chris Grayling said: "Services on the Southeastern rail network have been unacceptably poor for far too long. Passengers have endured disruption, overcrowding and delays, particularly during redevelopment work at London Bridge station, and they deserve better. That is why this consultation is so important. Appointing a new franchise operator from 2018 provides us with a great opportunity to sort out the problems which have plagued the Southeastern network, and deliver the high quality of service that customers expect. We are going to do things differently. I want passengers to enjoy more space and comfort, more and better communication with the operator, and a consistently reliable performance." The problems with Southeastern were thrown into sharp relief last Monday when a train was put into service on the 8.09am from Dartford to Charing Cross when it had not been cleaned from the night before, and passengers found vomit on a couple of seats. A chap called Adam Pearson Tweeted Southeastern asking why staff had not noticed the smelly and offensive mess, and why hadn't the guard done anything about it? Southeastern in a fairly typical piece of inserting their foot in their mouths responded with:- "Staff would not have noticed the mess as there are no conductors on services between Dartford to London". That just about summarises Southeastern at present; in their defence, they are proposing a number of measures to improve their future service, which I understand will include creating more space for passengers by running longer trains and upgrading or replacing older trains, increasing reliability and reducing delays by the train operator working closely with Network Rail, improving compensation arrangements with a simple automated system, introduction of a smarter payment system, including mobile phones, improving customer service with staff able to respond quickly and effectively to passenger’s needs. Extending the number of carriages on stopping services from eight or 10 to 12 carriages and providing more seats on high-speed services is also being considered. Southeastern are obviously trying to fend off competitors for when the franchise comes up for renegotiation during 2018. Thanks to regular reader and occasional contributor Brian, I had discovered that Transport for London are asking a hell of a lot (as indeed they should) of their next franchise holder, whoever it turns out to be. Brian has found a whole repository of information on the Gov.UK website. On there the following announcement has been published:- "Passengers in south east London, Kent, the Medway towns and East Sussex are on track to get improved journeys, as the Department for Transport (DfT) seeks views on a new franchise in the south-east. South Eastern handles 640,000 passenger journeys on 1,900 train services every weekday. The government is keen that passengers, local councils and anyone with an interest in improved service on the Southeastern franchise take the opportunity to shape what the next operator will deliver. The Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling said: Passengers on a new South Eastern franchise from 2018 will enjoy modern trains with more space and a more punctual and reliable service. This consultation sets out what we expect the next operator to deliver for passengers, including working more closely with Network Rail to ensure a focus on performance, and innovative use of technology to improve both ticket buying and compensation if things do go wrong. DfT’s ambitions for this franchise include: creating more space for passengers by running longer trains and upgrading or replacing older trains; increasing reliability and reducing delays by the train operator working closely with Network Rail; improving compensations arrangements with a simple automated system; introduction of a smarter payment system, including mobile phones; improving customer service with staff able to respond quickly and effectively to passenger’s needs; These ambitions need an innovative new approach from the rail industry. As the Secretary of State set out in his speech on 6 December 2016, this will be the first franchise to have an integrated operating team between train services and infrastructure. This means that the new operator must form an alliance with Network Rail, working as one team to deliver a better railway for passengers". I note how the upgrades proposed by Southeastern dovetail extremely closely with those on the requirements from the government - strange that! I don't know if I am being cynical, or merely realistic, but I have my doubts as to if Southeastern will even be shortlisted as a contender for the new franchise, as their reputation and performance has been so utterly woeful. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com. 

A rather more pleasant local transport story follows. It has come to my notice that there is a possibility that steam trains may run from Abbey Wood Station once Crossrail / Elizabeth Line development is completed. The Ian Visits website is reporting the following story:- "A new heritage railway has been granted planning permission, and could make visits to the Crossness steam pumping museum a lot more convenient. The possibility of a light railway being built near Abbey Wood has been lurking around since 2011, when the Royal Gunpowder Mills loaned a locomotive to the Crossness team under an agreement to restore it. That locomotive is a local one though, being the oil fired steam engine, Avonside 0-4-0T Woolwich, which once worked the light railway built inside the Woolwich Arsenal. It’s the Crossness pumping station – a marvel of Victorian engineering – which is leading the plans for the railway, as the pumping station is deep inside a huge Thames Water estate, and it’s a decent walk from the entrance and car park to to the pumping station itself. Hence, the plans for an 18-inch light railway to relieve visitors of that half-mile walk. The intention is that people would arrive at the edge of the estate, then head to the Victorian pumping station on a steam train. At the moment, it’s either a bus ride, or long walk from Abbey Wood station to get to the site, so most visitors tend to arrive by car. The planning application was submitted last October, and yesterday, Bexley Council approved the plans, subject to a survey on managing road traffic from visitors to the site. In the long term, there may even be an option to extend the railway from the Crossness car park along the ridgeway towards Plumstead, and then provide a very convenient link to the mainline station. Give it a couple of years, and a trip on the new Elizabeth Line to Abbey Wood could conclude with a trip on a steam train. If you want to learn more about the plans, and to see the restored locomotive, Crossness pumping station is holding one of its open days on 30th April 10:30am-4pm". It will be interesting to see what comes of this venture. More on this subject to come in the future. If you have any additional information or insight, please get in contact with me. 

The end video this week shows further work on Abbey Wood Station to ready it to receive trains running on the Elizabeth Line, as well as the existing North Kent Line. See what you think. 

Self Service? No Service.

An event took place earlier this week that many had hoped would not happen. Bexley College in Walnut Tree Road was taken over by Bromley College. It has been marketed as a merger by Bromley College, who have also taken over Greenwich Community College. This is to form a new conglomerate called the South East London College Group. Unfortunately in the process, several key members of staff have fallen by the wayside, most notably Danny Ridgeway, the former Principal of Bexley College who has “retired”. The combined college organisation will be headed up by Sam Parrett, the former principal at Bromley College, who is now leading the newly-formed London South East Colleges. The financial success of Bexley College had been in doubt for some time. A combination of cuts in central funding, and a change in the law caused them all sorts of headaches. When the law changed, requiring all young people to remain in full time education or training until the age of eighteen has been very problematic for many further education and community colleges. There is a significant minority for whom education is not suitable, and who would rather be out working (or not, as may be the case). They leave school, sign up for a college course which they don’t attend, and they drop out of education. The funding their sign – up generates is soon cut when their non – attendance is noticed.  Many colleges suffer from “ghost” students to some degree or other. I think the whole ruling that young people should be in full time training or education until the age of eighteen is fundamentally flawed, and really needs to be revisited.

Another piece of bad, but not unexpected news happened this week; Harriet Harper, the Project Manager for Regeneration and Assets for Bexley Council sent the following message to members of Erith Town Forum:- "I am emailing to update you on Erith Market; unfortunately a number of stall holders are unable to attend the market tomorrow and it has therefore had to be cancelled. As you are aware, the market launched as a trial in March and it has proved difficult to establish it as a weekly event in Erith due to a number of reasons. We feel this gives us a good opportunity to evaluate the lessons learned from the trial period and assess it in light of the feedback received. We will be instigating a temporary break for the market and will be working with key partners to re-launch a market later in the year. I trust the above is if assistance and we will continue to keep you informed. Please get in touch with erith@bexley.gov.uk with any feedback on the market that you would like us to consider". Last Wednesday I walked through the market area and there were four traders with stalls; this Wednesday there were none whatsoever. As several readers have told me in the past, it has been held on the wrong day. The most telling content was from a regular reader called Derek:- "I hear are giving Erith Market a trial go. When they know it will fail before they start. They only seem to be catering for the unemployed and the elderly. Because they are the only one that can go to the market. The market should have been bigger and on Wednesdays and Saturdays like it used to be. Saturdays for the people that go to work all week." Several local people have expressed the opinion that the revamped market had been "set up to fail". I must admit that the evidence would seem to support this view at present. It will be interesting to see what happens in future.

Bexley Council are proceeding with the next phase of the selloff of the family silver. Six open spaces are being offered for sale to the highest bidder. The sites being offered for sale are: - a plot of land adjacent to the railway in Gable Close, Crayford, the piece of land at the junction of Bexley Road and Kempton Close, Erith, the Millfield Open Space in Iron Mill Lane, Crayford, the junction of Napier Road and Wellington road in Belvedere;  the land on Holly Hill Road, Erith and the spit of land that separates Fraser Road and Alford Road in Erith. These are all relatively small parcels of land, some of which would have minimal commercial value. One thing that I do notice when looking at the list is that all of the areas are located once again in the Northern part of the London Borough of Bexley. Not one of the areas to be sold off is located in Bexleyheath, Welling, Sidcup or the other wealthier Southern parts of the Borough. This comes as absolutely no surprise; just as Bexley Council forcibly closed (against massive and very well organised opposition) the Belvedere Splash Park, but did not even consider closing the smaller and less popular one in Danson Park. The reason for this is sad, but pretty simple. Bexley Council concentrate on the South of the borough – the reason is that the Conservative majority council see no votes being either won or lost in the predominantly less wealthy, Labour voting North of the Borough. For this reason all of the unpopular money saving / money generating sell off projects the council undertake happen in the North – as this does not affect their primary electoral base in the wealthier, predominantly Conservative voting South. In essence in their eyes they have little or nothing to lose by ignoring the North of the borough.

More promotion is currently being done to encourage local people to book an appointment for a Smart Meter “upgrade”. These meters are part of the "internet of things". I have noticed that several of the national energy companies are currently targeting local residents with letters asking them to make an appointment to get their current electricity and gas meters replaced with a smart meter. Personally I have received three such letters from my energy supplier, EDF. As I have mentioned before, Smart Meters send real – time power usage data back to the supplier via a 3G mobile phone signal. This means that the meter does not have to be connected to a home data network. This sounds all well and good; the power company can bill you without having to send a meter reader to your house, and you get the option to monitor your power usage in an almost real – time way. There are however, problems. The data sent from the Smart Meter to the supplier is sent unencrypted, and “in the clear”; it is possible to intercept the data stream, and also a malicious attacker can potentially send instructions to the meter remotely. Several Smart Meter companies do tacitly admit this, but they play the whole lack of security aspect down. Secondly if one discounts the security implications, the various energy companies all supply different makes of Smart Meters, many of which are incompatible with each other. If you choose to change your energy supplier at some point in the future, you will need to have your Smart Meter changed again – with the associated additional cost to you that this implies. Tellingly on the EDF letter there are a series of frequently asked questions. EDF initially state in the letter that “your current meter is old and now needs to be replaced – you need to book an appointment for an engineer to carry out this work”. They then go on to stress how old meters can be inaccurate and possibly unsafe. There is a giveaway in the FAQ’s that follow though – and I quote verbatim:- “Occasionally we may be unable to install a Smart Meter, usually due to communications issues with signal strength. If this happens we will not replace your meter, but will contact you again when we believe the Smart Meter national infrastructure will be able to support a Smart Meter in your premises.” There is the smoking gun – they don't actually need to replace the meter for the accuracy and safety concerns expressed earlier – they purely want to do it to make you have a Smart Meter, with all the security, privacy and expense worries that they entail. I have a preferred technique for dealing with such unwanted attention – I ignore everything they send me until they eventually give up and go away. Smart Meters primarily benefit the energy companies, because they no longer need to employ meter readers. The benefits to the consumer are minimal at best, and when allied to the security and compatibility concerns mentioned earlier, they don't add up for me. As always, your mileage may vary.

Work continues on the Crossrail development, with much development continuing on the stretch between Plumstead and the terminus at Abbey Wood. In many ways this is one of the most complex parts of the entire Crossrail project (and before anyone comments “it is called the Elizabeth Line now” – it will only take on the new name when the entire project is completed and officially opened – until then it is still the Crossrail project). The Crossrail project will arguably be more transformational at Abbey Wood than anywhere else along the route. The Elizabeth line will halve journey times to many central London destinations and add twelve trains an hour to the services already provided by the operator Southeastern. The new station will open for Southeastern passengers in December 2017. From December 2018, an Elizabeth line train every five minutes at peak times will allow passengers to travel right through central London to Paddington. From December 2019, when the full route opens, passengers will be able to catch one train right through central London to Heathrow or Reading in the west. When fully open in 2019 it will add ten percent capacity to central London’s rail network, bringing an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London. The Crossrail project is also helping to drive regeneration along the length of the route. It has been projected that new line will support the delivery of over 57,000 new houses. Nearly half of planning applications within a kilometre of an Elizabeth line station has cited the new railway as a justification for the development proceeding, equating to around 5.3 million square feet of residential, commercial and retail space. One quite eye opening example is the journey time from the new Abbey Wood Station to Heathrow Terminal Four (the furthest terminal by train) will be only fifty one minutes. This figure is going to be the cause of much worry to mini cab operators all around the local area; a cab from Abbey Wood to Heathrow costs around £55 and can take up to a couple of hours, depending on the level of traffic congestion. Whilst the fare structure for Crossrail has yet to be published, I think it will be highly unlikely that the fare from Abbey Wood will cost anything like £55, and the journey time will be so much shorter. This is going to prove a real challenge to mini cab companies. I am aware that for many of them, airport trips are their “bread and butter”, as they are far more profitable than short tips to and from pubs or shops. I wonder how many companies will go under once the rail service is fully operational? It seems to me that mini cabs will be mainly confined to running short journeys rather than the profitable long haul journeys of yore with a consequent drop in income. What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

The photo above shows Erith Odeon cinema and the RACS shop adjacent to it, on opposite sides of James Watt Way. The photo was taken in July 1966. In 1936 Coles designed the "Odeon", Erith as an absolutely typical Odeon, with its slim faience-faced advertising tower contrasting with the more horizontally emphasized brick and faience body of the cinema. It opened on 26 February 1938 and seated 1,240 people. The cinema was later used as a bingo hall but was later illegally demolished (it was a Grade 2* listed building) and now a block of flats with offices and the new Erith Library stand in its place. The RACS shop has also long been demolished, and is now the site of a KFC drive through takeaway. The dockside cranes that can be seen in the distance between the buildings are now where the giant Morrison's supermarket is now located. 

Malcolm Knight of “Bexley is Bonkers” reported earlier this week on a meeting of Bexley Transport User’s Sub Committee that took place on the 21st July. An issue was raised at the meeting which struck me as being of particular interest. Malcolm wrote:- “The police reported that they had issued a couple of speeding tickets but “the big issue” for the borough is people riding motorcycles without helmets. “They are very much aware that by not wearing a helmet there is nothing we can do. There is a group of people who will not wear a helmet specifically so that we can't pursue them.” Councillor Brian Beckwith (Conservative, Blackfen and Lamorbey) asked how many hand held speed cameras there were to cover the whole borough. The answer was two. Councillor John Davey (Conservative, Crayford) said the helmetless riders were wearing balaclavas and they were doing “wheelies on the pavement” and “not chasing them was absolutely ludicrous. It sends out completely the wrong message”. The police officer agreed but then dropped back into politically correct mode. Sometimes air support is called in to track the bikers “but it is not always practical. I don’t know what the answer is and I don’t see it changing”. From the research that I have carried out, it would seem that the Police are in a very difficult situation. One quotation I have read from an inside source said “British police very rarely engage in pursuits of any kind and need to get permission before they do engage. Police have a responsibility to protect the wellbeing of both those being pursued as well as the general public. Being pursued by the police frequently causes collisions that can kill or injure those being pursued and/or innocent bystanders. Motorcyclists are at such high risk of injury or death that police would never pursue, a motorcyclist without a helmet is a full scale deflection on the "will this pursuit kill someone" scale”. The problem with this policy is the message that it sends to the offenders and potential offenders – if you don’t wear a helmet (an offence in itself) you will in essence be immune from consequence. The Metropolitan Police have a set of guidelines that state that criminals on motorbikes or scooters that are not wearing crash helmets should only be pursued by Police helicopters. The demands on the helicopter crews are high, as anyone who has watched any of the numerous TV documentary series on Police chases will understand. It costs somewhere between £850 and £1000 per hour to operate a Police helicopter – which is usually considerably more expensive than the resale value of any bike or scooter being ridden illegally. It is a conundrum what to do in situations such as this, though I do feel that the current position of the Police Service actually does nobody any benefit. What do you think? Leave a comment below, or Email me at hugh.neal@gmail.com.

As I have previously written, I am of the opinion that other than for very specific uses (such as exercise and health monitoring) Smart Watches are a solution in need of a problem. Now, for some users a serious health related matter has come up with one fairly popular brand. Intel has recalled every single one of its Basis Peak smartwatches – as well as urging people to stop using them – because they can become dangerously hot. In June, San Francisco-based Basis Sciences – which Intel bought in 2014 – warned that its Peak smartwatches can cause skin burns and blistering, and hoped to issue a firmware update to correct the problem. It turns out that was impossible without stripping out most or all of its features. An Intel spokesperson said "We are issuing this safety recall of the Basis Peak watch because the watch can overheat, which could result in burns or blisters on the skin surface. It is important that you stop using your watch immediately and return it. Although we are stopping support for Basis Peak immediately, you can access your data until December 31, 2016. After that date, the Basis Peak services will be turned off. Once we shut down the services, your watch will no longer be able to sync, which will cause it to stop working". Some commentators have observed that it is entirely possible that Intel just got bored of running a smartwatch cloud service and pulled the plug, using the overheating problem as a convenient stopping point.

A report was published this week, the findings of which surprise me not in the slightest. A new report from its Department of Criminology at the University of Leicester suggests that supermarket self-checkout technology encourages even normally honest shoppers to commit theft. The report found that installing self-service checkouts raises lost revenue by 122 percent. Some of it is accidental – people forget to scan items, or get confused by instructions; other times shoppers get so frustrated with self-service kiosks that they feel justified in not paying. But the report  states that mostly people shoplift because the technology makes it so easy. Mobile phone scanning technology is just as vulnerable – the study found that at the end of a typical shopping trip, up to ten percent of items had not been scanned, leading to “shrinkage” (loss through wastage or theft) of about 3.9 percent of turnover. Unfortunately the technology makes it very difficult to prove that customers are deliberately stealing. One retailer admitted they almost never prosecute people. For that reason supermarkets are now introducing tagging systems so un-scanned items trigger alarms. Supermarkets such as Morrison’s in Erith have now expanded the number of self – service checkouts so that now half of all tills are of this type. Finding an open, traditionally staffed checkouts are becoming a challenge to find.  I have been told that the cost savings in checkout staff wage reductions is more than offset by both the increase in stock theft and the requirement to hire more security guards – who in any case are usually on a higher hourly rate than the checkout staff that they replace. I have always wondered why you have to pay the same price for an item when it is purchased via a self – service till when compared to a traditional one – after all, you are doing work on behalf of the supermarket, and surely this should be reflected in a cheaper cost? Personally I refuse to ever use self-service tills – why have a dog and bark yourself? I would not be at all surprised if the losses incurred via self-service till thefts cause the big supermarkets to re-think their strategy – which at no point is aimed at helping the customer – it is purely about making it as easy for the supermarket to collect money as cheaply and efficiently as possible.

You may have heard that the BBC is going to start enforcing licence fee payment by people watching BBC iPlayer. People who watch BBC programmes only on iPlayer will be required to buy a TV licence to view the content from 1 September. Previously a licence was only needed to watch live broadcasts, so catch-up content was technically exempt from the £145-50 annual fee. But due to a change in the law, a licence will be needed to download or watch BBC programmes on demand. Those who already have a TV licence will not be affected. Personally I have a licence, so will not be affected by this change, but I can foresee a lot of problems in enforcing this new regulation - in fact I think the BBC are making a rod for their own back - but they seem not to have realised this yet. In the "olden days" of analogue televisions with Cathode Ray Tube displays, BBC Detector Vans could patrol the streets - the vans detected the leaked local oscillator from the first stage of the radio receivers that picked up the TV signal. Colour TVs had more receivers to pick up the colour signals, and so could be distinguished from black and white sets. The local oscillators themselves could be quite powerful (as these things go), around about 1mW, so they were easily detected in the street having leaked back through cheap mixers and up the aerial cable. The same thing still applies today for Freeview digital sets. One of the problems I think they'll have with this new technology is that they cannot identify the people using devices. I will explain with the following theoretical scenario:- I have a TV licence, I'm entitled to watch BBC anywhere in the UK, including when I use a public WiFi network such as BT WiFi. I go to a friend's house, who has a BT hub. I use the BT WiFi that their BT hub has switched on by default. That friend has not got a TV licence, and I'm watching BBC at their place but not on their private WiFi that comes from the same BT Hub. However the BBC cannot tell the difference; they are not allowed to examine the network data packet contents, encrypted or not. Effectively they are doing a primitive traffic flow analysis attack on encrypted communications. Only the likes of the NSA and GCHQ have the kind of hardware, software and skilled operators to successfully undertake this kind of work. Another problem - two adjoined houses have their living rooms next to each other. The WiFi routers are in the same corner of the rooms, separated by only a couple of feet and the partition wall. One of the houses has a TV licence, the other one does not. I bet they are unable to direction find the emissions to the accuracy required to tell which of those WiFi routers is in which house. My fear is that the BBC will be too aggressive with prosecutions, and the courts will take an unreasonably optimistic view of the reliability of the technology. The UK courts have not exactly been that clever at sorting scientific fact from pseudo-fact, and there's too many holes in this technique for it to be relied upon as the sole evidence required to jail someone. The Courts have been appallingly willing to accept scientific evidence with low probabilities of correctness as being evidential fact. If an 'expert' states in court that something is fact then the court accepts that, and no amount of dissenting scientific opinion will change their mind. As defence you're not even allowed to challenge the "expert" evidence in court or even discuss probabilities. I feel the new licence conditions will be un - policeable, and unenforceable. 

The ending video this week shows the work that has been going on at London Bridge Station for the last few years. For those who use the station on a regular basis during the construction work, it has been a real pain, but when one sees what has been going on behind the scenes, the transformation and renewal is extremely impressive, and will be even more so when it is all finished in another couple of years from now.  See what you think.