News on the possibility of the Sustainable Communities Act being opted into in Bromley. I received a letter this morning from Cllr Anne Manning on behalf of all the Coney Hall councillors, with the following info:

"You will be aware that local authorities have until 31st July 2009 to reach a decision and forward proposals, if and where appropriate.
I have discussed the Act's intent with Senior Officers.
I am advised that a report will be presented to the next meeting of the Council's Executive on Wednesday 14th January. Copies of the Agenda will be available for inspection shortly before the meeting on the Council's website and all Borough Libraries.
If you would like to attend the meeting, you are free to do so. At this stage I am unsure of the start time - 7pm or 7.30pm - but a phone call to the Council will help."

Biggin Hill Airport discussion

Following my meeting with Councillor Carr I came away with mixed feelings about the local councillors attitude towards Biggin Hill.
It's clear that Councillor Carr sees Biggin Hill Airport as an important economic resource for the area. This being the case he appears to be fairly sympathetic to any proposals that the airport may put forward to expand it's infrastructure, including the proposed hotel.
Councillor Carr was quite open to the idea of revisiting the lease and perhaps updating it. This would involve the inevitable give and take. For instance, increased flights in return for less polluting aircraft. In some ways this seems to reflect the current plans at Crystal Palace park where we are likely to see a loss of green space to development in return for an improvement in the parks facilities.
Perhaps I'm an idealist but I would rather see more take than give. I'm in favour of less polluting aircraft but not in increased flights.

However, he did reiterate on a number of occasions his firm belief that fare paying passengers will not be allowed on his watch. For me that is the main cause for concern. If fare paying passengers are allowed then how long before it becomes the next Stansted? Biggin Hill may put themselves in a position of being a serious alternative if Heathrow's third runway is rejected.
As Flightpath have said - the hotel has been turned down for design reasons by the council whereas ministers and appeal inspectors have turned it down on the grounds that there is not enough business to justify one.
What happens when the proposed hotel finds it is failing due to lack of custom? Will they turn to Bromley council and blame them for it's failure due to the fact that fare paying passengers are banned from the airport...?

Biggin Hill hotel

Following the news of a third design submission to build a hotel at Biggin Hill airport I contacted the local councillor concerned Stephen Carr with the following letter.

Dear Cllr Carr,

I am writing to you because I am concerned about the proposal to build a hotel at Biggin Hill airport.

My main concern is that the building of a hotel can be interpreted as a bid by the airport authority to try and push for an expansion in the airport with increased flights and eventually fare paying customers.

I and many of the residents I have spoken to in the Coney Hall area strongly oppose any expansion to the airport. In light of the conclusive evidence that airplane emissions are major contributors to climate change I would have expected the controlling council to consider ways of reducing flights over our local skies in line with it’s environmental policies. The impact on local people from the noise pollution is already well documented.

I will be discussing the implications of the latest design submissions with the West Wickham Residents Association next week and will encourage it’s members to send an objection to the Chief Planner when the formal application goes in.

Cllr Carr came back with a very quick response which you can view below and has offered to meet me to discuss the planned proposals and Bromley councils response further.

Many thanks for getting in touch with me and I acknowledge the contents. I would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss the implications in more detail either at your home if that would be more convenient, or in my office. If you would like to accept this offer please let me know and we will find a mutually convenient appointment.

With regard to your second paragraph, second sentence, I have to advise that whilst the Airport holds their current contract with us we are unable to reduce the allocated flight numbers as the terms and conditions do not permit us to do so. However, I would add that I understand they are operating fairly well below their flight allocation.

I look forward to meeting with you.

Best wishes

Stephen Carr

Boris Johnson's transport plans

Traffic and transport is something that is close to my heart. Like many people living in West Wickham I am a commuter and a regular user of local transport.

So it was disappointing but not entirely unexpected to see Boris's TFL plan appears to be heavy on cutbacks particularly in South London which is already a poor cousin, transport wise, compared to other London areas.
Unfortunately all the planned pedestrian squares and areas in London, similar to the successful pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square have been canned.
Plans for Oxford Street’s diesel buses with an electric tram has been abandoned.
The Cross River Tram which would have run between Euston and Waterloo, with several onward branches, has been abandoned.
And locally the £170 million Crystal Palace link in Croydon’s tram network has been cancelled.

I can accept to a certain degree that costs may not have always been realistic and I was never over-enamoured with the planned Thames Gateway bridge as I believed it would have made traffic in Bexley even worse. But it seems that when money is needed to dramatically increase flights from City Airport for our much beloved banking executives somehow Boris comes up with the goods.

Speaking of airports it looks as though the forces behind expanding Biggin Hill have reared their ugly heads again with a third hotel proposal. Seems as though they will never give up. More on that soon.

The Coney Pub

Work is currently in progress over on Croydon Road at the old Coney Hall pub. No idea what the new name is going to be but it looks as though it's going to be a family friendly restaurant/pub.

The chain goes by the name of Mountain Range restaurants. There's no details on our soon to be re-opened local boozer but the website can be found here - http://www.mountainrangerestaurants.com/

Residents Association meeting - October 7th

The Wickham Common and West Wickham South Residents Associations are holding an open meeting on Tuesday 7th October at 8pm at the Assembly Halls on Gates Green Road.

There will be a guest speaker talking about local wildlife and then discussions on:

Pedestrian crossing at Hartfield Crescent
Local Police Report
Travellers application for permanent residency
AOB

Picnic in the Park

The 'Friends of Coney Hall Park' will be holding a Picnic in the Park event on Sunday 21st September between 2pm and 4pm at Coney Hall Recreation Ground.
There will be raffles, games, bouncy castles and steel drums to listen to.
Bring your own picnic or join everyone for tea and cake.
Phone 020 8462 0671 for details.