Articles from Bexley News Work Experience

Residents fire-off Olympic criticism

04 September 2008

HOPEFUL: Gordon Lee is optimistic that the 2012 shooting events will be moved.

CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed a government decision to review the location of three Olympic sites.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell ordered an investigation last Thursday into the cost effectiveness and impact of three proposed venues for London 2012.

The equestrian, shooting and basketball venues in Greenwich, Woolwich and East London will be analysed by accountancy firm KPMG after communities expressed concern about the damage and expense of certain sites.

Residents have slammed the proposal to use the 185-acre royal park in Greenwich for horse riding events fearing damage to trees. And the decision to host shooting events at The Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich rather than Dartford has also come under fire.

Michael Goldman, of pressure group NOGOE (NO to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events), claims that their concerns have been overlooked by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG).

He said: "The case for the opposition is not mere nimbyism, there are real, practical objections involved that LOCOG has been very slow to react to. The cross country jumping event will cause permanent damage to the park."

Gordon Lee, manager of Dartford Clay Shooting Club, fears millions of pounds will be wasted on a temporary site at Woolwich when facilities are already in place at Dartford.

He said: "I can guarantee that the plans for Dartford would have cost at least £7 million less. The indoor shooting ranges would have been used after 2012 by the community for other indoor games like netball. The site would even have been large enough international fixtures like World Cup qualifiers."

Announcing the plans, Ms Jowell said: "When you take the costs of these venues, it seems like a lot of money to a lot of people. It's sort of testing-to-destruction to see whether that spending can be justified."

But she said that scrapping the plans for the proposed venues is "possible but unlikely".

The equestrian events for London 2012 could run into tens of millions of pounds after this year's venue in Beijing cost £52 million to build with a further £15 to £20 million to stage the events.

The building plans at Woolwich could cost up to £25 million and the structure will be taken down eight days after the event.

Despite widespread opposition in his constituency, Nick Raynsford MP is reluctant to openly criticise the use of Greenwich Park. In a letter to a national newspaper in June, he wrote: "Staging the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events in Greenwich Park does not mean 'the destruction of a 300-year-old avenue of ancient oaks' let alone 'the loss of wonderful views over the city'." For more information on NOGOE and Greenwich Park, log on to www.nogoe12.com. For Woolwich Barracks, log on to http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/OlympicShooting/.

‘Unhappy’ residents paint a depressing picture of towns

04 September 2008
A SURVEY has revealed bleak findings - that we are some of the most depressed individuals in the country, writes Liz McMahon.

Research published by the British Household Panel Survey claims Bexley, Dartford and Gravesham, Bromley and Greenwich are among the saddest towns in the UK.

When asked a series of questions including 'Do you think of yourself as a worthless person?', many answered yes.

Bromley came in at a dismal 215, a double blow for the town after being voted London's ugliest borough in a recent poll reported in the Times.

Bexley fared best, coming in at 132, but there was sorry news for Greenwich, which came in the bottom 60 at 225 out of a total 282.

David Sleep, Chairman of the Eltham Society, was alarmed to discover Greenwich's gloomy result.

He said: "I don't know who these people asked but they should have come to me! Greenwich has so much history to offer.

"It is the centre on naval history and the British Empire. It is the gateway to other continents. People sometimes forget its significance.

"It has more open spaces than any other borough in London and an amazingly diverse community.

"It has high standards of public services and transport that will only improve with new Olympic developments."

Dartford and Gravesham hit the middle of the league at number 150.

Experts are divided on what makes people the happiest, citing solutions to a more positive outlook as a good sex life or watching television.

But scientists believe that the longer you stay in a place the happier you get. So hang in there.

Contaminated vodka could cause blindness

28 August 2008
HUNDREDS of bottles of poisoned vodka that could cause blindness have been seized by police.

Counterfeit bottles of Imperial Vodka bearing the SPAR brand name have been found to have excessive levels of methanol in them which, if consumed in large quantities, can cause blindness.

The Food Standards Agency issued a warning after 180 of the bottles were found in a Newcastle flat on August 5 and 70 were reported to be distributed elsewhere, 28 of them in London.

Now Bexley council is urging residents to be vigilant.

A Bexley Council spokesman said: "Excessive levels of methanol have been found in the counterfeit bottles, which would pose a potential health risk if consumed."

Bogus bottles have the smell of acetone, similar to nail varnish and have the code QI:1445c near the base and a smudged inkjet code reading: 102234 04/08/02.

So far, no bottles of the poisoned vodka have been found in SPAR stores.

A spokesman for SPAR said: "SPAR can confirm it has taken the appropriate steps to inform authorities at both the FSA and Trading Standards, and the counterfeit vodka has not affected legitimate supply routes to stores."

Customers should only buy SPAR labelled products from their stores and to be suspicious if they see them sold elsewhere.

This is not the first case of harmful vodka being illegally sold this year.

In February, Glen's Vodka was taken off the market in Hertfordshire and in April, HK Wines of London Road, Thornton Heath was fined £500 for selling bottles of fake vodka.

Anyone with information about the sale of counterfeit SPAR Imperial Vodka should contact the Food Safety Team on 020 8308 7634 or email food.safety@bexley.gov.uk.