Minutes:
Two statements had been requested as follows –
(A) From the Leader of the Council on the operation of the Covid-19 arrangements for the conduct of Council business and decision-making (requested by Councillors Ian Dunn, Simon Jeal and Angela Wilkins.)
The Leader made the following statement -
“I will go back to my answer, which is that the current operating arrangements are as set out within the Urgency Committee papers for the meetings held on 19th March and 6th May. The Council’s chief legal officer remains on a standing brief to advise me immediately were the government legislation to change permitting a return to the previous physical committee meeting system which I, for one, would prefer to see happen at the earliest possible safe opportunity. The chief legal officer’s latest advice has just been circulated for appending to this evening’s minutes.” (see Appendix D.)
Responding to questions and comments from Councillors Dunn, Fawthrop, Wilkins, Jeal, Bennett, Kim Botting and Graham Arthur, the Leader repeated that he wanted to see a return to real meetings, and if necessary the numbers of Members attending the larger meetings could be reduced on a proportionate basis by agreement. He had pressed the borough’s three Conservative MPs to urge the Government to allow physical Council meetings. He confirmed that any decisions to shut down businesses in the event of a further Covid-19 outbreak would be taken by officers in conjunction with himself or the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement. He stated that all decisions he had taken had been scrutinised by PDS Committees and Executive Members were encouraged to share their views. He thanked Council staff for their efforts in keeping residents safe and allowing Council services to continue to operate.
(B) From the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement, Councillor Kate Lymer, on whether, in the light of a third murder in three years in the vicinity of Penge Recreation Ground, she was willing to review an increase in CCTV and lighting (requested by Councillors Kathy Bance and Angela Wilkins.)
The Portfolio Holder made the following statement:
“I was deeply saddened to hear of the horrific murder of Dean Edwards, and of an alleged serious sexual assault at two different parks in Penge the weekend before last - one of which occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning the second alleged incident in the very early hours of Monday morning.
In regards to the suggestions from the Labour Group to increase lighting and put CCTV in parks, my position is unchanged. The main pathways in both of these parks are lit, and we would not seek to encourage further usage of our parks after dark. That is why we lock the majority of our parks at night-time. And with regards to CCTV in parks, it is impossible to cover a whole park with cameras, they could always easily be avoided by those who wish to, which is why we have many CCTV cameras on the main roads and thoroughfares in Penge instead.
To date, all Police Borough Commanders and subsequent Heads of Bromley Police that have served Bromley Borough over the past few years have not supported the calls for additional CCTV or lighting in parks at this time. It is a topic I discuss with them on a regular basis, including as recently as yesterday.”
In response to questions and comments from Councillors Wilkins, Dunn, Brooks, Allen, Bance, Tickner and Benington, the Portfolio Holder stated that senior Police officers had never requested additional CCTV or lighting (although the latter was different to what local teams were saying.) She advised that residents should avoid going into the Park after dark, and parks were locked after dark wherever possible. Many of these incidents had occurred in the middle of the night. There were cameras across the area including near the entrances to the parks and she was happy to review these locations. She had been informed that extra patrols were taking place at the times of the incidents (between midnight and 2am) and reassurance patrols were still on-going. She suggested that if funding was a concern the Mayor for London should be lobbied.