A question of conscience
Tuesday 13th October 2026
It's been such a busy time lately. Ever since CityGate Church announced that the Odeon cinema would be closing and that they were about to apply for Change of Use Planning Permission to turn it into a Place of Worship there have been meetings
My diary - 1
Week Notes
10-14 September 2026
10Thursday
Meeting with resident in her home. Tea with sweeteners and a mini roll. Glad that one of my asks has been taken up
11Friday
Remembering: John was in Paris. I left several hysterical voicemail messages, which he didn't or couldn'
Five
9th September 2026
Tonight, across two scrutiny committees, I broke my question duck. (What does that even mean?)
break one’s duck
/breɪk wʌnz dʌk/ verb phr.
1. Cricket. To score one’s first run after a period of scoring none.
2. Of a councillor: to ask, at long last,
Picking our own sunflowers
Saturday
22 August 2026
An enterprising 15-year old started up a summer holiday venture in our village. In a field that usually contains very friendly pigs, he planted some sunflower seeds and advertised the PYO on the village FB page. We went along this afternoon and picked our own.
Busy Saturday in the ward
Saturday 15th August 2026
It started at 9 when I met fellow ward Councillor Steven Jefferies to film a segment for our little video supporting the Beckenham Public Hall, which is up for sale again. Sadly left unmaintained for decades, it's now reached the point where repairs are
Breaking new ground
Thursday 13th August 2026
I'd been looking forward to attending the groundbreaking ceremony of Phase 2 of Calverley Close. It's one of my leaflet delivery routes and I'm starting to feel quite maternal towards the residents I meet, whose estate is being demolished and
A date with the dinos
Thursday 16th July 2026
In the dim and distant past I lived just across the road from Crystal Palace Park on the very edge of the border with Lewisham. It would be dishonest to say that we often went for strolls in the park in those pre-baby, pre-dog