Chair, Westcombe Society. Former Councillor for Blackheath Westcombe in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Views here my own.
Blackheath Westcombe
Joined January 2015
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- Following128
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Geoff Brighty retweeted
🚨 IN BLACK AND WHITE: Labour confirms councillors will have NO automatic right to call planning applications before Planning Committees.
In a Parliamentary answer to Sir James Cleverly MP, Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook confirmed that the new national scheme of delegation does not permit councillors to directly call applications in for committee consideration.
This raises serious questions about local democratic accountability and the ability of elected representatives to secure scrutiny of controversial developments.
When residents object to a planning application, what route will their councillors have to ensure their concerns are heard?
Labour must answer this question.
Geoff Brighty retweeted
Who decides what gets built in your town?
Not your elected councillor anymore. ❌
Labour's new planning rules make officer decisions the default and strip councillors of the power to call in applications. Committee meetings are already being cancelled.
Speeding up development by silencing local voices isn't reform. It's less democracy.
Geoff Brighty retweeted
Planning meetings are already being cancelled across the country.
Labour's new rules mean your councillor can no longer call in planning applications for you, and decisions on what gets built near you are handed to officials.
Local planning should be decided by the councillors you elect.
Geoff Brighty retweeted
They are happy to import it from Russia but not the North Sea. Just mad posturing.
UK government to outlaw new North Sea drilling bbc.in/4iyVSUO
Geoff Brighty retweeted
The Labour Administration’s own report on this is clear that RBG faces a £30m budget gap for the financial year 27/28.
Spending £2.7m over the coming years on increases to councillors’ allowances is reckless and wrong in the face of that gap.
greenwichwire.co.uk/2026/11/…
Geoff Brighty retweeted
Blackheath Farmers’ Market granted vital status as locals fight to save site ift.tt/16xRi08
Geoff Brighty retweeted
Less than six months ago we had Local Elections. Nowhere in Greenwich Labour’s manifesto did they mention introducing 20mph roads borough-wide.
Whether you support or oppose the principle, a change this significant should have been put before residents.
greenwichwire.co.uk/2026/09/…
Having a quick coffee in the lovely back garden of an almost deserted Age.Exchange in Blackheath Village. Very pleasant if a trifle warm
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@Royal_Greenwich this is Kidbrooke Grove SE3 with leaves on the pavement which don’t seem to have been cleared since the autumn. Gutters also not been cleared. Litter accumulating as well. When do you plan to clean this up ? Shooters Hill Road end of Kidbrooke Grove.
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Agreed - and John Lloyd
Sad to see Andrew Castle go! Great commentator with real skill and insight! @Wimbledon @BBCSport
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Geoff Brighty retweeted
IN FULL: @KemiBadenoch delivers a barnstorming speech ahead of the local elections on Thursday.
Vote Conservative tomorrow 🗳️
Geoff Brighty retweeted
The runners are passing the building at mile 3 right now. We're working to acquire it from the MOD and return it to public use after 25 years closed.
@BBCSport @HistoricEngland @rotundatrust Aerial shots at mile 3 today: dead centre is this. The Woolwich Rotunda. John Nash, 1814. Runners passing both sides. Only surviving tent pavilion of its kind.
Geoff Brighty retweeted
Extraordinary that the Labour Party in Greenwich is trying to get votes by promising free bikes for children, paid for with everyone else's council tax money.
Via the Greenwich Wire (I would tag them but they left X in an Elon-related huff).
greenwichwire.co.uk/2026/04/…
