Use area for what it was meant to be ... a car park

ASHBOURNE’S Fishpond Meadow, off Park Road, is currently designated as an overspill car park. But it hasn’t been used as such for quite a while now.

There’s a parking ticket machine sitting rotting away slowly by the gate, a new grass reinforcement surface that reportedly cost £25,000 to install, but the only use of this prominent green space in recent years has been as a cutthrough for pedestrians – as is evidenced by the well-worn path.

It’s been mowed, its fencing gets repaired, and every now and again some concrete blocks are placed in front of the gate. And we all know why that is. But it’s otherwise standing empty.

This week a meeting was due to take place to discuss a possibility of designating the Fishpond Meadow as a temporary tolerated site for travellers. Ahead of that meeting being cancelled our ward members, quite rightly, put their feet down. But it remains on the list of possible future sites.

The concrete blocks have recently been removed from the entrance, and all that is securing the field is a small padlock. Something needs to be done to prevent an unauthorised encampment from setting up.

And if the district council doesn’t feel it’s worth reopening it as an overspill car park, perhaps it’s time to hand the plot back to the town.

Ashbourne Town Council has expressed an interest in taking it on, as has the committee that started out organising the Soapbox Race and is now hoping to stage a series of small events.

It’s currently a waste of a town centre amenity and it needs to be brought back into some sort of proper use. Because we all know how unsuitable it is as a temporary travellers site.