A thankless task trying to rejuvenate town centre

It’s not too often that a chap from Ashford is permitted, although not actually invited, to drive a flock of sheep over London Bridge. He declares this to be the fulfilment of his lifetime’s ambition.

Mr Claughton, who has for years been one of our council’s good guys, has now been awarded the honour of being declared a Freeman of the City of London.

Problem is – he hasn’t actually got the requisite flock of sheep.

With Ashford’s long history as a market town, it could probably be arranged to supply Mr Claughton with a few fine Romney Marsh animals; it’s the least the town could do to help such a good chap see his dream come true.

While congratulations go out to Mr Claughton, an equal measure of sympathy is due to Cllr Graham Galpin.

Here is a chap who must wonder what wrongs he did in earlier lives to be given the task of rejuvenating our town centre in this one.

If ever there was a thankless task, this is it – especially now that the council has given the go-ahead for plans for the Ashford Designer Outlet to double in size.

If ever there was a scheme to hammer nails into our High Street’s coffin, this is it.

When plans for the original outlet were laid out, a bunch of councillors set off on a ‘fact-finding mission’ to see what a similar development had done for, I think, Swindon.

‘It will bring a million visitors a year into our town centre’ they declared, ‘the good times are on their way’.

There were schemes for free buses to convey the hordes from ‘Tent City’ into the town, and even talk of a monorail or tram or some such device.

In the event, the dream died and the reverse happened; the laid on transport took the Ashfordian home grown hordes away from the town centre to the utopian promise of the McArtthur Glen wonderland and the town centre died.

Last Saturday, Betsy Aidinyantz and her Creative Collective staged an impressively successful art and music extravaganza in Park Mall, which is now owned by the council.

I understood from previous hype that Park Mall was to be rejuvenated. I didn’t realise that it would be down to a private individual to do the job.

‘If ever there was a scheme to hammer nails into our High Street’s coffin, this is it’