We’re becoming all fur coat and no knickers

Iimagine that it would probably have cost less to sort out the potentially crippling cobbles in North Street and the High Street than the £40,000-odd hand out given to councillors for the purpose of upgrading their IT equipment.

Do we dare ask which is more important; the repairing of the cobbled streets or that out-ofcharacter roof over the very rarely used bandstand?

Sadly, Ashford is gaining the reputation of being an all fur coat and no knickers town. We have sections of streets that are impassable for the elderly and infirm and piles of junk accumulating in alleyways and unused ground; but we do have a new sculpture of sorts outside a business park. This sculpture, the council leader Mr Clarkson tells us, will give arrivals at the station something pleasant to look at.

Quite a lot of noise is being made, and rightly so, about the new developments coming to the town; cinema, hotel, restaurants and college. These will all be financed by outside organisations, which is all well and good, but will the increased revenue which they will provide for the council’s coffers be used to improve the town in any real sense?

Sadly, the Park Mall regeneration scheme doesn’t seem to be taking off as we might have wished.

The Creative Collective seems to be thriving after a couple of shaky starts in other premises and I see they have even introduced weekly life drawing classes with a very reasonable charge.

But, walking down the mall toward the square we see a number of premises with ‘To Let’ signs which don’t exactly inspire optimism, let alone confidence.

The one shop that never ceases to amaze me is Made in Ashford. Stocked and staffed by a group of remarkably talented local artists and perfectionist craftspeople, the place is crammed with meticulously finished gift ideas.

Many of us mourned when Savia was forced by high rates and an unhelpful council to move away to Rye (where the new shop is thriving). The Made in Ashford shop is proving itself to be a worthy successor and a true credit to the town.