Free evening parking in bid to boost trade

Ashford Borough Council has introduced free evening parking in designated town centre streets.

Visitors will be able to park for free in pay and display parking bays in the High Street, North Street and Bank Street after 6pm from Monday to Saturday. In addition, parking will be free all day on Sundays.

The new scheme, which was rolled out on June 10, will be piloted for six months. If it proves successful it may be introduced on a permanent basis.

The council hopes the initiative will increase the night time footfall in Ashford and improve the town centre’s fortunes, as well as boosting trade for local businesses and making it an attractive option for new business ventures.

Cllr Brad Bradford, portfolio holder for transportation, highways and engineering, said: “The free parking initiative will also support the new Elwick Place development which will transform the town’s night-time economy with its new cinema, hotel and places to eat and drink.”

The council is also replacing town centre parking payment terminals with new pay machines which accept fees by phone, credit/debit card, and ‘wave & pay’ contactless technology.

The new terminals will arrive later in the year. A Kennington photographer has triumphed in a Royal College of Nursing nationwide photography competition, beating 800 entries.

Anthony Baines’ winning photograph depicts community nurse Lucian Smith dressing the wound of a 90-year-old patient in his flat in Canterbury.

His entry was named as the Gold Award Winner for the RCN’s Care on Camera photography competition, which celebrates the Royal College’s centenary by showing the modern face of nursing.

Anthony, who is molecular cell biologist at the University of Kent in Canterbury, said: “I wanted to get some pictures that represented some of the key concepts in modern nursing, including the aging population and care that keeps elderly people independent and able to live in their own home.

“I also wanted to show that care is provided by both men and women and most of all, the truly caring interaction between nurse and patient.”

After discovering RCN’s competition, he also visited the Wound The winning photograph, which depicts a community nurse dressing the wound of his elderly patient, and inset; Anthony Baines Medicine Centre team based at the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Herne Bay. There he photographed nurses caring for patients with chronic wound conditions.

He added: “The thing that was evident from both my visits was the impact that the nurses have on the everyday lives of their patients, and way that the quality of life really is enhanced by all that they do. I feel deeply privileged to have been able to witness and document this.”

Care on Camera was open to both amateur and professional photographers and was run in association with the Royal Photographic Society and sponsored by NHS Employers.

The judging panel included RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Janet Davies, BBC journalist Huw Edwards, RPS Director-General Dr Michael Pritchard and NHS Employers’ Danny Mortimer along with RCN members Vianne Britten and Jess Moorhouse.