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Ihave just received an invitation to an event later this month which is one of the most significant in Ashford this year, and possibly this decade. It is the for the topping-out ceremony for the new Ashford College – a building that we have seen rising fast over the past few months.

Of course there is still a year to go before the first students start their courses at the college, but we have come a long way in a short space of time, at least in the world of planning and creating public institutions.

Inevitably, the creation of a new college requires joint work between national and local government (both borough and county) as well as the education funding authorities and, of course, the college itself – in this case Hadlow.

The reason I set such significance by the ceremonial end of the building phase is two-fold.

The first point is that a site which is visually so important for the town centre is now occupied by a modern building of which we can be proud.

All buildings attract a variety of responses for their aesthetic qualities, but nothing looks worse than a neglected set on a derelict site, which is what has faced you for years if you come out of the station and turn left.

The second is that soon the building will be occupied by many young people who will breathe life back into the bottom end of the High Street.

We all know how necessary that is to Ashford.

I have not even mentioned the main point of the college, which is to improve Ashford’s offer of education or training for its young people.

The effort of setting up the college would be worth everything for that alone.

But the benefits of this development spread far more widely. I am looking forward to the ceremony.