Kentish Express Ashford & District
Bring back market to help town centre
I have read with interest the views of readers over Ashford’s town centre.
Here is my idea of a future town centre, which I hope is constructive rather than critical.
Move the market back into the town and conveniently site it in the Tufton Road car park, with access from/to the High Street.
I have travelled to many towns abroad and have seen the advantages of a nearby traders’ market to local shops.
These are not just once a week but offering a variety of specialist days, for example, beers, wines, cheese, French and Italian plus a Christmas market.
Ashford has a lovely lower High Street to be proud of, which lends itself to Continental style restaurants with outside tables, canopies and heaters. Likewise shops with dedicated goods, such as bread, chocolates, delicatessens, etc.
With the market just off the High Street,bringing customers into the rest of the town, it follows that this would then encourage a variety of new shops to open.
As for the loss of the car park, I would suggest a Park and Ride situated just off the outer ring road. For some reason, Ashford has sited most of the large outlets out of the town, thus causing the use of cars many more times than is environmentally friendly. A park-and-ride bus service could do a circuit of the outlets via the town centre, thereby saving on pollutants, road congestion etc.
It would also be advantageous if the buses were hybrid electric. Richard Beeby Brook achieve the first European day without a road death.
With September 21 as a target day, I am sure that your readers would like to know if that target was achieved or not?
Walking along a stretch of Canterbury Road on that day, I saw two drivers using their mobile phones, one of them texting, despite considerable recent media coverage against such anti-social behaviour. I also saw a woman driving with one hand on the wheel and the other clutching an active dog on her lap.
The barrier to reaching the Project Edward target is driver behaviour; it must be improved. Ted Prangnell, member of Roadpeace Kennington to divert from the real issue; of solving the problem. While one big truck park might solve a local problem, if it is going to used when Operation Stack is not in use, but we need more smaller parks all over the road system including untrendy laybys for those smaller breaks truckers have to take by law.
We now have a political class that can see no further than cycling and public transport, hence the total neglect of the road system.
If the £50 billion plus that is going to be wasted on HS2 (which will only be used by a tiny percentage of the travelling public), was diverted onto the type of roads the vast majority use everyday (including rural roads), then many problems would be resolved. Terry Hudson, Association of British Drivers