Progress seems to take too long

I moved to Ashford in 1982. To my knowledge it took over 10 years before they would allow McDonald’s to open on the high street. It took a similar amount of time before we had a bowling alley. It has also taken 20 years for the council to get behind Create. Council leader Gerry Clarkson now says it’s a feather in the council’s cap that they have shanghaied it. I am 50 next year. I was 14 when I came here and anything progressive in that time has been too little too late. Apparently this council has to accommodate 13,250 extra homes in the borough. How can they do that but not make space for a high street name like Primark that will get this town thriving? This town’s population is almost five times bigger than when I first moved here and is run by a lot of people that have a complete disregard for what people want. In the next couple of weeks a local town centre pub (The George) is closing for a refurbishment and they believe they can turn the clock back by putting in place the same entertainment that was available 30 years ago. There is a reason why the derogatory name ‘Trashford’ sticks. It really doesn’t help when our MP Damian Green is now the second in command in the country. It comes to something when a town as big as Ashford has the population it has but has less to offer than a backwater like Wye. Lots of people should be ashamed for what they have not achieved in the past 30 years. Adrian Cussens Ashford