Town’s character is being destroyed

Steps to mitigate the consequences for traffic by the Conningbrook Park development cannot overcome the fundamental fact the Willesborough Road and Canterbury Road are incapable of taking more traffic during peak times and where in the scheme is there mitigation for the hundreds of homes being built by the Julie Rose Stadium. There seems to be an attitude by those in power that our roads have infinite capacity when in reality it is finite, no matter how you dress it up.

Traffic congestion in the area was first acknowledged In the early 2000s with a new road from the Canterbury Road to go behind the William Harvey; and again acknowledged in 2010 when a road to link the Canterbury Road with Trinity Road was needed by the then proposed ‘Large Burton’ development. Sanity was forced to prevail and those schemes thrown out, with ABC in

2011 involuntarily declaring the land unsuitable for development and giving it special designation. The very same people are now primarily responsible for resurrecting Large Burton into the Local Plan. It is acknowledged this part of North Ashford has not the capability to accommodate significant traffic increase and it is refreshing to see that KCC Highways does not turn a blind eye to this.

Hopefully pressure will not be brought to bear to have a change of heart.

ABC’s open invitation to developers to come to Ashford as it is “developer friendly” is seeing development on a mass scale and sacrosanct land lost and villages and urban areas desecrated.

Desperate to build houses at all cost, those in charge dismiss all reason in favour of building anywhere and choose to ignore whether infrastructure can be satisfactorily addressed and delivered.

Promises may be made but what guarantee to residents for the expected outcome. Trinity Road is a prime example of failed promises on traffic.

The government is blamed for the level of housing because of housing number and corresponding five-year land supply but is this a convenience.

What is best for Ashford and residents is possibly now lost as our once characterful town is to be turned into a city and its soul and community heartbeat as in the days of the market gives way to endless number of flats and largely uninspiring shopping experience.

Cllr Winston Michael (Ash Ind), Boughton Aluph, Ashford