Should catapult yob be sent to the Tower?

Here we are again; the seemingly interminable run-up to Christmas is getting into its stride with billions being spent on advertising in the hope that mega-billions will be spent in shops and online in order to keep everyone happy and fulfilled.

I wonder how sales of catapults to Yobsville will be going - after all, Ashford is top of the Kent league for catapult crimes. There have been unofficial reports online naming at least one of the individuals involved, not only of attacks on cars and houses but also in the killing of the swan.

Am I wrong - aren’t all swans supposed to belong to the Queen? In which case, shouldn’t the killing of the swan on Singleton Lake be considered a High Crime and Misdemeanour, with the twisted individual concerned being locked up in the Tower and subject to the severest of penalties?

It seems strange to me that an armed police unit can be called out to deal with an incident involving, say, an air pistol but not with a catapult which can be just as dangerous a weapon.

Here we are again with the Mecca building back on the agenda.

This means we’ll probably get a bunch of empty shops a superfluous outdoor cinema screen and yet more eateries.

In this respect, it’s mildly interesting that the ‘exciting’

(why do marketers always use that devalued word?) range of restaurants planned to go under the cinema in Elwick Place are turning into a fitness venture, a railway museum, a media company and who knows what (or if) else will turn up.

Incredibly, this development is also being hailed as Ashford’s ‘most exciting’ new leisure complex! I live not far away and have so far never seen more than three or four people wandering dispiritedly past (apart, that is, from the day that the long-awaited Macknade held a ‘pre-opening fun day’ there).

The Outlet opened its destructive (and, of course, exciting) extension recently. I see there are still quite a few empty units there which, they claim, are waiting for the ‘right’ businesses. The council always seems to support the Outlet but it is clearly creating a situation which will ensure the town centre won’t thrive.