Theatre idea is ridiculous

Well said Stuart Barton in the February 27 edition of the Kentish Express regarding high street shopping and the market.

There is an obvious answer: turn the old cinema into a market hall.

Forget the ridiculous idea of a theatre.

The site could not contain the size of a theatre required to enable the type of shows that would satisfy theatregoers today.

Canterbury, for example, had the right idea when the old (small) theatre was closed and the existing one built.

Of course, the council would love to have more flats built but that would not bring shoppers back to the high street.

Come on ABC, give something back to the people of Ashford and turn the old cinema space into a market hall.

Traders and shoppers would be in the dry, with opportunities for buying fresh fish, meat, bread, vegetables etc.

In the words of Stuart Barton: “butcher, baker and candlestick maker” all under the same roof.

I do not know if it is still there but in Barnstaple there was a hall where you could barter a pot of jam for a cabbage, or a book for a handbag. Could that idea come to Ashford? I digress.

With a bit of imagination, this site could become the hub of Ashford.

And if the Vicarage Lane car park is left alone there would also be plenty of space for road users to leave their vehicles... half term, and warned them about J10a.

On chatting afterwards, they scarcely noticed the difference, except that they were heading south on A2070 much sooner and more efficiently.

The access to the retail park has also improved out of all recognition!

So well done, to the muchmaligned authorities, and for keeping the traffic moving, while it was all going on. the Union in 1801.

The new Union flag was adopted in 1801, with the Cross of St Patrick being added to the now worldrenowned design.

The national flag of Wales was approved in 1959, while Northern Ireland has the Cross of St George, a crown and the Red Hand of Ulster as the flag.

In 1921, the South of Ireland left the United Kingdom to become the Free State, The Republic of Ireland.

Jean Ilfield says calls to turn the former Odeon into a theatre are “ridiculous” and thinks it should be used as a market hall instead