‘We think everyone is going to lose... it is unnecessary’

Unison’s south east regional organiser Mark Hammond described the decision as “very disappointing”.

“We still think everyone’s going to lose out here,” he said.

“The customers will lose out because it’ll be shut, our members because they’ll lose their jobs and the local community because there’ll be less spending power in the area due to less spending money and fewer jobs.

“This is a Conservative council and chancellor Rishi Sunak’s been quite clear and quite strong in saying there shouldn’t be any unnecessary redundancies - well these are just inconvenient for everyone.

“There was no public consultation on this and staff have been very much kept in the dark until the proposals came out.

“We thought it might be a bit brighter for them after lockdown but that’s all gone.

“It’s just unnecessary, I can understand the council’s rationale but we just don’t agree with it - it’s damaging to the wider community and our members.

“You have all that experience from all those staff being laid off.

“They’ve been thrown out of jobs and left to fend for themselves.

“They are looking for jobs and there’s no guarantee they’ll be there.

“There’s a chance you lay people off and they aren’t there when you need them again in a year’s time - they’ll have found different work perhaps in a new sector.

“So all the training that’s been invested in those people will just be gone.”

He also railed against the petition being “ignored”, saying the council has gone against the wishes of the people of Ashford.

Last week, ABC said it was “aware of the petition”.

What do you think? Email kentishexpress@thekmgroup. co.uk

Mark Hammond from Unison is disappointed by the move