Reflecting on town’s offering

There is an expression that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Anyone driving to Ashford for the first time would be impressed by the visual appearance of our roundabouts.

The Drovers off Junction 9, the memorial near the Designer Outlet and the horses near Orchard Heights on the A20 as well as the tank by the Territorial Army centre are deserving of praise.

Many of your correspondents seem to point the finger of blame at the demise of our high street firmly in the direction of Ashford Borough Council.

This would be valid criticism if we were the only town in the country with such a problem. Alas, it is nationwide.

All of us, as consumers, are in part to blame for not supporting our high street shops like we used to.

Our council, as we know, does not always make decisions that are universally approved of. I agree with your recent correspondent, Freddie Simpson, that the decision to close the Stour Centre for an entire year and thus deprive regular users such as badminton players and swimmers and others the opportunity of regular exercise, instead of closing off one section at a time, does seem to have been made without a great deal of consideration or concern for those that support the centre.

The constant theme of your correspondence does seem to be house building in and around our town.

Villages such as Mersham and Wye are in danger of becoming suburbs of our sprawling town. When is enough, enough?

Before the pandemic, anyone travelling from Great Chart to join the motorway at 8.30am would experience a journey time of 25 minutes.

All of your correspondents are right, our infrastructure of roads, schools and medical facilities are under huge strain as it is without this relentless desire by our council to increase our population.

So I ask the question of our council, when is enough, enough? I agree with our MP Damian Green, that the prospect of

Netflix establishing itself on the old railway works site in Newtown will be a game-changer for our town.

I am pleased that the main repair shed of the old works is to be incorporated in the design of the studios. Ashford has few iconic buildings, but the clock tower to the entrance of the works is one of them.

Old photographs show the workforce which in its heyday was more than 2,000, leaving for home on foot and bicycle after the 5.30pm end-of-day hooter. I hope that the clock tower will be restored to its original state.