Hockey club saga continues as bid for homes lodged

A full planning application which could see nine homes built on hockey club land has been submitted.

Proposed by Ashford Hockey Club at its Ball Lane base in Kennington, the nine houses faced heavy opposition during the outline stage.

With the development site replacing a football pitch, two replacement pitches would be installed in a field over the road.

However residents loudly expressed safety concerns for children accessing the would-be Kennington Juniors Football Club pitches across Ball Lane.

The proposed pitches would also partially be sited in flood zones 2 and 3.

Councillors, including ward representative Cllr Nathan Iliffe (Con), also questioned whether the hockey club could have done more to secure funding.

These concerns led to the Ash

ford Borough Council planning committee deferring the proposal in January 2019, before rejecting it outright in August that year.

But the club successfully appealed the decision to the Planning Inspectorate in June last year, and after more than four years of work the full reserved matters plan has now been submitted.

Entered on February 8, the new document shows a revised layout of the homes and new pitches, as well as what work would be undertaken “for the pitches to achieve equivalent or better provision to those they replace”.

Sports pitch consultant firm Natural Turf Solutions has also written a feasibility report, addressing the safety concerns which saw it rejected.

The report states: “The number of vehicle movements at the Ball Lane crossing point proposed for use by Kennington Juniors Football Club is low with an average of less than one vehicle per hour during the hours of 9am and 10pm, which is when the pitches would most likely be in use.

“The speed of vehicles, on average, is 10mph lower than the 30mph limit in Ball Lane.

“It is not considered that a dedicated crossing point is required but should this be progressed, a formal application for planning permission would be required to be submitted.”

To see more public notices, turn to page 32 or visit www. kentonline.co.uk/advertise/ public-notices

Iam absolutely sure it hasn’t escaped the many drivers who use Kent’s roads that the county has some of the worst maintained highways in the country.

Cross the border into Sussex or Surrey and there is often a marked difference when it comes to good maintenance of a county’s roads.

Each year, highways authorities get a substantial pot of cash to maintain and repair their county’s roads but whether they spend it properly or wisely is another question.

There are countless numbers of worn-out roads, some that haven’t been resurfaced or repaired for decades, but they are sometimes seen by the decision makers as acceptable and safe.

And with pothole repairs, they’ll ‘eventually’ repair holes that they mark out for repair, leaving one just feet away that is just as wide, deep and just as dangerous, then if you damage your car, trying to get recompense is difficult.

Not to single Kent out as a county - it must be said there are other highways departments who quite obviously need to update their repair regime.

Equally, something needs to be done about dealing with failing utility repairs and new road schemes with surfaces failing in a short period after being laid.

There is, I believe, no effective system in place to get the poor utility repairs corrected, for instance.

The state that some of these contracts are left in is wholly unacceptable.

Just look at the money these respective county councils would make – and indeed save – if they implemented such a thing.

There are many obvious cash-making and saving schemes that could be put in place by these highways departments, but one wonders why common sense isn’t used and whether politics sometimes gets in the way.

This week, Remember When takes a look back at a trio of images dating back to 1958 when the A20 between today’s Drover’s roundabout and the Hare and Hounds public house was widened.

Many thanks to Les Freathy for kindly providing these images.

■ Do you have any photographs or slides of old Ashford you would be willing to loan me, to enable them to be scanned for a possible feature in the Kentish Express?

Please don’t delay, get in touch!

Please email me: rememberwhen_kmash@hotmail.co.uk

Or write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8RY.

How the houses could look

2 1958 - Looking towards Sandyhurst Lane, this view of Maidstone Road A20 illustrates the widening that took place on this section of road to complement the recently completed bypass which opened the previous July

1958 - The Ministry of Transport signage advertising the project and its starting date in this view looking towards town

1958 - A splendid view illustrating the widening works looking towards Ashford