Expanding the city centre is a good sign

The city council is doing the right thing investing in two decks of car parking above its surface car park in Station Road West. Hubert Pragnell (last week’s letters) makes a valid point when he says that the row of trees along the northern side of the road will be sacrificed to make way for the retail units and that a multi-storey car park will be an eyesore. To the latter we can only hope that the scheme the council picks will do enough to conceal or limit the actual sight of the car park.

This will, in part, be achieved by the row of shops that will front the pavement on the northern side. More importantly, a new row of shops here is a welcome addition to the city – and hopefully traders will eagerly fill the spaces knowing there is high footfall to and from Canterbury West station. What we are also seeing is the growth of the city centre, which comes as the city increases in both size of area and population. A bigger, busier city centre is not something to be avoided, but something that ought to be encouraged.

Andrew Mahoney, one of our sub-editors here at the Kentish Gazette, was watching Saturday Kitchen at the weekend and made a note of the following conversation between a chef and TV personality Matthew Kelly, of You Bet! and Stars in Your Eyes fame. It went like this: Kelly: “I love Japanese food. When I’m out in a town, if there’s a Japanese restaurant, that’s where I’ll eat.” Chef: “Yeah. This is a Spanish dish, though. I run a Mediterranean restaurant.”

Quote of the week comes from the American humourist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914): “Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.”

Joke of the week comes from Gareth Dorrian, of Maidstone: “I hate folding jumpers as much as the Next guy.”

The only way is up